Autodesk Research


  • An updated model of the NEST building, now live on Dasher 360

    A few days ago our friends at BIM Facility AG sent through a new version of the Revit model for the iconic NEST building. This version is much more complete: it has the award-winning Urban Mining and Recycling Unit modelled, as well as having a significant amount of additional detail (furniture, etc.) elsewhere in the building. The DFAB House has also received a makeover, getting more realistic materials, plus the ability to see into its ground floor and robotically-printed supporting wall. Considering all the hard work the BIM Facility team has put into making this version so much better, we…


  • Not coming to Las Vegas? Watch two of my AU2019 sessions from the comfort of your armchair

    Or at your desk, or from the train. Just please don't watch them while driving. Anyway, the point is that this year two of the three sessions I'm presenting at Autodesk University 2019 are part of the event's livestream schedule. The first is on Wednesday at 10:30am Pacific: The second is on Thursday at 3pm Pacific (I have a 15-minute segment at some point during the hour timeslot): I'm not sure what's happening with my third class – which is focused on Project Rediscover – but if that doesn't end up getting recorded I'll make sure equivalent material is posted…


  • Project Rediscover - version 2 of the MaRS graph is now available for download

    In advance of next week's AU2019 class entitled "Hands-on with Project Rediscover: generatively designing Autodesk Toronto's office", I'm happy to announce that version 2 of the MaRS graph is now available for download. (Many thanks to Simon Breslav for all his work on the graph, as well as to both Simon and Rhys Goldstein for their hard work making Space Analysis what it is: a cornerstone of Project Rediscover.) While version 1 was about "getting something out there that works", the focus for version 2 was to have something that's more discoverable and understandable. We've done a few things to…


  • Research study at AU on "Generative Design in VR for Structural Engineering"

    Colleagues in Autodesk Research are working on some really interesting technology that you can try out at AU2019. There's an Idea Exchange study entitled "Generative Design in VR for Structural Engineering" being held at these times during the conference: Tuesday November 19th, 12pm–3pm and 3:30pm–6pm Wednesday November 20th, 3:30pm–6pm Those interested just need to swing by the Idea Exchange (it's a big space on the way to exhibition hall and will be hard to miss) during these timeslots and let the recruiter know they want to participate in the study. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and will be…


  • Counting down the days to AU2019

    I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my material for Autodesk University 2019. To encourage a few last-minute sign-ups, here are a few teaser GIFs from my classes. The first is from the class on Project Rediscover (which is apparently now full at 109 sign-ups, so in quite a small room). I used Capturefinery to create a GIF of quite a large Refinery study, but this time highlighting the congestion in a more 3D context. The second is from the class on Project Dasher – and using Forge for advanced data visualization – which still has 36 spaces in the…


  • Knee-deep in AU prep

    Things have been quiet on this blog, since my return from Scotland. Mainly because I've been heads-down dealing with preparation for Autodesk University 2019, which I'd love to say was on the horizon, whereas it's – more accurately – coming at top speed around a nearby streetcorner. In less than 3 weeks many us us will be flying to Las Vegas for the latest installment of my favourite annual conference. Today was the deadline for AU speakers to submit class handouts: I managed to submit something for both my classes, so I can now switch focus to the various presentations…


  • Autodesk’s third Soirée de l’Excellence Française in Paris

    On Wednesday morning I hopped on the train to Paris, once again, this time to present at Autodesk France's third "Soirée de l'Excellence Française", an invitation-only VIP event for AEC customers in France. (I'd have blogged about it beforehand if the event was open to all, of course.) I arrived at la Gare de Lyon, as usual, and found an interesting art exhibit outside. I walked next door to the citizenM – part of the chain of hotels I've stayed at for AU London, the last two years. It's a fun place to stay, although the switch to turn all…


  • Looking back at the GD for AEC Residency; looking forward to the DBEI Hackathon

    The Toronto team has posted a nice video looking back at July's Generative Design for AEC Residency: It was clearly an interesting event – I do hope I'll get to attend the next one. Here's a still I extracted that shows Sol Amour, Dynamo's Product Manager, hacking away at Python inside Dynamo. The Python node is big enough to be clearly visible on the video (the code itself is not, but I'm sure it's about to do something cool). I'm starting to think about next Wednesday's DBEI Hackathon, which has the theme "Generative Design in Practice" and so I'm also…


  • Talking to VINCI in Paris

    After a quick trip to Zurich on Tuesday, on Wednesday I took the train to Paris. I'd booked a hotel that was convenient for our Paris office, and walked there from la Gare de Lyon through le Parc de Bercy. I'd made tentative plans to meet up with friends in the evening, but as they had to cancel (for excellent reasons) I ended up wandering around Bercy Village to get a quick bite to eat. I'm mostly a people person, but I have to admit that having the occasional evening to myself is bit of a treat. (I'll be back…


  • The first BIM 360 community event in Switzerland

    Yesterday I was back at the NEST building in Dübendorf for Autodesk's first BIM 360 community event in Switzerland. It was nice to be back there, even if just to see the progress being made on the construction of the HiLo roof. Here's the view from the ground: I also went up to take a few snaps from the roof. You can clearly see the knitted cabling that will provide support for the structure. There were a few people working on the structure, too. (I took my snaps from an open doorway as I didn't want to disturb them.) But…