Autodesk
Autodesk Short-form · Bangkok, Prague, Texas

Short-form forAutodesk,built to theirrulebook

Dan's close to a deal to edit Autodesk's footage from Bangkok, Prague and Texas into short videos for LinkedIn. This page is everything we'd need to do that at their level: their brand and video rules, what they post now, what the best event brands post, and ten working animation concepts set in their own typeface over real Autodesk event footage.

Not signed yet Edit only, their crews shoot Dan's suggestion: 5 to 8 shorts per event, both ratios Plus a 2 to 3 minute highlight film

Footage and photos: Autodesk (AU 2025 and AU 2026), standing in until we have the event footage.

01The job

What Autodesk would be buying

In Dan's words: Autodesk sends us the raw footage from Prague, Texas and Bangkok, and we turn it into short videos for them to share on LinkedIn, with Autodesk branding and captions so they work with the sound off. Their film crews do the shooting. Dan gave a keynote at these events, so some of the footage is his own session.

Events
3
Bangkok, then Prague, then Texas, in the order Dan's email gives them
Per event, Dan's suggestion
5 to 8
vertical shorts of 30 to 60 seconds, plus horizontal versions, captioned and branded
Plus
2 to 3 min
highlight film per event. Each event is delivered as its own batch.
Where
LinkedIn
Captioned so they work with the sound off. One person at Autodesk approves the cuts.

Scope: Dan's email to Jodi and Kate at Autodesk, 10 Oct 2026 (screenshot). Everything in this row comes from that email. Where the page uses anything from Dan's plan for the day instead (the "Selling with AI" hackathon in concepts 01, 03, 04 and 07), it says so and needs confirming with Dan.

Dan's six choices for Autodesk

From his email. Autodesk hasn't answered yet, so the scope above is his suggested starting point, not an agreed one.

1 · How many videos

About 10 in total, about 20, or a bigger set where we use everything worth using.

Suggested: 5 to 8 per event, roughly 15 to 25 in total.

2 · Short or long

Short clips are 30 to 60 seconds. Possibly one highlight video per event, 2 to 3 minutes.

Suggested: short clips plus one highlight per event.

3 · Vertical or horizontal

Vertical suits phones and horizontal suits the LinkedIn feed. Both can be exported from the same edit.

Suggested: vertical, plus horizontal versions of the same videos.

4 · Branding

Does Autodesk have a template or brand kit for intros, outros and captions, or should we propose one for them to approve?

Suggested: captions and Autodesk branding on all of them.

5 · All together or event by event

One combined set, or Bangkok, then Prague, then Texas, each event its own batch as soon as the footage is in.

Suggested: each event its own batch, the first [X] working days after the footage arrives.

6 · Timing

When do they need the first videos, and is there a date this is tied to?

Open.

Dan also asks Autodesk for a link to the footage, one person to approve the cuts, and confirmation that everyone on camera is fine with being posted on LinkedIn.

What 10 out of 10 means for this job
  • It passes Autodesk's brand check first time. Their Brand Hub says simple projects that follow the guidelines don't need a review, so every frame here follows them.
  • It works with the sound off. Captions on everything, checked word for word.
  • Nothing is invented. Real names, real titles, real numbers, real quotes, each traced to a source.
  • It doesn't look like a template. Their system is strict, so the craft has to come from the cut, the timing and the captions.
The honest gap

Autodesk's own rules are built for polished brand films: one-second fades, a logo bug in the corner, a three-second end frame. We'd argue short-form for LinkedIn needs a hook in the first second and pace all the way through. The concepts in section 07 are our answer to that: everything runs fast, but every move is one their guidelines allow.

Pricing and scope notes from 10 Oct are in the old chat, not on this page.

02Brand essentials

Black and white lead. Yellow is the pop.

All of this comes from Autodesk's public Brand Hub, saved in full to 01_Brand/Guidelines on 13 Oct 2026 (18 pages, 305 example images, 11 of their own films). The DAM holds the working templates and needs Autodesk to grant access.

