Between the Lines

Welcome NavisWorks to the Autodesk Family!

Autodesk announced today we have acquired NavisWorks so the Autodesk technology and employee family continues to grow.

"Autodesk Extends 3D Leadership with Acquisition of NavisWorks

Acquisition to Enable Construction, Plant Design and Marine Design Customers to Leverage Building Information Modeling and Digital Prototypes for Increased Productivity and Collaboration"

“The acquisition of NavisWorks is part of Autodesk’s commitment to offering more complete solutions across the AEC industry” said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. “The addition of NavisWorks technology to the Autodesk portfolio will help our customers leverage their design data to make better design and construction decisions and increase the value of their investments in design technology.”

More about the current products by NavisWorks: http://www.navisworks.com/en/jetstream/spec

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, NavisWorks, 3D

Windows Live Betas

There is a new beta version of the free tool I use to manage and post articles to this blog with Live Writer "Wave Writer". There has been some new features such as inline spell checking, offline post management, link glossary, tighter blogging platform integration as well as new User Interface "UI" enhancements.

Windows Live Writer Beta http://writer.live.com/

There is also Microsoft Instant Messenger 8.5 Beta and Live Mail versions available as beta.

• Microsoft Instant Messenger 8.5 Beta
• Windows Live Mail Beta 

Beta is pre-released products in testing for the purpose of receiving feedback and testing so if you are no comfortable with this then wait for the final released version.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Beta, Windows Live, Live Writer, IM, Live Mail, Live Messenger, Blogging

AUGI Brazil Launches in Portuguese "Bem-vindo ao site da comunidade do AUGIbr!"

 

 

Hoje, durante o evento de produtos Autodesk em São Paulo, foi anunciado que o site AUGI Brasil já está disponível: http://augibr.augi.com

Também estão disponíveis os forums de discussão AUGI (Autodesk Users Group International - Grupo Internacional de usuários Autodesk) em Português. Associação à AUGI é sempre gratuita e contém mais de 50.000 usuários de produtos Autodesk

• Conheça a Diretoria do AUGI Brasil
• Conheça os moderadores dos forums do AUGI em português
• Autodesk Inventor PodCast Brasil
• Procure por um evento de revendedores no Brasil
• Novidades do AutoCAD 2008 em curso - Grátis!
• AUGIbr chegou!
• Experience The Possibilities Tour - América Latina

http://augibr.augi.com/
"Bem-vindo ao site da comunidade do AUGIbr!

O time do AUGI Brasil tem orgulho em anunciar o lançamento oficial da comunidade AUGI no Brasil. A comunidade tem o foco nas necessidades dos usuários brasileiros e fornece uma plataforma para que associados de língua portuguesa troquem experiências sobre produtos Autodesk. A comunidade do AUGI favorece a troca de experiências e suporte entre seus membros, eventos educacionais, informações locais, relacionamentos e oportunidades profissionais para usuários de produtos da Autodesk®"

Eu deveria estar no Brasil este mês mas a viagem foi adiada para o final do ano. Já estive por todo o Brasil e mal posso esperar para voltar. Tenho muitos amigos brasileiros e amo a língua, a comida e as pessoas.

Vamos todos brindar com uma Caipirinha!

Saudações,
Shaan

I was supposed to be in Brazil this month but the trip has been delayed until later this year. Having been all over Brazil, I cannot wait to return. I have many Brazilian friends and love the language, the food, and the people.

Let's all toast with a Caipirinha!

Cheers,
Shaan

Brazil Trip March 2004

More on the Updated Export AutoCAD to Google Earth .kml Extension from Autodesk Labs

Some more details of the changes in the updated version for AutoCAD 2008 Google Earth Extension posted to Autodesk Labs May 24th,2007 for both AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008. The AutoCAD 2008 version was just updated today to address two issue reported over the weekend.

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

1) It now supports materials attached to AutoCAD entities. Yes the nice better quality ones of Google Earth 4 via Collada.

2) Imports terrain data as 32x32 grid AutoCAD mesh (with material automatically attached)

3) Support for attaching time to AutoCAD entities for use with Google Earth’s time slider feature. So you could animate project or model changes over time in Google Earth.

