Much of 2021’s important news had to do with response to climate change, coupled with the Covid-19 response for businesses. Technologies have been in place for many years to respond, but the time is now, and actually the time is yesterday, to respond to these critical social and environmental issues. Digital twin technology and artificial intelligence are front and center in addressing these challenges. Reducing the world’s carbon footprint is a major priority for most organizations and technologies are being lined up to address this priority.
AECCafe Voice
Posts Tagged ‘Autodesk University’
AECCafe Technology Wrap-Up of 2021
Thursday, December 16th, 2021
Autodesk University Virtual 2020 Focuses on Virtual Creation and Data
Friday, November 27th, 2020The first Autodesk University Virtual attracted 99,000 attendees worldwide and offered 750+ classes, live Q&As and meetings.
Autodesk Tandem – Reviewing asset details for more informed operational decision making
AEC Companies Partner with Esri for GIS Integration
Friday, February 14th, 2020In 2019, it came to my attention that there was more specific attention being paid to AEC and GIS integration, specifically two partnerships of AEC companies formed with Esri. Esri’s Kathleen Kewley discussed the resurgence of interest of GIS in the AEC space from an Esri perspective. Kewley also worked at Autodesk at one time. In addition I have included information from a webinar conducted by Autodesk senior technical marketing manager Wes Newman and AEC Solutions engineer from Esri, Rafael Fernandes, about the partnership between Esri and Autodesk.
IMAGINiT Clarity and Autodesk Dynamo a Winning Combination
Thursday, February 6th, 2020Recently, AECCafe Voice conducted interviews with Peter Costanza, director Facilities Management, Carl Storms, senior applications expert, and Matt Mason, director of Software Solutions from IMAGINiT about the latest developments for their company and what was talked about at Autodesk University 2019.
APEX – client: Biomed Realty Trust Inc., architect: Perkins and Will
AECCafe Industry Predictions 2020 – Part 4
Thursday, January 23rd, 2020We are winding down our Industry Predictions 2020 series now, with one more week to go. The commitment of industry professionals to what lies ahead in 2020 is demonstrated in these informative views.
This week we cover topics such as digital adoption maturity in construction, VR/AR, drone capture and laser scanning, and cloud adoption. CMiC, Autodesk, Trimble and Workspot are our featured voices.
AECCafe BIM Interoperability Questionnaire
Friday, August 10th, 2018The built environment is increasingly more digitized, relying heavily on large building models to hold all aspects of a building project. Thus, the need for BIM Interoperability is greater as the necessity grows for stakeholders to be able to access the information inside these complex models.
Bay Bridge East Span Seismic Safety Project
To prove the project was viable, the California Department of Transportation shared detailed 3D designs with potential contracting firms.
Autodesk Subscription “Switch-Back” Promotion Shows Some Heart, Sort Of
Friday, February 16th, 2018There have been some changes to Autodesk recently. Perhaps most importantly for the users and owners, changes to the subscription program, that has been promoted by Autodesk as an “my way or the highway” approach to selling software, or cloud services as it were. As some people were not happy with being expected to purchase a subscription and give up their perpetual licenses, a new promotion has been initiated. This new promotion offers a “switch-back” option, meaning that if you own a perpetual license and you switch to a subscription, “If you’re not satisfied, you can switch back to your perpetual license.” This is the promise.
You can find out more about what this might mean for those who would like to continue with their perpetual licenses or revert to a perpetual license after finding the subscription program doesn’t work for them here.
How do I get this offer? (The first of the FAQs)
Simply trade in your qualifying old perpetual license(s) and purchase a new 1- or 3-year subscription to any eligible collection or individual product of your choice via one of the methods outlined.
Once you submit your perpetual license(s), you agree to discontinue use of the traded-in license(s). This offer ends April 20, 2018.
Which products qualify for the offer?
Most Autodesk perpetual licenses of releases R14 (release year 1998) through 2018 version product not on an active maintenance plan (as of December 31, 2017) qualify to get the offer discount.
When you trade in your qualifying perpetual license(s), you can get the offer discount on most Autodesk product subscriptions, including industry collections, AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, 3ds Max, Civil 3D, Maya, and much more.
View list of all eligible products and full offer details here.
Can I get a different product than I have now?
You do not need to purchase the same product as the perpetual trade-in license. For example, you can trade in an old, eligible perpetual license of AutoCAD and subscribe to a collection at the promotional price.
(Eds note: This might work if you wanted to buy a subscription to a collection that contains AutoCAD, thereby seeming to get more for your money.)
What does “switch-back” option mean?
We’re confident that you will be satisfied with your subscription, but if for any reason that is not the case, you are eligible to switch back to your perpetual license at the end of either the 3-year term, or the end of the second year of an annual term (1 year plus 1 year renewal). See full details here.
