SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Apr 21, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced the availability of the next versions of its civil engineering and construction software, including Autodesk(R) Land Desktop 2005, Autodesk(R) Civil Design 2005, Autodesk(R) Survey 2005, and Autodesk(R) Raster Design 2005 software. These products together with integrated data management and services help customers save time and money through improved efficiency and by ensuring that data retains accuracy at all stages of the project lifecycle-from conceptual design through ongoing maintenance of completed projects, allowing users to create, manage and share valuable design data.

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"Our civil engineering solutions provide users with something no other company can provide," said Chris Bradshaw, vice president of Autodesk's Infrastructure Solutions Division. "They offer technology and services backed by more than 20 years of expertise, and provide the only complete solution with integrated data management and collaboration. From project planning through surveying, design, construction, management, and client care, our products help make the creation and exchange of critical design information faster and easier, ultimately making our customers more efficient."

Unlike competitors, Autodesk civil engineering solutions provide tools for every task of the project lifecycle, allowing users to choose the tools that best fit their needs, whether they need to survey land, create new plans, capture and integrate design and spatial data, design new facilities, distribute plans and designs or manage existing infrastructure. The technologies work together and help users develop ideas, capture critical data, combine old data and data in other formats, and complete design and construction work faster and more profitably with few integration issues.

    One Complete Set of Software Tools, From Project Start to Finish

    For data capture, analysis and design:
    -- Autodesk Land Desktop 2005 offers planners, engineers, and surveyors
       powerful land-planning features such as coordinate geometry (COGO) and
       map creation, terrain modeling, alignments, and parcels. Built on the
       foundation of AutoCAD(R) 2005 and components of Autodesk Map(R) 3D 2005
       software, it provides an easy-to-use interface and centralized data
       management to create an environment that promotes collaborative design
       and analysis. New enhancements include:
       -- Improved documentation, coordination, and publication of sheet sets
       -- Detail Component Manager to facilitate the creation and management
          of details in construction documentation to help decrease the cost
          of creating construction documents
       -- Legal descriptions and radial stakeout reports to create
          descriptions and reports quickly and easily from project data
          exported to the LandXML file format
       -- Autodesk(R) Civil 3D(TM) data interoperability to enable the
          migrations of data between applications, simplifying collaboration
          between project team members
       -- Integrated Carlson Connect(TM), a new survey equipment communication
          software application, to provide support for additional survey
          equipment vendors and utilities
    -- Autodesk Civil Design 2005 expands the power of Autodesk Land Desktop
       2005 to streamline engineering tasks and to help design drainage
       systems, refine grading scenarios, and design roads quickly and easily.
       New enhancements include:
       -- Improved production drafting, pre-design/planning capabilities, and
          additional reporting capabilities
    -- Autodesk Survey 2005 extends the functionality of Autodesk Land Desktop
       2005, offering an efficient, cost-effective way to get survey data to
       and from the field. The software interfaces with industry-standard data
       collectors, survey instruments, and GPS receivers, allowing line work
       and field coding for automatic mapping capabilities. New enhancements
       include:
       -- Intuitive Survey Toolspace, a new interface for managing and editing
          survey control point data, to survey setup data, survey observation
          data, and survey figure data
       -- New Legal description and radial stakeout reporting feature in
          LandXML to streamline your work flow
       -- Capabilities of Autodesk Land Desktop 2005, such as new reporting,
          details and AutoCAD 2005 sheet production, to save time and money
    -- Autodesk Raster Design 2005 extends the value of information-rich
       images by working within AutoCAD-platform-based applications to quickly
       convert raster images into vector objects to save drawing time, and
       help analyze and extract data for more creative presentations and
       better decision making. New enhancements include:
       -- Improved image manipulation and editing due to a restructured image
          structure interface, support for multispectral imagery, and support
          for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) format data
       -- Better image display that treats raster images as more than just
          imagery, allowing users to represent, analyze, and visualize raster
          data in new ways through color mapping and providing additional
          support for raster data formats

    For data management and collaboration:
    -- Autodesk MapGuide(R) 6.5 software further extends the value of digital
       design data by allowing users to distribute information to a wider
       audience, integrate multiple CAD and GIS data sources or servers, and
       use development tools to build custom applications. With improved
       support for Autodesk Map 3D, AutoCAD(R) DWG files, new support for
       DWF(TM) (Design Web Format(TM)) data, an improved Java(R) viewer, and
       the ability to make the most of advanced Oracle 10g features, Autodesk
       MapGuide is a faster, easier, more flexible way to query, analyze, and
       distribute business-critical information.
    -- Autodesk(R) Buzzsaw(R) collaboration and project management service
       keeps the entire project team connected by providing a secure, central
       online location for all project data.

The civil engineering solutions are backed by Autodesk Consulting, including integrated consulting and training, to help customers worldwide maximize the value of their investment in Autodesk technology. A more detailed look at individual features can be found at www.autodesk.com.

"The Autodesk land development solutions meet the highly specialized software needs of engineers, planners, and surveyors while letting us safely and easily share enormous data sets with our teams," said Tim Burley, P.E., partner of Burley-Guminiak and Associates, PLLC, in New York. "These tools help us gain a competitive advantage by facilitating collaboration and driving down costs."

Availability and Purchasing

Autodesk Land Desktop 2005, Civil Design 2005, Survey 2005, Raster Design 2005, and Autodesk MapGuide 6.5 are available today worldwide in International English. The software can be purchased through Autodesk Authorized Resellers (www.autodesk.com/reseller.) The easiest way for customers to keep Autodesk design tools up-to-date is through the Autodesk(R) Subscription Program. For more information about Autodesk Subscription, visit www.autodesk.com/subscription.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, Autodesk Map, AutoCAD, Autodesk MapGuide, Buzzsaw, Civil 3D, Design Web Format, and DWF 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: Dawn Van Osdell of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-505-8930, or dawn.van.osdell@autodesk.com.

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.

Dawn Van Osdell of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-505-8930, or
dawn.van.osdell@autodesk.com
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