CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

10 April 2007

Product News

Autodesk Provides Customers Anytime, Anywhere Access to Review Designs Online and Offline

Autodesk, Inc. announced that Autodesk Design Review 2008, its comprehensive review, mark-up and design collaboration software, is now available worldwide for download free of charge.* The company also released its free* Autodesk Freewheel on-demand Web service that enables CAD teams to view and print designs within a Web browser, without installing any software. For design professionals who work in the manufacturing, geospatial and AEC industries, these solutions strengthen their ability to share and communicate design comments from non-CAD reviewers-digitally and globally. Tight integration of Design Review and Freewheel with AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Revit software products provides an easy-to-use, seamless solution for Autodesk customers collaborating in both 2D and 3D.

"Design Review just keeps getting better. The latest software release has already enabled us to extend efficient collaboration between our designers using Autodesk Inventor and the shop floor," commented Patrick Chartrand, CAD administrator at Advanced Dynamics, a Montreal-based manufacturer of heavy-duty material handling systems. "We expect to drive even greater reductions in production delays."

Improving Business Process with Integrated Digital Workflow

Design Review supports all-digital collaboration and communication of design changes, as well as easy integration of feedback into Autodesk manufacturing, AEC and geospatial applications. Users can view files, print, measure and mark them up as part of the review process. Autodesk Design Review 2008 helps improve these process efficiencies with new features:

•  3D measuring and mark-up with persistent views and user-defined coordinate systems

•  Version comparison, allowing a reviewer to understand additions and deletions

•  Georeferenced DWF files, giving field workers quick coordinate location details with GPS integration

•  Contextual search, providing online access to ThomasNet and GlobalSpec product catalog information directly from the design

•  Batch print with HP Instant Printing capabilities, accelerating printing productivity when sending multiple sheets or models to connected HP Designjet printers

Unfettered Collaboration

Freewheel addresses the need to share lightweight versions of 2D and 3D designs with project teams, without requiring the installation of software. Introduced on Autodesk Labs in July 2006 and following rapid success with more than 150,000 unique visitors, the service is now available in full release. Freewheel currently allows users to upload, view, print and share design information from within a Web browser and across Windows, Mac, Linux and wireless platforms. Beyond simplified sharing of designs, Freewheel enables Web designers to integrate 2D and 3D CAD information within Web applications and Web sites, without requiring installation of special software or plug-ins. For manufacturers hosting online catalogs, such capabilities enrich presentation; for users, there are fewer steps required to share CAD information online. Freewheel uses AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) technology for dynamic rendering of design data and graphics information.

Autodesk's strategic alliance with Microsoft is also supporting customers' need to share CAD designs without requiring additional software to be installed. Users of AutoCAD 2008-based products can now download the AutoCAD 2008 DWFx Driver from the Autodesk Web site and publish compact DWF files (DWFx files) or they can save designs as DWFx files from Autodesk Design Review 2008. DWFx files can be shared within Microsoft's XPS Viewer which ships with Microsoft Vista, .NET 3.0 and Internet Explorer 7.0 (see "Autodesk Unlocks Design Data for Windows Vista and XPS Users," November 30, 2006).

"Our customers are feeling the effects of forces at work around the world, from the globalization of business to the demands of emerging markets-and their need to collaborate with customers, suppliers and people outside the development and engineering departments has never been greater," said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Platform Solutions and Emerging Business, Autodesk. "Now companies of all sizes anywhere can take advantage of Autodesk solutions to level the obstacles to sharing and accessing design information, and ultimately, accelerate their design processes to be more responsive to business challenges and opportunities."

Product Availability

Autodesk Design Review 2008 is a free* download, available today in English, Chinese Simplified and Traditional, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese at http://www.autodesk.com/designreview-download . Autodesk Freewheel Web service is also available free of charge* in English at http://freewheel.autodesk.com/. AutoCAD 2008 DWFx Driver is a utility download available at http://www.autodesk.com/autocad in the utilities and drivers section.

Extending Design Information

DWF technology, Design Review, Freewheel and DWFx are key to Autodesk's efforts to extend access design information beyond the primary design team. DWF extends 2D and 3D design data to project teams, improving their project quality, costs and timeline without compromising accuracy, security or original intent. DWF technology built into virtually every Autodesk design solution includes capabilities to publish and share designs, manage design information and collaborate with non-CAD users. The platform's open and flexible architecture allows customers to connect their design information with their existing processes, and provides technology to hundreds of third- party developers to build DWF-based applications.

*Free products and services are subject to the terms and conditions of the accompanying end-user license agreement or terms of use.

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