The Gear Box

Ahh, the Week Before AU

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:19:00 -0700

So I’ve been working for a while now on my new BIM for Manufacturers class, videos, presentation, etc and I’m pretty geeked about rolling it out at AU. BIM as many of you know is one of the few ackronyms we through around here… just a few [grin]. It stands for Building Information Modeling and it is absolutely revolutionizing the way in which buildings are designed, constructed, and commissioned. If you are a building product or equipment manufacturer you are already aware of the demands for “BIM content”.

So what architects, contractors, and building owners are asking of you sounds at the surface at least an easy request. “Hey, you already have that thing-a-ma-bob already modeled up – why don’t you just sent that my way so I can put it into my Revit file?” Oh, what’s that you say…. It’s a 15,000 part assembly, and you have every nut bolt and washer, tolerance, drilled and tapped hole, folded and unfolded sheet metal parts built into that model. Well that’s just too much detail, why would you put that much detail into a 3D model…. Hmmm, maybe its because our entire manufacturing process is derived from my Digital Prototype.

So this is the dilemma that I’m working to resolve. How can I provide information to architects, contractors, and engineers that contains the right information, with the right level of detail, right now?

Ready for it….wait, here it comes – It depends.

That’s Confucius level thinking there eh? Did you hear the harpsichord in the background while you read the ultimate answer – It depends… I did.

But seriously it depends on two key things. Your current deliverables – are you a 2D or 3D house. Second it depends on your desired result – is this a situation where I can send “the” exact configuration of a specific order to the architect, or do I want to market my products through an online resource designed specifically to host product specifications and design files?

So you see what I mean then, right? It honestly depends. Over the next month I’m going to be rolling out workflows for four key profiles in this process.

1. 2D design houses that are happy to be 2D for now but still need to create 3D BIM content. Without slowing down engineering production.

2. Autodesk Inventor houses that want to protect intellectual property, but also want to provide BIM content without remodeling what has already been modeled.

3. AnyCAD houses that can utilize the tools designed specifically to simplify models using native translators and AEC Exchange functionality again to provide BIM content without remodeling.

4. Houses that want to publish a catalog of products, in multiple formats, and host that data on an online resource designed to host product specification and design files.

So a lot of information coming out after Autodesk University. Stay tuned and I hope to see many of you in two weeks in Las Vegas baby!. (what you can’t say Vegas without saying Vegas Baby….right?)

-Rob

Countdown to Autodesk University...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:21:00 -0700

The MFG lounge will host a Digital Prototyping Answer Bar throughout the week. If you have questions, or need hands-on technical support for Inventor, AutoCAD, or any of your Digital Prototyping products, or would like to know product direction and general information you can get friendly, expert advice at the Digital Prototyping Answer Bar in the Manufacturing Lounge at AU 2009.

Product managers and experts have extensive knowledge of Digital Prototyping products and can answer all of your technical questions. In fact, our experts can take care of all of your troubleshooting needs. Come to AU 2009 with all of your questions ready for our team.

Visit the A-Bar page for more information.

BRING YOUR BEST TIPS AND TRICKS AND YOU COULD WIN

Throughout the week in the MFG lounge, you will have an opportunity to sit with one of our product evangelists and share your best tips and tricks for using our products. Sit down and record a video that will be uploaded onto our YouTube channel, and make sure to tell all of your friends and co-workers to check it out. If your video is in the top 10 at the end of AU, you will receive an amazing prize that will WOW them all. All you need to bring is a flash memory or external hard drive with your best tip and/or trick and a smile, and you could find yourself at the top of the leader board at AU.

Member from the Ellipsis team will be there, come and meet us in person!

YouTube Question

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:57:00 -0700

Every now and again I get a question like this. What's the difference between Inventor and [insert CAD software here]. Fundamentally it comes down to standards, analysis, documentation, motion, collaboration, that makes a difference as I see it. Read on:

Q: OK...I know you're biased...but can you be "Candid" and tell me why Inventor is better/easier than using SketchUp Pro? I haven't tried Inventor but I use SU professionally with great results...but inventor is making me scratch my head. Your thoughts?....

