Despite the differences between architecture, engineering, construction, design and manufacturing and the media & entertainment sectors, they all share a common mission: to design and make a better world. So, how can we benefit from each other's unique experiences? How can we leverage technology, workflows and skills from animation, VFX, and game development and apply them to other industries? Whether you're an architect designing the future skyline or a game developer crafting your next open-world adventure, join this digital to hear from industry voyagers who have traversed these sectors. Share your knowledge and engage in insightful discussions about the common threads within the design & make industries.

Join this session to learn how a web-based configurator built with Autodesk Platform Services can help to improve sales. With an easy-to-use web tool, we'll see how nontechnical users can design interior floor plans and produce high-quality rendering. From enhancing traditional path-tracer renderings to offering new WebGL optioneering workflows, let's explore what new AI rendering techniques can do in a fraction of the required traditional time and cost.

This year—2024—was a significant year for VRED software, marked by numerous enhancements and new features. We started with a comprehensive UI redesign, reflecting Autodesk's guidelines for a modern, intuitive experience. And we introduced improvements, such as multiselection property editing and searchable preferences, boosting speed and efficiency. We launched many new features, balancing technical precision and artistic freedom, providing a platform for visually compelling and accurate designs. In line with industry advancements, VRED integrated open standards, including IFC, USD for data exchange, and MaterialX and MDL for seamless material exchange across applications. VRED also introduced OpenVDB for volumetric data processing from simulation applications, and OpenXR for a wider range of hardware support, including hand and marker tracking capabilities. In this presentation, we'll guide you through the changes from 2024 to 2025, providing an overview of the key updates shaping VRED 2025.

This session will share details of a project called the VRED Session Management Service (VRED SMS). A prototype built by solutions engineers working together from Autodesk and Amazon Web Services (AWS), VRED SMS demonstrates how VRED 3D visualization software from Autodesk can be deployed and scaled on AWS in an on-demand way. VRED SMS allows applications that can interface a REST API to request a VRED collaboration session. Automated workflows execute to prepare the requisite instances and VRED configuration for a requested VRED scene file. This solution comprises a variety of AWS services, including but not limited to EC2 Image Builder, AWS Step Functions, AWS Systems Manager, AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Lambda, Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon API Gateway. It is also deployed using AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK). To automate the configuration of Autodesk's VRED software, this solution uses its Python and web APIs. The programmatic and workflow-driven nature of the solution makes it relatively simple to customize.

Autodesk Forma software is Autodesk's cloud-based solution for early-stage planning and design. Aside from having a rich, evolving feature set, Autodesk Forma is also a platform: It exposes a powerful set of APIs that allow you to extend the core functionality with custom data and analyses. This session will look at the various ways to extend Autodesk Forma, with a particular focus on how Autodesk Research has created a voxel-based analysis extension using the embedded views software development kit (SDK).

Advanced nuclear is challenged to design and construct on short timelines, with smaller budgets and fewer workers. Digitalization can help companies overcome these constraints. Unfortunately, a digital twin (DT) is often presented as a monolith. This results in organizations abandoning DTs as having benefits that are minimal or unrealized in time. Many perceive DTs as too large an undertaking to even begin. However, digitalization isn't a track meet; it's a marathon of incremental milestones. And, like all races, it has a starting line. This session will summarize a journey that Argonne National Laboratory and Implexus Lab made to digitize the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL), a test facility for advancing sodium fast reactors. Components were designed with Inventor software and assembled in Navisworks software, and AutoCAD software generated construction documents. Integrating with Revit provided a DT foundation. Ultimately, the suite of Autodesk tools enabled the creation of a DT boasting live data visualization within a virtual reality (VR) environment.

This session will walk you through an incredibly simple yet powerful workflow that will not only save you time and money but will also give you incredible visuals and models to kick off your projects. We will showcase the integration of AutoCAD Plant 3D software, Autodesk Construction Cloud, and Matterport. We will demonstrate how this can be used for collaboration and how to turn your plant into a digital twin.

