Between the Lines

25 Years of Autodesk: April 26th, 1982

Thanks to the RSS feed of a blog post of Autodesk founder John Walker's blog  "Fourmilog: None Dare Call It Reason",

April 26th is the anniversary when Autodesk began its first day as a real certified corporation by issuing stock to the start-up company founders.

I told someone not too long ago when discussing the 25 year milestone that if I ever get to our Switzerland office, I was going to look up John. Hopefully he could take a minute of his time and I could get to meet the man who started Autodesk. Who knows, maybe I will have to email him and ask if we can at least have a quick phone conversation but what would I ask, so many questions.

Wow, 25 years...So many careers started from the Autodesk founders dedication, innovation, and hard work and continued by the legions of deskers and Autodesk customers all over the world ever since.

 

John Walker's Post Autodesk: Incorporated twenty-five years ago today

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD

AutoCAD Export Layout to Model Space Tool Alpha レイアウトーモデル変換ツール アルファ版

This new pre-release alpha tool provides the capability to take a snap shot of a drawing layout to create a ready to use Modelspace drawing. With the capability to export Layout objects to model space, customers who have limited their use of Layouts to exchange drawings with other CAD systems will be realize the full benefits of AutoCAD 2008 annotation scaling feature. This feature was a top request from many of our customers and is the #1 request on the AUGI Japan wish list.

この新ツールのアルファ版では、レイアウト図面のスナップショットを取得して、モデル空間で使えるDWG図面を新規に作成する機能を提供しています。レイアウト空間にあるオブジェクトをモデル空間に書き出せるこの機能は、他のCADと図面のやり取りをする必要がある場合でも、AutoCAD 2008の異尺度対応機能とレイアウト空間をフルに活用できるようにすることを目的としています。この機能は、日本オートデスクユーザ会のウィッシュ・リストでもトップに上げられていたもので、また、各国のユーザ様からのリクエストでもありました。

Export a Layout (Paperspace)

To a Modelspace DWG file.

AutoCAD® Export Layout to Model Space Tool Alpha Web Page
http://myfeedback.autodesk.com/exlayout/

Applicable to the following :
対象となる製品:

• AutoCAD 2008
• AutoCAD LT 2008
• AutoCAD Architecture 2008
• AutoCAD MEP 2008 (日本未発売)
• AutoCAD Electrical 2008
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2008
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2008
• AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008
• AutoCAD Land Desktop 2008 (日本未発売)
• AutoCAD P&ID 2008 (日本未発売)

 

 

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD Layout, AUGI, AUGI-JP, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD LT 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, AutoCAD MEP 2008, AutoCAD Electrical 2008, AutoCAD Mechanical 2008, AutoCAD Map 3D 2008, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008, AutoCAD Land Desktop 2008, AutoCAD P&ID 2008

Blast from the AutoCAD Past

I thought I would share some screen captures I took while running the 22 year old AutoCAD v2.18 (circa 1985) this last weekend. I posted the images to my new Shaan's Daily Grind IV Image Gallery.

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Enjoy!
Shaan

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, Autodesk, AutoCAD History, DWG, 1985

Autodesk Labs: Translator Add-ins for Autodesk Inventor: Parasolids and UG-NX

Autodesk Labs http://labs.autodesk.com/

Scott Sheppard mentioned and detailed this new addition in the blog "It's Alive in the Lab: Technology Preview: Autodesk Inventor 2008 Parasolids and UG-NX Translators Now Available

Technology Preview Added: April 23, 2007
With this technology preview, you can streamline projects that require opening files from vendors or customers in native formats. You can easily exchange data between Autodesk Inventor and UGS by importing and exporting Parasolids parts and assemblies, and importing UG-NX^TM parts and assemblies directly with Inventor.

Requirements: Autodesk Inventor 2008
Read the FAQ

 

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Autodesk Labs, Autodesk Inventor, Translation, 3D, UG-NX, Parasolids

Salt Lake City CAD Camp This Week 4/26/07

Join me and some of the top in the industry at AUGI CAD Camp at Salt Lake City Utah. I will be hosting a Lunch and Learn. At the event will be experts like Matt "wicked cool" Murphy, David Cohn, and Robert Green. I will be mingling and chatting after my presentation and taking photos as usual so chase me down while there.

EVENT INFORMATION

Salt Palace Convention Center
100 S West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Thursday April 26, 2007

Register Here!