My Answer: SketchUp is a geometry creation tool where Autodesk Inventor is an engineering tool. FEA, Part Libraries (750,000+ standard components), Sheet Metal part creation and flat patterns, Tube and Pipe, Cable Harness, Document in 2D DWG directly from the 3D model. I could go on and on, and that's not being biased - just honest.

Sure you can create 3D solids with SketchUp, but is it the right size, the right material based upon its application, can you create 2D DWG's from the model, can you test the strength or fatigue of a part in an assembly while in motion? That's the difference between a geometry creation tool and an engineering tool.

So, was I biased? (This is the interactive portion of this blog...really I'm looking for your thoughts....)

-Rob

Autodesk Alias Design - From the Beginning Lesson1 - Part 5

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:03:27 -0700

This videos demonstrates how canvas planes can be used and also viewed in Autodesk Alias Design.

You can download the files used in Lesson 1 from this link:

files/34701_34800/34701/file_34701.zip

Here is a tip card for you to reference as you are learning also:

files/34701_34800/34711/file_34711.pdf

Ellipsis Representin' at Autodesk University

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:01:00 -0700

I know, it’s a rough assignment…Vegas every year, classes, crowds, food, fun – whoa is me… HA! I love Vegas it never gets old. Remember when we had it in Orlando? I took the kids…happiest place on earth my – anyway back to the point. The MFG Technical Evangelist team will all be representin’ this year at AU. You’ll be able to track us down at the Manufacturing Lounge, and the Community Pavilion, and of course our classes. Each of us have at least two classes and they break down as follows:

Jay Tedeschi

MA118-5 Digital Prototyping: The Rosetta Stone

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5396

Class Description: The Rosetta Stone was instrumental in gaining an understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. Today that term has become synonymous with something that is a critical key to decrypting or translating a difficult problem. This class will help you understand the Digital Prototyping process, and how it is more approachable and attainable than you may think. You already have the tools. Now we are going to show you how to use them.

MA208-4 Surface Modeling From A to Z with Autodesk Inventor 2010

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5392

Class Description: We will focus on a look at surface modeling from the ground up with Autodesk Inventor 2010. Improvements to the sketching environment, especially those dealing with splines and their effect resultant surfaces, will be explained and demonstrated. Different approaches to building surfaces, and ensuring that the desired surface properties (e.g., curvature, tangency, etc.) are maintained, will be emphasized. Best practices with regard to all of the elements of a successful surfacing strategy will be stressed throughout.

Rob Cohee

MA122-3 The Convergence of BIM and Digital Prototyping

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5176

Class Description: Building product and equipment manufacturers are on the front lines of both building information modeling (BIM) and digital prototyping. When strategically applied, BIM and digital prototyping complement each other to the extent that the information required to create and relay architectural and engineering intent as well as manufacturing, construction, and assembly levels of detail occur as a matter of consequence, and not as a reinterpretation of intent at each phase of construction and manufacturing. This class will explore how building product and equipment manufacturers can utilize the Autodesk portfolio of software products to collaborate with architects, engineers, and builders in the fluid exchange of BIM-ready design.

MA318-1 Building Fabrication: A Peek Behind the Curtain…Wall

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5184

Class Description: Increasingly ambitious building designs, the growing technical complexity of modern building envelopes, concern for more sustainable design, and mounting economic pressures are all leading the building industry to seek more efficient processes that improve predictability and control within a building project. The fabrication of building components is becoming increasingly prevalent in architecture, thus challenging ideas as to what is possible, how project information is created and consumed; and challenging the overall building industry to reevaluate its processes to become a more predictable, sustainable, and environmentally responsible business. This class will illustrate how Autodesk is addressing the digital exchange of design intent throughout the building process.

