Rendersmart | Rendering | Modelling | Animation

Autodesk is not new to the cloud concept—their Buzzsaw software-as-a-service has been hooked up for over a decade—and on Tuesday they announced Autodesk Cloud, officially bringing together over a dozen web-based capabilities that customers can now use to interact with their documents via web browser or mobile device. Customers can also share their designs with anyone through the cloud, even those who aren't running Autodesk software.

Subscribers stand to gain the most, as Autodesk Cloud will throw in 3GB of storage and a bunch of exclusive services for them:

Designers, engineers and digital artists [will now have access to] sophisticated new capabilities, such as high-performance 3D visual communication, simulation and collaboration that were once limited to organizations with privileged access to expensive, high-end supercomputing centers.

These exclusive services include:

- Autodesk Cloud rendering. Customers with an Autodesk Subscription to the Premium or Ultimate editions of Autodesk Design Suite or Autodesk Building Design Suite will have access to powerful rendering capabilities, helping them better visualize designs, increase the number of renderings they can create and reduce hardware investments.

- Autodesk Inventor optimization. Customers with Subscription to the Premium or Ultimate editions of Autodesk Product Design Suites will gain an intuitive cloud-based simulation tool, enabling them to test multiple design options in the cloud, and to create more sustainable designs and higher-quality products while reducing material, transportation and energy costs.

- Autodesk Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis. Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Revit Architecture or Autodesk Revit MEP software, or select suites containing these products, can extend design beyond the desktop with powerful cloud-based energy analysis capabilities, helping them to quickly gain insight into the energy consumption and building energy costs of early design concepts from within the design application.

- Autodesk Green Building Studio web-based energy analysis software. Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Building Design Suite and other select products have access to this cloud-based service that can help designers, architects, engineers and building energy analysts perform faster, more accurate energy analysis of multiple building design iterations, optimize energy efficiency and work toward carbon neutrality earlier in the design process.

- Autodesk Buzzsaw software as a service (SaaS). Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Vault Collaboration AEC software now have access to cloud-based document, data and design management solutions for architecture, engineering and construction firms and owner-operators, helping them centralize and securely exchange project information and enhance team collaboration.

Source: Coutesy CG Architect.

Our thoughts: Cloud processing is definitely the future, and we currently utilize 300gb of cloud storage to link our offices, homes and mobiles to ensure centralized information accessible anywhere anytime in the world. This has been life changing for Rendersmart however we are not impressed with companies such as Autodesk which we contribute substantial amounts of money to and get little in return for industry professionals. Cloud Rendering is a nice little marketing gimmick for people who don't need it. It does not support our Autodesk products but rather designed for Architects and not 3D professionals. As usual we believe somebody else will address our needs well before Autodesk does. Its a love hate relationship.

Rendersmart would like to Welcome CG Artist Lucas Mourao to the team. A qualified graphic designer, Lucas boasts years of experience in the advertising industry in Salvador Brazil. Lucas's desire for design led him into the architectural industry offside leading Australia CG artist Francisco Hermida.

After sighting Lucas's high quality artwork and attention to detail we quickly sprung up a contractual relationship whilst he was based in Sydney and worked around his educational commitments at the time. Shortly after Lucas accepted a position as one of our Lead CG Artists and relocated to our Queensland office to head up one of our busy teams.

Lucas's work is already in high demand with clients personally booking him for weeks in advance to ensure their projects have that cutting edge in high end Artist Impressions.

To speak with Lucas or view his specific projects, please contact our office today.

Whist this product has been released for quite a few months our studio prefers to sit and wait for appropriate service packs and plugins to all catch up and update before rolling out our yearly subscription upgrades. This has been one of the most exciting upgrades in years and we are extremely happy to see Autodesk focus on improving what we see and how we work rather than simply creating new interfaces year in and year out.