4) Numerous resolved issues reported by users of the previous version using the email for the tools feedback of email of labs.acad-google@autodesk.com

I had some geeky fun this weekend testing out the extension with AutoCAD 2008. I modeled a 3D model of the Autodesk offices known as Civic Center buildings located in San Rafael California where much of the AutoCAD Team is located/caged :-).
I then exported the model of the two buildings into a KML file for viewing in Google Earth using the command "PUBLISHKML" and to the properly place using the coordinates of the image I used as a base reference with IMPORTGEIMAGE .

I posted a series of screen captures during the process to my Flickr image Gallery for AutoCAD.

www.flickr.com S.Hurley's AutoCAD photoset

Schlitterbahn Waterpark and my Ramblings on Design

Saw this today on the travel channel while just relaxing and got hooked. They showed the South Padre Island Texas water park Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark (36 acres) and the water rides as well as behind the scenes. They also showed AutoCAD being used by the the company NBGS (Jeff and Gary Henry). The cable television program was 1 hour long and really was interesting not like a advertisement it was all about the rides, the design and stats.

The Schlitterbahn Boogie Bahn 2 sheet wave was amazing and said to be the largest manmade surf wave in the US and holds a competition of surfers each year. The sheet wave is a custom designed structure and uses technology from Autodesk Inventor using firm FlowRider by Wave Loch.There was also the Master Blaster which you ride in a inflatable raft vehicle down a large structure at almost 20 mph. They use an ingenious water jet system to propel you even uphill up to 50 feet.This is all tempting me to take a vacation down to South Padre as I just scheduled a sabbatical for this August and will be looking for fun distractions. I also saw that you don't have to stand in lines as most water feature lines are kept in the water to keep you cool. That sure would make for an awesome day but you may end up with pruned fingers and a sunburn.

DESIGN

You might be surprised to know many of the rides around the world such as water rides, roller coasters, ferris wheels, bungee towers, or other amusement and theme park ride and structures may have most likely been designed using Autodesk products such as AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Autodesk Inventor, Maya, etc. I have spoken with many designers over the past years including many designers that design coasters and waterparks around the world and use Autodesk products like AutoCAD. One of the worlds most famous and innovative coaster design firms (and featured an another TV channel I love to watch the Discovery Channel) is located here in Utah and designed one of the first roller coaster cork screw featuring rides. Although most old school coaster designers used string or wire to first model the features then a pencil, many today use software. There is also Water Technology of Beaver Dam Wisconsin (hi Joel)designing water parks with Autodesk products including the new Autodesk Impression. David Harrington a former Autodesk Users Group International "AUGI" Top DAUG and AUGI President worked on the design for the Disney MGM Studios Aerosmith themed coaster Rock 'n Roller Coaster in AutoCAD, see this in the Autodesk Freewheel Examples.

Check out the coaster and water park design related links

• Waterparks -Wikipedia
• Discovery Channel Build a Coaster
• The Ultimate Roller Coaster Contest--Physical Science/Mathematics
• Roller coasters - Wikipedia
• Dream Job: Roller Coaster Designer

This is not a marketing or sales advertisement, I am just a design junkie at heart, and appreciate and am passionate about design.

Many times I find myself missing being a full time mechanical designer like I was 10 years ago. There is nothing like designing a product and seeing it from conception to completion and functioning. I am so envious of Autodesk customers and the products they design and build every day in the world.

I may not always be an Autodesk employee, but I will always be a designer. - Shaan

Got a cool project or design that might spark a young person to choose a science or engineering career, please email me at shaan@autodesk.com. It is important to excite young people on how cool design and engineering careers are.

I will Be There -> Experience the Possibilities Autodesk Event in Chicago June 5th, 2007

Just got the call yesterday that the AutoCAD 2008 session at the upcoming Autodesk event "Experience the Possibilities" in Chicago is so popular that they have to add another room. So both Heidi Hewett and myself will be taking a room each for the afternoon AutoCAD 2008 session.

I will arrive Monday evening June 4th and present at 1:30 pm Tuesday. I have a flight to San Francisco at 10 pm that night. I will be around the event so chase me down or I may have a few hours in the evening or breakfast if  anyone would care to have a chat and discuss life, design, beta testing, geek stuff, AutoCAD, Autodesk Impression, or how to be kicked by a Kangaroo and survive. Just shoot me an email at shaan@autodesk.com if interested.

Since it is the 25th year anniversary for Autodesk and AutoCAD I will have my AutoCAD version 2.18 also running on my laptop if you want to have a look.