Explore groundbreaking ways to interact with your CAD data using AI. In this session, coolOrange CEO Marco Mirandola will dive into how integrating Azure AI search capabilities and Azure OpenAI language models with Vault software can transform data management. Discover how natural language queries can simplify searches for specific components, and see how Azure Cognitive Services can analyze and classify CAD data, offering insights into data structure and design trends. This session will feature live prototypes, encouraging attendees to envision new AI-enhanced workflows.

Hear from a panel of technical visionaries as they explore the role of Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) in fostering open data exchange—not just in media and entertainment, but across industries. From traditional filmmaking to virtual production, architecture, engineering, construction, automotive, and manufacturing, our team of experts will explore how USD opens the door for seamless connectivity and collaboration across large-scale 3D projects of all kinds. 

As technology continues to evolve, the intersection of 3D design and artificial intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities for innovation in content creation. In this session, we'll showcase experimentation with innovative techniques—namely, ComfyUI, ControlNet, and Stable Diffusion—to forge a future pipeline that seamlessly integrates 3D rendering with AI-driven processes. We'll outline a visionary approach toward empowering artists and streamlining the content creation process. By using advanced AI algorithms and data-driven insights, we aspire to give artists greater control over their creations as they enhance their efficiency and creativity while using Autodesk tools, specifically Maya and Arnold software. Our vision for the future pipeline revolves around achieving a seamless transition from 3D design to AI render, while empowering artists with unprecedented control over their creations.

How efficiently are your products getting from production to warehouse to shipping docks? As you consider new factory designs to improve these material-handling processes, it's critical to have a complete understanding of how your resources and processes interconnect. When Cardinal Glass wanted to optimize its material handling to minimize shipping delays from the factory, the company used simulation with FlexSim to validate its proof of concept and discover new improvement opportunities. The simulation helped to rebalance the workload and identify a reconfiguration that led to a 29% decrease in shipping operation time. This also formed the basis for a digital twin that enables real-time optimization of warehouse goods storage and dock assignments, with daily assignment, location, and maintenance recommendations.

Learn how to build a rocket reaching the altitude of more than 100 kilometers using Autodesk Fusion software! Welcome to Elara Aerospace, a team of ambitious students who ignite innovation and take aerospace exploration to new heights. Our mission? To build the first student rocket with a bi-liquid methalox engine capable of reaching an altitude of more than 100 kilometers. Through collaborative, agile, and rapid product development, we are designing highly complex aerospace parts to build a rocket that has the ability to conduct experiments in the upper atmosphere. Using the Autodesk Fusion platform—which seamlessly combines design, simulation, rendering, and manufacturing in one accessible platform—we've accelerated our workflow and made collaboration easier than ever. With a unique blend of skills and passions, we push boundaries and break new ground in the industry alongside different backgrounds and cultures. Boundless curiosity and unwavering determination are working together to shape the future of aerospace.

In the spring of 2024, the legendary Jeff Smith connected Associate Professor Bush from Auburn University with an OEM partner to explore what it would look like to team a group of graduate industrial design students with a seasoned digital vehicle designer. Through this interaction emerged a five-week section in Alias AutoStudio software and a five-week section in VRED software, using the Auburn instructor's background in surface modeling with the OEM partner's background in SubD and mesh modeling. This proposal compares the CAD instruction methodology that has been implemented at Auburn University for the past three years with the experimental, collaborative approach with the OEM. We will highlight the changes in student outcomes, as well as the implications of knowing SubD/hybrid modeling moving into the design profession.

Arcadis is a global architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) and infrastructure player with engineering teams working closely with visualization teams in Australia, Manila, Canada, and Romania. Since early 2019, Arcadis has provided traditional client-requested visualizations. As a leading AEC company and Autodesk Partner, Arcadis wanted to enhance its visualization capabilities through a new digital workflow integrating immersive worlds and mixed reality in its mobility business. The convergence of media and entertainment with the AEC industry through technology marks a transformative shift in both sectors. Traditionally distinct, these industries are increasingly finding common ground as they harness the power of advanced technologies to collaborate and innovate, and Autodesk is at the forefront of merging this technology to continue to deliver innovation to customers. This convergence continues to evolve and promise to redefine traditional boundaries and pave the way for innovation between these two industries.

