KJWW Structural Department Manager Dan Huntington stated, "KJWW has a strong commitment to using new technologies such as Autodesk Revit Structure to reduce project and design costs. By building only one model to generate both the construction documents and the structural analysis of the building, we reduce costs for our clients, our projects, and ourselves."

View the full article here

IMAGINiT Technologies has implemented a rigorous certification program for IMAGINiT application specialists who take their clients through TakeAIM , IMAGINiT's four phased Assured Implementation Method program.

Read the full Press release here

• May 1 - Dallas
• May 13 - Detroit
• May 14 - Toronto

• June 17 - Chicago
• June 19 - Vancouver, BC
• June 24 - Calgary
• June 26 - Edmonton

Contact your IMAGINiT Technologies office for details on attending these events.

The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and FMI have released for download their 2007 Eighth Annual Facility Owners Survey

This 31-page survey (PDF) reflects the rising use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) by facility owners for design, construction and lifecycle management of their buildings.

View the full article here

IMAGINiT's Architectural Blogger, Daniel Hughes, shares his insight on Autodesk architectural software including Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Architecture. In this month's newsletter, Daniel shares an excerpt from his blog:

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 features were officially announced today at Autodesk World Press Day. Here's a short list of additions and enhancements in this release.

• Wall Enhancements
• Space Enhancements
• Annotation Scaling
• Multiline Tags
• Multiline leaders
• IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) Data Exchange
• Export Layout Space to Model Space
• GEO Enabled DWG Files

To find out what Daniel will be sharing next, visit his blog at: www.rand.com/imaginit/architecturalblog

IMAGINiT's Media & Entertainment Blogger, Mark Gerhard shares his thoughts about the entertainment and design visualization industry. This month, Mark explores the benefits of design visualization:

Attention Animators! It's all about our relationship to Time!

I was trained as a fine artist, and when you are drawing the model and you enter the zone of creative magic, you notice that Time seems to stop.

The model, your eye, the tip of the pencil, the line on the page - they are all connected in a wire, a flow, an infinite continuum that is palpable and brings an intense pleasure, if you happen to notice it. You enter infinity and eternity through your art, and that's why you do it.

Time After Time article

To find out what Mark will be sharing next, visit his blog at: www.rand.com/imaginit/visualizationblog

RAID storage is a method of safeguarding data by using multiple hard drives as if they were a single drive. (RAID is short for "redundant arrays of inexpensive disks.") Data is spread or automatically replicated on two or more hard drives.

Using a RAID storage system for Revit data has the same benefits and risks as it would for any other type of data. Any hardware issue that affects Revit data would also affect any data on the target system. There are no known issues with using RAID storage for Revit products.

You can learn more about RAIDs from here.

Autodesk last month announced the features of its new Revit 2009 line of software.

• Increased sustainable design and energy analysis capabilities through third-party applications
• New Mental Ray engine for improved rendering speed and quality.

• Compatible with the newly acquired Robobat solutions.
• Includes AutoCAD Structural Detailing for steel and reinforced concrete detailing and shop drawings.

• Now includes air handlers, commercial condensing units, packaged rooftop units, and high-efficiency water source heat pumps.

For more Autodesk 2009 product information visit www.rand.com/imaginit/2009

The 2007 Autodesk/AIA Green Index is an annual survey that measures how American Institute of Architects member architects in the United States are practicing sustainable design.

Some 70% of architects say client demand is the leading driver of green building and that the primary reason these owners and developers are demanding greener buildings is for reduced operating costs.

Architects are responding by significantly increasing their use of sustainable elements such as high-efficiency HVAC systems, recycled building materials and using software to model energy usage.

You can read the full article here.

Autodesk presented international design firm Aedas of Hong Kong with the Revit BIM Experience Award. The firm used Revit Architecture to design a new 83-story high-rise residential tower in Dubai.

The building incorporates over 10,000 frames of glass on its modularized twisting facade. The design team visualized and verified the overall constructability of the complex curved curtain wall structure.

Aedas designed the building to maximize views toward the ocean with the deliberate twist on three of its faces. Because of the twisting nature of the 83-story building, the parametric modeling tools in Revit Architecture played a crucial role in determining the precise position of each curved curtain wall panel. Revit enabled Aedas to identify the coordinates of every piece of the 10,000 frames of glass on the modularized facade, verifying that each piece was flat. This ensured the design's constructability and the project's economic feasibility.

Purchase Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008 with Autodesk® Subscription between February 12, 2008 and March 31, 2008 , and save instantly. With this purchase clients will also receive an upgrade to either 3ds Max 2009 or 3ds Max Design 2009 at no additional cost when they become available.

3ds Max promotion information