April 21, 2016

Release Notes - Autodesk Alias 2017 Readme file
Autodesk, Inc.

In a continuing effort to provide high quality products, Autodesk has released Autodesk^® Alias^™ 2017. This file highlights known issues in this release.

Issues were recently discovered that affect how Alias AutoStudio 2017, Alias Concept 2017, and Alias Design 2017 licenses work with Maya 2016 R2 and Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1. They can affect the ability to activate or acquire a license for Maya or Sketchbook or they can limit seat-sharing when using network licenses. These licensing issues do not limit the ability to run Alias AutoStudio, Design, Surface, or SpeedForm individually.

These issues can be resolved by acquiring new Serial Numbers or network license files for the affected product suites. See the following table for information on how to access solutions based on your specific product and licensing scenario.

	Single User, Subscription/Maintenance	Single User, Non-maintenance	Multi User, Subscription/Maintenance	Multi User, Non-maintenance
AutoStudio 2017	Request previous version access from Accounts (1)	Contact Autodesk Support (2)	No action needed	Contact Autodesk Support (2)
Design 2017	Request previous version access from Accounts (1)	Contact Autodesk Support (2)	No action needed	Contact Autodesk Support (2)
Concept 2017	Request previous version access from Accounts (1)	Contact Autodesk Support (2)	No action needed	Contact Autodesk Support (2)
Surface 2017	No action needed	No action needed	No action needed	No action needed
SpeedForm 2017	No action needed	No action needed	No action needed	No action needed

(1) Licenses for previous versions of software and suites can be requested online from Autodesk Accounts.
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/contactus/license-management/previous-version-licenses and https://manage.autodesk.com/
Serial numbers supporting Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 or Maya 2016 R2 (depending on your entitlements) can be requested from the Products tab in Autodesk Accounts.

(2) Contact Autodesk Support for information and help licensing these products.
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/contactus

Installation

Q: What’s changed with licensing in Alias 2017?
A: Several changes were made to licensing and activations this year that make the process of acquiring and activating a license easier for individual users. These changes do not affect the way that individual users administer or use network (NLM) licenses, except that the network license server needs to be updated (to LMTools version 11.13). You are no longer prompted for a Serial Number, Product Key, or License Server during installation. License setup is now managed within each application when the application is launched. If running from a network license server, you only need to enter the serial number the first time Alias is launched after installation.

Q: I am experiencing errors checking out a network (NLM) license for Alias 2017, SpeedForm 2017, or Maya 2016 R2. What should I do?
A: Alias 2017 products require an update to the license server. The license server should be updated to version 11.13. This software is included with the Alias installer but is installed separately.

Q: I’m a Mac user and I’ve installed Alias AutoStudio 2017 or Alias Design 2017 and Sketchbook Pro. Now I am unable to launch Sketchbook Pro even though it was activated or I am within the 30-day trial period.
A: When installing Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 and any Alias 2017 product (for example, AutoStudio, Design, or Concept) on the same system, Sketchbook Pro must be installed before Alias 2017. There is a license incompatibility between Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 and Alias 2017 that can prevent the launch of Sketchbook Pro if it is installed after Alias 2017. Alias runs properly regardless of install order.

Alias AutoStudio

Q: I purchased Alias AutoStudio 2017 and it appears I don’t have a license to run Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 or Maya 2016 R2. How do I acquire a license?
A: See the Late Breaking News section at the beginning of this document for solutions.

Q: Sketchbook Pro does not appear in the Alias AutoStudio 2017 installer. How do I install it?
A: Starting with the Alias 2017 release, Sketchbook Pro is provided as a separate installer.
Windows users: The Alias AutoStudio USB contains a separate Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 installer. Sketchbook Pro can be installed either before or after installing AutoStudio 2017. If you downloaded Alias AutoStudio 2017 from Autodesk Accounts, Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 is also available to you to download from this location. https://accounts.autodesk.com/
Mac users: The Alias AutoStudio USB and the downloadable disk image (DMG file) contain a separate folder with the Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 installer. It is important to install and activate Sketchbook Pro before proceeding with the Alias AutoStudio installation. If Sketchbook Pro is not installed in this order, Alias will run properly, but Sketchbook Pro will not launch.

Alias Design

Q: I purchased Alias Design 2017 and it appears I don’t have a license to run Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1. How do I acquire a license?
A: See the Late Breaking News section at the beginning of this document for solutions.

