Between the Lines

Jay Leno's Green Garage

See Jay Leno's solar and wind system for his car garage in the embedded video below or at www.jaylenosgarage.com. I got the rare opportunity to visit with Jay and his team a couple weeks ago in his secret car collection buildings and it was unbelievable to say the least.

I recently provided some AutoCAD 2009 upgrade training to Jay's team who use Autodesk products like AutoCAD and even Autosketch in the designing one off replacement parts for Jay's world class car collection when Jay breaks them. I got to reverse engineer a Model T Ford bearing cap in 3D while there. I met some of the worlds most experienced and knowledgeable engineers, car lovers, and top notch fabricators in his shop. This is also where I met the legendary Eddie Paul who is a legend in metal fabrication and designing cars for the movies, mechanical sharks, new types of motors and just about everything else using AutoCAD 2009 and 3ds Max and soon Autodesk Inventor.

I even got a slick ride back to my hotel in Jay's hydrogen cell powered GM SUV which runs on hydrogen. I would love to have a hydrogen powered vehicle but with only 40 of them made so far they run about 1 million dollars so the price needs to come down to an affordable level.
One funny thing I found out is Jay is a happy mouse clicker on a computer "click" "click" "click" "click" when only one click was needed. He is a very down to earth guy off camera and like myself he does not sleep much and is always going.

    

Cheers,
Shaan

Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. I am currently on sabbatical until June but will continue to blog, of course. I have some great blog posts to finish now that I have more time to relax and concentrate as well as go through all my photos and video and organize them. It is absolutely rare and nice to have an employer that recognizes that employees need to take a good deal of time off every few years to relax and refresh and come back fresh. I will be trying to get some rest, hiking, and maybe sneak over to East High here in Salt Lake where they are filming High School Musical 3 as that would make my daughters day.

My rant today...I live in Utah and while the quality of life is rated in the top 3, we have some of the most beautiful and diverse country in the world, and the economy is still good but they do something's backwards like some of their traffic planning and their silly and ridiculed liquor laws. Now as of today all wine coolers can only be purchased in a state liquor store for no other reason that $$$ as they make a huge amount of money in this state but claim it is for the greater public safety which is plain hogwash ( 2007 Utah liquor profit $ 47+ million). Now today instead of a 1 ounce shot drink we get 1.5 ounce alcohol shots in our liquor drinks so we can almost get a real drink but you cannot order a side car extra shot anymore at a restaurant or club. So if you order a Margarita you cannot order a separate shot of tequila as they would be afraid you would add the extra shot to your drink. I think the best thing if you need more of a drink especially with some not able to made in a large glass due to the restrictions would be hypothetically if you ordered a Margarita have your friend order a Mai Tai, then you order a shot of rum and they order a shot of tequila then trade shots to accomplish your sidecar. We are still stuck with 3.0 beer...At least the Governor tried to change some of the laws but can't we police ourselves like most other states and not use the alcohol as a sneaky revenue source impacting our tourism.
We really don't need the government to control everything of our lives as there should be personal responsibility encouraged.

Excellent local beers: Red Rock, Squatters, 

= Government money pit and impacts the state tourism and conventions affecting all residents of Utah.

Related Stories

• Bye-bye Mai Tai

• The "side car," malt beverages, and warm beer

• Utah Liquor Laws- Oh, My My My…

• Alcohol Laws Exposed - Red Cover Story

• Utah's Curious Liquor Laws

• Deseret News | Utah leaders want liquor laws a little less odd

My Utah photo gallery

Utah beautiful and quiet place but weird liquor laws...

Cheers,
Shaan

Pin Your Most Frequent Drawings in AutoCAD 2009

Now in AutoCAD 2009 you have the ability to pin items most used such as standard or detail DWG files. This can make the Recent Documents menu much more helpful. I cant tell you how many times I have spent looking for the same base file or document when by pinning the file I would have saved time having to search because it was off the most recent files menu. You can also set the Recent Documents to show a preview of the file as well.

 

Cheers,
Shaan

Vote for the Autodesk University 2008 Sessions this year

We're doing something new this year—we would like you to help us select the best 500-plus sessions. 

