Exploring the InfraWorks Environment - Autodesk Infraworks and Infraworks 360 Essentials - page 2

using the start Page
When you launch InfraWorks, you will be presented with the Start Page (see
Figure 1.1). The Start Page is broken into four sections:
Model Model pertains to local models (files stored on your computer's hard
drive). In the Model section, you can create a new local model or open an exist-
ing one by using the Open icon or by clicking one of the thumbnails that repre-
sents recently opened models. If you are opening InfraWorks for the first time,
no thumbnails will be present in this area. In the Model section, you can also
access the Help site, along with general program tools such as scripting, log
view, and application options.
specialize In this section you will see the different modules that are available
for InfraWorks along with their licensing state. Modules extend the functionality
of InfraWorks by adding more specialized and sophisticated tools for tasks like
roadway design, bridge design, and drainage design. We will not be covering any
of the module functionality in this topic.
Preview Autodesk is constantly developing new technology and one of the best
ways to do that effectively is to get feedback from users like you early in the devel-
opment process. The preview section is where you can test out new features that
Autodesk is working on and provide feedback to help steer their development.
Collaborate The Collaborate section deals with models stored in the cloud.
Before accessing any data in the Collaborate section, you must first sign in to your
Autodesk account. Once you are signed in, you can click one of the thumbnails
to access an online model. InfraWorks does not open the model directly from the
cloud. Instead, it downloads a copy of the model to your hard drive and links the
local version to the version in the cloud. This makes it easier to upload any changes
if you desire to do so. You can tell that a local model is linked to an online model by
the presence of a linking symbol in the lower-right corner of the thumbnail. You
can see an example of this in Figure 1.1 with the icon for Collaboration Test 2.
Infraworks vs. Infraworks 360
InfraWorks comes in two “flavors”: InfraWorks and InfraWorks 360. You can think
of InfraWorks as a basic or “light” version of InfraWorks 360. It does not have the
collaboration tools or the ability to add on any modules such as Roadway Design
for InfraWorks 360 or Bridge Design for InfraWorks 360.
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