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Autodesk: Ready to Make Anything | CADInnovation.com

Pete Singer, Senior Editor

Autodesk has combined its most powerful software and services to create one simple package.

Last year, Autodesk stopped selling new subscriptions or perpetual licenses for Design & Creation Suites. In their place, three new industry collections were introduced for 1) Architecture, Engineering and Construction, 2) Product Design, and 3) Media and Entertainment.

Autodesk industry collections provide the following benefits:

  • Access to a wide selection of the most essential Autodesk software for your industry in a single collection that will evolve and get better over time
  • Continuous access to the latest software releases and enhancements
  • Flexible term lengths (monthly, quarterly, annual, multi-year)
  • Both single-user (individual) and multi-user (shared) access offered
  • Previous Version Rights
  • Global Travel Rights
  • Access to more cloud services
  • Technical support
  • Administrative tools

Figure 1 shows the desktop software and cloud services available in the industry collections. It is also possible to subscribe to additional individual products in order to address specialized needs (i.e., Simulation, Data Management, etc.).

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Collection, for example, is a rich portfolio of interoperable Building Information Modeling (BIM) and CAD software. Users choose the individual products they want to download and install โ€“ whether itโ€™s for occasional use, to meet requirements of a particular project or client, or to explore new workflows.

BIM is a way to design, construct, and operate buildings that involves creating and using intelligent 3D models. Building professionals recognize that BIM can alleviate many of the business challenges they face by facilitating more effective collaboration and providing greater project insight earlier in the design and construction process.

Autodesk Revit software by itself delivers the tools for better project outcomes associated with BIM, but when Revit is deployed as part of the AEC Collection its power significantly increases. The Collection includes software and services that work with Revit to help the user fully explore ideas, carefully evaluate design options, and make well-informed design decisions.

Figure 1

Make design decisions smarter and earlier: Users capture ideas and conceptualize designs using FormIt, and sketches and massing studies automatically translate into BIM data within Revit. Thanks to native integration with FormIt, users can avoid rework and enjoy a seamless, efficient workflow between concept and design. With Revit Live, users can turn their models into an immersive experience in one click. Users can walk through their model to experience the design in virtual reality and better understand it before its built.

Focus on design: Users can spend more time designing and less time drawing by generating responsive 3D models in BIM. They place intelligent elements such as walls, doors, and windows only once, and Revit will automatically create accurate floor plans, elevations, sections, schedules, 3D views, and renderings.

Generate more design alternatives from a single idea: Users can explore parametric designs using Revitโ€™s computational design tools for design optimization and generation of complex forms. Whereas in a 2D process just a few options might be explored, Dynamo and Revit make it easy to explore dozens of options.

Make smarter design decisions: Insight cloud-based analysis services are used to optimize and iterate during the design phase. Users can perform sun and shadow studies using accurate lighting and materials to see how light will affect the model, or run an illuminance study to see a rendering of light within a room. Powerful performance analysis engines help optimize building performance early in the design process, run cost estimates, monitor changes in performance over the course of the project, and help users understand how the building will perform over its lifetime.

Similarly, with the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection, users can go from design to manufacturing, with one subscription.ย  The collection includes fully-integrated simulation and 5-axis CAM with Autodesk Nastran In-CAD and HSM. Users can also explore cloud-based product development with Fusion 360 software.

The Media and Entertainment collection gives animators, modelers, and visual effects artists the tools to help them create compelling effects, believable 3D characters, and stunning environments for film, TV, and games.

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