Between the Lines

AutoCAD Product Design Team Invitation for Test Drives

The AutoCAD Product Design Team would like to invite you to a series of special events during Autodesk University this year!

On Tuesday, December 1st and Wednesday, December 2nd, the AutoCAD Product Design Team will be hosting special customer Discussion Forum sessions, as well as traditional annual “What is New in AutoCAD?- AutoCAD Sneak Peek & Test Drive” event. Please see below for more information and the sign up link. We hope you will be able to join us for one of them if you are planning to attend AU this year!

Discussion Forum: “Synergies and Advancements in Drafting and Modeling for AutoCAD"

• In this focus group, participants will get a chance to talk about their needs for existing and new 2D drafting features and 3D modeling tools.
• Designers will show some potential directions and share their ideas on new and advanced tools (e.g. Join/Fillets/ blend enhancements), new 2D geometry object types (e.g. “uber” unified 2D curve objects - Spline/Line/Pline/Arc - all in one), as well as 3D modeling tools (e.g. Space deformation tools/Bend/Twist etc).
• Participants will get a chance to preview and provide feedback on 2D drafting and modeling tools including direct manipulation and modeling techniques.
  
• Who Should Participate?
  AutoCAD users who currently work in 2D and are interested in advanced drafting; designers who are looking into moving to 3D modeling, and users of 3D features in AutoCAD and other applications – including surface modeling in Rhino, 3DS Max, and Maya.

Event: “What is New in AutoCAD? - AutoCAD Sneak Peek & Test Drive”
Description:

• In this session, participants will work individually on computers to "test drive" the new and exciting features in the upcoming AutoCAD release. This is an opportunity to learn about and provide feedback on the newest features, components, and user interface enhancements.
  Product designers and usability specialists will be available to answer your questions and discuss the features.
  
• Who Should Participate?
  Intermediate or advanced AutoCAD users who use AutoCAD at least 20 hours a week for drafting, design, or modeling work.

All events will take place in the conference area in the Mandalay Bay hotel. Participants will receive a gift for their time.

How Do I Sign Up?
To sign up, fill out this brief survey:
Please indicate which sessions you are available to attend. You will be confirmed for at most one discussion forum and one test drive. The confirmation will include specific location, and an NDA will be required for all who attend.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions, email to:
melissa.dawe@autodesk.com or elena.fadeeva@autodesk.com

Space is limited so sign up today! Please fill out the survey by Monday, November 16.
We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

-The AutoCAD Product Design Team

Videos of the Subscription Advantage Packs for AutoCAD Architecture 2010 & AutoCAD MEP 2010

I posted 3 videos over on the Between the Walls blog for those that are AutoCAD Architecture 2010,and AutoCAD MEP 2010 and on subscription. You can now get the new Subscription Advantage Packs from the Autodesk Subscription Center.

The covered Subscription Advantage Packs:

• AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Renovation Subscription Advantage Pack
• AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Productivity Subscription Advantage Pack
• AutoCAD MEP 2010 Duct Transition Subscription Advantage Pack

Videos of the Subscription Advantage Packs for AutoCAD Architecture 2010 & AutoCAD MEP 2010

Also checkout the AutoCAD 2010 Timesaver Tools Subscription Advantage Pack as well as many other Autodesk 2010 product Subscription Advantage Packs.

AU 2009 Bloggers Social Invitations Going Out This Week

I am planning on sending out invitations to the Autodesk University 2009 Bloggers Social this week. Make sure to sign up for consideration to the 2nd annual special event held at Autodesk University. The Blogger Social will be held on Monday November 30th, 2009 from 6:30PM to 8PM.

Autodesk University 2009 Blogger Social Signup Form

Spread the word to fellow Autodesk related bloggers!

Cheers 
Shaan

Autodesk Announces Support for Windows 7

The official supported products for the new Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System announced today. I have been running most Autodesk products without a problem for many months now. There was also a new Project Cooper released.