"Attend a free Autodesk Live event near you to experience the power of digital prototyping, 2D and 3D technology, and all the efficiencies of our new product line."

Chicago
Date: Tuesday June 5, 2007
Time:8:00 am – 3:00 pm

Address: Map Link
Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile
540 North Michigan
Chicago, Illinois  60611

More Info and to Register: Experience the Possibilities

 

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Chicago, Event, AutoCAD 2008

Autodesk Freewheel and Autodesk Freewheel... :-)

I said Autodesk Freewheel twice for a reason as there are now two locations and versions for viewing DWF files with no install of viewer software. There is a released version and an Autodesk Labs Technology Preview version and both are FREE.

What is Autodesk Freewheel?
In developer speak:
"Autodesk Freewheel is an Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) based web service/application built to provide CAD model viewing, printing and collaboration, through the dynamic rendering of DWF file data and graphics information. You can think of Freewheel as a set of componentized Web Services and JavaScript frameworks. Together these components make up the Interactive Ajax DWF Viewer."

In simple terms it allows you to view 2D and 3D DWF files on the web in your browser without installing anything at all on the local machine and platform independent as long as your browser supports Java. Upload, Share, View, and Print 2D and 3D rich design data with no hassle.

The released version of Autodesk Freewheel is located at: http://freewheel.autodesk.com/

The Autodesk Freewheel Technical Preview version that will evolve and may contain features that are being worked on for possible future versions is located at http://www.dwf.com and also mentioned on Autodesk Labs.

More on the two flavors and why at: http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/freewheel/documentation/

Want to know something cool? The raster images in this blog post is also a DWF, I mean still is a DWF rendered as an image by Autodesk Freewheel click on them. Learn more at http://freewheel.autodesk.com/developers.aspx.

I also posted a Highlights Page of Freewheel examples on the right side menu of this blog Autodesk Freewheel Examples.

Cheers,
Shaan

Related Autodesk Blogs
Beyond the Paper DWF Blog
It's Alive in the Lab

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Ajax, DWF, Autodesk Freewheel, 3D, Autodesk Labs, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, Services

Publish to Google Earth from AutoCAD 2008

New Version for AutoCAD 2008 posted!

 

Google Earth Extension Technology Preview

This AutoCAD 2008 add-on  is useful in publishing and viewing your DWG-based data and 3D models within Google Earth™.

Applicable Products
• AutoCAD 2008
• AutoCAD Architecture 2008
• AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2008

Install details

Extract the downloaded file proper for your version of AutoCAD and then run the setup.exe. All files will be placed in the C:|\Program Files\AutoCAD 2008\ folder.

• AeccDWGToGE.arx - the main AutoCAD run-time extension add-on module
• AeccDWGToGEEnu.dll - the Windows DLL module containing all localizable text strings and dialog boxes used by AeccPublishKml40.arx
• AeccDWGToGE.chm - a help file describing in detail how to use the Publish DWG to Google Earth application
• GoogleEarth.cui - a partial AutoCAD customization file containing a four-button toolbar allowing easy access to the four commands available with this add-on.
• Readme_PublishDwgToGE.rtf - The readme file

I would load the GoogleEarth.cui as a partial CUI as that is what I did and it made things easy and loaded the ARX files.

Command Name & Description

• IMPORTGEIMAGE   Brings current Google Earth view into AutoCAD as raster image. Use this command to georeference your DWG model data to correct position on earth’s surface.
• IMPORTGEMESH Brings elevation data in current Google Earth view into AutoCAD as a mesh.
• GETIME Attaches time span information to AutoCAD entities which will be honored by the time tool available in Google Earth.
• PUBLISHKML Exports your 3D DWG model space entities to an external file for use within Google Earth.

There is also the download option for the 2007 based products available as well from Autodesk Labs. The first Publish to Google from AutoCAD 2007 was the very first tool posted last June 2007 when Eric Stover and myself started the Autodesk Labs.

The credit for this excellent extension is Autodesk software developer Thomas Inzinga who has done much of the work and support for this extension in the late hours of the night.

The lawyers make us say the following:
(Disclaimer: Remember that this is beta software; really cool technology, but it’s unsupported, use at your own risk, etc. In other words, don’t use these tools on mission critical projects! Lastly, we make no guarantee that these products/features will ever be commercially available.)