Logo

Primary, Autodesk Black (preferred)
Primary, Autodesk White on dark backgrounds
Symbol alone: small sizes and mobile video
Stacked tagline lockup, the end frame of every video
Never a yellow logo. Black or white only.
Never on Hello Yellow. The parent brand is black and white.
Never typed out, outlined, rotated, shadowed or glowing.
Clear space is the height of the crossbar at the top of the "A".

Source: brand.autodesk.com/visual-system/logo. Logo files: 01_Brand/Logos, all Autodesk's own artwork.

Colour · click a swatch to copy its hex

copyAutodesk Black#000000 · Pantone Black C · leads every layout
copyAutodesk White#FFFFFF · contrast and space
copyHello Yellow#FFFF00 · Pantone 3935 C · highlight or reveal only
copyWarm Slate#D5D5CB · secondary
copySlate#666666 · secondary
copyDawn#F09D4F · functional
copyDusk#F2520A · functional
copyTwilight#1D91D0 · functional
copyMorning#2AD0A9 · functional
Yellow on black19.55 : 1 · the headline move
White on black21 : 1 · most text
Yellow on white1.07 : 1 · never
Black on yellow19.55 : 1 · cards, never the logo

How the colours are used

  • Black and white dominate. Hello Yellow is a highlight or reveal, and tints are allowed only if pure Hello Yellow stays the main shade.
  • Warm Slate and Slate are for hierarchy when size isn't enough. Dawn, Dusk, Twilight and Morning are functional only (status, action), and no more than three per visual.
  • No massive blocks of yellow, and never yellow text next to white text in the same phrase.

Files

01_Brand/Colours holds the palette as an Adobe swatch file (.ase, loads into Premiere, After Effects and Illustrator), CSS variables, JSON and a swatch sheet. One discrepancy to raise with Autodesk: their page lists Hello Yellow 600 as both #EEE410 and #EEEF10.

Source: brand.autodesk.com/visual-system/color, including the contrast ratios.

Typography: Artifakt

Artifakt Legend Bold · titles, headings
Partners learn to
sell with AI

Sentence case, no full stop. On black, start in white and give the payoff yellow. Never split the yellow across a line break.

Artifakt Element · body copy and subheads
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 0123456789
Legend Bold titles
Element Bold subheads over body copy
Element Regular body copy
Element Italic italic

Designed for Autodesk only

Erik Spiekermann drew Artifakt for Autodesk. Suppliers can use it free, for Autodesk work only, after accepting the licence. Our copies in 01_Brand/Fonts are the Brand Hub's web files plus TTF conversions for Premiere mock-ups. Get the full Designer collection from the DAM before anything ships.

Captions in Bangkok

Artifakt covers Latin and Cyrillic only. For Thai, Chinese, Japanese or Korean, Autodesk's localisation team recommends Noto Sans. Arial is the fallback anywhere Artifakt can't be embedded.

The 4px grid

Font size plus line height must land on multiples of 4px, and so must every gap. Corners come from a fixed scale: 4, 8, 16, 24, 32. Rounded for callouts and quote blocks, sharp for structure.

Do start white, finish on a yellow payoff.
Do one-line headlines: yellow on the key words.
Don't mix white and yellow mid-phrase or across a line break.
Don't highlight random words.

Source: brand.autodesk.com/visual-system/typography and /layout-system.

Voice: optimistic, trusted, human

Those are Autodesk's three words. In practice, for captions and on-screen copy:

  • Write as "we" and "you". Short sentences next to longer ones.
  • Plain words: use, not utilise; get, not acquire.
  • Progress and outcomes, not difficulty. Positive, but no overpromising or upselling.
  • Witty rather than funny. Humour has to work for a global audience, and never punches down.
  • The tagline is "Make Anything". Never "Design and Make Anything".