Justin Hoey

MA314-3 Improving a Da Vinci Design Using Autodesk Inventor

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5098

Class Description: Let's take a look at what we can do to make one of Leonardo Da Vinci's designs faster, better, and stronger! We'll use digital prototyping with Autodesk Inventor Pro and Algor.

MA122-1 Sustainable Product Design in Digital Prototyping

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5358

Class Description: The same Autodesk® digital prototyping software that manufacturers use to design, visualize and simulate their ideas can also enable customers to innovate in sustainable ways. These include saving energy and optimizing material use. Walk through a digital prototyping workflow, learning how designers and engineers can leverage technology to design and engineer greener—from conceptual design through to manufacturing—with less environmental impact.

Chris Hall

DV204-1 Advanced Visualization Using Autodesk Showcase and Maya

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5247

Class Description: As visualization expands, the need to add more movement and realism is increasing in demand. We will look at how to use Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk Maya together to create simple to complex animations.

MA218-5 Digital Manufacturing: Know It’s Right Before It Leaves the Building

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5302

Class Description: It is very important that new products are not only innovative but also aesthetically appealing. The complexity of manufacturing processes and current economic pressures are leading manufacturers to seek dramatic improvements in processes and tools that improve product quality and time to market. With rapid technology and software advancements, are you taking full advantage of the software tools available today? Learn how Autodesk® tools and processes can dramatically improve your design process, reduce physical prototype costs, reduce tooling changes late in the manufacturing cycle and improve product quality.

Brian Sather

MA208-1L Plastic Part and Mold Design Validation Using Autodesk Moldflow Software

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5350

Class Description: Autodesk Moldflow software products are proven solutions that assist in validating plastic part and mold designs for manufacturability, quality, cost, and sustainability. Learn how extending digital prototyping into the realm of part and mold simulation can help you make good decisions early in your design process. We will examine variables, such as plastic choice, wall thickness, gate location, runner layout, etc., while analyzing the filling and cooling of the mold.

MA222-1 Injection Mold Design Using Autodesk Inventor Tooling

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5468

Class Description: This class will walk attendees through the process of designing, analyzing, and validating a plastics injection mold using Autodesk Inventor Tooling. We will cover everything from automatic core and cavity generation to utilizing the built-in Moldflow simulation technology and standard libraries of mold components to quickly and effectively design a high-quality production mold.

Jamie Gilchrist

ID208-1 Confluence: The Merging of Industrial Design and Engineering

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5340

Class Description: This class will show you how to successfully integrate Autodesk Alias Design data into your Inventor engineering development.

MA222-3 The New Kid in Town: Autodesk Inventor in Consumer Products

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5347

Class Description: Learn how Autodesk Inventor can serve the Consumer Products industry in the design and development process. See how our technologies have been integrated into Inventor to provide you with a powerful tool to develop your products all the way from initial form to tooling design.

Kevin Richards

ID 314-1 Creative Shape Exploration in Autodesk Inventor

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5431

Class Description: Bridge the gap between freeform surface development and solid modeling in Inventor. This class will look into a new technology that will revolutionize the form exploration capabilities of your digital prototype.

We're doing some fun things with our YouTube Channels, Twitter, 12SecondTV and more. Want to tell your colleagues how much your learning at AU? Track one of us down...just might make you famous! See you at Autodesk University.

-Rob

Autodesk Alias Design - From the Beginning Lesson1 - Part 4

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:10:00 -0700

This video covers creating a project directory structure in Autodesk Alias Design. By using a the proper directory structure your files are organized correctly and you are less likely to have missing file links as your project matures.

User_data

The user_data directory is created by Autodesk Alias Design and will be re-created if you delete it. If you store all your data in the user_data directory, then it will be easy to locate and organize using the Autodesk Alias Design file tools.

However, you may want to store your data on a network server, or a memory stick. This is no problem, but it is advised that you create your own user_data directory and keep the project structure the same underneath.