In those full details, note this information:
Note that customers are only able to switch back to the versions set out below.
| Version submitted | Switch back: within “eligible term”* | Customer obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 2017, 2018 | • 2016 version • same product • same deployment (e.g. SLM or NLM) |
Contact Autodesk for details of how to switch-back |
| 1998 – 2016 | • Same version as submitted • same product • same deployment (e.g. SLM or NLM) |
Retain media kits, download and/or activation details, and any other item necessary for operation of legacy license |
Do I have to be connected to the internet to use my software?
No. After initial activation, your software will work offline for 30 days. At that point, you will need to reconnect. Don’t worry, we’ll remind you 7 days prior.
Will all of my work automatically go into the cloud?
Desktop applications and all associated user data are stored on your local machine. When you use cloud service applications, you can choose to either store data in the cloud or on your local machine. You retain all of your local data even if you decide to end your subscription.
Will I have updates whether I want to or not?
As a subscriber, you can access the latest updates anytime, but you decide if and when to install them.
What else can I do with subscription that I don’t have with my old software?
The subscription offerings provide you greater value and enable you to:
- Always access the latest software, updates and previous versions
- Use your software anywhere you need to be – at home, at work or on the road
- Share 2D or 3D views of your work online and see comments directly in your product
- Try out new tools without making a big up-front investment
- Easily scale up or down to fit your organization’s changing needs
- Instantly grant users access to products you have purchased by deploying them directly on devices or allowing users to install them on their own from the Autodesk desktop app
- Get technical support – Choose phone, online chat, email or remote desktop assistance to resolve your issues more quickly
Learn more
Eds. note: Nowhere is there any mention of continued support, upgrades or maintenance if you do choose to “switch-back” to your old version of Autodesk software after dipping your toes into the subscription pool. What this offer offers: 1) the owner or user, gains the opportunity to try out the subscription-based arrangement with an option of turning back if he/she wants to. 2) Additionally, the subscription price is 25% less than it would be without this offer, so it might be a worthwhile incentive to move forward. 3) You may really save money on signing up for the Industry Collections.
You must make your decision within 30 days, if you want to “switch-back.” If you do switch back, you don’t get to pick up your perpetual license maintenance plan. You will also be sent back (kind of like in a game of Monopoly) to your perpetual license version you had before.
Extraordinary as it may seem, if you had purchased a 2017 or 2018 perpetual license, it appears (see above chart) that if you were not happy with your subscription plan, you would be switched back to a 2016 perpetual license. I’m hoping this is a typo, but so far that is what is stated on the website. Stay tuned; I have contacted Autodesk to find out further information.
Make a Difference with BIM: Interview with IMAGINiT
Thursday, January 18th, 2018In an interview with Joe Eichenseer, Building Solutions Team Manager of IMAGINiT, he talked about current trends in BIM and what people want from the technology these days.
Apple building in Cupertino
JE: From our perspective, we’re seeing more people moving toward trying to do more with the model, whether through information and analytics or taking it into fabrication. There is a large acceptance of BIM in the design and engineering community, and to some extent in the construction side. The question is, how can we get more, because the cost of software and business isn’t going to go away. People want to know what can we do to become that much more efficient and stand out from the crowd in our use and application of BIM philosophies in the design, engineering and construction world.
AECCafe Voice: Have you seen or implemented any really groundbreaking application of that among your clients?
JE: What we’re really focusing on is the incremental improvements. In some cases, it might be taking someone a couple of steps beyond where they were before. With the application or use of BIM with residential home construction, single family homes, we’re working with various home builders to make that transition so they can get into the whole VR side of things. They can show prospective buyers what that home is really like with whatever materials and finishes they have inside the rooms. We want to bring that industry forward, which is traditionally the last to come through because of the nature of the design and construction market.
We’re taking the analytics we can extract from the Revit project or collection of Revit projects using our CLARITY software. We’re getting people to understand where the true technological bottlenecks are inside the company. And if you are a BIM manager or a BIM coordinator, how can we better guide your vision to those things that actually make a difference in your business?
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AECCafe Editorial Calendar 2018
Friday, November 24th, 2017AECCafe
Editorial Calendar 2018*
The Philharmonic Hall of Szczecin by Barozzi / Veiga. Photo © Simon Menges.
January:
Editorial topics:
- Trends and Predictions for 2018
- Are We Getting Closer to Compatibility?
February:
2/4-2/7 Solidworks 2018
Editorial topics:
- Solidworks for AEC
- Current Events
BLK360
March:
Editorial topics:
- Reality capture
- The Changing Face of BIM
ClimaCell Announces Autodesk Partnership & Short-Term Weather Prediction Model for the Construction Industry
Thursday, November 16th, 2017In an interview with Rei Goffer, ClimaCell, CSO we discussed the company’s partnership with Autodesk BIM 360 announced at Autodesk University this week.