We have uploaded all of the sessions (that were submitted by the deadline) to AU 2008 Session site and we need your input. Topics are organized under 19 tracks, which are either an industry or a product.  If you are considering attending AU, please take a few minutes to vote for sessions that you absolutely want to see.
Over the next few weeks, we will review all those submissions and whittle them down to the number we can actually physically accommodate in the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Registration for AU will start on August 15th, and one week earlier for AU members.  Class schedules will be available for review by August 1st.
Thank you in advance for helping us select the most interesting classes. The deadline for voting is Saturday, May 3, 2008

Link to Class Voting

Scale List Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD 2009

Updated version of the Scale List Cleanup Utility April 26th 2008
This Scale List Cleanup Utility repairs a problem with files that contain excess scales. This utility will soon be posted live to the Autodesk support site http://support.autodesk.com as it has completed beta testing with customers on http://myfeedback.autodesk.com

This tool was developed in response to your customer feedback.
Thank you.

• Download CleanupScales.html
• Download Scale_List_Cleanup_Utility_32bit.exe
• Download Scale_List_Cleanup_Utility_64bit.exe

Description of Problem

When a file contains excess scales, performance may be negatively affected. Eventually, the file may become unusable. To use the file, some scales must be removed. This utility repairs affected files by removing excess scales.

NOTE: Nested external references (xrefs) may produce excess scales. To correct this problem, install AutoCAD 2008 Service Pack 1 or corresponding service packs for AutoCAD-based products. The Scale List Cleanup Utility repairs files affected before the necessary service pack was installed.

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Affected Products

• AutoCAD^® 2008-based products, including DWG TrueView™ 2008
• AutoCAD^® 2009-based products, including DWG TrueView 2009

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Installation Instructions

To install the Scale List Cleanup Utility

This utility has to be installed in the AutoCAD 2008 or AutoCAD 2009 installation folders.

You must have administrative privileges on your Microsoft^® Windows^® operating system to complete installation.

1. Based on your operating system (32-bit or 64-bit), download the appropriate self-extracting executable file.
2. Select a folder.
3. Extract files to the selected folder.
4. Navigate to the folder and copy CleanupScales.exe, CleanupScalesRes.dll, and CleanupScales.html to the installation directory of your AutoCAD-based product.
   NOTE: To run this utility you must launch CleanupScales.exe from the installation directory of your AutoCAD-based product.

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Repair Affected Files

To repair affected files

1. Close all affected files. Open affected files will not be repaired.
2. Launch the Scale List Cleanup Utility from the installation folder of your AutoCAD-based product.
3. Under Files to Clean, select affected files.
4. If desired, select Maintain Visual Fidelity for Annotative Objects.
   NOTE: This option allows you to maintain visual fidelity for annotative objects when they are viewed in AutoCAD 2007 or earlier releases and corresponds to the SAVEFIDELITY system variable. Annotative objects may have multiple scale representations. When you select this option, annotative objects are decomposed and scale representations are saved (in an anonymous block) to separate layers, which are named based on their original layer and appended with a number.
5. Under New Scale List, in the drop-down list, select a scale list template.
   NOTE: Each scale list template contains a different scale list. When you run this utility, unused scales are deleted from files and the scale list from the selected template is applied.
6. If desired, change the scale list threshold.
   NOTE: The scale list threshold determines the minimum number of scales a file must contain in order to be repaired. The default scale list threshold is 50. Files that contain fewer scales than the scale list threshold will not be repaired. To change the scale list threshold, on the New scale list panel, enter a number in the Scale List Threshold field.
7. Click OK. Repaired files are saved in the same format last saved in.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati Tags: AutoCAD,AutoCAD 2008,AutoCAD 2009,AutoCAD Scalelist,AutoCAD Scales,DWG TrueView

Happy Birthday Autodesk - April 26th, 1982

A HUGE Thank You to John, Duff, and Dan for giving us Autodesk and AutoCAD. For many of us it not only changed an industry but also changed many lives,
While there was a product named Microcad purchased by Autodesk before AutoCAD, it did not become AutoCAD although some incorrectly thought it did.

Cheers,
Shaan

Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, and AutoCAD 2009

The updated and very very popular Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD has been updated for AutoCAD 2009 so that it now runs on three AutoCAD versions. There have also been a few updates by the developer Thomas Inzinga:

• Support for the new AutoCAD 2009 Geographic Location object
• Numerous bug fixes.