Dashboards allow companies to present data in a way that's easy to digest. With a consolidated view of data and insights, they also play a key role in helping to derive actionable insights and tell the right stories to the right stakeholders to propel business performance. Autodesk Construction Cloud provides users with the incredible ability to extract project data and display it on an unlimited number of dashboards, as data visualization is paramount to any business to understand complex data in a very simplistic manner—enabling companies to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and business metrics, and make informed decisions leading to enhanced productivity and greater project collaboration. Autodesk Insight software empowers companies to display data generated from a vast number of sources using an unlimited number of dashboards as data visualization becomes the leading source for making informed decisions to enhance productivity.

Explore the dynamic integration of ArcGIS GeoBIM with Autodesk Construction Cloud, a transformative approach enhancing construction workflows through geographic information system (GIS) and building information modeling (BIM). This session will explore how geographical data and the latest intelligent models are synchronized seamlessly, enabling TIN (triangulated irregular network) surface for elevation profiles, and precise long section analyses directly in GIS. Attendees will gain insights into using these integrations for improved project visualization, GIS data integrated with intelligent models, and site management. We'll share tips learned from creating as-built models with go-go points to be added in long section profiles, all managed through Civil 3D enhancements. This hands-on presentation will cover the technicalities of integrating GIS information with construction data, optimizing issue resolution, and facilitating smoother transitions between project stages. It's ideal for lineal construction technology and geographic information systems integration.

Effective model coordination is key to the success of major water treatment plant projects. It promotes design harmony and team synergy across various disciplines. This session will explore the complexities of synchronizing intricate intelligent models. Discover powerful methods and workflows for integrating intelligent models with tools like Revit, Civil 3D, Navisworks, and Autodesk Tandem software. We'll cover actionable tactics to refine coordination via Autodesk Construction Cloud, report generation, and sharing. Learn about clash detection and issue resolution in Revit and Navisworks using practical examples, enhancing your coordination skills with Autodesk Construction Cloud. Additionally, we'll examine the role AI and automation plays in the streamlining of these processes.

The architecture, engineering, and construction industry has a long history of using 3D tools for design and planning. Such tools are built for handling large quantities of data, but tend to focus more on physical accuracy than visual fidelity. While new tools are emerging to visualize projects in high-quality 3D before they're built, they're typically solutions that can't easily be extended to work with all the new technologies driving innovation in the video game industry. In this session, we'll cover techniques we've developed for rendering large architectural and infrastructure environments in real time. We'll discuss the challenge of importing these models into the Unity gaming engine, as well as the opportunities it affords in terms of improving fidelity, adding interactivity, and building for multiple platforms, including virtual reality (VR). We'll also discuss practical applications for these techniques, such as multi-user review sessions, public feedback gathering, and interactive training building.

Saudi Arabia is undertaking a monumental task: constructing the world's largest coral reef nursery in the Red Sea to preserve and reproduce coral reefs for future generations amidst rising temperatures. Egis, as the Project Management Consultant for this endeavor, has harnessed the Autodesk environment to establish a seamless workflow from Revit to ACC to Tandem, facilitating the creation of a digital twin for the project. Tandem serves as the singular source of truth for this initiative, consolidating documentation and models from ACC, along with real-time data from IoT devices to monitor conditions conducive to coral growth in vitro. Furthermore, Tandem integrates with the Building Management System, enabling not only visualization but also actionable insights to ensure the success of this vital conservation effort. This project exemplifies how Tandem can be integrated into sustainable initiatives, ensuring the preservation of vital ecosystems for future generations.

In this comprehensive session, Chuck Lounsberry, Jon Matalucci, and AJ Lightheart will share their extensive experiences with integrating extended reality (XR) into workflow processes. This session will highlight more than a decade of discoveries, achievements, and challenges, providing attendees with a road map of the landscape of XR application in various business settings.