Source: /voice-system/our-brand-voice, /voice-mechanics, /tagline.

Imagery: "premium authenticity"

Two styles, journalistic and staged, and both have to feel real. That suits event footage well. The rules that matter for us:

  • Real people, not models. Nothing overly posed, nothing that feels forced.
  • Outcomes and processes stay the focal point. Check safety kit is right in any work shot.
  • Their four brand animations (Orbs, Bloom, Lattice, Prototype) can be used as visual enhancements, but never with text over them.

Source: /visual-system/imagery.

Visual device we can use

The window

The symbol as a mask over a textural image from a customer industry. No people in it, no copy inside the shape, and the asset must carry the Autodesk logo. Concept 06 uses it.

Visual device we can't use without permission

The thread

The outlined symbol weaving through an image. It always needs explicit permission from Autodesk's Brand Creative Team, and only their approved thread assets can be used. We don't make our own.

Source: /visual-system/visual-devices.

03Their video rules

Autodesk has written the rules for video. We follow them.

“We don’t add text effects or animation without purpose. Instead, use motion graphics to draw the viewer’s attention to a certain part of the screen, usually to read text. Once the viewer has had time to read the text, add a simple one-second fade out.”

Autodesk Brand Hub, /brand-in-action/video.

Lower thirds

Two lines: name, then title. Their example reads "Job Title Goes Here | Autodesk, Inc." and uses a yellow bar on a translucent dark plate. After Effects template on the DAM. Don't change the type sizes.

Logo placement

Bottom right, inside the safe frame. On mobile, the symbol instead of the full logo. With captions at the bottom, the symbol moves top right. Hidden during titles, section cards, lower thirds and transitions.

Credits, then the end frame

Credits and calls to action come before the final logo. Every video ends on the stacked tagline lockup: animated, or a static frame that fades in and holds for three seconds.

Titles and sections

Two After Effects templates: a main title for one or two lines, and a section title with more room that also works for a series. One-second fade between the title and the edit. If we rebuild a title in other software, "keep the elements, timing, and composition the same".

Sound

Voiceover should be assured, open and conversational, never a hard sell, with local narrators where possible. Instrumental music, picked to match the arc of the edit, and the edit can follow the music. Every image, clip, track and voice needs usage rights, and content goes to Autodesk Legal for approval.

Their own films

Downloaded from the Brand Hub. Click to play. These show the real timings, weights and easing their templates use.

04Autodesk on social

What their channels look like today

Checked on 13 Oct 2026. Follower counts are only shown where a page displayed them.

What we noticed

    Where we can beat what they post now
    • Speakers you can actually see. Their 9:16 Day 1 keynote reel opens on wide stage shots, where the CEO is a small figure under the screens (later shots are tighter). Our crop tracks the speaker the whole way through (section 08).
    • One person, one point. None of the YouTube shorts checked is a named speaker making one clear point. That's concept 02.
    • The question first. Their AU 2026 vox pops hold the question back until about six seconds in, and drew 740 to 843 views each. They're only a few weeks old, so the slow open may not be the whole reason, but concept 08 opens on the question anyway.
    • Captions that read on a phone. Their event captions are small and light. The best-performing creator-style shorts in our sample use heavier boxed type, which is what our caption plates do, still inside the brand rules.
    • A plan per platform. The same Sphere clip got 1,767 views on YouTube and 118,500 on TikTok. Audiences differ, but a gap that size says we should choose the cover, first frame and aspect per platform.
    These events on social

    Nothing from the Bangkok, Prague or Texas events turned up on the Autodesk or Autodesk University pages we checked. The only posts found came from partners and staff, and none at all for Prague or Texas. If Autodesk posts these films, they'd be the first content from these events on its main channels that we could find, which makes "where does it post?" the first question to settle.

    05Their shorts worth studying

    Autodesk's own short-form worth studying

    24 pieces from YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok: their top performers, plus their AU 2026 event edits because those are closest to our job. All downloaded, so click any one to play it with sound. LinkedIn and Instagram don't show view counts to logged-out visitors.