Project

The idea of a Project is important because an AliasStudio model file may contain many different types of information, which reference each other, in particular images (pix) and geometry (wire).

Wire Directory

This is the directory you will use most of the time, and it is where you store your geometry files. However, a geometry file that is used for rendering or concept sketching will reference image files, which will be stored separately in the pix directory.

Pix Directory

The pix directory is where you will store images that you reference (texture files, sketches) AND images that you create (renderings).

The Concept of a Current Project

As you do more work in AliasStudio, you will have more and more projects. To make life easier for yourself, you can tell AliasStudio which one is your current project. This will then become the default for all your saving and filing. Most importantly though, it is where any crash files will be saved, so it is useful to know where to go and look for the saved data.

Current Project and Image File References

Another good reason for setting the Current Project is the pix directory of the current project will be the default location where AliasStudio looks for the image files.

New Project

The New Project button simply creates a directory with all the subdirectories. You will need to rename the project as it will be given the default name of ‘new_project’.

You can download the files used in Lesson 1 from this link:

files/34701_34800/34701/file_34701.zip

Here is a tip card for you to reference as you are learning also:

files/34701_34800/34711/file_34711.pdf

From Bland to Bold.....

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:28:00 -0700

I was working on my Autodesk University 2009 class this weekend and I thought I would capture the over all flow of how I took a model with not alot of color and turned it into a nice bold image.

This model is available for download at this site:

www.thecgizone.com/

I was also having a little fun with Adobe After Effects CS4

Autodesk Alias Design - From the Beginning

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:48:00 -0700

We recently added a downloadable trial version of Autodesk Alias Design. With this trial becoming available I thought it was important to create a video series on Autodesk Alias Design that focused on the foundations of using Autodesk Alias Design. There will be mulitple lesson's that each have a set of supporting videos that help create a foundation for using the software. I hope these videos help you in developing a solid foundation with Autodesk Alias Design.

Download Trial Link:

usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index

These first 3 videos focus on the interface of Autodesk Alias Design.

Lesson1 - Part 1 - This video focuses on what the interface looks like when you first install the software. We will make some modifications to the interface to improve your initial user experience.

Lesson 1 - Part 2 - This video focuses on navigating the Autodesk Alias Design Interface.

Here is a tip image on Navigation to help with Lesson 1 - Part 2

Lesson 1 - Part 3 - This video focuses on working with the perspective and orthographic windows. We look at options such as maximizing your current view window as well as using hot keys to control your current view window.

You can download the files used in Lesson 1 from this link:

files/34701_34800/34701/file_34701.zip

Here is a tip card for you to reference as you are learning also:

files/34701_34800/34711/file_34711.pdf

If you are ready to keep going you can view the rest of Lesson 1 at this playlist link:

www.youtube.com/view_play_list

Part 4 - Using the Project Directory Structure

Part 5 - Intro on how to use Canvas Planes

Part 6 - Zooming around your scene

Part 7 - Point of Interest

Part 8 - Picking Objects

Part 9 - Managing your scene with Layers

There will be future blog posts on the "From The Beginning Series" so stay tuned!

Chris

Autodesk Showcase - Adding Materials to your Scene

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:37:00 -0700

This video focuses on adding materials to your objects in the scene. By combining Environments and materials together in your scene, your design will begin to take on a level of realism as it might appear in the real world.

This is the fifth installment in a series of videos that show how to author a Autodesk Inventor Assembly in Autodesk Showcase. This video continues where part 1 left off in adding materials to your objects in the scene.

By combining Environments and materials together in your scene, your design will begin to take on a level of realism as it might appear in the real world.

Autodesk Inventor 1:44 Bend Part

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:01:00 -0700

It has been a little while since my last video post . So here it is. This time we are taking a look at the” bend part” command. This is definitely an underused feature, and I think that it really is captured here, how useful it can be Enjoy!