Autodesk

Most of this article I have already posted at 3pointD but there are few modifications for the serioulsy geeky and eagle-eyed:

I am not sure if there has been much ballyhoo about this, but Autodesk have at last opened their island in Second Life. Autodesk is the company behind what is arguably the world’s leading 2D and 3D modeling software, and so it seems a natural fit for them to be in Second Life. Indeed, Autodesk’s Maya product has recently been highlighted by Linden Lab as an appropriate tool for the development of the soon-to-be-launched sculpted prims. The island would appear to be the work of design firm Clear Ink, though they have made extensive use of the Canadian designer and builder, Second Life resident Scope Cleaver.

The island is divided into a number of areas:

The “Orientation” area provides a small seating area, but more importantly, around the perimeter are a number of links to external Web sites, other parts of the island and a few notecards and freebies (well.. a T-shirt at any rate). Most of these relate to Autodesk, but there are also links to a Second Life FAQ and a guide to cool sites to visit.

The “Stage” area comprises an open-air auditorium, capable of hosting about 50 people (about the maximum that one SL region can handle), plus a number of smaller screening areas that would typically host around 10 people each. Each of these venues has an active video screen, on which promotional videos can be seen. The main auditorium is hosting a fortnightly series of meetings. Unfortunately, I missed today’s by a couple of hours. The next one,”Using Second Life as part of your Architectural Practice”, will be on May 29th at 10:00AM SLT

The “Concept Demo” area illustrates a number of uses to which Autodesk products can be put. As seems all the rage at the moment, one of the examples is an airship.

The “Building Demo” area illustrates the use of Autodesk in designing homes and other buildings. There seems to be the suggestion here that you would used Autodesk to model a house in SL, making it available to prospective buyers who could then modify the decor and furnishings to suit their tastes. A kind of "suck it and see."

The “Virtual Studio” area turns out to be a showcase for Crescendo Design, who use Autodesk in Real Life to design eco-friendly housing.

The build quality is all you would expect of Scope Cleaver, who specialises in finely built, ultra-modern office buildings and equipment. Unfortunately, there was no one around when I beamed in (a couple of hours late for their inaugural presentation) and, indeed, in the time it took me to write this blog entry, there has only been one other visitor. If you would like a guided tour, then times when an employee will be available are posted:

• Mondays and Fridays 10:00AM SLT (18:00 BST or 19:00 CET)
  
• Wednesdays 3:00PM SLT (23:00 BST or 00:00 CET)