 

AUGI CAD Camp - Salt Lake City is packed with interesting courses and offers plenty of opportunities to network with fellow “campers” and browse the exhibit area. Wrapping up a day of learning and sharing, attendees can enjoy the fun evening and the giveaways.

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, AUGI, CAD Camp, Salt Lake City, Utah

Earth Day 2007

 

Download earthday_and_earthnight_2007_in_autocad_2008.wmv

More AutoCAD Troubleshooting Guides for Download

Printing and Plotting Troubleshooting Guide This guide provides a collection of solutions that are useful for troubleshooting common printing and plotting issues that occur with Autodesk products.

Video Card Configuration Troubleshooting Guide You want to determine whether the stability issues your AutoCAD vertical product is experiencing are due to your system's video card or the drivers associated with it.

Configuration Troubleshooting Guide This guide offers troubleshooting advice for a successful configuration of Autodesk products.

On an unrelated matter: I am still on my fitness kick having been exercising regularly for 3 months and only 3 sodas in 3 months when I used to have 3 sodas before noon. This was all thanks to my best friends encouragement when we were in Costa Rica in February.

 

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Printing, AutoCAD Video Card, AutoCAD troubleshooting, Autodesk

The First 2008 Series of AOTC Courseware are now Available

The first Autodesk Official Training Courseware (AOTC) titles are now available on the Autodesk eStore.

• AutoCAD® 2008: Transitioning from AutoCAD 2007
• AutoCAD® Architecture 2008: AutoCAD for Architects

The following titles will be available next week:

• AutoCAD® 2008 / AutoCAD® LT 2008: Essentials
• AutoCAD® 2008: Creating and Presenting 3D Models
• Autodesk® Inventor™ 2008: Essentials

These are the same training materials used by most Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATC) and Resellers, and they work quite well for self-paced, standalone learning. Most titles include 30-day trial discs, and all are chock-full of hands-on exercises to give you practice with the latest features and most important capabilities of Autodesk software.

At least 50 more titles will be available over the coming months, including dozens of local language versions of the most popular titles.

For more information on Courseware from Autodesk: www.autodesk.com/aotc
To purchase these and other titles in North America: www.autodesk.com/store Outside North America, contact your local ATC (www.autodesk.com/atc) or reseller

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD.AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD LT 2008, Autodesk Inventor 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, Training, Books

Revision Clouds...

Sometimes contractors will do exactly what is on the drawing, even cut a revision cloud. I received this from a good friend and spit coffee on my LCD.

Update: Here is another picture I received showing someone took the callout leader and balloon far too literal.

And here is an oldie but a goodie to remind you to think about your slopes and angles.

Enjoy,
Shaan

Technocrat tags: Revision Clouds, Funny Picture

AutoCAD 2008 DXF Reference - free download

A whopping 287 pages full of DXF Geek filled fun on the Autodesk DXF (Drawing eXchange Format) structure to allow the exchange of AutoCAD data with other products. I can almost hear the DXF geeks squealing outloud at the fun topics like "Persistent Inter-Object Reference Handles", "Arbitrary Axis Algorithm" and the ever popular "Group Codes". I hear some saying "but DXF files are larger and slower than the DWG", this is true of most any ASCII based file format compared to its binary sibling just look at XML or many other human readable formats compared to binary files. The nice part about a DXF file is that it allows exchange to other systems, programming, or data parsing all in a documented exchange format. DXF has been a good method for over 20 years now.

 

AutoCAD 2008 DXF v.u.22.1.01 PDF 1.80 MB
More documented DXF versions HERE

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, DXF, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, CAD, DWG

AutoCAD 3DSOUT is back In

The AutoCAD command 3DSOUT was used to export a 3DS file and was removed from AutoCAD 2007. This was due to a number of factors including it no longer being officially supported (FBX is better), the old code and new development work for UNICODE, the fact that 3ds Max can read DWG, etc. This command allowed allow you to export 3D geometry in an AutoCAD 2007 or later DWG file to a 3D Studio 3DS file which is an ASCII based file format used by many applications.

The .3DS file is somewhat similar to an ASCII based DXF (Drawing eXchange Format) file which is the exchange format except the there was a SDK for use and with a DXF the file format and structure was documented for everyone for export and import from AutoCAD and other products. If you do need 3DS file export in your AutoCAD based product please read below and we sincerely apologize for the delay.

Well after some  customer feedback Autodesk has released a 3DSOUT Command Utility to update a number of products, see below.