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, Google Earth, KML, Autodesk Labs

More AutoCAD 2008 Books Coming Out

Four new books from well respected and known authors are now coming out and Lee Ambrosius goes into greater detail in his blog post AutoCAD Books Coming Soon to a Store (or Web Site) Near You.

• AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies
  Author: Lee Ambrosius
• AutoCAD 2008 For Dummies
  Author: David Byrnes
• AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Bible
  Author: Ellen Finkelstein
• AutoCAD 2008 Instructor
  Author: James Leach

Cheers,
Shaan

More AutoCAD Tool Palette Resources

Michael Beall wrote me in response to my unofficial Tool Palette themed posts this week on the blog and provided more resources for AutoCAD Tool Palettes.

Lee ( AutoCAD Master and Black Belt) Ambrosius has a Tool Palettes eBook available at http://www.hyperpics.com/eBooks/.  Lee also has a blog Beyond the UI http://hyperpics.blogs.com/beyond_the_ui/ which mentioned yesterday that new AutoCAD books from, several great authors are coming out.

AutoCAD Books Coming Soon to a Store (or Web Site) Near You.

In browsing Michael Beall's own site Michael's Corner, it shows he is an advocate of Tool Palettes and stated "the best thing since Layout tabs"; He has touched on Tool Palettes a total of 13 months in the archives of his monthly emailed (needs a RSS feed) AutoCAD tips and tutorials. http://www.cadtutor.net/corner/archive.php

 

 

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk, AutoCAD Books, AutoCAD Tool Palettes, Michael Beall

AutoCAD Tool Palette Rollup and Rollout Speed

A huge Thank You to John Beltran of the AutoCAD Software Development Team for this excellent explanation of how to change the speed of the Tool Palette Rollout and Rollup. I have been asked this question several times as some want a slower speed and some want a faster almost instant click rollup and roll out. Please use caution when editing your profiles and be sure to back them up first before experimenting with them.

"The timer settings for rollup, rollout, the new "roll out then rollup" (called "holdopen") are stored in the fixed profile XML file. By default these settings are not specified and the defaults are used. You can add these settings to the file by editing it to provide non-default values for each of these behaviors.

To make the changes first back up the "FixedProfile.aws" file in your support/Profiles directory and then edit it using any text editor. The file will be hard to read because it is not well formatted, but thankfully the changes to make are near the top of the file.

Search for the word " <AcApData> " (should be right at the top), and immediately after this string paste in the following:

<PaletteRolloutInfo PaletteRolloutDelay="100"/>
<PaletteRollupInfo  PaletteRollupDelay="800" PaletteHoldopenDelay="4000"/>

It's OK to insert carriage returns or additional white space in this file, just be sure to not introduce any returns/spaces in the middle of a word (like "PaletteRolloutDelay" or value).

Each of the values is specified in milliseconds. In the sample above the values provided are the same as the defaults (1/10th second  rollout delay, 8/10th second rollup delay, 4 second holdopen delay). These changes are global and affect all palettes.

So to change the holdopen delay to 3 seconds use:
<PaletteRollupInfo  PaletteRollupDelay="800" PaletteHoldopenDelay="3000"/>
You will need to restart AutoCAD for these changes to take effect."

Nothing yet exposed in a dialog/UI or sysvar but perhaps in the future as an F3 feature.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Tool Palette, AutoCAD Tool Palette, AutoCAD 2008 Command, AutoCAD Tool Palette Rollup Speed, AutoCAD Tool Palette Rollout Speed, AutoCAD Tips

Tool Palettes Rock!

For those who are now using or thinking of using the AutoCAD Tool Palettes there is even more reasons to use them. I am not being a cheerleader here just spreader a tip that can help you realize more productivity with very little time investment. You can place blocks, dimension Styles, LISP and customization, material settings, text styles, tables, and more on Tool Palettes making them organized content pages. One excellent use is you can set the object default properties so for example a block would be inserted on a default layer at a default scale you had setup and distributed to your team. Tool Palettes can even be set to roll up and roll out and docked to eliminate the concern of used screen real-estate.

To paraphrase a top rated AutoCAD trainer, Matt Murphy and what he mentions during his excellent Tool Palette classes at AUGI CAD Camps and Autodesk University "you can have your Tool Palette point to a network location or the ancestral blocks (blocks that have existed forever) and you can give it a nice name instead of PT3X3ED-SM.DWG and having to find where it is located".