Q: Sketchbook Pro does not appear in the Alias Design 2017 installer. How do I install it?
A: Starting with the Alias 2017 release, Sketchbook Pro is provided as a separate installer.
Windows users: The Alias Design DVD contains a separate Sketchbook Pro installer. Sketchbook Pro can be installed either before or after installing Alias Design. If you downloaded Alias Design 2017 from Autodesk Accounts, Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 is also available to you to download from this location. https://accounts.autodesk.com/
Mac users: The Alias Design DVD and the downloadable disk image (DMG file) contain a separate folder with the Sketchbook Pro installer. It is important to install and activate Sketchbook Pro before proceeding with the Alias Design installation.

Alias Concept

Q: I purchased Alias Concept 2017 and it appears I don’t have a license to run Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1. How do I acquire a license?
A: See the Late Breaking News section at the beginning of this document for solutions.

Q: Sketchbook Pro does not appear in the Alias Concept 2017 installer. How do I install it?
A: Starting with the Alias 2017 release, Sketchbook Pro is provided as a separate installer. The Alias Concept DVD contains a separate Sketchbook Pro installer. Sketchbook Pro can be installed either before or after installing Alias Concept. If you downloaded Alias Concept 2017 from Autodesk Accounts, Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1 is also available to you to download from this location. https://accounts.autodesk.com/

Application, UI, General

Q: Why are Maya and Sketchbook Pro versions different from Alias this year?
A: Maya and Sketchbook Pro are now releasing on a separate schedule from Alias. Alias AutoStudio 2017 includes Maya 2016 R2 and Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1. Alias Design and Concept 2017 include Sketchbook Pro 2016 R1.

Q: I run Alias 2017 on a Mac and I have sometimes experienced a hang/crash after the main Alias window appears. In these cases I see the spinning beach ball, and Alias is unresponsive. Is there any way to avoid or fix this?
A: An unresponsive licensing component called AdSSO sometimes causes this situation. The crash is not common, and is more likely to happen on the first run after installing Alias. To fix the problem either log out of the Mac user account or restart the Mac. If you do not wish to log out or restart, you can terminate the unresponsive process from the Activity Monitory utility. To do this, choose Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor, find the AdSSO task, select it, and force the process to quit by clicking the X icon in the upper left of the Activity Monitor.

Q: When I run Alias I see a new Sign In tool on the Alias menu bar. What is this tool?
A: The Sign In tool is a new interface to allow you to log in and view information about your Autodesk software and licenses. Logging in is optional.

File Translation

Q: DirectConnect is no longer included in the Alias installers. How does this affect file import/export in Alias 2017?
A: File import and export are now integrated into the application. A separate installer for Direct Connect is no longer needed. If you continue to use Alias 2016 and prior versions, the Direct Connect versions that are installed with those versions will still be required for older versions of Alias.

Installation

• Limitation: (Windows only) Double-clicking a wire file opens Alias 2016. (401704)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: (Mac) Installing Alias overwrites the license type of the previous installation. (399147)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: (Mac) AutoStudio may fail to launch, stopping at the "starting application" status message. (401866)
  Solution: Click the icon in the dock to start AutoStudio.
• Limitation: (Mac) Installation of only Maya 216 R2 from the AutoStudio 2017 suite is not supported.
  Solution: Maya 2016 R2 must be installed with AutoStudio 2017.

Modeling

• Limitation: Multiple surfaces are trimmed when the Flow Control option is selected in the Seam and Stitch tool. (401046)
  Solution: Untrim the basic surface manually.
• Limitation: When refitting a large group of surfaces, some disappear. Also, refitting trimmed surfaces may twist the CV structure. (401763)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: Deleting Construction History of a father geometry also deletes the history of the child node. (401547)
  Solution: None.

Data Transfer

• Limitation: Curves from CATIA data are sliced in small, separate, degree one lines. (401583)
  Solution: Export IGES rather than CATPart.
• Limitation: CATIA output-feature curves are not converted in Alias 2017. (ATF-2197)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: When importing JT files using File > Import, texture maps on surfaces are ignored. (398747)
  Solution: Use File > Open [] and under Wire Options select the Keep Shaders.
• Limitation: Data is missing from imported digitized IGES scan line files. (401432)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: When importing STEP files, layers assignments are lost via round trip. (401619)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: Compared with Alias 2016, Alias 2017 loads CATIA V5 files three times slower. (401871)
  Solution: None.
• Limitation: Solid geometry exported to NX cannot be stitched in NX. (401819)
  Solution: None.

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