What a week

My goodness that was a long week. I'm going to have to take some time to digest it all, but I can at the very least give a quick wrap up on some of the big ticket items.

• Annotative scaling for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) and AutoCAD MEP (AMEP).
  
• IFC 2x3 compliancy for ACA and AMEP along with the Revit based products is now built into the software package.
  
• Display settings are now available on the Properties palette for editing (my personal favorite)
  
• VIZ 2008 inherited all the sweet mental ray goodies from MAX 9.

I have a feeling that I will be leaning towards more info on Design Visualization in the future and how AutoCAD, ACA, AMEP, Revit, AutoCAD Civil 3D and Inventor work together with VIZ and MAX. It always been something I've wanted to get into on a deeper level and now I finally am in a position to do so.

Autodesk Techcamp 2007

Well, next week is the Autodesk Techcamp (formerly known as bootcamp and something more appropriate in my opinion). We will be going over the new features of the new products and how to implement them. I think this year has some of the greatest enhancements to the software packages offered in a while. If you are wondering what Techcamp is like, it's similar to AU, but no where near as fun. Being held in Orlando has a little to do with that and the fact that you must attend classes affects the atmosphere too. This will also be my first chance to really get in depth with the new software. I've participated in the betas for AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture, but not to the extent I would have liked to. We will see what stuff this year turns up.

No More VIZ Render

I knew there would be a select few wondering were VIZ Render (VIZR) has gone to when they load ACA2008. This portion of ACA (formerly ADT) has been discontinued. In my opinion, it has always been lacking in features to make it really useful. In addition to that, I found it extremely cumbersome to use after spending so much time using full VIZ and MAX as well. Really, what you should be looking into, is the core 3D functionality that was added to AutoCAD (actually rebuilt) starting with the release in 2007. They incorporated the mental ray engine that has been part of MAX and VIZ for some time now. So now you can achieve the same effects in AutoCAD/ACA as you could have done with VIZR - only without the pain of linking your model, struggling thru the material editor that lacked many features of VIZ and not having to worry what happens when you have an update to the building. Of course you can still link to VIZ or MAX, but that is only if you have them as a whole.

My last post on Architechtural Desktop

Well, it's official! Architectural Desktop is no more. I've heard a number of rumors in the past year with people saying ADT is going away, it's being replaced with Revit, Autodesk is abandoning one of it's largest installed user base for it's products, etc... I hope your happy. Introducing AutoCAD Architecture 2008. Well, alright, I may have over done it slightly.

ADT is really still here - it's just sporting a new name and a new look. I know many have mixed feelings on the name change - as do I. I was introduced to ADT with the release of 2004. I immediately embraced the step up from vanilla AutoCAD and jumped right in with both feet learning the platform in and out. For those that remember the splash screen from ADT 2004 and 2005, it was a picture (tinted blue) of the Tokyo International Glass Forum Building (picuture included at end of post). In 2005, I had the opportunity to give the building a visit while on vacation in Japan. I have to say it's a wonderful building, but then again, I'm also a big fan of all things Japanese - so I'm a little biased. That being said, ADT has been all I've known the product as. Others who go back further recall it as softdesk (prior to Autodesk buyout). So I suppose one more name change isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, right?

Perhaps. Change is part of our life. Yet for some reason, when it comes to technology, many people don't like change (I'd say 50%-60% - this might change as the years go on, but currently that is my opinion). So for some, this name change is world shattering - life ending. For others, it's just another day at the office. At first, I was more than a little bothered by this name change, however I quickly snapped out of it and realized a couple of things. One is that change is, as I said, part of our world. The other was that I had no ability to change the mind of a multi-billion dollar company and their marketing departments' choice to change a few product names. So I quickly moved on and accepted the fact that ADT was gone and replaced by AutoCAD Architecture or ACA for short. This change affects more than just Autodesk - many other companies will have to adapt to this name change. Blog names will need updating. Websites need updating. Speaking of updating websites, the ADT/ABS Community on AUGI is being updated in anticipation of the new products shipping. I suppose I should get busy editing those web pages!