Cadalyst - December 2007 - (Page 15)

techtrends design? Robert Kross, Autodesk’s senior vice-president of manufacturing solutions division, believes letting the designers feel the burden of their own designs might be a good start. “Something as simple as a mass meter,” he proposed. “Say, in the corner of your Inventor screen, you have a constant mass meter that shows the mass of the product you’re designing, and you can see [the effect] of every change you make instantly reflected, it will certainly change your point of view.” Bass remarked, “Just imagine. If you’re designing [the cover for] an MP3 player and you knew [the manufacturer] will be making two million of them, what material might you choose? Paper or plastic?” Following the example of energy-analysis software such as Green Building Studio (for architecture), Bass and Kross imagined CAD modeling packages with carbon-output calculating features. The truth is, this territory is new for Autodesk. The company hasn’t figured out where or how to obtained this data. “There’s no source today,” admitted Kross. “We’re looking at ways to develop it.” Bass identified industry consortiums and national standards groups as possible Figure 2. Autodesk predicts that photorealistic renderings similar to the ones shown here, created in Autodesk Showcase, will soon replace the clay models in the automakers’ decision-making and design-review processes. resources. Another idea, proposed by Kross, was to follow the Wikipedia model and build a database using community input. The Tangible Mockup The rise of digital prototyping, however, doesn’t mean the death of physical prototypes. Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk’s vice-president of CAD/CAE manufacturing There are better ways to bring 3D into your life! There are better ways to bring 3D into your life! There are better ways to bring 3D into your life! Carlson Software is starting a revolution, a revolution in 3D design. We are doing this with Carlson Civil, Carlson Hydrology and Carlson Takeoff. The time is now; Carlson 2008 is shipping. There are numerous firsts: I Carlson Civil has 3D street intersections and cul-desacs built into its fullfeatured 3D design tools; I Carlson Hydrology works directly from an accurate 3D terrain model and layers to design entire stormwater systems; and I Carlson Takeoff contains unique elevating routines that take other “non-3D” or “partial 3D” drawings to fully accurate, gradable surfaces for estimating and machine control. It’s time to start working and living in 3D. Call for a demo now or visit us on the web to learn more: www.carlsonsw.com ® 800-989-5028 Works Simply Simply Works www.cadalyst.com | cadalyst | December 2007 15 http://www.carlsonsw.com http://www.carlsonsw.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - December 2007

Cadalyst - December 2007 Contents Editor's Window Cad Central Autodesk Gets Digital Top Honors - Saluting Outstanding CAD Products NX 5, Part 2 — CAD/CAM/CAE Software Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 —3D Modeling, Animation, and Rendering Software Document Management: Is It Still Valid? Standardizing 3D Modeling Nomenclature Share and Share Alike Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Cad Fidential

Cadalyst - December 2007

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