    06Best event content

    How other big tech brands cut their events

    Sixteen event shorts from ten brands, including three of Autodesk's competitors in design and engineering software (Dassault Systèmes, PTC, Bentley). Compare like rates, not views. Four of these shorts (Adobe, Google, NVIDIA and Dassault, each over 100,000 views) have like rates between 0.04% and 0.10%, against 1.1% to 4.4% for the other twelve. That pattern often points to paid reach, but it's our inference: YouTube doesn't say.

    Formats that turned up, and the example to steal from

    07Animation ideas

    Ten concepts, live, in Autodesk's own type

    Each one runs in the browser at real size: 1080 × 1920 for vertical, 1920 × 1080 for landscape, scaled down to fit. The footage is Autodesk's own from AU 2025 and AU 2026, standing in for the event footage we'll get. "Safe zones" shades roughly where feed buttons and captions tend to sit. It's a rough guide we drew, not a platform spec.

    08One master, two ratios

    Every film comes in 16:9 and 9:16

    Dan's email already says it: vertical suits phones and horizontal suits the LinkedIn feed. Autodesk's own LinkedIn agrees, with 7 of its 8 latest videos in 16:9, while Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts want 9:16. So we deliver both. We don't just chop the middle out. The crop follows the speaker, smoothed over about a second so it pans the way a camera operator would. The yellow box below is the actual crop path we generated for this clip.

    Clip: Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO, AU 2026 Day 1 keynote (Autodesk on YouTube, 25:18 to 25:32). Crop tracked with a face detector and smoothed over 1.2 seconds. Script: 05_Hub_Assets/cut_clips.py.

    09The slate per event

    Eight pieces per event, plus the highlight film

    A proposal, built from the concepts above, so every event lands as a set that partners can follow. The order is the posting order. Dan's email pitched clips of 30 to 60 seconds, so the two shorter pieces (the teaser and the one number) would need agreeing with Autodesk.

    PieceLengthBuilt fromFootage it needs
    1 · Teaser, morning after10 to 15 s01 Cold open, 05 Three citiesArrivals, stage wides, crowd
    2 · Keynote soundbite30 to 45 s02 Speaker soundbiteKeynote camera with clean audio
    3 · Second soundbite30 to 45 s02 Speaker soundbite, 07 Pull quoteA second speaker or panel
    4 · How the day works30 to 40 s03 The day in three blocksSessions and tables at work (the hackathon, if Dan confirms it)
    5 · Hallway question30 to 45 s08 Hallway questionFive quick partner answers. Needs the crew briefed.
    6 · One number8 to 12 s04 One numberAny b-roll, plus one sourced figure
    7 · Best moment on stage20 to 30 s07 Pull quote, 02 captionsThe strongest line from the stage, and the room reacting
    8 · Recap in 3030 s09 Recap in 30, 10 End cardBest shot from each day
    Highlight film2 to 3 minAll of the above, 16:9 master plus a 9:16 cut-downEverything. Storyboard below.

    Highlight film, 2:30, first pass

    Timings are a starting point to test against the real footage, not a promise.

    10Ten checks

    Nothing goes to Autodesk until it passes all ten

    1. Artifakt onlyLegend Bold for titles, Element for everything else. Noto Sans for Thai or any double-byte captions.
    2. Black and white lead, yellow is the popYellow only on black, at the end of a line, never mid-phrase. Never yellow next to white in the same phrase, never on the logo.
    3. Logo bug in the right placeBottom right inside the safe frame. Symbol top right when captions sit at the bottom. Off during titles, lower thirds and transitions.
    4. Their lower third, untouchedTwo lines, their template, their sizes. Names and job titles checked against a source.
    5. Every move has a jobMotion points the eye at something to read. Text leaves on a one-second fade. No effect for its own sake.
    6. The ending is fixedCTA or credits, then the stacked "Make Anything" lockup, faded in and held three seconds.
    7. Works on muteCaptions on every clip, matched word for word to the audio, inside the feed's safe zones.
    8. Nothing inventedEvery name, title, number and quote traced to a source we can show Autodesk.
    9. Devices used properlyNo thread without Brand team approval. The window only with textural images, no people, logo present. No text over brand animations.
    10. Rights clearedLicensed music (they recommend instrumental). Everyone on camera has agreed to be posted on LinkedIn. Autodesk Legal approves before anything posts.
    11What we need

