03/28, 5:54pm
New version fixes long standing bugs, adds dozens of new features
Autodesk has unveiled the latest version of its 3D modelling, animation and rendering suite, Maya 2014. The new version offers improved display technology, accelerated modeling workflows, robust new systems for handling complex data, and creative toolsets. A new Modeling Toolkit panel presents a streamlined environment that enables artists to access new selection, transformation, and mesh-editing tools in one place for increased efficiency.
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12/17, 11:23am
Final release gets interface tweaks
Autodesk is now shipping Smoke 2013, the latest version of its editing and effects suite for the Mac. Aside from basic editing, the software can handle tasks like motion graphics, color correction, and 3D compositing. The 2013 edition brings in a new user interface, including the ConnectFX compositing system, which uses a node-based scheme designed to keep work within the main editing environment.
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10/22, 11:44am
Magic Finger will let users control smartphones with swipes over surfaces
Researchers from the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto, and Autodesk Research have teamed up to create a gadget called Magic Finger. It attaches to a user's finger and effectively turns any surface into a touchscreen as it tracks their movement. Still largely a working prototype, the device is said to be capable of connecting wirelessly to devices such as smartphones and trigger phone calls through gestures.
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07/17, 10:08am
New acquisition expected to stay mostly independent
Socialcam has been bought out by Autodesk in a deal worth about $60 million, reports All Things Digital. The arrangement should be finalized within the next 30 days. Rumors of Socialcam's acquisition have been circulating for months, and other potential buyers are said to have included Google and Zynga.
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07/10, 3:43pm
Flash-based gaming, app development platform
Autodesk today announced new versions of its Scaleform middleware targeted at mobile developers. Scaleform provides a means of producing user-interface environments as well as 2D games. The new software provides a Flash-based gaming and application platform and plugs into the Unity game engine, allowing designers to develop once and distribute across multiple operating systems quickly.
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04/15, 9:05pm
Autodesk Smoke 2013 reworks
Autodesk reworked its video editing and post-shot visual effects tool specifically for Mac users. Smoke 2013 brings a new, unified interface that mixes traditional, editorial track-based editing with Autodesk's own interface elements. A node-based compositing tool, ConnectFX, lets editors insert advanced effects without having to jump to a separate interface.
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03/29, 4:45pm
Mac, Windows versions debut simultaneously
Autodesk has launched AutoCAD 2013, a major update of its flagship design software. New to the program are links with the Autodesk 360 cloud service; this lets a user access a project anywhere with Internet access, as well as collaborate with distant coworkers. The emphasis on sharing in fact extends down to posting content on Facebook and Twitter.
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01/26, 6:05pm
Autodesk continues to focus on Mac ecosystem
After a successful year on the Mac App Store, Autodesk is continuing to focus on the Mac platform for its 2012 product lineup. MacNN talked with Autodesk product managers this week in San Francisco, where the company provided an early peek at its Inventor Fusion modeling software for Mac OS X.
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01/05, 4:40pm
Will beat out Schmidt, other tech leaders
Apple CEO Tim Cook may be about to vastly increase his personal wealth, notes an executive compensation tracking firm, Equilar. Parts of two separate restricted stock unit grants belonging to Cook are vesting in the current quarter. Based on Apple's closing stock price on December 30th, the shares are estimated to be worth about $96.2 million.
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08/24, 3:35pm
Bases camera effects on Maya
Autodesk has released Motion FX, a free app for OS X Lion. The title is essentially a showcase for the fluid effects in Maya, Autodesk's professional rendering suite; as it samples video from a Mac's camera, one of over 80 preset effects responds to the motion. Some example presets include Fire, Smoke and Rainbow Plasma.
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08/16, 3:20pm
LT released ahead of full software
Autodesk has announced that AutoCAD LT 2012 has been released on the Mac App Store. The LT release serves as a downsized edition of the full AutoCAD 2012 package, which is set to late in the week. Users can take advantage of 2D drafting and detailing tools for creating and editing technical drawings, saved in the popular DWG file format supported by the range of AutoCAD software for Mac and Windows machines.
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07/12, 10:50am
Warns current software not compatible
Autodesk engineers are "working round the clock" on OS X Lion support for AutoCAD 2011 for Mac, according to a notice on the company's support pages. The developer in fact warns of "undesirable side effects" when trying to use the design suite in Lion. These include "issues with printing/plotting, Customer Error Reporting (CER), and more."
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04/12, 12:35pm
AutoCAD due for Android devices in April
Autodesk on Tuesday said it planned to bring AutoCAD WS to Android-based smartphones and tablets before the end of the month. The version comes after the iPad and iPhone adaptation and will have the same basic editing and collaboration tools intact. Company Senior VP Amar Hanspal told AllThingsD it was a reaction to demand after the iOS version and that it would likely do well in "certain geographies" where Android was popular.
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03/01, 5:40pm
Shares enhancements with 3ds Max
In tandem with the announcement of 3ds Max 2012, Autodesk has additionally revealed Maya 2012. The modeling, effects and animation suite is getting several improvements, such as a new viewport with fullscreen rendering options like motion blur and depth-of-field. The viewport has also gained a new API, batch rendering functions and component and manipulator displays.
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03/01, 3:40pm
3ds Max Design info coming later this month
Autodesk has taken the wraps off of 3ds Max 2012, the next major upgrade of its professional modeling, animation and rendering suite. One planned improvement is the switch to a new, multithreaded graphics engine, claimed to improve both speed and quality. The engine should better exploit modern GPUs and CPUs.
