When I conduct an Autodesk Gallery tour, I mention that Autodesk serves 3 primary industries:

• Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (e.g., buildings, bridges, dams)
• Product Design and Manufacturing (e.g., automobiles, appliances, factories)
• Media and Entertainment (e.g., movies, TV commercials, games)

The reaction I sometimes get is "one of these things is not like the others." They are baffled that Autodesk is in the Media and Entertainment business. It's actually not that much of a stretch. For computer graphics in movie special effects to generate the intended audience reaction, they need to appear realistic. That means that they need to be based on physics. If you're a company that makes software that can tell that the shape of the Shanghai Tower is optimal, you know something about wind, gravity, and materials. If you know that, you have a pretty good idea as to where the pieces are going to land if you blow up a car.

Every nominee for best special effects for the past 21 years has been an Autodesk customer for the movie for which the customer was nominated. We never sweat if our customer is going to win or not, because thankfully, all of the nominees use our software in some way.

Chris Bradshaw is our VP who, among other things, heads up our Media and Entertainment division. Here is some good news that he shared.

It's my favorite time of year for M&E! Awards season is a great reminder of the key role our software plays in creating some of the world's most captivating movies.

All 5 nominees for the Best Visual Effects Academy Awards — The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Deepwater Horizon — were created using some of our technology, including Maya, 3ds Max, Arnold, and Shotgun. For over two decades, our software has helped shape every single Best Visual Effects Oscar winner.

Adding to the goodness is our newest team members' Scientific and Technical (Sci-Tech) Oscar Award win. Industry-leading renderer Arnold was recognized for excellence and lasting contribution to the world of motion picture creation. Such an amazing achievement for Marcos Fajardo, Arnold founder; Chris Kulla, Alan King, Thiago Ize, and Clifford Stein. M&E’s designers, engineers, and researchers have been similarly recognized 9 other times.

In addition, at the 15^th Annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, Autodesk sponsored the "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project" award aimed at international students. The winners were students from Germany who made the short film, Breaking Point, using Arnold. Don Parker, Shotgun founder, presented the award.

Thanks, Chris. It really is true how we describe ourselves now.

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

Awards are alive in the lab.