Don't just take my word ask fellow AutoCAD users who are using it now. I have heard over and over "why isn't Autodesk promoting this excellent AutoCAD gem of a feature" even Robert Green and Matt Murphy have been spreading the word at AUGI CAD Camps on this feature and its value and power to users of AutoCAD to reduce clicks and errors. Some have even mentioned the ROI increasing and standards management benefit of using the AutoCAD Tool Palettes to help others follow CAD Standards by setting up standard based, discipline, and project Tool Palettes thus reducing error or standards compliance rework.

Tool Palettes Rock and save time for single seat AutoCAD users and thousand seat AutoCAD companies that rollout standard palettes.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Tool Palette, AutoCAD Tool Palette, AutoCAD Tips

Specify Current Tool Palette or Group - New in AutoCAD 2008 TPNAVIGATE

In AutoCAD 2008 we added the ability to switch Tool Palettes and Groups at the AutoCAD command line with the command TPNAVIGATE. This means you can now use this in a LISP or in your menu to change the current Tool Palette.

From the AutoCAD 2008 Help

Command entry: TPNAVIGATE

Specify tool palette to display or [palette Group]: Enter a tool palette name, or enter g

• Tool Palette Name
  Displays the specified tool palette.
  Specifying a tool palette that is not part of the current group, displays the specified palette and its palette group.
• Palette Group
  Displays the following prompt.
  Specify palette group to display: Enter the name of a valid tool palette group.
  
  Displays the specified tool palette group. The initial prompt repeats so you can specify a tool palette name.

Note TPNAVIGATE opens the Tool Palettes window if closed.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Tool Palette, AutoCAD Tool Palette, AutoCAD 2008 Command, TPNAVIGATE, AutoCAD Tips

Ringing in the Ears? It Might Not Be Inside Your Head, this time.

The Cicada insects are now emerging in some parts of the United States after 17 years of hibernation underground. They are harmless but very annoying with their courtship noise drowning out most everything else and also creeping out some people seeing millions of large beetle like insects crawling all over. The sound reminds me of ringing ears after a loud concert or a herd of overly hyper rattlesnakes rattling tails in unison.

Fun fact: Cicadas have green blood.

More info:

US Midwest readies for emergence of 17-year cicadas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibicen

Photos on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=cicada&m=text

Last Week in Tasmania

Just a few highlights and lowlights of last weeks trip to give some presentations in far away but beautiful Hobart Tasmania. It was also the 20th anniversary of Autodesk incorporation in Australia. I spent most of the time working while there but snuck out occasionally to take in the local scenery and food.

Highlights

People! Tasmania had some of the nicest people I have ever met in all of my travels. If you ever needed directions, tips on what to eat or see, what was the best beer, you got a real friendly answer.

 Seafood especially the crayfish (we call em lobsters)

 Wildlife Kangaroos, wallabies, Tasmanian Devils, Cockatoos, Jack Jumpers, Echidnas, and platypuses are among some of the unique critters down here.

 Food, seriously I have been so very good on my eating and losing weight and hitting the gym weekly but last week I bet I gained 5 pounds.

 Wine & Beer, Local Cascade Beer and MooBrew are top notch and the wines from Moorilla winery were unique especially their white sparkling and white pinot.

Lowlights

• Being told I could check in 2 bottles of special Moorilla wine on an Australian flight to the US only to have it confiscated after the security screener in Sydney who boldly asked "is that expensive wine". Made no sense to me since I had already been screened and just 10 feet out of security they sell more wine. This was a special Tasmanian wine and I am pretty sure the screeners enjoyed it after work.
  
• People that go through the X-ray screening and insist on standing at the end of the conveyor belt and instead of gathering their belongings and moving aside for all the other people try to get to their belongings decide they will test the patience of fellow travelers and cause a traffic jam of shoes, laptops and other goods.

My trip photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/sets/72157600205956148/

Map of photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/sets/72157600205956148/map/

 

Tasmania gets two thumbs up for me!

Get your Popcorn and Perhaps Watch the Design Review Video

Autodesker Brian Pene created a video about the free Autodesk Design Review 2008 and even used the collaboration word. Brian posted it on Google as well Volker mentioned it in the Beyond the Paper DWF Blog in a post Autodesk Design Review Video .

"See how Autodesk Design Review goes beyond 2D markup and measure, allowing full connectivity and access to even the most complex 3D CAD models and designs. Collaboration and communication around CAD designs and data has never been easier!"

