Autodesk have jumped the gun in the conceptual modeling mobile device 'race', with the release of Autodesk FormIt. FormIt seems, at first glance like a cut down version of Vasari, where you are able to model basic geometry, set a location and run basic conceptual energy analysis on your mass directly from your iPad. The fun in this is that you get to feel like your actually modeling it with your hands rather than a mouse.

To everyone who was left at home and unable to be in Las Vegas this week for Autodesk University, it's not all bad news. Autodesk are providing a live stream from Vegas for certain presentations - View the live stream here. Carl Bass and Jeff Kowalski are kicking off in 25 minutes (16:00 GMT) with the 'Keynote Address' presentation.

Anyone who was tuned in to the 'Keynote Address' presentation yesterday from AU will have seen Autodesk CEO Carl Bass introducing a new product to Autodesks ever growing repertoire of design tools. Fusion 360 looks like a fantastic product, branded as '3D CAD in the cloud'. From what I saw of it yesterday in the small introduction, I was blown away. The modeling tools available far exceed the abilities of Revit's native modeling tools.

Does the BIM news ever end? New software, tools, addons left right and everywhere else. Very exciting times in the BIM / AEC industries. The latest news is the release of Vasari beta 2; main updates:

• Automatically sync files with Autodesk 360

Yesterday saw the release of Autodesk's Project Falcon add-in for Revit. This is a tool which has been in testing for a while as a stand-alone tool or connected to other software packages such as Inventor, via Autodesk Labs. Project Falcon is a wind tunnel / wind analysis tool which can be used to generate an accurate air flow simulation around your model / building model. Some of the tools you will see in this add-in may look familiar from the energy analysis tools inside of the now graduated Autodesk Vasari. 

I'm sure you've all heard of Autodesk FormIt by now - The new tablet based geometry creation application for designers. FormIt is the first 3D modeling tablet app aimed primarily at the AEC industry. if you haven't already seen FormIt in action you should check out the video below, but in short: It's a cut down version of Vasari with simple geometry tools (extrusions/voids) which are fully controllable via a touchscreen with your fingertips! 

Here are a series of useful videos uploaded recently on the Autodesk Building Solutions YouTube channel. This series covers the basics of shared parameters in Revit, an important library of definitions used when working on Revit projects. It is a good idea to have a shared parameter file set up in your office or home if you are working on multiple projects with the same standards. 

Just a quick post on a Saturday morning to notify any of my readers who have not already heard; The rest of the AU classes which had not been available up to now can now be veiwed online on the Autodesk University website. 

Like it or not, as a technology professional, the cloud WILL become part of our every day work in the near future - if it's not already! Many applications which you currently use may already use cloud technology without you even realising it. Security issues are of course a big concern when moving forward with tecnolgoy and into new ways of working. There are many questions that need to be answered in order to make the cloud user feel like their sensitive data is secure.