Company
News
Award-Winning Autodesk
Actrix Technical Ships
Easy-to-Use Diagramming and Drawing Software Captures Industry Awards, Posts Robust
Advance Sales
San Rafael, CA—Nov. 30th, 1998— Autodesk Inc., (Nasdaq: ADSK) today
announced that Actrix™
Technical software, a powerful diagramming and drawing software solution for technical
and business professionals, has shipped to major distributors and customers. Customers can
use this tool to create a range of diagrams, from business flowcharts and network diagrams
to facilities plans and engineering schematics.
Since its preview at the A/E/C SYSTEMS show in June and its introduction at Autodesk®
Design World '98 in September, Actrix Technical has earned outstanding market acceptance,
posting robust advance sales and winning awards from leading computer-aided-design
industry publications. In addition, new applications that further extend the power of
Actrix Technical have been announced by Autodesk developer partners, demonstrating Actrix
Technical software's effectiveness as a platform for rapid development of third-party
applications. These partners include Peregrine Systems, the leader in infrastructure
management and facilities automation; ECT International, experts in electrical controls
design; and ColdStream Software, specialists in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and fire and
security engineering software and training.
"Actrix Technical is the answer to the pent-up market demand for an easy-to-use,
affordable diagramming tool that is useful for everyone from engineers to office
managers," said Godfrey Sullivan, vice president, Autodesk Personal Solutions Group.
"Customers have been flocking to product demonstrations and placing orders on sight.
Industry experts have begun building value-added solutions on the Actrix Technical
platform. Throughout the design community and beyond, we are seeing a tremendous
broad-based interest in Actrix Technical."
Industry Accolades
According to CADENCE Magazine, September 1998, Actrix Technical software sports
"a cleanly designed, easy-to-use, elegantly configured drag-and-drop interface. This
is a product to watch." CADENCE editors selected Actrix Technical for a Show
Stopper Award at Autodesk Design World 1998, based on its technological innovation,
orientation toward the future and ease-of-use.
Actrix Technical software earned CADALYST Magazine's All-Star Award in September
1998, as an exciting new product that promises to benefit AutoCAD software users. CADALYST's
editors noted that "Actrix Technical will appeal to engineers, IS managers,
facilities managers, HVAC designers, and others who need to create 2D diagrams."
Advanced Features
Actrix Technical software enables users to easily and quickly create, modify and share an
array of high-quality, professional drawings, from technical schematics to facilities
plans to business diagrams. According to Bradford Kelly, President and CEO of Moss Creek
Communications, Inc., an engineering consulting firm based in Sunnyvale, Calif.,
"Actrix Technical is an excellent tool for communicating with workgroups, management
and any other end-use customer. Its ease of use is superlative. It is a great integration
tool. In fact, I've replaced other diagramming and process flow software because Actrix
Technical provides more functionality than those products combined, plus the ability to
draw on the fly."
Actrix Technical's industry-leading features include:
ActiveShapes™ Technology: With Actrix Technical software, users can
drag-and-drop Autodesk ActiveShapes that automatically snap and align to one another and
to AutoCAD® drawings. ActiveShapes objects maintain connectivity even when moved or
edited. This next-generation intelligent shape technology is unmatched by any other
diagramming product on the market today.
Industry-Expert Developed ActiveShapes Libraries: Actrix Technical includes
thousands of ActiveShapes objects developed by experts in industries where diagramming is
critical, such as facilities management, network cable management, factory floor layout,
electrical controls design, and building services including HVAC, piping and plumbing,
electrical, and fire and security systems. "We've found the ActiveShapes particularly
useful, easy to learn and easy to use. The ability to simply drag and drop objects saves
us considerable time. Furthermore, since Actrix Technical is a development platform, we
easily created our own ActiveShapes," says Melonie Boyd, CAD drafter at global
engineering and consulting company Dames & Moore Group.
Interoperability: Actrix Technical software is interoperable with AutoCAD®
software, the Windows operating systems, Microsoft® Office and the Internet, fostering
collaboration and the smooth flow of design information across the enterprise. Drawings
created with Actrix Technical can include hyperlinks and can be saved in HTML, JPEG, PNG
and DWF formats. They can be linked to a Web site or published on a corporate intranet
Actrix Technical has the best AutoCAD software interoperability of any diagramming
product available. "Actrix Technical's AutoCAD compatibility is unmatched,"
notes Lance Gordon, senior CAD support engineer at systems integrator Desktop Products
(Emeryville, California).
Precision Drawing Tools: For people who need to generate original drawings,
Actrix Technical software includes a robust set of easy-to-master drawing and editing
tools that provide more complete and precise capabilities than other diagramming products.
This ActiveShapes technology authoring environment enables users to easily create exact
custom shapes and objects that automatically and intelligently snap and align.
Custom Solutions: Microsoft VBA is integrated with every copy of Actrix
Technical and all Actrix Technical objects, properties, methods, and events are exposed to
ActiveX Automation, allowing developers to quickly bring to market third-party and custom
applications, extending Actrix Technical software into specific market segments or
corporate standards. For example, Peregrine® Systems (San Diego, Calif.), recently
announced SPAN·FM™ OFFICE MANAGER, a powerful and economical application that
provides facility management solutions for small to mid-sized companies. SPAN·FM™
OFFICE MANAGER also provides a direct upgrade to the SPAN·FM™ Enterprise Facilities
Solutions for organizations whose requirements grow more complex. ECT International
(Brookfield, Wisc.) will introduce two plug-ins for Actrix Technical: a Programmable
Controller I/O Generator that automatically generates electrical wiring diagrams of
programmable controller input and output modules; and a Bill of Materials Generator that
automatically creates a bill of materials listing all of the parts used in an electrical
drawing. ColdStream Software Solutions (Columbia, South Carolina) recently announced four
new expert ActiveShapes libraries for building system and architectural professionals.
Pricing and Availability
The English language version of Actrix Technical is available in the U.S. and Canada from
most software retailers, catalog and corporate resellers, Autodesk System Centers (ASC),
authorized Autodesk resellers, or direct from Autodesk. Additional information
regarding U.S. and Canadian pricing and availability and Autodesk's new Open License
Program can be found on the Autodesk Web site at www.autodesk.com/actrix.
International English, French and German language versions of Actrix Technical will be
available in 1999. For pricing outside the U.S. and Canada, please call your local dealer.
About the Autodesk Personal Solutions Group
Established in October of 1997, the Personal Solutions Group develops easy-to-use,
affordable tools for professionals, occasional users and consumers who design, draft and
diagram. PSG products are intended to enhance enterprise-wide productivity by connecting
all types of users through industry-leading interoperability and graphics content. In
addition, PSG partners with developers who are creating custom, content-based applications
to meet the growing demand for industry-specific solutions.
About Autodesk
Autodesk is the fourth largest PC software company in the world and the leading supplier
of PC design software and multimedia tools. More than three million customers use the
company's 2D and 3D products for architectural design, civil engineering design and
surveying, mechanical design, geographic information systems and mapping, and through its Kinetix™ division for film and video production, and
video game and Web content development. For more information, contact any Authorized
Autodesk Reseller, call Autodesk at 800-964-6432, or visit the About Autodesk section of the
Autodesk Web site. Autodesk shares are traded on the Nasdaq national market under the
symbol ADSK.
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