Through the Interface

Thinking about AU 2012 (and vacation)

Last week, I received confirmation that I’ll be presenting a few different classes at AU 2012, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas from November 27-28. My main sessions, this year, are in some way focused on cloud & mobile technologies.

The subject matter of the first lecture is the recently completed cloud & mobile series, where we’ll look at moving desktop functionality to the cloud and using it from a variety of mobile environments:

CP1914 – Moving code to the cloud – it’s easier than you think!

It has a companion roundtable session – which I believe is scheduled to happen directly after it – that will hopefully be broader (and with plenty of relevant input from participants).

CP4342-R – Cloud and mobile developer round-table

The second lecture is going to look at the MetroCAD browser application I wrote for Windows 8 (and will, of course, go into some detail on WinRT and writing Metro-style applications). I may also talk a little about creating a 3D WinRT application (which will be covered primarily in the first lecture).

CP1921 – Developing a simple Metro-style application for Windows 8

Similar to the last few years, I’ll also be part of two panel sessions…

CP1482 – AutoCAD – Meet the Experts

CP3573 – AutoCAD Programming Gurus Go Head to Head

The first is a general Q&A with AutoCAD experts (and I have it on good authority that there’ll be a few new faces from Autodesk in attendance, this year – more than just the “usual suspects” :-).

The second is a fun – and challenging – session where the panel gets thrown a set of 10 questions by the audience, and basically have the duration of the session to present solutions (or guidance on how to do so).

Although the “call for proposals” has now closed for physical AU sessions, it’s possible to submit class proposals for AU Virtual until August 3rd. (It’s likely I’ll also be presenting a virtual session, this year – more on that later, should it end up happening.)

Right, that’s about it from me for the month of July…

Tomorrow is Autodesk’s annual football (yes, meaning soccer) tournament in Europe. This year, it’s being hosted in Switzerland, which is going to make travel much more straightforward. :-) In recent years, I’ve played for a divisional team – largely made up of members of the ADN organisation – but given my recent change of role I’ve opted to play for one of the local teams, giving me the chance to train with the team for which I’ll be playing. In theory, the team I’m part of is our second team (called Dynamo Helvetia and made up of players who want to play for the love of the game, rather than the glory ;-), but during our most recent practice match we gave our first team (Sparta Helvetia) a pretty good run for their money. Besides the two Swiss teams, we’ll have players coming in from all over Europe and the US. It should be a fun tournament!

After that, we’re heading off on holiday for three weeks, visiting friends and family in France and the UK (although hopefully we won’t regret hitting the London area as the Olympics starts – fingers crossed). I may be able to post the odd update from the road – and do have the odd post queued up, to keep some information trickling through – but please don’t expect me to respond to comments or emails until I’m back in August.

AEC DevBlog & a month to go until DevCamps

As announced previously on this blog, the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) team is in the process of launching a series of DevBlogs, publishing material publicly that would previously only have been made available to ADN members. I see some fantastic material being posted there: more than I can keep up with, personally, but I expect that will settle down once the team has created posts from the bulk of the DevNotes published on the ADN web-site.

Following the availability of those for AutoCAD and Infrastructure Modeling, I’m pleased to announce the AEC DevBlog is now live.

If you’re [considering] developing for Revit, Navisworks or our other AEC and BIM technologies, be sure to bookmark this page and visit often.

On a somewhat related note, I also wanted to remind you that there’s now only a month to go until this year’s AEC and Manufacturing DevCamps. If you’ve held off from registering, be sure to do so soon: time is running out!

DevCamps reminder

As mentioned in this previous post, this year’s DevCamps are now looming. In particular, there are just a few more weeks left before the early bird discount expires – be sure to sign up soon (if you’re planning on attending, that is :-).

Here’s some more information on these events from the ADN team:

Join us at Camp this Summer!

Announcing Autodesk AEC DevCamp (June 6-7) and Manufacturing DevCamp (June 13-14)!

Register by April 30^th to get the $100 early bird discount! 

DevCamps are held every other year where software developers like you can learn to get the most from your time and effort working with Autodesk platform technologies.  The two industry specific Developer Camps include several tracks catering to the learning needs of beginner and expert software developers – as well as a business track for start-ups looking to develop and leverage their relationship with Autodesk.  Come to Camp and get two days of face to face learning and help from Autodesk software engineers – the same Autodesk software engineers developing and supporting the Autodesk technology you work with every day. 

