Autodesk is looking at using “machine learning to automate speech and image recognition, make photos and videos searchable using system generated (automated) SmartTags, and to provide metrics on project safety, productivity and quality.”
From email:
Investment in Smartvid.io. Today Boston-based construction-focused startup Smartvid.io founder Josh Kanner announced the close of the company’s Series A funding round for which Autodesk is a proud investor. Smartvid.io embraces machine learning to automate speech and image recognition, make photos and videos searchable using system generated (automated) SmartTags, and to provide metrics on project safety, productivity and quality. The investment is expected to accelerate the delivery of AI to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry and the built environment as a whole. Smartvid.io is also now integrated into Autodesk’s BIM 360 software. Mr. Kanner was the co-founder of Vela Systems, which ultimately became Autodesk BIM 360 Field after Kanner’s company was acquired by Autodesk.
Going back in time, there was 123D Catch and related processing engines. Basically, it was a tool that took photos and turned them into something real in 3D. There was also something called Remake.
Now, we have Recap Photo, which basically does the same things. Over time, the processing engines have improved. Recap Photo is part of your Recap Pro licence, and now integrated into your Recap Pro install. It looks something like this when you install the latest version of Recap (I downloaded the web installer from manage.autodesk.com):
Once installed, you can start the standalone ReCap Photo app:
Features of ReCap Photo include:
A new photogrammetry engine that can process up to 1,000 photos, a 4x improvement from the previous maximum of 250 photos (note: using the cloud service consumes Autodesk Cloud Credits)
The ability to set GPCs (Ground Control Points, survey points) in any coordinate system.
New functionality to support vertical and nadir photos (photos taken by drones and UAVs at 90 degrees above the site)
View your 3D photo-textured mesh
View the geolocated orthographic view, zoom in and out, and add measurements, tags, and annotations.
Share the project, including its additional metadata (measurements, tags, annotations), with anyone.
Merge laser scan point clouds with UAV-based point clouds.
In case you missed it, the AEC Collection now includes:
Revit Live
Robot Structural Analysis Professional
Structural Bridge Design
Dynamo Studio
Advance Steel
Fabrication CADmep
You should find these in your Autodesk account after logging in.
Quote from In The Fold:
Here are some highlights of what we’re adding to the AEC Collection.
In the new Collection, you’ll find Revit Live. Revit Live allows you to visualize your Revit models by turning them into immersive visual experiences. You can even take your designs into a virtual reality environment—in just two clicks of your mouse.
Also included is world-class analysis and computational design software. Robot Structural Analysis Professional and Structural Bridge Design work with Revit to extend your capabilities to perform structural analysis for any structure. And, you can now access the Dynamo Studio standalone programming environment to help solve challenges faster by automating workflows that drive the geometry and behavior of your design models.
Finally, the AEC Collection now extends capabilities from design to fabrication. Interoperable with Revit and Navisworks, we’ve added Advance Steel and Fabrication CADmep to the Collection so you can conceive, model and fabricate better MEP and structural steel systems on an integrated platform.
If you are using more than one Autodesk SSO, you may come across this problem…
After a Windows Update or something similar, Revit is not responsive after first launch. Clicking has no effect, but there is no dialog shown either.
You may investigate the process details and determine that LMU.exe is thrashing, and you could look at log file in C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and see it growing. You can also observe something like this in the Revit Journal file: ‘C 08-Aug-2017 14:53:49.479; 0:< manage licensing ‘C 08-Aug-2017 14:54:03.845; 0:< License checkout failed: 20 ‘C 08-Aug-2017 14:54:03.845; 0:< License cleanup skipped
This is telling us there is a licensing problem. In this case, a perpetual license has somehow become deactivated. What is the fix?
You need to login with Autodesk SSO login credentials that have the Perpetual license for that product available…
To do this:
Start Revit Viewer for the same year version that is causing the problem, such as Revit Viewer 2015
Use the top right panel to logout and login with the correct SSO (login credentials)
Then, attempt to launch the full Revit application
It should re-activate itself now that the correct login credentials have been used
You can probably switch back to other credentials now that the activation has occurred
You can also use the A360 icon to sign in, this may be more reliable in some cases:
Yet another situation where you need to know What Revit Wants 🙂
This recent announcement revealed some new features coming to 3dsMax 2018.1, primarily a real-time VR engine in Max based on Stingray. This page has the steps to install it. Basically, you install update 2018.1, then install Max Interactive:
Here are some ‘facts at a glance’ coming from Autodesk:
What’s the news with 3ds Max 2018.1?
Autodesk 3ds Max 2018.1 now includes 3ds Max Interactive, a real-time engine based on Autodesk Stingray. This new 3D to VR workflow is designed to provide 3ds Max users with a new way to create interactive and virtual reality (VR) experiences. It is included with the 3ds Max 2018.1 update.
Who is 3ds Max Interactive designed for?
3ds Max Interactive is a real-time engine for design visualization specialists based on Autodesk Stingray. It can be used in a number of different contexts but its focus is on helping to simplify the process of turning animations, such as architectural visualizations, into stunning virtual reality experiences.
How does this relate to Autodesk Revit Live?
Autodesk is committed to creating VR solutions for the widest spectrum of users. Last year we rolled out Autodesk Revit Live, the powerful, easy-to-use cloud-based visualization service for architects that transforms Autodesk Revit models into VR experiences in one click. Autodesk Revit Live is designed for architects who require a solution to quickly explore, understand, and share Autodesk Revit designs on their desktop or in virtual reality. The new VR tools in 3ds Max 2018.1 we are announcing today are aimed at design visualization specialists working to produce high-end, photoreal experiences. With the new 3ds Max to VR workflow, we’re shoring-up data drudgery with capabilities like support for translating materials from the popular V-Ray renderer in 3ds Max to VR – freeing visualization artists to focus on the part they care most about: creating stunning imagery.
How much does 3ds Max Interactive cost?
3ds Max Interactive is available to all current 3ds Max subscribers – either as a standalone product, or as part of an Autodesk industry collection – at no additional cost. It cannot be purchased separately.
The internet is bleeding hard today due to the well-publicized Amazon S3 outages. Autodesk services are also severely affected.
Collaboration for Revit (C4R) users may be wondering how to get access to their files when the service is down. Your best bet is to find the most recent local copy and possibly use that for the day.
You can find it by going to Windows Explorer and copying this address:
%localappdata%\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2016\CollaborationCache
or for Revit 2017:
%localappdata%\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2017\CollaborationCache
Then, go looking for your RVT files. They will have a long name with letters and numbers.
I recommend you open this file ‘detached’, and be fully aware that your project will not sync to C4R after you do that. You could isolate your work to part of the project only, and then possibly copy / paste back to the C4R project when it comes back.
Alternatively, save it as a new Central to your local file server, and then overwrite the C4R project later when it comes back online.
None of this is ideal of course, but if you want to get any work done today, you may have to try the above workarounds.
In case you missed it: Autodesk Suites are gone, you can’t buy them officially anymore. Instead, you can buy into an Industry Collection. Here are products in each Collection, from the FAQ:
And here is some information on renewals and floating license provisioning:
As we move more and more information and services to the cloud, 100% uptime becomes more and more necessary. In our BIM world, if you are running a project on C4R (Collaboration for Revit), and that cloud service goes down, the project could be severely affected.
If uptime is important, so is monitoring and reporting. You can now view the latest “health” status and history of Autodesk Cloud products using the Autodesk Health Dashboard.
