Autodesk Seek indexes and categorises content from a wide variety of sources including data from content aggregator partners, your product libraries, and existing Revit and AutoCAD building product libraries. Once found, design files can be easily dropped directly into a building model or drawing, reducing the need to recreate individual components in the design. This embedded search functionality is now available in the 2009 U.S versions of Autodesk’s Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP, as well as AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD MEP.

As a manufacturer of building products, you can become a valued participant in the Autodesk Seek community, which strives to provide a forum for designers to communicate with each other, share design files and take advantage of the wealth of product information consolidated from manufacturers in a single online source.

With Autodesk Seek, you can reach your target audience by making your building products visible to the millions of highly motivated Autodesk Revit® and AutoCAD® designers who can specify your products directly into their BIM models or drawings.

Visit  http://seek.autodesk.com.

The console would shimmer and sparkle and, after a few seconds, a piping hot serving of tea complete with cup and saucer would materialize, ready for drinking.

The technology was known as a “replicator” because it replicated real things out of thin air. But, as it eventually turns out with much of Star Trek ’s gadgetry, the technology is not so fantastical after all.

“It’s not Star Trek anymore,” says Cathy Lewis, chief executive of Desktop Factory, a company that is making its own version of replicators. “It’s reality.”

Real-world replicators, also known as additive fabrication machines or “3D printers,” have actually existed for 20 years and were first used by industries that traditionally hop on board new gadgetry early, such as the military, aerospace and health sectors.

While they can’t create food and aren’t quite instantaneous, they can make objects out of thin air. They are also on the verge of breaking out into the mass market.

Early 3D printers were hulking behemoths and were extraordinarily slow and expensive. Today, the devices are considerably cheaper and smaller, and virtually every industry that needs to create prototypes of product models — from toy and hairbrush makers to toaster and cellphone designers — is using them.

“There are some companies that don’t have one, but you can’t find an industry without it,” says Joe Hiemenz, communications manager for 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys Inc.

A typical 3D printer is about the size of a filing cabinet or refrigerator. Lower-end models sell for around $20,000 while more advanced versions go for more than $1 million. The largest machines can create objects measuring three feet by two feet by three feet. A small item like a pen takes a few hours to print while the largest objects require closer to a day and a half.

The devices work similar to everyday inkjet printers in that they print from computer files. The printers take three-dimensional objects designed in a computer-aided design (CAD) program and slice them into hundreds of layers, each about the thickness of a hair, then print each layer out one at a time from the bottom up. Each layer is treated with heat and pressure and hardened into plastic, then the next layer is printed. The end result is a three-dimensional model made of solid plastic.

While the majority of 3D printers only produce grey or black models, some manufacturers are beginning to add different colours.

The main benefits of a 3D printer to a business, Hiemenz says, are efficiencies and cost savings. Manually creating a prototype out of wood, clay or even plastic generally takes days or even weeks and is more expensive because it usually means outsourcing the work to an expert. 3D printers allows businesses to keep their prototype making in-house.

“It eliminates all the artistic labour in making the model,” he says.

Users tend to love the printers because they allow for the creation of prototype models earlier in the design stage than before. Brookhaven National Laboratory, a research facility in New York, has since September been using a 3D printer to make parts for various projects, including a telescope design.

“Having printed some of these models, we’ve reviewed some problems that we probably wouldn’t have discovered until way down the line,” says Paul O’Connor, a scientist in the lab’s instrumentation division. “The problems that were lurking there would have been found at a later stage and then would have been much more expensive to correct.”

While the price on the printers has come down, they are still out of the reach of the general public. Fewer than 30,000 have been shipped since their inception and the total worldwide industry is estimated to bring in just over $1 billion US a year in revenue.

About 40 manufacturers compete in the market, and all of them are small. Printing giants such as Xerox and HP are dabbling in the technology but have not yet released products.

The dynamics of the market could soon change, however, with at least one player aiming to broaden the appeal of 3D printers. Desktop Factory, a small company based in Pasadena, Calif., plans to release a compact $5,000 US printer in early 2009 with the small-business user in mind.

The unit, which is about as big as a microwave, prints hard nylon models up to five by five by five inches. So far, the company has logged more than 350 pre-orders, with the main interest coming from medical and dental practitioners as well as video game and animation programmers, Lewis says.