You can also join us for a third day at  “DevLab” where you can work on your hardest coding challenges with an Autodesk software engineer looking over your shoulder giving you immediate help and advice.  Bring your laptop and work on your code as you’d normally do in your own office – the difference is that you have a team of DevTech experts (the same people who answer your questions through DevHelp Online) available to review your code if you’d like, answer your questions, and make suggestions. 

Cloud and Mobile Classes

New for this year’s DevCamps are several classes on helping you get started developing apps based on Cloud and Mobile technologies.  Learn how to build your first Cloud app integrated with your favorite Autodesk product – and how you can make it available “everywhere” through browser and mobile user interfaces.  Have you been considering building your first app for the iPhone, iPad or Android device but holding back because of fear of lost hours thrashing while learning the new technology?  DevCamp includes classes that will show you how to quickly and easily create your first “Hello World” app for iOS and Android - with a design and graphics twist.

AEC DevCamp, June 6-7 (outside of Boston)

You can attend beginner and expert classes on developing solutions with Autodesk® Revit® (all flavors including Server), AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server, Autodesk® Vault, Autodesk BIM 360, Autodesk Project Vasari, Autodesk® Green Building Studio®, Autodesk® Navisworks®, and several more Autodesk AEC technologies.  Hear from Autodesk’s AEC Leadership including Vice President Jim Lynch.  Learn firsthand about developing a new Cloud based business leveraging Autodesk technologies from the Co-Founder of Horizontal Systems (recently acquired by Autodesk) Jordan Brandt. 

Complete list of classes being offered at AEC DevCamp found here.

Register to attend the AEC DevCamp here.

Optional AEC DevLab, June 8, requires a separate registration here

Manufacturing DevCamp, June 13-14 (in Portland)

You can attend beginner and expert classes on developing solutions with Autodesk® Inventor® (including Inventor ETO), Autodesk® Vault, Autodesk® Navisworks, Autodesk PLM 360, and several more Autodesk manufacturing technologies.  Hear from Autodesk’s Manufacturing Leadership including Executive Vice President Robert “Buzz” Kross.  Learn about new technologies Autodesk is working on from the head of our “Fusion” Product Management Team Kevin Schneider. 

Complete list of classes being offered at MFG DevCamp found here.

Register to attend Manufacturing DevCamp here. 

Optional MFG DevLab June 15, requires a separate registration here

Attended the Windows 8 TechConference

I’ve just arrived home from a long day (mainly because of the 4-hour round-trip rail travel) at the Windows TechConference in Baden, Switzerland, focused on Windows 8. It was a pretty interesting day – thankfully, as I’m still a bit jetlagged from my trip to California, and I didn’t want to doze off in the lecture theatre. And yes, I’ve certainly dozed during a few lectures in my time, but not since leaving University.

The main developer-oriented session I attended – which covered writing a WinRT application to pull down Teletext into a XAML + C# application, which was just my kind of demo – taught me a valuable lesson: do not sit up front during a demo focused on Metro UI development – which tends to involve lots and lots of horizontal scrolling – especially when the amphitheatre has cinema-style seating (it was held in a cinema) and you’ve been plied with lots of free food. I nearly had to leave when motion sickness made me feel distinctly nauseous. :-S :-)

But there were some genuinely interesting takeaways from that session: Microsoft are doing a typically pragmatic job of marrying the new with the legacy. Windows 8 will provide an interesting environment for applications, with legacy “desktop” applications (whether using native and/or managed code) will happily co-exist with code running inside the WinRT sandbox. I’m itching to install and play with Windows 8 preview (now that that the Windows 8 consumer preview is available, I expect it’s better to go with that), using the Visual Studio 2011 Beta to build my first Metro-style app.

Another comment on the XAML + C# session: all the coding during that session was performed on a tablet device – albeit one with an external keyboard and mouse – which was pretty cool. A lot of comments were made around the slate’s array of external ports and extensibility options, which was a clear dig at the iPad’s lack of them.

And it was interesting to see every tablet demoed during the day – at least that I saw – had Autodesk SketchBook Express installed (even if it wasn’t shown running), which was either an indication of how cool the app is (and it has been receiving good press, it seems) or how little competition it has on the Windows 8 platform (it is early days, after all). All hot on the heels of SketchBook Ink’s coverage during the iPad 3 launch last week, which came as a surprise to lots of us at Autodesk, too.

There was a fun session talking about the Metro design language, and how it was inspired by bauhaus (being reductionist and functionality-focused), Swiss typography (clearly a crowd-pleaser, here) and motion design.

