Life in the Cloud: Autodesk 360 Cloud Services

Autodesk has enhanced the online capabilities of AutoCAD software in 2013 and introduced a new cloud service called Autodesk 360.

In today’s blog post, Application Specialist Matt Miyamoto lets you know a little about Autodesk 360, and what you may already be getting for free. To get started, the first think you’ll need to do is create an account.

For those of you out there who are Subscription customers, the Autodesk 360 Cloud service includes some added benefits. For those of you who aren’t, these may be some reasons to reconsider.

Free Storage: With each seat of subscription, Autodesk provides 25 GB of free storage (3 GB for accounts without subscription) through the Autodesk 360 service. This can also be used for file sharing and review when you don’t have access to your internal network.

Mobile Apps (All Users): AutoCAD WS and Autodesk Design Review are two mobile apps that allow you to access and review your drawing files or DWF files directly from the cloud. Best of all, these apps are free, and compatible with Iphone, Ipad and Android devices.

Along with these come cloud computing services. Here’s a list of what’s available to you.

Note: Not all products are compatible with all services. See the table below for a list of compatible services and products.

Autodesk 360 Products and Services - Autodesk 360 products and services available to you.

Autodesk 360
(Subscription) 25 GB available (3 GB available without Subscription)

Autodesk 360 Rendering
(Subscription) You have used 0 cloud units of rendering.

Autodesk Green Building Studio Subscription
(Subscription) Take your designs beyond the desktop to perform faster, more accurate energy analysis, optimize energy efficiently, and improve the carbon footprint of multiple design options.

Autodesk 360 Energy Analysis for Autodesk Revit
(Subscription) Gain insight into energy consumption and building lifecycle costs early in the design process with cloud energy analysis tools that help you analyze design concepts and create more sustainable building designs.

AutoCAD WS
(Free) Edit DWG files on your mobile device or on the web using the AutoCAD WS app. Enable multiple users to edit the same file in real-time.

Autodesk Design Review mobile app
(Free) Review 2D and 3D DWF files on a mobile device. Redline and annotate 2D drawings while in the field or out of the office.

Autodesk 360 Structural Analysis for Autodesk Revit
(Subscription) Please note that your access to and use of the Structural Analysis service are subject to the terms and conditions accompanying the service. It is important that users monitor their use of the service and do not exceed any applicable usage limits that may exist from time to time. Autodesk reserves the right to change or limit free access and use rights.


Next time you’re using one of the 2013 products, make sure you check out the Autodesk 360 services that come with it.

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Matt Miyamoto, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Matt is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Hawaii. Matt obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has 7 years of private sector design experience which he applies in his role as an application specialist with Ideate, Inc. His project experience includes residential and commercial site development, private and public sewer, water and drainage systems, harbors improvements, and roadway improvements. While in Hawaii, Matt was involved in multidisciplinary projects for City and County agencies, State Departments, the Army COE and private developers. @MattM_PE

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Share/View/Edit Your Design Simultaneously With All Project Stakeholders – All From Within AutoCAD

Here is how you collaborate a design with a remote project team member: first, open your favorite browser, then create an online meeting and then share your screen. What if you could do all that from within AutoCAD? Yes, that’s right! You can now create that online meeting, share your screen and chat all from within AutoCAD – use the Collaborate Now button from the newly revamped Online tab in AutoCAD 2013.

You can also save and access your drawings via AutoCAD in cloud. Autodesk 360 integrates AutoCAD WS and lets you share, view, edit any drawing online or on your mobile application.

The connection between this online interface and desktop AutoCAD is the “Online” tab in AutoCAD 2013. Online tab appeared for the first time in the ribbon in AutoCAD 2012 and has been revamped to integrate the desktop application with web interface. Autodesk is dedicated to giving the AutoCAD users a complete web experience right from within AutoCAD interface including AutoCAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Here is a Summary of the Power of the Online Tab:

Autodesk 360 lets you access your Autodesk 360 cloud account

Online Options lets you change your Autodesk 360 options from within AutoCAD

Open on Mobile sends the drawing to AutoCAD WS online

Upload Multiple will let you upload multiple files to your Autodesk 360 account

Sync My Settings start/stop to sync your AutoCAD settings with your Autodesk 360 account

Choose Settings lets you choose which settings are synced with Autodesk 360 account

Share Document uploads a saved file to your Autodesk 360 account and lets you email the link to the file.

