Alias Surface 2018

Create innovative designs faster

Style, form, and function all influence a consumer's choice of products. Create the innovative designs consumers want-faster than your competition. Use Autodesk Alias Surface 2018 Subscription to experiment with ideas, rapidly iterate concepts, and refine winning details.

Concept Design and Fast Content Modeling

• Flexible product modeling - Fast, repeatable, curve-based modeling tools let you directly edit and sculpt 3D models.
• Improved color assignment for layers - Random custom color assignments for layers and layer folders.
• Customized clutch keys - Define clutch key assignments.
• View options in Curve Planarize - Add view options in the Curve Planarize.
• Surface fillet improvements - Add the option of Inter Continuity and Inter Tangent Angle checking in surface fillets.
• New options in Skin tool - Add the Shape option in the Skin 2012 tool to control the CV layout of the Skin surface section.
• Variable degree surface fillets - You have the ability to have a variable degree in fillet surfaces.
• Interface enhancements - Improvements for the 2018 release include customizable keyboard controls, snapping, marking menus, and more.
• Dynamic shape modeling - Quickly manipulate your product model and explore shape variations on 3D forms without rebuilding geometry.
• 3D sculpting - 3D sculpt surfaces by directly adjusting surface control vertices. Use curve-based tools, direct modeling, and more.

Detailed Design and Surface Analysis

• Deck seam - Deck seam (similar to a flat fell seam) has been added to the Stitch and Seam tool.
• Mathematically precise surface creation - Access tools that help you create mathematical shapes. For example, control pitch with the Revolve tool, and more.
• Multiblend tool - Make smooth transitions between surfaces.
• Light ray effects and reflections - Study your surfaces in a virtual lighting studio with the Light Tunnel tool.
• Automatic arrays of shapes - Simplify uniform and non-uniform objects, using arrays. Create arrays of lines and surfaces in 2D and 3D.
• Stitches and seams - Automatically create stitches and seams.
• Surface chain select tool - Select a chain of surfaces with one pick.
• Shading in clay - Temporarily change your shaders to a clay material. When you're finished, your model goes back to its original form.
• Isophotes for surface flow - Reveal design motion and underlying shape—for example, the movement of sand or the shape of snow on a mountain.
• Surface evaluation - Get more accurate feedback on surface model quality.
• VRED NURBS surface analysis - Achieve more accurate, native spline definition analysis.

Surface Modeling and Class-A Surfacing

• Global refit - Refit your digital model to the changed physical model.
• Modeling enhancements - The 2018 release includes enhancements to Surface Fillets and Curve Planarize. Data Transfer now offers STEP AP242 standard and DWG import and export.
• Scan data workflows: surface from mesh - Create a surface on mesh with 1 of 3 surface types.
• Improved Surface from Mesh tool - Update original data with scanned clay data.
• Precision surface modeling - Create Class-A surfaces with speed and control.
• Automated surface creation and editing - Perform multiple operations with a single tool.
• Multicurve profile input - Profile tools provide an advanced way to work with surfaces, such as rotating a profile to a target surface.
• Efficient Multisurface Fillet tool - Speed up the process from factor to surface fillet.
• Intelligent form factor capability - Define ratios with Form Factor tools.
• Scan data workflows: mesh selection techniques - Use an expanded mesh selection toolset.

Design Communication and Product Visualization

• Interactive product visualization - Evaluate design options with real-time visualizations. Use shading models, apply color, add texture, and more.
• Compelling photorealistic renderings - Visualize your product with high-resolution imagery.
• Convenient data exchange - Share industrial design data with mechanical design and CAD software, including Inventor, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, and many others.
• VRED compatibility - Quickly convert Alias files to VRED software for 3D visualization.
• Interoperability with other tools - Interoperability helps streamline operations with other products used in the design process, such as cutters, meshers, and more.
• Switch between shading assignments - Easily switch between color combinations.
• Variant configuration sets - Capture your current view to return to it easily.

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