The other interesting developer-oriented session was a deep dive into WinRT, which showed some of what was going on under the hood in Windows 8. I have a better understanding of the Windows 8 architecture, at this stage, but still need to look into it more deeply (which I expect to share via this blog).

DevCamps 2012

After initially holding DevCamps annually in 2007 and 2008, we’ve now settled down to the more regular rhythm of every other year (the last set was in 2010). Which means, of course, it’s time to do them again. :-)

As already reported by Geoff, Heidi, Jeremy and Shaan, here is some information regarding this year’s DevCamps:

AEC

When: June 6-7, with a DevLab on June 8

Where: Boston, Massachusetts – near Autodesk’s AEC Division headquarters

Cost: early bird discount fee of US $500 valid to April 30, 2012, thereafter US $600

Manufacturing

When: June 13-14, with a DevLab on June 15

Where: Portland, Oregon – near Autodesk’s Manufacturing Division headquarters

Cost: early bird discount fee of US $500 valid to April 30, 2012, thereafter US $600

You probably don’t need me to extoll the virtues of these events – hopefully those are evident from the other posts – but I will just say that they are really great opportunity both to acquire technical knowledge and to network, whether with other people interested in software development, with members of the ADN team, with the product managers and software developers defining and building our products, or even with Autodesk’s divisional heads.

A particular area of focus, this year, will be on web and mobile technology, which reflects the shift our industry is going through. That doesn’t mean we’ll have less focus on our desktop software, though: expect excellent information on developing for those, too, aimed both at beginners and experts.

To stay abreast of the event details as they get nailed down (such as the specific agenda, registration information, etc.) be sure to email Melrose Ross, stating your full name and the company name.

My First AutoCAD Plug-In

Hot on the heels of the Revit and Inventor installments in this series of guides (OK, OK – perhaps not exactly hot, but then “warm on the heels” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it ;-), I’m happy to announce that the previously mentioned “My First AutoCAD Plug-in” guide is now available.

Stephen Preston, the author of this excellent guide, has done a great job of creating a compelling sample – which keeps your block attributes horizontal, irrespective of the block rotation – and a series of straightforward explanations to help power-users and programming “newbies” take the plunge into the world of AutoCAD programming.

Here’s a quick video introducing the guide:

You can access this (so far still expanding) series of guides via autodesk.com/myfirstplugin.

Recorded AutoCAD .NET training available for download

Over the last couple of months, Wayne Brill has been delivering online AutoCAD .NET training. The training has received very positive feedback from attendees.

Recordings of most of the sessions are now (or will soon be) available from our online API webcast archive (which is also accessible via http://autodesk.com/apitraining –> Webcast Archive).

You’ll notice that the recordings start with session 2: we had some technical issues with the first week’s recording, but as the material for these classes is essentially the same material as that used for Wayne’s DevTV sessions (which are all linked to from this post, including the session transcripts) we decided not to rerecord that one session.

On a related note, we’re currently putting the finishing touches on the “My First AutoCAD Plug-In” material (to complement the ones for Revit and Inventor), and I expect that to be posted in the coming weeks, all being well. Watch this space!

Free online AutoCAD .NET training starting September 8th

Starting next week – and for 8 weeks – Wayne Brill, from DevTech Americas, will be delivering free online AutoCAD .NET training.

To register – yes, for free – go to our API Training page and select “Schedule”, then scroll down to “AutoCAD .NET”, “English”, “Webcast”, “Sep 08 2011” and click “Register” at the far right of the item.

This training is a live-delivered version of Wayne’s excellent series of DevTV sessions posted previously (with transcripts). This is likely to appeal to those of you who like knowing there’s a warm body at the other end of their webcast link during a training session. And one that is very happy to interact with the audience and answer any questions you might have.

Enjoy! :-)

Preview of the AU 2011 class catalog

The class catalog for Autodesk University 2011 is now available to preview in advance of the conference registration opening up on August 30th.