Autodesk Announces Support for Windows 7

Industry-Leading Design, Engineering and Entertainment Software to Be Compatible with Latest Windows Operating System

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, has announced support for Windows 7. Effective today, Autodesk will support customers using nine products including AutoCAD 2010, AutoCAD LT 2010 and the Autodesk Inventor 2010 family of software, on Windows 7.

"Windows 7 was designed with the customer in mind," said Mark Relph, senior director for Windows Product Management at Microsoft Corp. "We are pleased to have the support of Autodesk to offer our mutual customers an easy way to do the things they want on a PC."

For the 2010 product line, Autodesk will support nine products on Windows 7. These products are Autodesk Inventor 2010, Autodesk Inventor LT 2010, AutoCAD 2010, AutoCAD LT 2010, AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD Electrical 2010, AutoCAD Mechanical 2010, AutoCAD MEP 2010 and Autodesk Algor Simulation 2010 software. Autodesk will support Windows 7 for most of its other products as updated versions are released.

"Autodesk is committed to delivering software that meets and exceeds our customers' functionality requirements, while providing them the broadest possible choice of operating systems," said Chris Bradshaw, Autodesk chief marketing officer. "Autodesk and Microsoft share a goal of making the tasks our customers perform every day easier and faster. We look forward to extending support for Windows 7 across our portfolio so all our customers can benefit from the improvements in this robust new operating system."

Windows 7 offers many powerful new features and functionality that will benefit Autodesk customers, including full support for 64-bit computing, Windows search and improved performance. Multi-touch support has also become a core capability of Windows 7, and Autodesk is developing new software to take advantage of this technology. At the Windows 7 media launch event, Autodesk will demonstrate Project Cooper, a preview of new technology for simple drawing and drafting that has been engineered to take advantage of the multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7. The Autodesk Project Cooper Technology Preview is now available for free download at http://www.autodesk.com/projectcooper. “

AutoCAD 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack - TimeSaver Tools

Get a preview of future product features now as an Autodesk Subscription customer.
Available NOW on the Subscription Center

Hide and isolate objects: A top AUGI request, AutoCAD users now have the ability to turn on and off objects regardless of layer. Because of this key timesaver, you no longer need to track down objects across many layers in order to hide information that isn’t relevant while you update a drawing. And you can quickly show or hide the objects again as needed.

Select Similar: Another top AUGI request, now you can save time selecting objects with similar properties (such as same layer or linetype, blocks or xrefs with same names, etc.).

Create Selected: With this new tool, you can quickly create a new object to your drawing based on the properties of another selected object, by matching the object type and properties.

Hatch to back: Another key AUGI request, this new capability makes it easier for you to select all hatches in a drawing, then send them to the back of the drawing, streamlining the process of working with hatches.

This Add on can also be installed on multiple other AutoCAD 2010 based products such as AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD Mechanical 2010, and AutoCAD MEP 2010

There are also other Subscription Advantage Packs now available for many Autodesk products such as:

AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack - Renovation Extension 2010

AutoCAD MEP 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack
Duct Transition Extension 2010

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack - Point Clouds, Roundabout Layout, and General Enhancements

AutoCAD® Map 3D 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack - Point Clouds

And many more!

.

Autodesk Project Cooper

Autodesk Project Cooper is now live for you to spread the word for others that do not need the power of AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT but want a simple yet precise sketching product.

cnet article: Autodesk launches Project Cooper for Windows 7

www.autodesk.com/projectcooper

AutoCAD and Other Autodesk Software Supported on Parallels

Now you can run AutoCAD and other Autodesk software on a Mac and be officially supported by Autodesk for both Apple Bootcamp and the Parallels virtualized machine software.

Autodesk Expands Options for Mac Users

“SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, and Parallels, a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software, announced that they have signed an agreement to make Parallels Desktop for Mac Autodesk's preferred Mac virtualization software.

Autodesk will now support use of AutoCAD software, AutoCAD LT software, Autodesk Inventor Professional software, Autodesk 3ds Max software, Autodesk 3ds Max Design software and the Autodesk Revit software platform for building information modeling (BIM) on Mac OS X via Parallels Desktop. Autodesk added official support for these products on the Mac via Boot Camp earlier this year.”