Collaborate Now is icing on the cake – my favorite. It uploads and opens your file in AutoCAD WS session in which you and your client/sub can simultaneously view and edit your file.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2013 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2013

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Gaurav Bagga
Ideate Infrastructure Solutions Application Specialist


Gaurav is a well rounded Application Engineer and Project Manager for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 15 years experience in construction industry and has been helping numerous small, medium and ENR 500 firms maximize their CAD investment for the last ten years. Gaurav is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert. He has taught at several conferences, CAD Camps and Autodesk University. He has taught AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Land Desktop and Map 3D to thousands of students and helps Ideate develop the Infrastructure Services curriculum and courses. With his extensive CAD technology background he helps Bay Area engineering and surveying firms analyze and improve their design and drawing production process thereby improving productivity and the bottom line. Follow Gaurav on Twitter: @BeGeez

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Revit and the Future of Application Software

A few weeks ago I presented and demo’ed the new AutoCAD for Mac 2012 at the Portland Pioneer Square Apple Store. It was a good presentation and it’s exciting to see more and more Mac users interested in Autodesk products like AutoCAD and AutoCAD WS. One question that inevitably always comes up during these events is, “When’s Revit coming to the Mac?” The quick answer – I don’t know. The more in depth answer – does it even matter?

Look at where application software is headed. No longer running an app on a single OS on a single device is cutting it in the workplace these days. And because of this there’s a shift towards on demand software or software as a service, SaaS, application software delivered as its needed.

As an interim solution 3rd party software developers such as VMware, Citrix, and Parallels have become very popular. Each of these remove the requirements needed to run programs with specific requirements such as hardware and operating system, and allow the applications themselves to be run on virtually any type of device.

For a true software as a service application take a look at Google Docs. Google Docs is a Microsoft Office-esque suite of apps for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Never mind the fact that it’s free. Instead look at how it’s delivered – over the internet. A word processing document created on Google Docs is accessible anywhere with the common denominator being an internet browser; running on a PC, Mac, or a home grown machine you built yourself; using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Delivering applications like this instead of installing them on individual computers tackles the major hurdles traditional application software developers are facing today.

1. Mobility – I’m not just talking about smartphones and tablets, but also simple tasks like users using more than one machine. I use my PC at work, come home and hop on my Macbook Pro. Users expect to work within a seamless application environment and do not want to be bothered with compatibility issues.
2. Collaboration – Instead of an application being built to include a collaboration segment; SaaS apps are built on a collaborative foundation. They’re meant to be accessed simultaneously from multiple users working together in real time from anywhere on any device.
3. Hardware Resources – Even fairly basic programs, I’ll use Microsoft Office Suite again as an example, have significant hardware requirements. SaaS apps are naturally light as they’re dependent on the bandwidth required to deliver them.

The software as a service idea comes back to that buzz word everyone’s recently been talking about, the “cloud.” But it’s not the entire cloud, it’s merely a piece, but an integral piece nonetheless.

So if I were Autodesk, which I’m clearly not, I don’t think I would use valuable time and money to develop an application that would be dedicated to a single platform. Instead I would be focusing on developing Revit to run on any device that I open it from; no matter the operating system, web browser, or hardware specifications. It would be a light and nimble app where collaborating with others in geographic locations is quick, easy, and seamless.

We’ll see what happens. Who knows, Revit for the Mac could be right around the corner. But keep in mind we are in a time where the way in which we work is changing dramatically. Just as we have changed our tools must also adapt.