Here are the sessions I’m either presenting or hosting:

CP3840	Integrating Microsoft® Kinect™ with AutoCAD®	Lecture	Nov 30, 3:15pm
CP4459-U	AutoCAD® .NET Development: Tools and Best Practices	Unconf-erence	Dec 1, 1:15pm

I’m also honoured to be co-presenting the following session with the famous (and famously lowercase) dave espinosa-aguilar:

CP4717

Unlimited AutoCAD® Scripting for Everyone

Lecture

Nov 29, 5:00pm

And I’m part of the panel for the following sessions:

CP2149	AutoCAD® APIs: Meet the Experts	Stephen Preston	Panel	Nov 29, 3:15pm
CP3941	AutoCAD® Programming Gurus go Head to Head	Peter Jamtgaard	Panel	Nov 30, 1:15pm

Just to complete the story, here are the sessions being presented by other members of the ADN team:

CP2542-L	Autodesk® Inventor® API Lab for Power Users, Part 1	Wayne Brill	Hands-On Lab	Nov 30, 8:15am
CP2544	Autodesk® Inventor® iLogic™ or Inventor API: Which Is the Right Tool for Me?	Wayne Brill	Lecture	Nov 29, 10:15am
CP3505-L	Autodesk® Inventor® API Lab for Power Users, Part 2	Wayne Brill	Hands-On Lab	Nov 30, 10:15am
CP4466	FBX®: A Platform-Independent 3D Data Interchange Technology	Cyrille Fauvel	Lecture	Nov 30, 1:15pm
CP4005	Software Engineer Tips and Tricks for AutoCAD® .NET Plug-in Developers	Augusto Goncalves	Lecture	Dec 1, 10:15am
CP4887	Navigating Through the Corridor using AutoCAD® Civil 3D® .NET API	Augusto Goncalves	Lecture	Nov 30, 1:15pm
CP3320	Autodesk® Inventor®: Client Graphics API Exposed	Philippe Leefsma	Lecture	Dec 1, 1:15pm
CP3423	Best Practices for Add-In Programming and Design Patterns Applied to the Autodesk® Inventor® API	Philippe Leefsma	Virtual	Nov 29
AC5534-U	Sell Your First AutoCAD® Plug-In Through the AutoCAD Exchange Apps Tab	Jim Quanci	Unconf-erence	Nov 29, 10:15am
AC5557	See the Most Popular FREE AutoCAD® Companion App Products in Action	Jim Quanci	Lecture	Nov 30, 5:15pm
CP2524	An Overview of Cloud Computing	Gopinath Taget	Virtual	Nov 1
CP2526	Parallel Programming in an AutoCAD® Application	Gopinath Taget	Lecture	Dec 1 1:15pm
CP2527-U	Popular Design Patterns and How to Implement Them in .NET	Gopinath Taget	Unconf-erence	Nov 30, 10:15am
CP4451	Extensible Storage in the Autodesk® Revit® 2012 API	Jeremy Tammik	Lecture	Nov 29, 3:15pm
CP4453	Everything in Place with Autodesk® Revit® MEP Programming	Jeremy Tammik	Virtual	Nov 29
CP6760-L	Autodesk® Revit® 2012 API Extensible Storage	Jeremy Tammik	Hands-On Lab	Nov 30, 1:15pm
CP4343	The 30,000-Foot View of Autodesk® 3ds Max® Customization and Plug-in Development	Kevin Vandecar	Lecture	Nov 29, 5:15pm
CP4349	Debugging Autodesk® Product Plug-ins	Kevin Vandecar	Lecture	Dec 1, 8:15am
CP4352	Efficiently Find the Information You Want Using the Autodesk® Revit® API	Kevin Vandecar	Virtual	Nov 29
CP2080	AutoCAD® 2012 Application Autoloader Technology Revealed	Fenton Webb	Lecture	Nov 29 1:15pm
CP2081-U	All About RealDWG® and AutoCAD® OEM	Fenton Webb	Unconf-erence	Nov 30, 8:15am
CP2082	Multithreading and Message Handling in Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) Applications	Fenton Webb	Virtual	Nov 29

Q&A is live for each of these sessions via the class description pages. Please do use them to start interacting with the presenters, if you have any questions around the content.

See you in Las Vegas! :-)

The “My First Plug-In” series

A few years ago I mentioned that my team was looking into learning paths for novice programmers. This effort has led to the “My First Plug-In” series, of which we now have two guides ready:

My First Revit Plug-In

My First Inventor Plug-In

This series is really intended for power-users of Autodesk software who want to take their use of our products to the next level, but need some targeted help on the programming side of things.

We currently have guides for Maya and AutoCAD in the works. While many of this blog’s readership won’t need this kind of assistance, I think many will enjoy what Stephen Preston is cooking up for AutoCAD. ;-)

And perhaps others will enjoy learning a little about Revit and Inventor with the above guides: be sure to take a look and let us know what you think.