Desktop Factory aims to get the price down to under $1,000 US over the next three to five years and add different printable inks, such as those that produce flexible or transparent models. That would open up the market to everyday consumers, who could use 3D printers to fabricate household items, such as bendable toys or iPod covers, Lewis says.

“People will be able to disrupt the manufacturing chain and print replacement parts rather than having to drive to Home Depot for something that was manufactured in China,” she says. “We haven’t begun to tap into the users who really need the technology.”
Ink refills an obstacle

One of the potential obstacles to mainstream adoption of the printers, however, is a problem also found with their inkjet cousins — the continuing need for ink refills. Larger printers, such as those produced by Stratasys, are expensive to maintain, with a spool that can produce 50 models selling for $350 US. Desktop Factory is targeting a price of $1 US per cubic inch of ink.

While the continuing investment may deter some users, others say handling their own prototype creation cuts down on overall costs.

“It’s not a big factor,” Brookhaven’s O’Connor says. “We’re saving a good deal of money this way.”

Another factor that could affect widespread adoption of the technology is the public’s unfamiliarity with 3D CAD software. The average home computer user has never encountered software such as Maya and Rhinocerous, which are used to create 3D models.

The solution, Lewis says, is the creation of an online database where users can download pre-built CAD files for printing on their home units. Printer companies or users themselves could create their own files and upload them to share with other people.

Three-dimensional home printers have a way to go before they are adopted in the home, but the day when the average person can make a cup of tea out of thin air may not be so far off.

Coming soon to a home near you: 3D printing

Publishing your models to the Google 3D Warehouse is a great way to showcase your work. If you model 3D buildings and would like to share them with the world, you can do so through the “Best of the 3D Warehouse” layer in Google Earth. Only the very best models are selected for inclusion in this layer, but here are some helpful guidelines (pdf) that will improve your chances. Learn more about getting added to this layer.

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today launched Autodesk Mudbox 2009 software for 3D modelers and texture artists working on entertainment and design projects.  Mudbox combines an intuitive user interface with a powerful toolset for creating highly-detailed 3D models. The software gives artists the freedom to create without worrying about technical details. Mudbox has shaped characters in blockbuster movies and games, including Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Mist and Mass Effect.

“Our goal is to make early stage digital assets resemble their final ‘on-screen’ forms as closely as possible,” said Dave Cardwell, Mudbox product designer at Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “Starting with accurate models makes the production process more efficient and provides a higher-quality end result. For example, you’d want to know early on whether a prominent brow will shadow a character’s eyes. That’s why Autodesk Mudbox 2009 has texture painting tools and on-target display features; these will help artists build and refine better 3D models.”

“The introduction of Autodesk Mudbox 2009 sparks a revolution in computer graphics tools, bringing about a paradigm shift in how designers and artists do their work,” said Habib Zargarpour, senior art director at Electronic Arts.

Dan Platt, modeler at Disney Animation Studios, said, “Time is money. An Autodesk Mudbox session begins with its artist-friendly, intuitive interface. This is sculpting at the speed of thought with the greatest of fidelity. In a business where new ideas with impossible deadlines are commonplace, Mudbox never lets me down.”

New Feature Highlights in Autodesk Mudbox 2009

Texture Painting
A new, production-ready toolset makes it easy for artists to paint multiple diffuse, bump, specular, and reflection textures across multiple high-resolution maps on their models:

• Users can paint directly on 3D models to add detail precisely where it’s required, regardless of UV distortion or surface complexity.
• Reference images can be painted onto a model from screen space using the new Projection brush.
• Users can paint multiple maps on multiple UV tiles simultaneously and assign multiple UV tiles on a single mesh.

Performance Enhancements
Recognized for its ability to handle data-heavy models, the latest version of Mudbox offers greater interactivity while working on high-resolution meshes. In particular, camera manipulation and brush speed have been improved, enabling artists to work interactively with 3D models that are fully subdivided into tens of millions of polygons across the entire mesh.

On-Target Display
Mudbox 2009 includes a host of rendering technologies that leverage the power of the OpenGL application programming interface (API) and today’s powerful graphics cards. The software offers an accurate, on-target environment for real-time evaluation as the digital asset is manipulated, as well as for enhanced interactive presentations to clients and art directors.

