AutoStudio provides concept modeling, analysis, technical surfacing, and visualization.
Concept design
Sketching and illustration tools
Capture and communicate concept design ideas freehand without switching applications. Alias includes a comprehensive set of sketching, illustration, and image editing tools—pencils, paintbrushes, airbrushes, markers, erasers, and special texture and effects brushes. The integrated 2D/3D environment enables product designers to create sketches at real-world scale and draw over imported 3D CAD data to evaluate design feasibility.
Flexible product modeling
Experiment with ideas in shape and form. Pursue innovative solutions to your design challenges. Quickly explore and visualize any form using a range of 3D modeling techniques. Alias software combines fast, repeatable, curve-based modeling tools with the ability to directly edit and sculpt 3D models. Choose the best modeling technique for the task at hand. Generate multiple design iterations quickly, and make subtle corrections or radical changes with flexible tools.
Dynamic shape modeling
Quickly manipulate your product model and explore shape variations on 3D forms without rebuilding geometry. Make real-time modifications and shape objects dynamically in design reviews. Manipulate a customizable lattice rig created around an object to sculpt geometry, or bend it using a curve to control deformation. You can also twist geometry around a single-axis curve, or conform it to the shape of another surface.
3D sculpting
Refine your 3D models through an intuitive, iterative process. Sculpt surfaces by directly adjusting surface control vertices. Use curve-based tools to define a shape at its edges, and use direct modeling to adjust the shape at any point. Maintain complete control, achieving the exact form and surface quality you need.
Product modeling
Stitches and seams
Automate the creation of stitches and seams for surfaces that will be stitched together.
Surface chain select tool
Select an entire chain of surfaces with just one pick.
Automatic arrays of shapes
Simplify uniform and nonuniform objects by using arrays. Use multiple methods to create arrays of lines and surfaces in both 2D and 3D.
Mathematically precise surface creation
Alias includes multiple tools that help modelers and designers create mathematical shapes. For example, control pitch in the Revolve tool, which creates objects like springs and threads.
Surface Modeling & Class-A Surfacing
Scan data workflows: fit surface to mesh
Improvements to scan data workflows include the ability to easily place fit-surface patches on a mesh by picking 4 points on the mesh. Build a surface shaped to the mesh on those points.
Scan data workflows: surface from mesh
Create a surface on mesh by choosing the mesh region and then selecting 1 of 3 surface types. These mesh tools are optimal for establishing theoretical slabs.
Scan data workflows: mesh selection techniques
Alias now has several different tools for selecting mesh, including form-complying tools. This expanded toolset provides options based on the scan data.
Multiblend tool
Fill an enclosed area with 3 or more surface inputs to make smooth transitions between surfaces.
Precision surface modeling
Create production surfaces with speed and control. Precision technical surfacing modeling tools help to make sure that surfaces maintain positional, tangent, or curvature continuity with surrounding surfaces—delivering Class-A surfacing that engineering teams need to create tooling.
Automated surface creation and editing
Use tools built for multiple operations in one simple process. Examples include tools that combine surface layout and continuity in one operation that can be modified later. Other tools combine multisurface continuity to fillets that are then extended to provide draft flanges from a given draft angle.
Multicurve profile input
Profile tools provide an advanced way to work with surfaces. For example, automate creation of multiple surfaces in one operation. More complex operations include the ability to move or rotate a profile to a target surface, or work with multisurface shapes.
Efficient multisurface fillet tool
The surface fillet tool is designed to create smooth fillets in a simple operation. Create single or variable fillets with continuity controls all the way to G3 continuity.
Intelligent form factor capability
Control the form of the shape and make it consistent using Form Factor features that are included in many advanced surface creation tools. Easily match shapes between blends and fillets.
Surface Analysis
Light ray effects and reflections
Create linear reflections on a model in a cylindrical tunnel of light. Study your surfaces in a virtual lighting studio. The Light Tunnel is a visual surface evaluation tool that provides a controlled lighting and reflection model to help you understand your designs better.
Shading in clay
Shade your model with a low-specularity clay color to study the subtleties of surface shape and shadow. Temporarily change all of your shaders to a clay material with the Clay with Ambient Occlusion feature. When you're finished, your model goes back to its original form.
Isophotes for surface flow
Use isophotes—thin, sharp lines that show the path of surface flow—to find possible errors in your design. They can show the movement of sand over a desert or represent the underlying shape of snow in a mountain range. In Alias, this surface evaluation tool highlights spots of the same brightness in your design, alerting you to possible imperfections in your model.
Surface evaluation
Fine-tune surfaces in Alias with instant numerical and graphical feedback on surface quality. Use dynamic evaluation tools, such as surface continuity, curvature, and draft analysis, to verify that your surface modeling meets engineering and production requirements. Create production-ready Class-A surfaces of your automotive and product designs so engineering teams don't need to re-create them.
VRED NURBS surface analysis
High-quality surface analysis uses native spline definitions for better accuracy. Evaluate data of the actual smooth NURBS surface for a deeper understanding of your surfaces. This method is more accurate and succinct than traditional surface analysis tools that show the curvature of a surface based only on a mesh approximation.
Design Communication & Product Visualization
Interoperability with other tools
Alias interoperability tools streamline operations with other products used in the design process, including cutters, scanners, printers, meshers, and engineering applications.
Ability to switch shading assignments
When designers need to look at different color combinations, shader switches provide an easy way to make color combinations and easily switch between them. These switches move easily to VRED 3D visualization software for high-quality visualization and renderings.
Variant configuration sets
Capture the state of your current view, so you can get back to it whenever you want to. Share your configurations to VRED for visualization.
Interactive product visualization
Evaluate design options with real-time, interactive product visualization. Tell the story of your product design in context using geometric environments.
Compelling photorealistic renderings
Image-based lighting supports high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) for interactive product visualization and rendering. The result is high-resolution imagery for evaluating, presenting, and marketing your product designs.
Convenient data exchange
Share your design data with downstream mechanical design and engineering software, using the DWG™ format.
VRED compatibility
VRED 3D visualization software users can view Alias geometry with realistic materials and environments.
Fast concept modeling
Hybrid mesh modeler
Using techniques similar to game modeling, Alias SpeedForm provides a hybrid of simple mesh and NURBS in a unique concept modeling environment. Accelerate concept development and streamline the downstream use of the model in other Alias products.
2D sketch to 3D sketch
Easily move from 2D sketch to 3D sketch. Calibrate the scene so that your 3D "sketch" is dimensionally accurate.
Work in Engineering context
Using carry-over and engineering parts is easy in Alias SpeedForm. Translators help to ensure that your concept is built as intended.
Design with curves
Use Alias SpeedForm to design with 3D curves by either bringing in the theoreticals from other Alias products or building the 3D curves internally.
Shape exploration
Easily explore different forms from the sketch in Alias SpeedForm, as well as additional possible features from your design.
Quick design iteration
Iterate on your initial concept with Alias SpeedForm tools and methods.
Design variants
Easily build design variations, and then select various options for the design.
Design precision
In addition to flexibility for concept modelers, Alias SpeedForm provides precision tools for modelers and engineers.
Built-in material shaders
Communicate your design concept through material selection. Alias SpeedForm provides many in-stock materials to choose from.
Continuous industrial design pipeline
Easily export Alias SpeedForm concepts to other Alias products for production modeling. Simply export your wirefile and continue developing the production surfaces in your preferred Alias modeling product.
Real-time rendering capability
Alias SpeedForm includes a real-time rendering tool. Get a more realistic view of your models before you export them to an Autodesk VRED product for 3D visualization.