Autodesk Design Review 2008 Video 9 minutes

 

Technorati Tags: 3D, Navigation, Tool. Autodesk Design Review

New Autodesk P&ID Product Beta

If you design P&ID drawings and you would like to participate in testing the pre-release beta and will provide feedback please sign up at http://myfeedback.autodesk.com to sign up. Use the beta code HarpBeta in the sign up form. For those who already have a beta user login, modify your profile to add Harp to the Beta code.

See Ursula's post in her "In the Pipes" blog Announcing P&ID Beta

Cheers,
Shaan (in Tasmania currently)

Technorati tags: Autodesk, P&ID, AutoCAD, Beta

AutoCAD 2008 Easter Egg Steps

I mentioned in a previous post that there is a list of AutoCAD Team names located in a Easter Egg in AutoCAD 2008. Since I have had someone figure out how to get to the Easter Egg the proper way and so I will reveal it to all others.

Here are the steps:
• On the AutoCAD Command line start the Sun Properties SUNPROPERTIES
• Click the magnifying glass in Sky Properties

• Change the date to 3/23/2007 (the date AutoCAD 2008 was released)
• Click on the time

• Hit the Home key (this will set you to midnight)
• With the CTRL key down, hit the Down arrow twice on your keyboard.

Now you should see the credit roll with music.

Now back to work as I am down under this week located in beautiful Hobart Tasmania.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Easter Egg, Autodesk, AutoCAD Team

After 25 hours of traveling, I made it to Tasmania

I am fighting to stay awake now even though locally the time is only noon but I sleep little on planes and my body is telling me the time is more like 9PM.. I have only been here a few minutes so there is not much to report yet other than my first impression of Tasmania was that it is similar to mainland Australia in appearance and wildlife, however I had a local Tassie tell me that mainland Australia looks like Tasmania not the other way around. ;-)

I am setting up a Flickr folder for my photos on this trip.

www.flickr.com S.Hurley's Tasmania Australia Trip 5-2007 photoset

Cheers,
Shaan

Headed Down Under, the Down Under Today..

In about 2 hours I will begin a 9000 mile journey to Hobart Tasmania which is actually Australia and an island just located South a few hours of the large Australian continent. This is also the home to the Tasmanian Devils which in the last ten years have almost been wiped out due to some mysterious facial cancer, and it isn't from smoking. This is a business related trip and I don't have too much time to goof off but I will try and snap some photos while there.

If you are located in Hobart Tasmania and want to grab a snack and a schooner or jug and just chat about AutoCAD, CAD or Design in general, please send me an email to shaan@autodesk.com.

Although I leave on a Thursday I wont land in Hobart until Saturday due to crossing the international dateline slinging me a day ahead.

I will be using my TrackBerry ala Blackberry 8800 with GPS to track my flight and record some waypoints to place in Google Earth for pure geek fun.

 

 

Cheers,
Shaan

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Impression, Tasmania, Hobart, Australia, Tasmanian Devil, Travel, TrackBerry, CrackBerry, BlackBerry, GPS

Autodesk Impression News

Two nuggets of possible interest for you. The first is a nice overview of Autodesk Impression. The second item is people in other countries can now download the Technical Preview of Autodesk Impression release.

You can participate in shaping the Autodesk Impression products future by signing up for Autodesk MyFeedback at http://myfeedback.autodesk.com.

 

From Lisa's Autodesk Impression blog Inside Hues

New Product Overview

"Having trouble explaining Impression to your boss, co-worker or great Aunt? We just posted a new Flash-based piece to our website that might help you out.
Check it out at: www.autodesk.com/impression-overview"

 

From Scott's Autodesk Labs blog It's Alive

Autodesk Impression Technology Preview

Autodesk Impression is selling well in the United States and Canada. Product Marketing Manager, Lisa Crounse, reports that a technology preview of Autodesk Impression is available in the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The Technology Preview is a not-for charge download of Autodesk Impression that will run until the end of October 2007. Information about the Technology Preview can be found on Lisa's Impression Community blog.

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Autodesk Impression

AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Tips and Tricks booklets

 

FREE! AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Tips and Tricks booklets

Thanks to Mike and BLAUGI in my RSS feed to alert me about the booklets. Things have been crazy with so many projects and I am also headed for Hobart Tasmania in Australia today and need to still pack...

AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks Booklet posted by Lynn Allen

 

Technorati tags: Autodesk, AutoCAD, AUGI, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD LT 2008, Lynn Allen

Everyday Edisons Television Documentary

Autodesk is proud to partner with Everyday Edisons, produced by Bouncing Brain Productions, and set to air in the United States nationwide on PBS.

Premiering April 28, 2007, the Everyday Edisons^SM series follows seven aspiring inventors as they realize their dreams with the help of Autodesk® Inventor™ and Autodesk® AliasStudio™ software. See the entire process—from idea to production—unfold on this televised, 14-part documentary.

Autodesk Link to Everyday Edisons Article

Everyday Edisons. Home | PBS

www.everydayedisons.com/

Technorati tags: Autodesk, Everyday Edisons, PBS, Documentary, Television, Design, Autodesk AliasStudio, Autodesk Inventor, Bouncing Brain Productions

New Book "Expert CAD Management – The Complete Guide" Released by Robert Green

Congratulations Robert!

The new book is tiled “Expert CAD Management – The Complete Guide” and is published by Sybex. Robert is a real expert in the field of CAD Management. Robert presents and writes on the subject in an easy to understand way and also teaches on how to communicate with management that may not understand CAD Management which is a real important topic for management buy-in for CAD Standards etc. I sat in on Robert's CAD Management class last week at AUGI CAD Camp in Salt Lake City.

"You're sure to find helpful techniques within this book to make your CAD management role more effective and productive." —Lynn Allen, Autodesk Technical Evangelist and Cadalyst columnist

"Robert Green draws on many years of real-world experience as a CAD manager and consultant to deliver recommendations that work for any size and type of organization. He's the top resource for CAD managers looking to increase performance and efficiency." —Sara Ferris, technology writer and editor, former editor of Cadalyst

"With over 20 years of experience, Robert Green is an accomplished expert who understands the issues and pressures revolving around CAD management. He has developed a strategy that is clear, concise, and direct in solving those issues." —Matt Murphy, speaker, trainer, and author, ACADventures

"In order to be effective as a CAD Manager, you must stay current and knowledgeable, and Robert Green has the subject covered for you." —Shaan Hurley, Worldwide MyFeedback Programs Manager, Autodesk, Inc.

"His timely tools and ideas have consistently placed him as one of the highest rated instructors and consultants in the Autodesk community, and now, we get a recap of those tools and ideas presented in a book. FINALLY!! Fantastic!!" —Dan Dolan, President, CADLearning by 4D Technologies

"Robert Green has a great combination of philosophy, real life experience, and raw data that can give you the insight and advantage over your competition." —Yoshi Honda, President, Pacific CADD Services, Inc.

Expert CAD Management is available at Robert's web site at http://www.cad-manager.com/book or from Amazon. Any books purchased from his web site will be imprinted with a personal note and signed.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati tags: CAD Management, Robert Green, Book, CAD, Sybex, Design

Autodesk Inventor LT Formally Announced

As I mentioned the other day Autodesk Inventor LT is now available as a free technology preview in English for certain countries (darn lawyers). Now the official press release is available.

Autodesk Launches Autodesk Inventor LT

"Inventor LT eliminates many of the headaches associated with moving files between different CAD systems," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "As a result, customers can realize the benefits of 3D part design and AutoCAD interoperability to get their jobs done faster and easier."

Inventor LT Technology Preview is available only as English language software and is available for download only in the United States and Canada. Additional countries may be added at a future time.

Create, Share and Edit 3D Designs for Improved Supply Chain Communication

Inventor LT helps customers improve their communications with their supply chain by making editable 3D part design data more accessible than ever before. Rich functionality available in Inventor LT enables:

    -- Multi-CAD translation capabilities for leading native and neutral 3D
       CAD file formats
    -- 3D part model creation and editing
    -- Automated mechanical drawings
    -- Genuine DWG interoperability with DWG TrueConnect technology
    -- Photorealistic rendering of 3D part designs

"By supporting multi-CAD interoperability in most leading file formats, Inventor LT provides a tremendous solution for the entire manufacturing supply chain," said Kross. "We are thrilled to make this one-of-a-kind product available to the extended manufacturing community."

Please give us your feedback using the e-mail provided on the Inventor LT website on Autodesk Labs.

Technorati tags: Autodesk Inventor LT, Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Labs