Legal Licenses of Design Software

With the economy still in the doldrums and the AEC industry suffering a huge downturn, we have seen a big change in the workforce of our industry.  As areas of the country see as much as 50% unemployment for architects, there are architects that are starting their own company due to that being their only employment option in their chosen field of architectural design.  When starting their own company, they will need to purchase their own legal copy of their choice of design software.

The cost of purchasing design software is a major expense for a company, whether big or small, but especially when an architect is starting out with limited resources.  If you are one of those architects starting their own firm and obtaining design software, there are really 3 options (not all legal):  1) Buy a new copy.  2) Buy a “used” copy. 3) Use someone else’s copy.

Win a Trip to Autodesk University 2011

Autodesk University 2011 will again be hosted at the Venetian Hotel complex in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 29 – Dec. 1.  It will be 3 days of seminar classes along with a trade show.  One of the vendors at the trade show will be giving away a trip to AU 2011 to some lucky winner.

3Dconnexion is offering a trip to Autodesk University 2011, as well as airfare, accommodations and a SpacePilot PRO 3D mouse.  To enter this drawing, please complete required fields in the form that can be found at this link http://bit.ly/qcWJii.   Submission will only be accepted by midnight U.S. PDT on November 7, 2011.  For details, please see terms and conditions.  The winner will be contacted by email or phone on November 8, 2011 and will have 3 days to claim prize

I recommend attending Autodesk University, as this will be my 16th consecutive year to attend.  This is an opportunity for you to attend at very little cost.  Good luck!

Templates Provided with Revit 2012

Autodesk provides many templates for use with Revit, but you will get different templates depending on the version of Revit that you purchase and install.  While it makes sense that Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP each have their own project templates specific to their discipline, there is not as much sense as to which family templates are installed with each package.

Revit 2012 Update 2 Available

Autodesk has released Web Update 2 for Revit Architecture 2012 (along with Revit Structure 2012 and Revit MEP 2012).  Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available, with separate downloads for each version.  The update is available to users who have purchased a valid license for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012, Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate 2012, Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2012 or AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2012.

The update is not a full installation, but instead is considered a service pack so the 2012 version must already be installed.