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Drag and drop folder from Buzzsaw gives error

So there's a bug in Buzzsaw that makes it difficult to drag and drop folders to your desktop, if the path to them is very long. In other words, if a folder is contained within a nested tree of subfolders, and if the overall path of all of them together is very long (more than 250 characters or so), you'll get an error when you try to drag and drop or copy and paste them to your desktop. Our best people are working on the bug.

In the meantime, you can fix the problem (if you run into it frequently by doing the following):

1. Install the latest version of Buzzsaw (www.getbuzzsaw.com)
2. Open Registry Editor (Start/Run/"regedit")
3. Search the Registry for this string: "\Application Data\ProjectPoint-2008\". Use Ctrl+F to search. Or you can navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Autodesk/ProjectPoint-2008/Settings/Initial/RootLocation. When you find it, it will be part of a key that has the "cache" or "temporary" path for ProjectPoint.
4. Change the entire path to something short, like "c:\temp\". Exit Registry Editor.

Part of your problem is now solved. Of course, if the path on the Buzzsaw server is *really* long, you might still get errors, even if your local path is short.

Hope this helps!

LEED for Homes is out of pilot, and into production

OK, it's official - the national Green Building Council LEED standard for homes has been released and, USGBC is officially accepting applications.

What do you think? Is this going to change the way mainstream homes are built, are we going to make it to the 2030 Challenge, or is green just a passing fad? Sound off in the comments, please.

Do you embrace change?

The Luddites, who smashed machines in the early 1800s and claimed that technology would destroy standards of living, had it exactly backwards.

Technological development over the past two centuries has raised standards of livings around the world so much that we now worry about the gap between the leaders and the laggards. Many must "diet," and farmers get paid to idle their fields, because we have too much food.

As design and collaboration technology lower the cost of building and manufacturing, these trends will only accelerate (different forms of technology tend to advance at different rates, and tend to reinforce each other's growth rates.)

So don't be a luddite. Don't fear the changes that technology brings. Embrace the new, the untried, the possible, and recommit every day to being open to new ideas. We don't want you to end up like these guys did...

Autodesk Ranks #25 in The World's Most Innovative Companies!

I was just visiting our San Rafael office last week and was reminded of Autodesk’s uniqueness by seeing a few dogs roaming the halls.  Pets are aloud as long as there’s no fighting.  It's a little odd to see packs of animals around the office but hey - whatever it takes to develop and deliver world class applications!

The World's Most Innovative Companies

Bay Bridge: 5 years late, still a winner

We didn't have anything to do with the new Bay Bridge, which might be why it's five years late. But if you want a tour of the beast, under construction, WIRED has a pretty good blog post on it.

We just keep getting better and better at building stuff! Hopefully we'll get better at managing the projects, soon.

Veridian Homes uses Buzzsaw and Revit: Great!

Our marketing all-stars just posted a brand new case study on one of my favorite builders, Veridian Homes, who are the largest builders in Wisconsin. 

In this excellent case study, Dan Gorski, Veridian's Vice President of Estimating, Purchasing, and Design (pictured, at right) is quoted:

“Most of the guesswork has been taken out of our building equation. The cost, the performance, even the appearance of the house—they’re all built into the Revit platform model, so there’s less chance for error—resulting in a better product for our customers.”

and

“We have over 250 users—from roofers to cabinet manufacturers to appraisers—using Autodesk Buzzsaw,” reports Gorski. “With Autodesk Buzzsaw, we can get project information to them faster and more economically.”

I said it yesterday, I'll say it again: Excelsior!