• AutoCAD® 2008
• AutoCAD® 2007
• AutoCAD® Architecture 2008
• Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2007
• AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2008
• Autodesk® Civil 3D® 2007
• AutoCAD® Electrical 2008
• AutoCAD® Electrical 2007
• AutoCAD® Land Desktop 2008
• Autodesk® Land Desktop 2007
• AutoCAD® Map 3D 2008
• Autodesk Map® 3D 2007
• AutoCAD® Mechanical 2008
• AutoCAD® Mechanical 2007
• AutoCAD® MEP 2008
• Autodesk® Building Systems 2007
• AutoCAD® P&ID 2008
• AutoCAD Raster Design 2008
• Autodesk® Raster Design 2007

3dsout32bit_enu.exe (exe - 207Kb)

3dsout64bit_enu.exe (exe - 251Kb)

Readme (html - 12Kb)

Refer to the Readme for installation instructions, reference and procedural information, and known limitations.

Technorati tags: 3DSOUT, Autodesk, 3DS, DXF, 3D Studio, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008, Autodesk Civil 3D 2007, AutoCAD Electrical 2008, AutoCAD Electrical 2007, AutoCAD Land Desktop 2008, Autodesk Land Desktop 2007, AutoCAD Map 3D 2008, Autodesk Map 3D 2007, AutoCAD Mechanical 2008, AutoCAD Mechanical 2007, AutoCAD MEP 2008, Autodesk Building Systems 2007, AutoCAD P&ID 2008, AutoCAD Raster Design 2008, Autodesk Raster Design 2007

New AutoCAD Knowledge Base Documents Posted

Quite a few helpful AutoCAD Install and Deployment related Knowledge Base articles were just published. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed for Knowledge Base articles at: What's RSS?

Best practices for network deployment creation
You would like to know what the best practices are for a successful Network Deployment.

Best practices for stand-alone installation
You experienced issues with your stand-alone installation, and you want to know what the best practices are in order to ensure a successful installation.

Stand-Alone Installation Troubleshooting Guide
This guide offers troubleshooting advice for a successful stand-alone installation of Autodesk products.

Installation Troubleshooting Guides
A successful installation of Autodesk products requires careful planning and execution.

Network Deployment Troubleshooting Guide
This guide offers troubleshooting advice for a successful network deployment of Autodesk products.

Questions and answers about Windows Vista and Autodesk products
You want to know more about Windows Vista and Autodesk products.

Updating the Windows operating system
You want to ensure that your Windows operating system is up-to-date, so that the Autodesk Licensing components can function properly.

Cannot obtain a product license
You are unable to obtain a license from the Autodesk Network License Manager to run your Autodesk product.

Cannot obtain a stand-alone license or activate the product
You are using a stand-alone version of an Autodesk product, but you are unable to obtain a license from the Autodesk servers in order to run the product.

Diagnostic test for client computer experiencing network licensing errors
You unable to obtain a license from the Autodesk Network License Manager server, and you want to perform diagnostics tests on the client computers.

Diagnostic test for server experiencing network licensing errors
You are unable to obtain a license from the Autodesk Network License Manager server, and you want to perform diagnostic tests on the server.

Enabling verbose logging for installation issues
You are experiencing problems with the installation of an Autodesk product, and you want to enable verbose logs in order to troubleshoot the issue or submit the log files to the Autodesk Product Support Team.

Firewalls and licensing issues
You received a licensing error, and you want to turn off your computer's firewall to determine whether it is blocking access to the server that issues licenses for this product.

Logging a Licensing Service Request with Autodesk
You have worked though the standard troubleshooting steps without resolving the issue you are experiencing, and you want to know how to log a Service Request with Autodesk or your reseller to resolve this issue.

Retrieving information about a client computer experiencing licensing issues
You want to gather more information from your Workstation exhibiting a licensing issue for diagnosis or submission to Autodesk.

Retrieving information about a server experiencing licensing issues
You want to gather more information from your server exhibiting a licensing issue for diagnosis or submission to Autodesk.

Retrieving installation error codes and information from standard log files
You are experiencing problems with the installation of an Autodesk product, and you want to gather more information in order to troubleshoot the issue or to submit the data to the Autodesk Product Support Team.

You can find other Autodesk product Knowledge Base RSS feeds or details by selecting the product from http://www.autodesk.com/support

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk, AutoCAD Network, Deployment, AutoCAD License, Autodesk Support, AutoCAD Support, RSS, AutoCAD Best Practices, AutoCAD Install, Windows, Windows Vista, AutoCAD Troubleshooting, Firewall

del.icio.us tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk, AutoCAD Network, Deployment, AutoCAD License, Autodesk Support, AutoCAD Support, RSS, AutoCAD Best Practices, AutoCAD Install, Windows, Windows Vista, AutoCAD Troubleshooting, Firewall

Our Hearts Go Out to VA Tech Today

It is with deep sadness and shock that I am posting this.