 

The new Nitrous Display Driver replaces traditional methods and despite our first reaction to the name as "geeky & lame" it actually does deliver a significant boost of speed to our displays. Not only is it faster, it offers a real time processing view similar to Chaos Groups Vray RT(Real Time) however with significantly more speed. The trade off is quality is nothing like Vray RT, however we found as a real world business we require speed and ease of use in a stable format something we feel Real time is yet to achieve even when coupled with extreme hardware. Our best explanation is our scenes now look like close to computer game quality as we work showing textures in higher detail and quality with smoother results and improved shadow/lighting casting.

 

What does this mean in the real world? Toys come and go, but the seamless integration of this new feature allows staff to make on the spot decisions improving time and workflow long before our images are required to be rendered and processed. As there is no loading, clicking or setup required we find staff are forced to use the feature and embrace it rather than leave it in the draw to learn another day.

 

Technology like this and the investment we make into our staff, software and hardware is what makes our images stand out in a crowd. Check out our portfolio and if you would like to see this impressive technology in your artwork contact our office today!

San Francisco (CNN) -- With a surprise appearance by CEO Steve Jobs, Apple on Wednesday debuted the iPad 2, updating the gadget that's become practically synonymous with tablet computing.

"So what's new?" said Jobs, who appeared at the event to a standing ovation. "It's an all-new design."

He said the new tablet will be "dramatically faster" than its predecessor.

Apple got a huge head start in the touchscreen tablet race with its iPad, but in recent months, rivals have begun catching up.

Now Apple is hoping to widen its lead again.

• The new version of the device which launches on March 11, will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor, down to 1.3 pounds from 1.5.

• It will have front and rear-facing cameras designed for video chatting. Apple is adding its FaceTime chat app -- as well as a Photo Booth program that does exactly what its name implies -- to take advantage of the cameras.

• Unlike Apple's popular iPhone 4, it will be available in white as well as black. Also unlike the new iPhone, the iPad 2 won't have a high-resolution screen, which Apple calls a Retina Display.

• It will have the same battery life as the current iPad, 10 hours.

• With an HDMI accessory, the iPad can be connected to a television and mirror what's on the tablet's screen.

"Teachers want to hook iPads up to their flatscreens in the classrooms," Jobs said. "And you can even charge the iPad while you're using it."

• Like the iPhone, the iPad 2 will include a gyroscope, a feature that will enhance gaming options. Changes to the processor that powers the device could also dramatically propel the iPad as a game-playing device.

• A new operating system, iOS 4.3, will roll out the same day as the iPad 2. Jobs said the system will let iPhone 4 users create Wi-Fi hotspots to share wireless internet with other gadgets.

 

Jobs, the iconic company leader, had been facing renewed speculation about his health.

"We've been working on this project for a while and I didn't want to miss this," he said. Several CNN staffers at the event described Jobs as looking thin, as usual, but energetic and happy.

The iPad 2 will ship on March 11 in the United States and March 25 in at least 26 other countries.

In an announcement that could rock the "tablet wars," Jobs said the new iPad will have the same price structure as the current one -- ranging from $499 to $829.

Jobs also spent a good deal of time talking about a new cover available for the device.

The Smart Cover is a thin sheet that attaches to the iPad with magnets. When not being used, it can fold back and act as a stand for the tablet.

It's available for $39 in polyurethane -- "which is used to make spacesuits," Jobs said -- and $69 in leather.

The launch of a next-generation iPad comes as a new wave of competing gadgets threatens Apple's dominance in the tablet market. Motorola Mobility's Xoom went on sale last month and was greeted with rave reviews for its fast, feature-rich hardware and attractive Android software from Google.

Samsung unveiled its Galaxy Tab late last year, and BlackBerry is expected to launch a tablet, the Playbook, this spring. One consulting firm counts a whopping 102 tablets that are either on sale or in progress from 64 different manufacturers.

The first iPad was introduced in January 2010 and debuted in April, with Wi-Fi models that cost as little as $499. (The 3G-enabled Xoom costs $600 and requires a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless.)

Apple's tablet surprised some analysts by becoming a runaway hit. The company sold 14.8 million iPads worldwide in the first nine months the device was available. Analysts forecast Apple will sell about 30 million tablets this year.

"People laughed at us for using the word magical," Jobs said Wednesday. "But you know what? It's turned out to be magical."