The Google Earth Extension is a great way to get your designs into Google Earth or reference Google Earth in AutoCAD.

"Using the simple wizard-driven interface, you can publish your 3D models from AutoCAD or select AutoCAD-based products directly into Google Earth™. The technology preview is available for 2007, 2008, and 2009 versions."

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/google_earth_extension_beta/

In AutoCAD 2009 I created a 3D model of the Autodesk Civic Center Offices and published them to Google Earth using this extension.

 
View in Google Earth View in Google Maps

Google Map view showing the real-world location buildings in a satellite photo map.

View Larger Map

 

PS: Happy Earthday!
This is not a guilt motivated post by me just because I ran my chainsaw for 2 hours last night trimming my trees and roses after watching a new reality show Axe Men and just had to use my chainsaw. I guess it is a guy thing...

 

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk University 2008 - Last Call for Presenters

The Autodesk University User Conference and Exhibition (AU) is Autodesk's premier annual event. AU is all about empowering professionals with training, resources, and contacts to help them realize their best ideas.

Attendees are seeking Autodesk and partner solutions that will help them align their careers and their organizations for success in today's fast-changing industries.

After another record-breaking event in 2007, AU is returning to Las Vegas, where our venue will again be the Venetian Resort Hotel—one of the world's finest meeting and convention facilities.

Going into our 16th year, we look forward to offering a terrific curriculum of courses presented by outstanding speakers.

Two words:

submissions deadline

If you’re considering joining our outstanding slate of speakers at Autodesk University 2008, you’ll have to act by April 27, 2008.

Please submit your presentation proposal(s) online, as soon as possible, at the Call for Papers website.

Whenever we stop to analyze why Autodesk University has become so hugely successful, one thing is clear: the excellent presentations from experts  are a big, big factor.

The time for us to assemble the AU 2008 faculty, who are without a doubt the most critical component of the overall AU experience, is nearly over. So if you:

• Have the communication skills, technical expertise, and relevant experience….

• Want to share your knowledge of a favorite topic—from tips and tricks and sales techniques to new business opportunities such as sustainable design….

• Are motivated to bring success to design professionals and their organizations….

• Want to demonstrate your expertise to several thousand Autodesk customers, partners, and employees, thereby promoting your business success….

… Then we want to hear from you—now!

A speaker honorarium is also provided.

Autodesk Content Search Graduates to Autodesk Seek

The Autodesk Labs project Content Search has made its transition from lab project to a graduate as of April 4th 2008 and more exciting details and updates will follow shortly.

What is Autodesk Seek (http://seek.autodesk.com/)?
Autodesk Seek delivers the design files or product specifications that you need regardless of format. You can download everything from Revit product family files and DWG files to DGN and SKP files to Microsoft Word documents and PDFs.

AutoCAD 2009 Tutorial Videos Published on YouTube

These 13 video tutorials for AutoCAD 2009 features were recorded by my coworker Heidi Hewett.

1. AutoCAD 2009 Demo Introduction
2. AutoCAD 2009 Demo - part 2- Quick Access Toolbar
3. AutoCAD 2009 Demo - part 3 - Menu Browser
4. AutoCAD 2009 Demo - Part 4 - Ribbon
5. AutoCAD 2009 Demo - part 5 - Status Bar
6. AutoCAD 2009 Demo - part 6 - Quick Properties
7. AutoCAD 2009 - part 7 - QuickView layout
8. AutoCAD 2009 - part 8 - QuickView Drawings
9. AutoCAD 2009 - part 9 - ToolTips
10. AutoCAD 2009 - part 10 - Action Recorder
11. AutoCAD 2009 - part 11 - Working with Layers
12. AutoCAD 2009 - part 12 - ShowMotion
13. AutoCAD 2009 - part 13 - Navigation in 3D

Thank You Heidi.
-Shaan

Technorati Tags: AutoCAD 2009,AutoCAD 2009 Demo,AutoCAD 2009 Video,Youtube,AutoCAD 2009 ToolTips,AutoCAD 2009 QuickView Drawings,AutoCAD 2009 QuickView layout,AutoCAD 2009 Quick Properties,AutoCAD 2009 Status Bar,AutoCAD 2009 Ribbon,AutoCAD 2009 Menu Browser,AutoCAD 2009 Quick Access Toolbar,AutoCAD 2009 Navigation in 3D,Heidi Hewett

AutoCAD LispWiki

David Harrington pointed me to this wiki that describes itself as "a wiki code repository for AutoCAD specific VBA, AutoLISP, VisualLISP, and ObjectARX source code."