Today was a sad day for many due to the tragic event at Virginia Tech. I actually lived almost a year in Blacksburg Virginia, was born in Virginia, and that coupled with it also affecting engineering students makes the connection even more sad for me. I realize this is a large tragedy and will take a long time to heal, if ever but send my sincere condolences to all those affected.

If there is anything I can do, for anyone, please feel free to e-mail me direct at shaan@autodesk.com

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley

links:
http://www.cee.vt.edu/
http://rosa.hosting.vt.edu/index.php/memorial/

Congratulations to FIRST Winners!

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST)

www.usfirst.org

The finals were held last week with 10,000 students from 23 countries and the winner was a trio comprised of the teams of Bobcat Robotics from South Windsor High School Connecticut, Highrollers from Cimarron Memorial High School in Las Vegas Nevada, and the HERD from Massachusetts Academy in Worcester Massachusetts.  Congratulations to everyone who participated and the sponsors of this great event to promote science, technology and engineering. Watching the event clips was great and there were some unbelievably smart and entertaining students in the competition and well thought out designs. Tech is Cool! Hey if anyone needs me to help train for a team next year or as a cheerleader please let me know as I am a HUGE supporter of advancing engineering and science for students as they are all of our future.

http://www.bobcatrobotics.org/

The Bobcat 2007 - The Ring Wrangler mkXIII designed with Autodesk Inventor

A video detailing the 2007 Bobcat Robotics submission and process explained by Matt the Mad CADDer.

Robotic trio wins 'Super Bowl of Smarts'

"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- After six weeks of strategy and sweat, a coalition of high school teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Nevada took the top prize at the FIRST Robotics competition, otherwise known as the "Superbowl of Smarts."

Championship Event Showcases Tomorrow's Engineers: Students Jumpstart Careers Through Autodesk and FIRST Robotics Competition

"As some of the best young minds in the world converge on Atlanta's Georgia Dome for the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship April 12-14, Autodesk, Inc.'s commitment to the next generation of engineers will be showcased on an international stage. The event is the culmination of 37 regional competitions held earlier this year featuring 1,300 teams from seven countries. Autodesk is supporting the competition through a $17 million software donation, granting student participants first-hand experience with state-of-the-art 3D technology -- Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk 3ds Max software -- which they used to design and pre-visualize their robots. Autodesk's support reflects a shared mission with FIRST to create ongoing passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and encourage students to pursue careers in engineering."

Autodesk Sponsored Division Award Winners:

• Autodesk Visualization Award – Team 1625, “Winnovation Robotics Team,” Illinois
• Autodesk Inventor Award – Team 103, “Cybersonics,” Pennsylvania

Autodesk has been a proud sponsor of the championships for this great organization to promote science and technology. FIRST was started by Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway).

"To create a world where science and technology are celebrated... where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes"

Dean Kamen, Founder

Students can get access to free Autodesk software and more at the Student Community.

 

Autodesk has also launched a community resource for FIRST Teams named FIRSTbase http://firstbase.autodesk.com/

 

 

Technorati tags: FIRST, Robotics, Students, Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Engineering, Science

del.icio.us tags: FIRST, Robotics, Students, Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Engineering, Science

31 Autodesk Blogs!

Like Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream with its 31 flavors Autodesk now has 31 tasty blogs covering many Autodesk teams and products. The number is increasing all the time as more teams catch the blog bug and realize what a great electronic conversation medium it is.

An OPML file allows you to import a XML list of RSS feeds all at once instead of entering them one by one into you RSS feed reading software.

http://myfeedback.autodesk.com/files/ADSKBlogs-4-13-07.opml

Cheers,
Shaan

 

 

del.icio.us tags: Autodesk, Blogs

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Blogs

Another New Autodesk Blog: BIM and Beam

A new Autodesk Revit Structure blog has been launched by Wai Chu the Revit Structure Product Manager and Nicolas Mangon the Structural Product Line Manager. For those not aware BIM standards for Building Information Modeling.

http://bimandbeam.typepad.com/bim_beam/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Revit Structure, Autodesk, BIM, Design, Structural

del.icio.us tags: Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Revit Structure, Autodesk, BIM, Design, Structural

A new Autodesk Blog "It's Alive in the Lab"

Scott Sheppard - the original author of the DWF blog, Beyond the Paper has launched a new Autodesk blog talking about Autodesk Labs named "It's Alive in the Lab". Volker Joseph has taken the reins of Beyond the Paper blog. The Autodesk Labs is near and dear to my heart as I remember when it was Eric Stover and myself and creating the pages together and going live off of our own server. Now Autodesk Labs is a grown up and on its own with its own team and many both exciting and interesting things planned for the future.

