From the Ground Up

3D Stereo viewing in Navisworks

Long gone are the days of red and blue glasses and Jaws 3D being the cutting edge of technology.

via beyonddesign.typepad.com

I like viewing in true 3D but only in short doses!

Jack

Augmented Reality research with Project Galileo Online and Infrastructure Modeler

Some people who have tried out the Labs projects have asked us when we are going to add Augmented Reality into the IPad viewer.  Well... it's already there!

via atlandsend.typepad.com

Tried this myself and it works. Just best to use built in 3G versions of the iPAD2 for the best positional accuracy.
I used one with a MIFI device and it was a bit off.
Either that or get a GPS add on device to plugin.

Very cool though!

http://atlandsend.typepad.com/at-lands-end/2011/12/augmented-reality-research-with-project-galileo-online-and-infrastructure-modeler.html

Jack Strongitharm

AutoCAD Civil 3D Profile Optimisation on the Cloud – Project Silverstar

About time we got a cloud application to use for design purposes.

Not necessarily a magic button for design, but this tool can work out a solution based on a number of parameters for vertical slope, tie ins, volumes etc.

It is a PVI solution, so I would like you to give it a try and give some feedback based on your requirements to make this fit your design needs.

 

Anyway, download it from here

 

Once installed you run it from the toolbox

Choose what alignment and surface profile you want to use

.

 

Add mass haul information if you have any

.

Choose some maximum and minimum values

Choose how intense you want the solution

 

Within a short space of time a result is emailed to you

A PDF of the output

Then use the Profile from file option or LandXML file to import the result

There you have it

 

Put your head in the clouds

 

Jack Strongitharm

Belated thoughts from AU

A wise man once told me never to start with an apology.  But this is really quite late, especially by blogging standards, so, er… sorry.

Carrying on regardless, I thought I’d share a few notes and thoughts from Autodesk University, which I was fortunate to attend in Las Vegas a few weeks back.  To save you from too much prose, some bullets:

• Inspirational main stage presentations, ranging from Jeff Kowalski’s 5 stages of disruption through to the 27 year old sending his designs to the moon.  If you haven’t already, I encourage you to register and watch on AU Virtual http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=auv2011_event.  Jack’s images even made it to main stage!

• The cloud is coming to Autodesk customers and what I like best is that we’re not just talking about it, we’re already delivering great solutions ranging from collaboration & Autodesk 360 to some pretty cool iPad apps.
• Good news coming with future product developments… to be continued in 2012!
• Interesting developments for AutoCAD Map 3D customers, including the ability to work with immersive, street level 3D data from Earthmine, who even bought a truck!

• It’s not often I am shocked by new technology, but the online and iPAd clients for Infrastructure Modeller just look awesome.  See Jack’s post http://fromthegroundup.typepad.com/from_the_ground_up/2011/12/infrastructure-modeleronline-and-on-the-ipad.html and look out for some cool Augmented Reality videos coming soon!
• And finally… I was amazed at the scale of AU, not only the numbers of attendees and classes and not just the way in which Las Vegas seems to feed the 8000 in less than an hour, but mostly the importance our customers place on attending.  The loyalty and enthusiasm was great to see and I hope those that attended gained as much value as I did!

Until next year….

John Allen

Civil 3D Performance Part I - Memory Management and Your Operating System

In my Autodesk University class, I talked about operating systems and which one was best for AutoCAD Civil 3D. Of course we all know that the ultimate answer is “Windows 7 x64.” It just makes sense. But during a luncheon, I had a customer tell me “You know, common sense told me that Windows 7 x64 was the right operating system to use, but you really simplified it and told me why it was the right one.” I’d like to share with you why Windows 7 x64 is the best operating system to use for AutoCAD Civil 3D as well…find out the secret after the jump (teaser – I’ll be showing the infamous “school bus” graphic if you click the link to see the rest of the post!)

via beingcivil.typepad.com

Probably the cheapest upgrade to your computer is getting your OS upto date and as most computers for the last three years are generally 64bit, get the 64bit version also!

http://beingcivil.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/12/memory-management-and-your-operating-system.html

Jack

New blogger for all your mappy needs…

Hi all, just a quick intro before I start blogging in anger…

John Allen here, solutions engineer for the Autodesk Infrastructure portfolio in Northern Europe.  My focus is on solutions for the planning, conceptual design and management phases in the BIM process, so you’ll continue to hear from Jack et al about all things Civil and I’ll try to add some insight around the edges.

My background is primarily geospatial, with a masters degree in GIS for Business & Service Planning and 10 years’ experience working to help customers utilise spatial data to achieve results in the form of real business value.

I live in Brighton, UK, and when not messing around with maps I am a musician (I play jazz trombone and do the odd bit of singing) and play football and squash adequately!

Merry Christmas: Infrastructure Modeler 2012 virtual training available for all!

One of Santa's special elven helpers, Lynda Sharkey, has helped create and deliver a virtual training program for Autodesk Infrastructure Modeler that we're making available to anyone who wants to take it.  

via atlandsend.typepad.com

Get to learn this new piece of software at no cost!!

http://atlandsend.typepad.com/at-lands-end/2011/12/merry-christmas-infrastructure-modeler-2012-virtual-training-available-for-all.html

Jack Strongitharm

Webinars for December

Asset Management for Water Utilities Date and Time: 9 December 2011, 11:00-12:00 GMT In the winter of 2010/11, tens of thousands of households across Ireland and areas of the UK were left without running water due to burst pipes in freezing conditions. The reality is that there is a huge network of aging infrastructure beneath the ground across Europe, much of which is not effectively documented or managed. This webinar will outline Autodesk’s solutions to asset management for water networks. It will highlight the importance of effective data management disciplines, using a combination of spatial data modelling and best practices based on the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process. Register now Infrastructure solutions from Autodesk Date and Time: 15 December 2011, 10:00-11:00 GMT This session will explore the range of solutions available from Autodesk for the planning, design, construction and management of infrastructure assets such as roads, railways and utility networks. Register now       Did you miss any of last month's webinars? You can find them all in our On Demand Library now

Get Recognised as a Leader in Transforming the Worlds Infrastructure

www.infrastructure-excellence.com is hosting the inaugural competition showcasing Excellence in Infrastructure. The winners will be given over $25,000 in prizes by our generous competition sponsors. The competition is open to everyone in the Infrastructure industry to highlight the best projects done in 2011/2012.

via bimontherocks.typepad.com

Show what you are made of with BIM for Infrastructure with this competition.

http://bimontherocks.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/12/get-recognized-as-a-leader-in-transforming-the-worlds-infrastructure.html

Jack Strongitharm

Autodesk Infrastructure Modeler - Online and on the iPAD

So those of you following this new product from Autodesk, we have kept you to your desktop building these conceptual planning models.

With AU this week there is always the new things from development coming out.

So building a planning project you need to share this with those that are not necessarily users of design software.

Creating videos end up becoming the final design and not really asking the question, what do you want? lets try it out.

Also being able to share this model to someone through their internet browser or even one of those tablet devices really opens up the model to everyone.

So now we can, below you can see my model through the internet explorer (I just skinned it via ipadpeek.com to show how it could look on the tablet.)

 

Want to try it out now?

You will need to install first the web plugin for Internet Explorer

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/project_galileo_online/

Then

Try my sample model

If you do install the iPAD application, you also get Augmented Reality, so you can access your model on site and through the camera in the iPAD 2 you can see your model in position.

I just need to get myself an iPAD 2, at least I have a reason for one now

(note not available for iPAD 1)

Have fun!

Jack Strongitharm