Autodesk Alias Surface 2010

Created to meet the specific needs and workflow requirements of creative professionals, digital modelers/sculptors and automotive/transportation designers, the Autodesk Alias 2010 product line provides sketching, modeling and concept visualization tools for the creative design process. Part of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping, the Autodesk Alias product line helps designers quickly bring ideas to reality in a single environment. Autodesk Alias family of products help designers capture their ideas digitally and then share with engineering teams through fast, high-quality data integration and exchange with Autodesk Inventor and other third-party CAD software. As a result, industrial design data can easily be incorporated into the digital prototype. By promoting productivity and fostering creativity, the Alias product family helps companies create superior designs, which drives superior business.

The Autodesk Alias 2010 product family consists of:

Autodesk Alias Design For consumer product designers who control the entire design process—from ideation to the final surfaces that are passed to engineering. Designers can rapidly develop and communicate product design concepts using sketches, illustrations, photorealistic renderings and animations.

Autodesk Alias Surface Offers dynamic 3D modeling capabilities that enable virtual modelers to evolve concept models and scan data into high-quality production surfaces for consumer product design and Class-A surfaces for automotive design and styling.

Autodesk Alias Automotive The de facto standard for automotive design and the choice of leading automotive styling studios throughout the world. Alias Automotive provides visualization and analysis tools for the entire shape-definition process, from concept sketches through Class-A surfacing.

New Features for 2010

New and improved functionality for both new and experienced users further lowers barriers of adoption and increases modeling productivity and design quality.

• Support for the Mac – The Autodesk Alias 2010 product line marks a major milestone with the first release on the Mac OS X.
• Effective and Easy-to-Use Navigation – An updated user interface, optimized presets and additional Getting Started and learning content help to increase productivity and improve the user experience. Intuitive 3D viewing is one click away. The easy-to-use Autodesk ViewCube navigation tool makes it easier to view the model with traditional camera tools. The navigation bar consolidates common camera tools such Camera Twist, bookmarks, and nonproportional scaling for quick access.
• Enhanced Visualization Tools – The new Material Library offers a collection of preset shaders and contains more than 250 common materials and textures. Common material descriptions from the Material Library make moving data from Alias to Autodesk Showcase software more efficient and provides better visual continuity.
• Rapid Prototyping – The 2010 release provides simplified rapid prototyping output. A wizard guides users through stitching, mesh tessellation and the creation of wall thickness to quickly output STL or color ZPR files.  Better development and refinement of designs before committing to production helps to reduce the number of physical prototypes required.
• DWF Export – Create DWF files with a single click. The DWF format helps to protect the integrity of your d esign and allows for precise publishing, rendering and printing of even the most complex digital models.

Autodesk Alias Surface and Autodesk Alias Automotive

• Technical Surfacing Enhancements – With productivity-enhancing tools such as Align, Trim Convert and Surface Fillets, users can create high-quality and Class-A surfaces in a fraction of the time previously needed.
• Hybrid Modeling Workflows – Integrate NURBS data into scan data and then evaluate and refine the hybrid model without resurfacing the entire model. Enhancements include a more powerful Mesh Collar workflow. The addition of Deviation Color feedback to key tools improves the interaction of mesh workflows.
• Symmetrical Modeling – This new workflow for modeling significantly reduces the time and risk of creating perfectly symmetrical curves and surfaces.