Tech Soft 3D Named Distributor of Toolset for Developing Custom AutoCAD-Based Applications

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — April 19, 2010 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, announced the availability of the 2011 AutoCAD OEM development platform, which provides tools to build custom AutoCAD software-based products for specific markets and extend design information to users outside the traditional CAD industry. Through an agreement with Autodesk, Tech Soft 3D will become the distributor for AutoCAD OEM in the United States and Canada.

The AutoCAD OEM 2011 development platform gives developers access to the AutoCAD engine and enables them to take advantage of the innovation, functionality and new features in AutoCAD 2011 software to develop custom, industry-specific applications that offer the precise features, commands, menus and design data their customers require. Expanded capabilities in AutoCAD 2011 software include new surface modeling tools that enable users to more easily create smooth surfaces and surface transitions while associativity maintains relationships between all of the objects; point cloud support for up to two billion points; new inferred constraints that enable designers to define constraints as they draw; enhancements to the Hatch command that bring improved drafting efficiency; and new gradient hatch patterns that permit users to add more colors and shading to drawings.

Developers using the AutoCAD OEM development platform can create applications that can read and create AutoCAD DWG files, create host programs that run the application in a smaller, secondary window or through a web page and deliver products with scaled-down feature sets and price points.

“There are hundreds of niche industries that need to use the power and precision of AutoCAD in their work but require the product to be highly tailored to the specific needs of that industry,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk Platform Solutions and Emerging Business. “To serve those unique markets, we rely on our trusted development partners and provide them with AutoCAD OEM 2011 to enable us to meet the needs of all of our customers.”

Key features of the AutoCAD OEM development platform include:

• Flexible host applications enable developers to host programs that run the AutoCAD OEM 2011 software development platform as a desktop application, in a small secondary window, within a Microsoft Windows .NET Form or as web page.
• Powerful security mechanisms give developers full control over the level of AutoCAD functionality users see, enabling developers to manage the design activities of users based on their specific process or purpose. AutoCAD OEM 2011 development platform also provides encryption and binding security mechanisms that help prevent copying or reverse-engineering of LISP software programs.
• Product branding tools like the MakeWizard and OEM InstallerWizard, a simple, graphical dialog interface, enable developers to custom brand their application. Developers have access to tools that control the About box image, splash screens, installer banners and screen characteristics, such as bitmaps and product icons, enabling them to hide or prominently display AutoCAD characteristics depending on the customer and the product's market requirements.
• Development interfaces support the ObjectARX programming environment, Visual LISP, ActiveX and the .NET Framework. It also supports the tools in standard AutoCAD software for customizing menus, toolbars and quick keys.

With deep expertise providing development tools to the engineering software community, Tech Soft 3D will be a distribution partner for AutoCAD OEM development platform in the United States and Canada. Tech Soft 3D will handle all North American account management, partner recruitment and sales growth for the platform for existing and new customers.

“Our goal is to provide developers with a rich set of tools to build successful applications,” said Tech Soft 3D CEO Ron Fritz. “We look forward to growing the community of developers using the AutoCAD OEM platform, and we appreciate Autodesk’s continued trust in us as a partner to manage this growth.”

For more information about AutoCAD OEM 2011 development platform, please visit http://www.autodesk.com/autocadoem or www.techsoft3d.com/products/autocadoem.html.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are built. Fortune 100 companies — as well as the last 15 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects — use Autodesk software tools to design, visualize and simulate their ideas to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation for competitive advantage. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com .