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Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

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Setting Up Network Licensing with AutoCAD for Mac 2012

Did you catch Autodesk’s Design 8.16 event? Autodesk released AutoCAD for Mac 2012, AutoCAD LT for Mac 2012, and a separate AutoCAD WS app for Mac OS X.

Whether you thought it was a worthy enough “big” announcement or not doesn’t matter - what you thought they would announce Revit for Mac from the AutoCAD team? There are a lot of AutoCAD users out there, and a lot of them are moving to the Mac platform. And to be honest I like seeing how they’re continuing to develop AutoCAD for Mac. Besides, I love any chance I get to jump on our iMac here.

Literally within minutes of the announcement I was downloading AutoCAD for Mac 2012, trying to will that progress bar to completion. So what feature of AutoCAD was I anxiously waiting to try out? Network Licensing, and not just your normal “run of the mill” network license, but the ability for AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD for Mac 2012 to share licenses! Meaning, a pool of AutoCAD licenses can be handed out regardless of platform, Windows or Mac. You don’t need separate AutoCAD and AutoCAD for Mac licenses. Aside from Express Tools… yeah, I don’t get it either; network licensing was the #1 request I saw from our customers. Typically, our AutoCAD for Mac customers are either mid-sized firms with the majority of users on Windows and a couple of users on Macs who need to use AutoCAD; and smaller firms solely on Macs.

I wanted to first check out how the network licensing works between the two platforms. I ran into a couple of issues, mostly dealing with the Mac on our network and getting everyone to talk with each other. This is what I want to pass along to our readers should they run into the same issues.

After completing the download and launching the installer I began going through the install screens.

When prompted for the server name, I typed in our license server’s host name just as I’ve done on countless other network installs and clicked Continue. This is where I ran into trouble. I got a message saying our license server couldn’t be contacted.

Which I thought was a little strange considering I could see the other PCs on our network through Finder and I could see the Mac on our network from the license server.

“Can you ping the server?” This is the first question we ask in support when customers call in with network license connection issues. And I admit it was a knee jerk reaction that caught me off guard. “I don’t know…” To ping another computer in Windows is easy. All you do is open the command prompt and type “ping,” but how do you do it in Mac OS? Well, after a little Googling I found out how. You simply go into Applications, Utilities, and launch the Network Utility. Once in the Network Utility, click Ping and type in the name of the computer you want to Ping - easy, right? And again I got an error when typing our license server’s host name. So then I tried the IP address and this time it worked. 

I then went back to the installation and replaced the server name with the server IP address and this time I didn’t get the error message and proceeded with the rest of the installation without trouble.

Just to be sure everything was working like it should, I clicked the Application Menu, About AutoCAD, and went into Product Information.

Sure enough, AutoCAD for pulled a regular AutoCAD license - success.

The lesson to be learned here is, when using network licensing for AutoCAD between Mac and Windows platform you’re better off using IP addresses than host names when trying to talk with the license server. This will resolve any kind of naming issues between the two.

So now I’m up and running with AutoCAD for Mac 2012 pulling an AutoCAD license. And it works seamlessly; really happy Autodesk decided to go this route. It just makes sense, an AutoCAD license is an AutoCAD license whether you’re on AutoCAD for Windows or AutoCAD for Mac. But it still bugs me I can’t ping the license server by host name. After some more Googling I’ve isolated the issue to be a problem with DNS naming for the Mac; it even pulls old host names from our network instead of using the one I created. If anyone is reading this and knows the answer, hit me up on Twitter and let me know.

I hope this helps those of you out there that run into the same problem. Next up, setting up the license server on a Mac for a Mac only licensing environment.

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Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

I'm Using AutoCAD WS, Are My Files Safe?

Thanks to everyone who joined me for Wednesday’s AutoCAD 2012 What’s New webinar. I hope you enjoyed it.

During the presentation I went over the new 2012 AutoCAD WS feature. AutoCAD WS is a free web based CAD drawing editing and collaboration tool. Users don’t even have to own a seat of AutoCAD to use it; they just need to create a WS account and have access to the internet. AutoCAD WS even goes a step farther and can access dwg files with mobile devices through Autodesk developed apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. So how does this all work?