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02/24, 4:15pm
New localizations include Chinese, French, German
Autodesk has updated its flagship iOS app, Autodesk WS, bringing it to v1.2. The CAD tool has gained several critical upgrades, including layouts and the ability to cut, copy and paste text or objects. A feature called Snap Preview magnifies an area to help with selections or drawing.
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02/18, 5:20pm
Pages among 11 other formats
Google on Friday gave Google Docs its first real file format update with 12 new standards. The release supports an Apple-specific format for the first time and will let users read Pages documents in-browser. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop images also now work, and modelling gets its first support through recognition of Autodesk's AutoCAD.
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12/07, 1:35pm
OnLive gets into streaming apps
OnLive at the D: Dive Into Mobile show today expanded its scope beyond just gaming with plans to stream regular apps and websites to other devices. The company targeted it at mobile users and showed apps and features running through the OnLive Viewer iPad client (free, App Store) that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Users could run an instance of Internet Explorer with Flash on Apple's tablet, or even a high-end professional rendering app like Autodesk's Maya, chief executive Steve Perlman proved on stage.
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10/15, 11:25am
Software absent for over a decade
As promised in August, Autodesk has begun shipping the first new Mac version of AutoCAD to be released in over 18 years. The program carries over most features of the recent Windows editions, and uses similar interface tropes. Some notable differences include the ability to browse files through Cover Flow, or use multi-touch gestures on Apple controllers like the Magic Trackpad.
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09/29, 12:45pm
Allows editing, sharing
Autodesk has launched AutoCAD WS, an iOS version of the company's desktop CAD software. The app lets users view, share and edit DWG files. External references, layers, and image underlays are incorporated, and while editing users can move, rotate and scale objects. Special tools allow for shape creation, text annotations and distance measurement.
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08/30, 11:30pm
Release slated for October
Autodesk has confirmed earlier reports suggesting AutoCAD will return to the Mac platform sometime in October, alongside a companion app for iOS devices. The popular 2D/3D design and engineering software spent the last 15 years as a Windows-only offering, although early versions were offered for both platforms.
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05/24, 11:10am
App should support 64-bit, Magic Mouse
AutoCAD is indeed coming to the Mac, a report says. In April, code comments in ObjectARX 2011 SDK files were noted to be pointing to a Mac port. These have been backed up with new screenshots of an early beta, codenamed Sledgehammer Beta 1. The release is said to be 64-bit native, and already supporting multi-touch gestures via a Magic Mouse.
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04/19, 9:05am
Mac AutoCAD 2011 beta may be in the works
Autodesk has released an online home and garden design application, Homestyler, and is rumored to be about to release a Mac-native version of AutoCAD 2011, according to Architosh. Homestyler is a cloud-based 3Ddesign application oriented toward non-professionals but capable of exporting 2D/3D info in Autodesk DWG and Revit versions. It quickly creates floor plans with manufacturer-based items, using drag-and-drop to relocate items. It has been released as a public beta and is free.
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03/09, 8:55pm
Mudbox, FBX also udpated
Autodesk on Tuesday announced Maya 2011, along with updates to its Mudbox and FDX utilities for Mac OS X. The latest version of Maya features a redesigned user-interface based on Nokia Qt, with simpler customization and dockable elements. The graphics core has been revamped to improve performance with complex scenes, while also enhancing the viewport feedback.
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12/15, 10:20am
Suite handles editing, visual effects
Autodesk has begun shipping the Mac version of Smoke 2010, its high-end video production suite. The software is described as an editorial finishing tool, combining normal timeline editing with visual effects. Users can for instance implement 3D titles, color correction, compositing and/or rotoscoping.
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11/24, 10:30am
Autodesk version to be available first
GenArts has announced Sapphire 5, an upcoming upgrade for its signature plug-in suite. The current collection includes over 200 processing and synthesis effects, in categories such as lighting, film, warping and textures. Versions are available for several different editing platforms, including Avid, Autodesk, After Effects and Final Cut Pro.
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11/20, 9:15am
High-end production suite making platform debut
Autodesk will soon launch a Mac version of Smoke, a demonstration at Japan's InterBEE expo confirms. The software is a high-end video production suite, costing approximately $15,000. It is capable not only of conventional editing tasks, but also handling audio, painting, text and various visual effects.
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09/17, 10:40am
Aims for professional-level illustration
Autodesk has released SketchBook Mobile, a new app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The title uses the same engine as the desktop-based SketchBook Pro, and attempts to imitate many of its illustration functions. SketchBook Mobile includes an assortment of pencil, pen, marker and airbrush tools, and supports the creation of custom brushes on top of 25 preset ones.
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08/11, 7:40pm
mental ray 7.5 standalone
Autodesk has unveiled a new standalone version of its mental ray renderer. The application is used to create photorealistic or stylized 3D imagery by utilizing a ray-tracing engine. The software works independently of other Autodesk 3D programs using a command-line interface, while an enhanced shading language enables users to extend the Autodesk 3D shader library.
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04/27, 4:20pm
Autodesk Mudbox 2009
Autodesk has released the Mac version of Mudbox 2009, one of its newest graphics utilities. The software is designed for texture and modeling artists, and provides tools for painting, texturing and retouching 3D models. The texturing workflow -- which supports bump, diffuse, specular and reflection textures -- is said to be new, with options like a Projection brush and the ability to apply multiple maps to multiple meshes at the same time.
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02/24, 10:15pm
Autodesk Alias on Mac
Autodesk has finally brought its Alias design and rendering suite to Macs. Though well-known, the software was previously only available for the Windows platform, limiting its practical application in an industry where Mac software is relatively common. A senior product marketing manager at Autdoesk, Rob Hoffmann, is however known to have said the Mac is no more or less important than Windows or Linux.
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