Autodesk Inc, Sausalito, California personal computer computer-aided design software developer has announced from its Guildford, Surrey base that AutoCAD 13 is now ready. This version has an object-oriented database that enables users to store design components for re-use at a later date. The design components are attached to intelligent agents that work out the specifications associated with a particular object. So an intelligent agent will automatically adjust a column component if it is not correctly aligned within the overall model. Object re-use is, according to the company, intended to make the software easier to use and to produce faster and more productive designs. AutoCAD has also tried to make its latest offering more user-friendly: it has a graphical user interface with floating tool-bars and flyouts so users can more easily navigate their way around the multide of design functions. Other enhancements include Microsoft Corp’s OLE 1.0 client and server support that enables users to transfer files created on other software packages into AutoCAD and vice versa. The SQL interface enables users to link up with any non graphic data, such as a word processing document, which is stored in an external database. In terms of the design and drafting geometry the new version has a multiple parallel-line object that simplifies the design of any model with parallel lines and then automatically cleans up the intersections. It also has free-form NURBS, Non-uniform Rational B-Splines, design that makes its easier for a designer to create manipulate and edit complex curved shapes. Autodesk has also built on the three-dimensional solid modelling capability of the software, users can develop and edit ACIS-based three-dimensional solid models for area and volume calculations, structural analysis and massing studies. To specify materials and help users differentiate between different parts or functions in a drawing AutoCAD has added hatching and pattern-fill control tools. The tools can be predefined or created by the user and the design can inherit the properties of the existing hatch pattern. Autodesk has also enhanced its photo-realistic solid modeller rendering package in AutoCAD 13. Autovision Release 2 is said to be up to 600% faster than Release 1. New features include a fast renderer with shading, ray-tracing effects such as shadowing, reflection and refractions and a camera target path animation function that enables users to define two paths in the AutoCAD drawing; so you can, for example, animate sun location to analyse sun and shadow studies. The windows version runs on a 80486 or Pentium processor with recommended 24Mb of RAM and a minimum 35Mb of hard disk space. The MS-DOS version requires a minimum of 12Mb of RAM and 25Mb of hard disk space. Release 13 is $4,000 and both MS-DOS and Windows ver-sion will ship together from November 28.
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