Improved Interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max
Mudbox 2009 provides enhanced interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max software through improved matching of normal and displacement maps produced by Maya and 3ds Max.

Artist-Friendly User Interface
Mudbox 2009 continues to deliver a highly intuitive user interface that gives artists the freedom to focus on the art of 3D modeling.

For a complete list of new features and enhancements in Autodesk Mudbox 2009, visit www.autodesk.com/pr-mudbox.

Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that Mudbox 2009 will be available in October 2008. Mudbox 2009 will be supported on the Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows Vista operating systems.  Autodesk suggested retail pricing is $745 USD*.

*International pricing may vary.

Sample Gallery:

Autodesk Mudbox

Unwrella is the new automatic and optimal unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3D Studio Max™. It was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution.

It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™

Key features

Automatic one-click solution

The manual labor necessary to properly unwrap multiple 3d models during a production takes significant amounts of time. Unwrella replaces this process with the simple application of a modifier to the objects modifier stack. Unwrapping of dozens or even hundreds of objects can be done on the fly and delivers results of optimal quality.
Space efficient

The size of chunks is maximized as much as possible and they are arranged to utilize maximal space on the available UV map. This optimal distribution prevents a significant part of texture memory from being wasted due to padding between chunks.

One-to-one surface to texture ratio

Texture stretching and scaling on surfaces is removed almost completely. Every pixel translates to the same size and aspect ratio on the model surface and creates a uniform visual appearance without reductions in texture sharpness on some areas. Additionally this feature makes texture seams invisible, even under careful inspection.
Versatility

Unwrella consistently delivers quality results with all kinds of 3d models from 3d game objects to industrial designs to complex, irregular organic shapes.

Igor Posavec Graphics Design » Unwrella Plugin: Open Beta Release!

Official Website: http://www.unwrella.com

To date, eye surgeons Bill Aylward and Paul Sullivan have produced over 1,000 animations that are helping to train other surgeons at their workplace - Moorfields Eye Hospital, London - and beyond.

Using CINEMA 4D’s advanced animation tools, Bill and Paul find they can demonstrate many surgical procedures more clearly than is possible with real film.

“The problems with using real footage of operations are that sometimes organs, blood or tissue can get in the way of what we’re trying to show; you can’t always put the camera in the best position to see what’s going on, and you can’t show cutaways that would explain the procedure better. With 3D animation software, you can hide anything that gets in the way or make it see-through; the camera can go where you want and you can produce cutaways of the eye very easily. Anything is possible in 3D!” explains Bill.

Paul recalls that the biggest hurdle was finding the right 3D tool: “We’ve never animated before. We’re surgeons, not full-time animators. We needed a 3D tool that gives the best results and is the easiest to use. We tested all the available 3D packages and we found CINEMA 4D the easiest to [learn].”

Although one-on-one training is available for CINEMA 4D, Bill and Paul would often be learning late into the night outside normal working hours. Here help was at hand in the shape of MAXON’s www.cineversity.com website, offering over 1,000 video tutorials online that can be accessed around-the-clock.

Months later, Bill and Paul are now literally flying with CINEMA 4D: “Last week, I created two new animations on a flight to a training conference in North Carolina. We’re creating content a lot faster these days. That’s partly because we’ve built up a library of 3D models and materials that we can reuse,” says Bill.

And critical acclaim has followed: Bill and Paul’s CINEMA 4D animations were highly commended by the British Medical Association Textbook Awards.

About Moorfields Eye Hospital
Opened in 1805, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the world’s leading centers for ophthalmic treatment and teaching. It is the oldest and largest specialist eye hospital in the world, and became one of the UK’s first NHS Foundation Trusts in 2004.

With its research partner, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields carries out an exciting programme of research in order to find cures for diseases currently untreatable.

The entire range of eye diseases is treated at Moorfields from cataract, corneal and retinal conditions to complex diseases, and last year over 260,000 patient visits were recorded.

Moorfields’ eminent reputation means that patients are seen from all over the UK and from around the world.

More information about the hospital can be found at www.moorfields.nhs.uk

Credits

• Bill Aylward - Medical Director, Moorfields Eye Hospital
• Paul Sullivan - Director of Education, Moorfields Eye Hospital

MAXON - The makers of CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D