Autodesk today finally took the wraps off Autodesk Fusion 360, its entry into cloud-enabled 3D CAD. This isn’t Inventor running in the cloud but is a completely new product, with a new user interface, the ability to import from and export to other modelers –so that this isn’t a toy but creates real design data– and some very cool styling functionality based on technology acquired with T-Splines last year.
The demo I saw featured a very clean and intuitive user interface. According to Autodesk, Fusion 360’s UI can adapt to the experience level of the user, offering guidance to new and the ability to remove this guidance as experience grows.
Autodesk is doing this cloud thing right. Rather than trying to shoehorn old technology into a new medium, they’re re-imagining how a user wants to work and delivering that set of capabilities — and it just happens to be on the cloud. They’re ensuring that the stuff you do in the cloud can be used in other parts of the design or engineering process, so that no work is thrown away. They’re pricing it so that it is an affordable add-on to existing tools, a critical step to letting people try with lower risk and to speeding adoption. In fact, if I understood the model correctly, Fusion 360 will be sold via subscription so that you can turn it on and off to suit workloads.
I like this brave new world. I can turn my morning coffee brainstorm into the beginnings of a design on my iPad, using Fusion 360 to capture my concepts. Using my fingers to push and pull faces is a natural and intuitive way to work quickly. While I commute, I can have Autodesk 360 manage my team’s design collaboration so that, when I arrive, I can refine the design using my iPad or a browser — or, if I’m so inclined, Inventor or Creo or SolidWorks or NX or CATIA or … you get the idea … to add the precision needed to simulate and manufacture my project.
Autodesk just launched the Fusion 360 site here, where you can get more info and sign up to take part in the Beta program.
The public première of Autodesk Fusion 360 is in about 2 hours, on the main stage at AU. Since I’ve already seen the demo, I plan to watch the audience to gauge their reaction. I’ll let you if they’re as intrigued as I am.
Note: Autodesk graciously covered expenses and registration for the event but did not in any way influence the content of this post.
Discover more from Schnitger Corporation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The big reveal has happened at AU and the reaction wasn’t what I expected. The crowd was paying rapt attention but didn’t really react to CEO Carl Bass’ presentation. In the old days, people applauded when cool stuff was debuted.
Twitter peeps suggested that people didn’t react more strongly because they want to try it first and that they’re waiting to learn pricing. Probably true. I also wonder if people weren’t sure what it really is.
I for one cannot understand fully how this is going to work?
Are we going to run software locally, obtaining a license from the cloud and then saving all our work to the clouds?
Or are we going to send commands to a clouds based program through something like an internet web browser?
I can’t wait to learn more about this.
Frank, Thanks for your comment. Let me see what I can find out in answer to your questions. Other Autodesk cloud apps can work online or offline and sync when Internet access is available. Stay tuned!
Hi, Frank – I just caught up with Autodesk VP, Manufacturing, Buzz Kross who told me that Fusion 360 will download something like a small browser plugin to your desktop; you can store your work locally or in the cloud. More info coming soon.
Frank,
Autodesk Fusion 360 has a lightweight client for both Mac and PC that downloads to your client. It’s not a browser plug-in – the client is able to provide a superior user experience compared to a browser plug-in. We’ve separated the processing so that certain tasks, such as translation, take place on the cloud. This helps to free up the processing load on your computer so you can keep working. Other more interactive tasks are performed locally on your computer.
The primary mode of working with Fusion 360 is by storing data in the cloud, and for good reason. It’s this model that opens up the opportunity for improved collaboration and the ability for a distributed team to be constantly in sync to the latest design model.
Ed Martin
Autodesk