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Autodesk Unveils 2009 Versions of MCAD Products

"Autodesk is changing the way companies think about their design processes, with workflows more efficient and effective than ever before," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "With the release of our 2009 product line, we're helping manufacturers address their business-critical issues such as innovation, support for larger designs, and working with other people's data. By putting powerful Digital Prototyping technology within the reach of mainstream manufacturers, they can experience the future results of their work with analysis, simulation tools and detailed visualization."

Digital Prototyping Improves Manufacturers Competitive Strengths

International Data Corporation (IDC) analyst Gisela Wilson, Director of IDC's Product, Project and Portfolio Management Solutions Program recently issued a report on the competitive advantage that Digital Prototyping provides in today's manufacturing area. "Manufacturers are embracing Digital Prototyping as a way to stay ahead of market trends, such as the growing demand for superior styling of consumer goods and the need for accelerated time-to-market." Wilson said, "Additionally, designers can try a larger number of design choices because designs can be executed much more rapidly than with physical prototypes."

The report emphasized Autodesk's strong competitive position within the Digital Prototyping marketplace, due to its comprehensive and ever-evolving product portfolio. "Autodesk is poised to become the clear leader in Digital Prototyping -- from industrial design and high end visualization through to manufacturing -- with its broad product offering for new product design, development and data management," said Wilson.

Inventor 2009: The Foundation of Digital Prototyping

Since its initial release in 1999, manufacturers in a variety of fields -- from automotive and consumer products, to industrial equipment and machinery -- have relied on Inventor software to streamline their workflows. As the foundation of Digital Prototyping, the products in the Inventor product family produce 3D models that validate the form, fit and function of a design before it is built. The Inventor 2009 product line makes enhancements to many of the core design tools within the Inventor product line, offering significant increases in productivity. New features include:

• Enhanced Sheet Metal Design: Inventor 2009 simplifies the design of a large range of widely used sheet metal constructs by providing accurate digital prototypes that faithfully represent the as-manufactured part.

• Enhanced Simulation: Numerous enhancements to the dynamic simulation environment make the tools more accessible and easier to use, allowing users to more efficiently validate their digital prototypes very early in the design process.
• Native 64 Bit Support: Inventor 2009 ships with 32 bit and 64 bit implementations so users can take full advantage of newer 64 bit computers. Users can confidently approach even larger projects knowing that they will be able to work with very large part counts and not have to worry about the memory barrier of 32 bit systems.
• Large Assembly Capacity: Using assembly substitutes, users have the advantages of lighter assemblies that still preserve accurate mass properties, including center of gravity, assembly constraints and bill of materials data.

• Interoperability: Native translators support direct data exchange between Autodesk Inventor and UGS, SolidWorks or Pro/ENGINEER by importing and exporting Parasolid, importing UG-NX, importing SolidWorks, importing and exporting Granite and importing Pro/E.
• Self Draining Pipe Runs: Inventor Routed Systems Suite 2009 allows users to define tube and pipe styles to support the design of self draining lines. Users can also auto-route self draining lines by automatically generating hygienic pipe routes with the correct runoff to eliminate horizontal segments.

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• Enhanced Design Accelerators: Inventor 2009 reduces the learning curve associated with rapidly designing, analyzing and creating commonly used machine components such as bolted connections, gears and shafts by using real-world attributes, such as speed, power and material properties.
• Frame Generator: In Inventor 2009, users can publish their profiles to the Content Center for use in Frame Generator. A new Frame Shape Authoring tool has been developed to facilitate the publishing operations.

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"Digital Prototyping has changed the way we think about our design processes and helped us create more productive workflows for the equipment we build," said Jeff Thompson, a CAD Manager and Design Drafter at Allied Systems. "The enhancements in Inventor 2009 will make it faster for us to analyze and optimize our designs before anything is built. In particular, the new Sheet Metal tools will provide instant productivity, reducing the overall time of the design and manufacturing process." Leaders in the engineering and manufacturing of specialized heavy lift and material handling equipment, Allied Systems originally served the wood products industry, but now spans multiple product lines.

Digital Prototyping Solutions for Every Stage of Design

Along with Inventor, Autodesk is releasing new versions of its Digital Prototyping applications which extend and enhance the workflows of its customers, including:

• AutoCAD Mechanical 2009: AutoCAD Mechanical is the AutoCAD software for manufacturing, purpose-built to accelerate the mechanical design process with standards-based symbol libraries, engineering calculators and a mechanical-specific workflow created to significantly improve productivity for AutoCAD users in manufacturing. New features such as support for the international GOST drafting standard and instant access to a Favorites List of standard parts save countless hours of effort, allowing users to spend more time innovating and less time drafting.
• AutoCAD Electrical 2009: AutoCAD Electrical is the AutoCAD software for controls designers, purpose-built to design electrical controls systems quickly and accurately with automated tasks, comprehensive symbol libraries, and an electrical-specific workflow designed to dramatically increase productivity in controls engineering. The new release delivers the tools needed to develop designs faster and more accurately than ever before, including a Circuit Builder that allows users to dynamically generate circuits based upon functional requirements.
• AliasStudio 2009: The Autodesk AliasStudio product line provides a set of tools for the industrial design process, helping companies create superior designs in less time. It enables designers to work and capture their ideas digitally, from initial sketches to 3D concept models. From its unique integrated paint tools, to its enhanced modeling and reverse engineering capabilities, the AliasStudio products address the unique creative requirements of the entire industrial design workflow in product and transportation design.
• Showcase 2009: Autodesk Showcase software helps users create accurate, highly realistic representations from 3D CAD data, enabling informed decision making on digital prototypes. With updated ambient shadow features and an expanded library of realistic materials, this latest release of Showcase makes it easier than ever to present and review designs for important product decisions or presentations. Showcase gathers data from various 3D sources now including reading in data from Inventor.
• Productstream 2009: Autodesk Productstream securely stores and manages engineering design data and related documents. Powerful new search engine technology is incorporated into the latest release, along with a multi-site replication module which allows digital information to be shared easily between sites, thereby speeding up data search, increasing design reuse and collaboration.

Availability

Product availability will vary by country. Details and purchasing options will be accessible starting March 25, 2008, at: http://www.autodesk.com/purchaseoptions. Information and selected content from Autodesk World Press Days may be found at http://www.worldpressdays08.com/. Users of any of the AutoCAD 2009 family of products will also benefit from the availability of free Autodesk Design Review 2009 software, which allows team members to participate in the digital review process with tools to view, mark up and revise designs electronically.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com/. 

Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Mechanical, AliasStudio, Showcase, Productstream, Autodesk Inventor and Inventor are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

IDC, "Autodesk Acquires Three Visualization Companies, Opening the Door for Broader Use of Digital Prototyping in Manufacturing" (September 2007)

*Free products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies download of the software

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Source: Material used in press releases is often supplied by external sources and used as is.