    Questions to settle before the first edit

    From Autodesk
    • DAM access for NavAIgate. The Brand Hub says agencies need a contract and an Autodesk sponsor. We want the After Effects templates (lower third, main title, section title, logo and symbol bugs, credits, intro, animated outro), the stacked tagline lockup and the Artifakt Designer collection.
    • One named approver, as Dan's email asks, and whether their Brand team wants to see the set. The Brand Hub tells staff with complex projects to contact brand@autodesk.com at the start, not after design work begins.
    • Footage handover: cameras, codecs, how many angles, separate audio, and how it reaches us (their Drive, a shuttle drive or Frame.io).
    • Dan's six choices (section 01), and the date the first videos are tied to.
    • Releases. Dan's email already asks for confirmation that everyone on camera is fine being posted on LinkedIn. We also need the speaker list with exact titles.
    • Brand kit. Dan's email asks whether they have a template for intros, outros and captions, or want us to propose one. If they want a proposal, this hub is the start of it.
    • Languages. English only, or Thai captions for Bangkok and local versions for Prague?
    • Where it posts: Autodesk's corporate LinkedIn, a partner channel page, or partners reposting. That changes tone and length.
    • Music: do they have a licensed library, or do we license tracks?
    For Dan
    • Is the Bangkok footage part of the deal, given it's already been shot?
    • Dates for all three events, and where in Texas. This page shows no dates rather than guess.
    • The event's name. Dan's email doesn't name it. The catch-up briefing calls it the Global Partner Leadership Summit, and a partner's public Facebook post says "Autodesk Partner Leadership Summit 2026 - GROW". Neither is confirmed, so the mock-ups show "Event name", the way Autodesk's own template does.
    • Is the "Selling with AI" hackathon material (concepts 01, 03, 04, 07) still right for these events?
    • Can Autodesk's crew film the hallway question (concept 08)? It needs a short brief on the day.
    • Are we OK to quote the table leader guide on screen (concept 07)?
    • Who owns the Artifakt licence acceptance on our side?

    Anything from the Autodesk folders on Z: stays out of this hub. Those files are Autodesk-confidential.

    12Files and sources

    Where everything is

    01_Brand/LogosAutodesk logo (black, white), the symbol, the stacked "Make Anything" lockup. README with the video rules.
    01_Brand/ColoursPalette as .ase swatches, CSS, JSON and a swatch sheet.
    01_Brand/FontsArtifakt web files, TTF conversions for Premiere mock-ups, and the licence terms. Read the README first.
    01_Brand/Guidelines18 Brand Hub pages as Markdown, 305 example images with an index, and 11 official films in official_motion.
    02_SocialSocial audit (SOCIAL_AUDIT.md and JSON) and screenshots per platform.
    03_Reference_ShortsAutodesk's own shorts, downloaded, with frames.
    04_Peer_Benchmarks16 peer event shorts, frames, contact sheets, transcripts and PEER_BENCHMARKS.md.
    06_AuditThe fact-check: AUDIT_SUMMARY.md first, then the claim-by-claim files, the corrections log and saved evidence (Dan's scope email, YouTube captions, frames, live re-checks).
    05_Hub_AssetsThe mock-up clips and how they were cut (cut_clips.py), source footage, posters, GSAP, and build_data.py to refresh sections 04 to 06 after the research files change.

    Sources