Cheers,
Shaan

 

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Blog, Autodesk Labs, DWF

del.icio.us tags: Autodesk, Blog, Autodesk Labs, DWF

AutoCAD 2008: Multiple Column Mtext Exercise

 

AutoCAD 2008 has a new Mtext feature to allow the creation and editing of multiple Mtext columns.

Files required for this exercise:
Floor_Plan.dwg
General Notes.doc

Create an MTEXT object in the lower right box of the drawing.

Copy and paste the text from the ”General Notes.doc” file to the MTEXT object.

Locate the Columns button in the Text Formatting toolbar (In-Place Editor) and select Dynamic Columns mode>manual height.
Click OK on the Mtext toolbar.

 
Change the text into two columns utilizing the grip at the bottom-center of the MTEXT object.

And there you have it, Multiple Text Columns now in AutoCAD.

Completed DWG with Multiple Column Mtext

Quick Video

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Mtext, Autodesk, CAD

del.icio.us tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Mtext, Autodesk, CAD

AUGI AutoCAD Wish List February 2007 Voting Results

Results Here

Here are the top 10. Note #6 and #10 was addressed in AutoCAD 2008

1. Extend a HATCH The ability to extend a hatch. Submitted By: Roger McKee
2. PDF Overlay Ability to attach a PDF file as an XREF Submitted By: Jim Anderson
3. Convert a spline to a pline The ability to convert a spline to a pline Submitted By: renee flink
4. Trim and Extend 3D solids The ability to trim and extend 3D solids; the ability to use 3D solids as edges for trimming/extending other objects Submitted By: Shielbern Bolalin
5. Creation of a New Layer When creating a new layer, it should show up directly under the layer you used to create it, so you can use the existing layers name as a reference for the new layer. Submitted By: LeAnn Shaw
6. Multiple justifications in MTEXT Editor The ability to have multiple justifications in one MTEXT object Submitted By: Debra Denton
7. Reverse Polylines with Pedit The ability to reverse a polyline using PEDIT Submitted By: Hans Moller
8. DrawOrder Navigator A dockable window that will allow you to drag and drop layers, groups, xrefs, etc, to set draworder. Submitted By: Efren Abella
9. Total length of selected objects. A tool that would measure the total length of selected objects Submitted By: Jeroen Jansen
10. Viewport dependant Layer colors The ability to have layers display differently in multiple viewports on one layout tab (an object to display in one color in one viewport and a different color in a different viewport on the same sheet) Submitted By: Gordon Fedoruk

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, Autodesk Subscription, AUGI

del.icio.us tags: AutoCAD, Autodesk Subscription, AUGI

Download Autodesk Design Review 2008 Free

Autodesk Design Review
Autodesk® Design Review software is a powerful tool for viewing, measuring, and marking up 2D and 3D designs.

Plug-ins and Other Downloads

Batch Print Plug-in with HP Instant Printing Print multiple DWF files, customize print settings, and save batch printing configuration for later use with the Batch Print plug-in. Utilize HP Instant Printing to speed output to an HP® Designjet® printer without needing to select print settings or scaling. Automate batch printing with custom scripts, and save time by easily printing large numbers of DWF files overnight or as part of an automated process.

JT Import Plug-in
Allowing you to leverage the power of Autodesk Design Review software throughout your design review process, Autodesk has published a plug-in to enable JT files to be accessed from within Design Review with full fidelity and accuracy.

DGN Import Plug-in
Working with DGN? Now Autodesk has a plug-in for Design Review to enable importing of DGN files, making your design review process more complete.

Autodesk DWF Writer
Download the free* Autodesk® DWF™ Writer to publish and securely share your 2D and 3D data as DWF files—no matter what design application you’re using.

DWG TrueView™
Free* sharing of accurate AutoCAD® drawings, viewing and plotting of DWG and DXF™ files, and DWF™ file publishing.

Autodesk® Inventor™ View
View and print high-quality 3D designs created in Autodesk Inventor® software.