This appears to be a nice start and resource to bookmark and see how it grows with helpful routines and code shared by the community.

http://lispwiki.com

Cheers,
Shaan

The Matt Murphy Clay Head Poses with Jay Leno Lastnight

Jay Leno and the infamous Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture from Autodesk University 2007 made a Hollywood style appearance at Jay Leno's car garage http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/ on its travels around the world. They use Autodesk products at Jay's Garage and have one of the largest private collections of amazing cars and car experts. I was there with Marie Domingo of Autodesk providing some update tips and tricks for new AutoCAD 2009 and shot with the garage staff for an upcoming Jay's Garage segment on AutoCAD.

The clay head is planning on being at Autodesk University 2008 in Vegas! www.autodesk.com/au

AutoCAD Wish List Ballot Results for February 2008

AUGI (Autodesk Users Groups International) has now posted the results of the February 2008 wish list voting cycle for AutoCAD. There are some good ones in there and we appreciate all the submissions. Everyone should get involved in AUGI as it is free, many benefits, tens of thousands of your peers, and you get to enter your wish list items and vote on them in 3 cycles a year. The top ten voted wishes for the year are presented to Autodesk at Autodesk University to work on them. We at Autodesk also grab from the other wish list submissions as well.
The key to success is making sure the customers are heard and we do our very best to implement all the wishes into the products we can.

<drum roll>
Top Ten voted AutoCAD Wish Item AUGI members were:

1. Samuel Flores
2. Paul Westhelle
3. Chris Lindner
4. Clinton Campbell
5. Paul Eyden
6. Michael Shick
7. Yair Yes
8. Brad Sanada
9. Chris Payne
10. Steven Hill

Thank you AUGI,
                          Your Wish is Our Command! </drum roll>

 

AutoCAD Wish List Ballot Results February 2008

"Presented below are the Top 10 wishes from the AutoCAD Wish List, February 2008 voting cycle:

1. Convert PDF to DWG Submitted by Samuel Flores
2. Solid Hatch Opacity Setting Submitted by Paul Westhelle
3. Lock the Scale of a Viewport While Allowing Panning Submitted by Chris Lindner
4. Command to Send all Hatches to Back Submitted by Clinton Campbell
5. Compare Two Drawings Submitted by Paul Eyden
6. Text Wrap in Dimensions Submitted by Michael Shick
7. Lock Drawing order of Specific Objects Submitted by Yair Yes
8. Autocreate Dynamic Blocks from Existing Blocks Submitted by Brad Sanada
9. Attach and Overlay Options for Images Submitted by Chris Payne
10. Option to Print to Multiple Devices or Formats at One Time Submitted by Steven Hill

You can continue to submit new wishes to the AutoCAD Wish List by filling out the AutoCAD Wish List Submission Form.

To see the results from all past voting cycles, visit the AutoCAD Wish List Voting Results page."

Now I have to do my last minute packing as I am headed down to Burbank California to provide some training and warped humor to some very well known people from Hollywood in less than an hour. I like to pack at the last minute, not sure why but it always seems to end up like that.

Cheers,
Shaan

I am now on Facebook

I waited a longtime to join but finally did it. ;-)

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1221796059

Camtasia Studio 5.1.0 Released

At least someone is not taking something more from me on this US Tax deadline day...

My smart and friendly friends at TechSmith in Michigan have released an update to their excellent screen recording program Camtasia that I use almost daily along with their SnagIt screen capturing program. The newly released version April 15th, 2008 is Camtasia 5.1.0 (http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp). There are quite a few updates as well as fixes worthy of updating to 5.1.0.

Some of the updates

• New callouts shine the spotlight on your content
• Add background music with a third audio track
• Deliver screencasts to millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users
• Customize Flash FLV videos with TechSmith ExpressShow™
• Build a Web menu for your videos with Camtasia Theater

See what else is new!

Cheers,
Shaan