Outside the Lines

Technical Marketing Manager Todd Hunter provides his colorful views, opinions, and expertise on Autodesk Impression, remote controlled helicopters, Triumph motorcycles, and everything in between. Read his blog and chances are you’ll learn more about treble, bass and oil filter maintenance.

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posted 02/12/08 by Todd Hunter Impression R2 Announced at World Press Day
This morning it was announced that Autodesk Impression 2 (to be released this Spring) will be available to Subscription customers of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite.

Impression will no longer be sold as a stand-alone application.

Customer feedback for Impression has been overwhelmingly positive. By offering Impression as a benefit of Subscription, Autodesk is able to greatly expand distribution of Impression by making it available as a download to Subscription customers worldwide.

Second, Autodesk is committed to making the Autodesk Subscription program the best way to stay current with the latest design technology. A few years back Autodesk started releasing AutoCAD on a yearly basis to offer greater value for Subscription customers. With the release of the 2009 family of products, Autodesk is adding Impression to the mix of subscription benefits so that subscription customers gain not only the benefits of simplified software management but access to exclusive technology offerings.

9 comments In Outside the Lines >

User Comments

  • I hate to be the first to say it, but here goes.

    I'm a little frustrated with the choice to not offer Impression as a stand alone program any more. I havd just got my bos talked into moving in that direction and we are not a subscription customer. With a small office/staff it does not benifit us finacially to be on subscription. Here is another case where Autodesk does not listen to the small firms, only the big ones that bring in the most money. Love the program, will continue on with the beta team, but frustrated with Autodesk.

    Posted 2/13/2008 12:26 PM by Tim McDougald

  • What I don't understand is why it has to only be available to subscription customers? I can understand adding value to subscriptions, and making it more widely available by including it for free with subscriptions. But why not offer it as a stand alone download as well? To me, it seems as though Autodesk is more interested in getting more people on subscriptions as opposed to any of the other reasons stated in the release.

    Now, I'm still in school, and have only worked with a small firm in the area. But they are still using AutoCAD 2004. If I happened to go to work for them full time post graduation, I could perhaps talk them into paying $500 for a one time purchase of Impression. There would be no way I could talk them into upgrading to a new version of AutoCAD *and* getting on subscription.

    And don't even get me started on people who work solo. There's no chance any of them are going to get access to the software now. To me, it seems Autodesk is limiting the market as opposed to expanding it for Impression. Great software; I love it. But the move to subscription only seems like a bad one to me.

    Posted 2/14/2008 9:12 PM by Adam Gregory

  • Great for those of us on subscription, but it does seem to lock out non-subscription users. They probably will not get on subscription just to use Impression so I think you're really limiting its and your potential. Will it still be available for student download with the 14 month license?

    Posted 2/19/2008 2:28 PM by Craig Priskorn

  • Posted 2/20/2008 9:57 AM by Mark Waldorf

  • I recently went through an evaluation of programs available and settled on Autodesk Impression because of ease of use and the integrated nature of the program with Autocad. I work for a homebuilder and have been tasked with creating marketing materials for the web and p.o.s. for the 88 homes that we offer, all with multiple elevations as well as our subdivisions. I am wondering what support will be available for us that chose this product? Did I just buy into an obsolete product? We are not subscription based nor will we ever become that. I hope that Autodesk does not leave us early adopters of this program out in the cold. I will withhold judgement for now.

    Posted 2/20/2008 10:05 AM by Mark Waldorf

  • When we made the decision to offer Impression as a subscription benefit we did so understanding that there would be customers that made an investment in the first release that would not be able to obtain R2 due to budget constraints or due to their design product not being one of the six products eligible for the subscription benefit.

    The message that early adopter customers are vital to Autodesk’s long term business has been communicated to the most senior managers in the company. We are in the process of determining how to make sure that people who made early investments in Impression wind up being happy that they did so.

    We are in the process of determining exactly what programs we can make available to release 1 customers. There are some legal restrictions on what we can and cannot do which is drawing out the decision making process. When these programs have been finalized we will contact all first release customers directly by e-mail. If you have concerns or feel that we are not responding in a timely manner, I encourage you to contact me directly.

    Michael Perani
    Impression Product Manager
    415.507.8271

    Posted 2/21/2008 6:05 PM by Michael Perani

  • Hello,
    I'm instructor of the Autodesk Training Center in Korea.

    When I training the Impression for the Autodesk VAD & VAR engineer,
    I need the Impression presentation file.

    Could you please post this files?

    If so, it would be very helpful to us.

    Posted 2/23/2008 11:13 AM by Sung-yeol Han

  • Three questions:

    Will Impressions be an integral part of the Revit installation process?

    How much will it cost and would I be able to opt out if I choose?

    Will there be a direct interface with *rvt files or will I still need to convert Revit drawing files into a different format in order to use Impression? (I hope not!)

    Thanks

    Posted 3/3/2008 7:28 PM by Wolff Garritano

  • hi Wolff -

    To answer your questions -
    1. Impression will be a separate install. After you download the software from the Subscription Center, you will need to install it as a stand-alone application just as you have in the past.

    2. Impression will be included as a benefit of a Subscription contract.

    3. In order to use Impression you will need to export a DWG from Revit. This was also the case with R2. We know that this is not ideal, and there are projects underway at Autodesk that may address this in the future.

    Feel free to post questions like this to the discussion groups as that is where we are more likely to see them.

    Thanks - Lisa

    Posted 3/12/2008 4:47 PM by Lisa Crounse