Autodesk CEO Carl Bass talks about 3-D and more...An Interview

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Autodesk CEO Carl Bass talks about 3-D and more...An Interview

Autodesk is best known for making the unflashy yet critical software for the engineering and architecture industries. But the San Rafael creator of AutoCAD is increasingly remaking its product line by leveraging its expertise to build design products for every corner of the market.

December 19th, 2013

The company has gained recognition for producing the animation, modeling and special-effects software that Hollywood has long relied upon. In fact, the last 16 Oscar winners for best visual effects have used the tools to create key scenes, including Inception and Avatar.

Meanwhile, Autodesk has been rolling out a series of more consumer-oriented products. That includes the incredibly popular SketchBook, a painting and drawing app for mobile devices that has drawn more than 7 million users in two years.

This month, Autodesk introduced several free, three-dimensional design applications, 123D Catch and 123D Make. They allow users to create 3-D images with a series of photos and turn them into real-life models using 3-D printers, laser cutters or something as simple as cardboard and scissors.

Autodesk has been rapidly expanding its San Francisco offices at One Market Plaza, signing two leases this year that pushed its total space up to 150,000 square feet. The company is also delivering financially. This month it announced a blowout quarter, with profit up nearly 36 percent, exceeding analyst expectations.

Its annual customer conference, Autodesk University, starts Tuesday in Las Vegas. Ahead of the event, Chief Executive Officer Carl Bass sat down with The Chronicle to discuss Autodesks shifting identity and provide a hint of what is in store for the show.