In a Webex this week Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Platform Solutions and Emerging Business for Autodesk talked about the 2012 portfolio which will soon be available.

Because customers are successful using multiple products, Autodesk is not offering single products in this release, but rather suites of products for all kinds of design. He called it an “integrated software approach.” A lot of discussion was spent on artists and production facilitators in the entertainment industry, a big customer of Autodesk products.

The suites cost “a few hundred dollars more than an individual software program” but offer more in terms of interoperability and the entire suite will be offered on a USB thumb drive.

Here is a list of the various suites:
Design Suite*
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(inc. AutoCAD, Showcase, Sketchbook Designer, Mudbox, 3ds Max Design and Alias Design)

Building Design Suite*
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(inc. AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Structural Detailing, Showcase, SketchBook Designer, Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, Revit MEP, 3ds Max Design, Inventor, Navisworks Manage and Quantity Takeoff)

Infrastructure Design Suite*
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(inc. AutoCAD, AutoCAD Map 3D, Navisworks Simulate, AutoCAD Civil 3D, 3ds Max Design and Navisworks Manage)

Plant Design Suite*
——————-
(inc. AutoCAD, AutoCAD P&ID, AutoCAD Plant 3D, Navisworks Simulate and Navisworks Manage)

Factory Design Suite*
———————
(inc. AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Mechanical, Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Showcase, Autodesk Factory Design Suite Utilities, Inventor, 3ds Max, Navisworks Siimulate and Inventor Professional)

Product Design Suite*
———————
(inc. AutoCAD Mechanical, Autodesk Sketchbook Designer, Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Showcase, Autodesk Mudbox, Inventor, 3ds Max Design, Inventor Professional and Alias Design)

Entertainment Creation Suite*
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(inc. Autodesk 3ds Max or Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Softimage, Autodesk MotionBuilder and Autodesk Mudbox)

* – Software included varies according to Suite versions; Standard, Premium or Ultimate.

I will be attending the AEC Media Summit in Waltham, Mass. in two weeks and will have a full report on the suites at that time.