An AutoCAD 2012 user will upload a dwg file to a central server over the internet. Once the file has been uploaded, the dwg originator can specify users and permissions. Now all users can collaborate and edit the drawing simultaneously or individually then save their work and download the file if need be.

A common question I get after showing AutoCAD WS is, “How secure are my files once I’ve uploaded them to Autodesk?”

This is a completely valid question. Especially since we’ve entered this new shift in computing; from saving and working with files local to our computer or private network to files stored in the “cloud” hosted at another location to be accessed by multiple users through multiple devices.

Once a drawing is uploaded using AutoCAD WS the file is stored on Amazon S3 servers (SAS70) Type II certified. These are the same servers Amazon.com uses. The drawings you upload can only be accessed by your username and password. All communication between the server and your internet browser uses 128bit SSL encryption. Just for reference this is the same encryption type my bank uses when I do my online banking.

So, in short, yes AutoCAD WS is very secure. Feel free to take a look for yourself.

Curious about how AutoCAD WS works? Take a look at a this quick demo.

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Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

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Video – AutoCAD WS for AutoCAD 2012

Derek Wielkopolski, Ideate Support Manager gives a brief overview of the new AutoCAD 2012 WS. AutoCAD WS allows project members to collaborate over the web to their iPad and iPhone devices via the new apps.



Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2012 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2012

Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Get it. Know it. Use it.

AutoCAD WS for AutoCAD 2012

Hi everyone, Derek Wielkopolski here. As the Support Manager and AutoCAD Application Specialist for Ideate, Inc. I see many of our customers in the AEC industry looking to utilize technology even more to further collaborate and stream line workflows. Mobile devices and web applications are key areas that have progressed rapidly in the last couple of years. Autodesk acknowledged this computing shift and as a result answered with AutoCAD WS for AutoCAD 2012. AutoCAD WS was first introduced with the release of AutoCAD for Mac 2011. Now it’s also included with AutoCAD 2012 and all AutoCAD based products, such as AutoCAD Architecture 2012 and AutoCAD MEP 2012.

AutoCAD WS is an online service that allows you to share and upload drawings online to other users without having to transfer or access the physical file. Once the file has been uploaded users can use the WS online application to view, modify the drawing, and download it. But WS doesn’t stop there. Autodesk also developed the AutoCAD WS iPhone and iPad apps so now your .dwg files are truly mobile and can go where you go. Both apps give you full editing and viewing capabilities through each device’s unique iOS multi touch environment.

Once a drawing is opened in AutoCAD 2012 it can be shared with other users by uploading it online by clicking on the Upload button on the new Online tab in the ribbon. Once the drawing has been uploaded it can be shared with other users. The invited users can then open the drawing in any web browser such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari; even if they don’t own a copy of AutoCAD.

The web application is amazingly fast and responsive. Zooming and panning feel as if you were actually working in AutoCAD. The tools are fully functional and included and in a similar ribbon like environment; keyboard shortcuts are even the same! Users are able to draw lines, arcs, copy mirror, dimension, add text, even modify layer settings and xrefs. Throughout the work session all users have the ability to save the drawing as a .dwg, .dxf, even as a .jpg or .png. And because WS is a web application all users working in the drawing see others’ edits and changes as they happen in real time. It even includes a communication tool for chatting taking collaboration even farther.

Drawings aren’t just accessed through the AutoCAD WS web application, but can also be opened using the AutoCAD WS iPhone and iPad apps. Now you can take your drawings virtually anywhere and use the same viewing and editing capabilities of the online service but in the unique and the easy to use iOS environment.

AutoCAD WS for AutoCAD 2012 brings project members even closer with its powerful collaboration abilities. Using the WS iPhone or iPad app unlocks your AutoCAD drawings from your computers and puts those files in the palm of your hand.

Try it out today. autocadws.com

You’ll be amazed at what it can do!

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2012 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2012

Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Get it. Know it. Use it.