Construction Teams Build Designs to Beat the Clock, Win Prizes
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- From Robin Hood's
house to Parisian pied-a-terre, software from Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK)
helps users realize their ideas by bringing to life new, outrageous home
makeovers on Discovery Channel's "Monster House." In its fourth season of
wildly creative construction, the show's behind-the-scenes designers invent
fresh challenges for contestants -- and develop those concepts into
architectural drawings and plans using AutoCAD 2006, the world's leading
customizable and extendable software for drafting, detailing and design. With
the help of Autodesk, a sponsor of the series, projects are explained to
viewers and show contestants with AutoCAD drawings and Autodesk 3ds Max
animation software. The "Monster House" builders scramble to make these
drawings into real structures in five days or less -- then take home prizes
including AutoCAD 2006 software.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO )
Each week, "Monster House" dares professional builders to test their
construction and collaboration skills by raising a structure they've never
seen before, with a team they've never met -- between Monday morning and
midnight, Friday. And it's no easy feat for the show's design crew to dream up
astounding abodes, and then transform those ideas into feasible plans. Jinnie
Choi is assistant art director at Original Productions, the producers of
"Monster House." Choi depends on AutoCAD 2006 to make the most of the two or
three weeks she has per project to measure the house to be modified, model and
refine plans with the production crew, submit plans and architectural drawings
for construction permits and produce sketches to scale for show contestants.
Visitors to http://www.autodesk.com/monsterhouse can view these designs and see
firsthand how the show uses Autodesk solutions to realize ideas.
"Less time spent drafting means more time solving the challenges that come
up on these once-in-a-lifetime projects. AutoCAD 2006 not only speeds up
'Monster House' design work, it ensures we produce accurate, functional plans
and sketches," said Choi. "Although these are way-out designs, the
creators -- and the contestants -- face the kinds of time constraints and
client satisfaction issues that real-world projects present."
From Sherwood Forest to Paris
Season four of "Monster House" kicked off August 15 with the "Robin Hood
House" created for a couple who had reached a design impasse in the Sherwood
Forest neighborhood of Los Angeles. Enormous metal trees designed to support a
deck required structural engineering documentation and special city permits,
placing extra drafting demands on Choi. Hardly a damsel in distress, Choi made
short work of these challenges with AutoCAD 2006. When city permits required
extra-large concrete footing for the trees, Choi took advantage of automatic
calculation capabilities in AutoCAD 2006 compute the volume of concrete
required. She designed the trees' interior armature by extruding circles to
represent metal pipes, clicking on each one to see length and dimensions and
calculate the thickness of the branches to be built upon the armature.
Whether it's "Robin Hood House," "Paris House" or some other "monster"
project, Choi frequently uses AutoCAD 2006 Design Center content and
annotation capabilities to present project details in an intuitive fashion.
For example, blocks representing common objects such as furniture and people
provide the project team and contestants with an idea of project scale, while
enhanced hatching now provides a quick means to indicate material or surface
qualities.
"We're proud to be an official sponsor of 'Monster House' and to support
the spirit of innovation that our customers put to work every day," said John
Sanders, vice president, Autodesk Platform Technology Division. "That kind of
inspiration is the reason Autodesk continues to enhance AutoCAD software year
after year with breakthrough capabilities that streamline the essential tasks
of drafting through publishing. We believe the innovative combination of
broadcast and Web-based information -- from video footage to actual house
plans -- will inspire our users, as well."
The "Paris House" will air on August 22, promising plenty of ooh-la-las
thanks to AutoCAD and Autodesk 3ds Max technology. (Editor's Note: Check
local listings for exact air date and time.) Previously on "Monster House,"
Autodesk helped answer students' hopes for a state-of-the-art shop classroom.
North Hollywood High in Southern California got a "monster" workshop makeover
in which contestants transformed the run-down facility into the Construction
Technology Shop, complete with a giant lug-nut-shaped desk for the class
instructor. Autodesk donated AutoCAD software for use in the high school's new
Home Engineering Academy, where students learn to envision and bring their
ideas to life through technology.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned
into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software
and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital
media and wireless data services fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers
create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a
result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more
productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits.
Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For
additional information about Autodesk, please visit http://www.autodesk.com.
NOTE: Autodesk, AutoCAD and 3ds Max are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other
brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
CONTACT: Celia Webb of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2420, or
celia.webb@autodesk.com.
SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.autodesk.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Celia Webb of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2420, or
celia.webb@autodesk.com
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