Cheers,
Shaan - both a PC and Mac user now

Project Twitch – Run Many Autodesk Software Applications Over the Web!

A cool “cloud” project is available for testing from the fine folks in the Autodesk Labs. If you located within 1000 miles of San Francisco and have a high speed connection you can now trial Autodesk products such as:

AutoCAD 2010

Autodesk Inventor 2010

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010

Maya coming soon.

The reason for the proximity to San Francisco and high speed Internet is to make sure you get the best possible experience and performance as we are testing this technology..

Link to Project Twitch

• Test drive without installing or downloading Autodesk applications
• Scott Sheppard’s Blog Post on It’s Alive in the Lab Try AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit without installing them

“Project Twitch!
This project is testing remote delivery of our applications over the Internet. The goal of project Twitch is to enable you to test and try the latest versions of AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and Maya without having to install or download the applications. These applications run remotely on our servers and are delivered to you over the Internet. You will use them in the same way that you would if they were on installed on your system.”

Check out the System Requirements before trying Twitch

System Requirements

Internet Connectivity

• Within 1,000 miles of the data center located in San Francisco California USA
• 5Mbps or greater bandwidth

Supported Operating Systems

• Windows XP (32-bit)
• Windows Vista (32-bit)

Supported Browsers

• Firefox 3.x
• Internet Explorer 7 or higher

Hardware (for data compression/decompression)

• 1.6 GHz or higher dual-core CPU
• 1 GByte RAM
• Display resolution of 1280x1024 or higher
• DirectX 9c capable video card

Are you twitching to try it?

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Update 1 Released

The AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Update 1 has now been released for download. Please make sure to read through the ReadMe document as it lists many of the changes as well as an update check issue with IE8. This Update 1 includes the AutoCAD 2010 Update 1 plus some specific AutoCAD Mechanical updates.

Updates & Service Packs > AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Update 1

AutoCAD 2010 Mechanical 32bit acm2010update1.exe (exe - 25762Kb)
AutoCAD 2010 Mechanical 64bit acm2010update1x64.exe (exe - 37651Kb)

Readme

• Czech
• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Polish
• Russian
• Simplified Chinese
• Spanish
• Traditional Chinese

Cheers,
Shaan

See the Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour in October 2009

I will be presenting along with Autodesk’s own Lynn Allen and some fine Autodesk partners for a busy October schedule. Please come visit with us for these free events. I will be covering a potpourri of AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD based products AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD MEP  with my favorite tips and tricks. I will also be talking about Autodesk Impression and the AutoCAD Exchange as well as hopefully some really cool future possibilities.

I will also be lining up some customer and user group visits while on the tour so contact me  if you want to meetup.

See the Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour
Autodesk Technical Evangelists Lynn Allen and Shaan Hurley

• Tues. Oct. 6 Orlando Florida
• Wed. Oct. 7 Atlanta Georgia
• Thurs. Oct. 8 San Diego California
• Tues. Oct. 13 Columbus Ohio
• Wed. Oct. 14 Montreal Quebec Canada
• Thurs. Oct. 15 Edmonton Alberta Canada 
• Tues. Oct. 20 Boston Massachusetts
• Thurs. Oct. 22 Washington DC

http://acad.experience.autodesk.com.

Map of the tour below.

A grand total of 14,023 domestic air miles which are equal in my book to 7 international miles for each domestic mile traveled. I will be jumping during most of the flights so that I can reduce my carbon footprint by half. The warped/twisted theory is that if the plane has to only carry my load half of the trip it saves fuel. Of course I am joking about the jumping part saving fuel. ;-)

I am also working out a schedule for other events coming up including Autodesk University in Las Vegas which is only 88 days from now.

I hope to see you on the tour!
Shaan

AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1 (SP1) Available for Download

The first Update (aka Service Pack) to AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 are now available for download. This update addresses over 160defects and issues reported by customers, product support, and Customer Error Reporting “CER” data, One of the highlight fixes is the fixing of attaching multiple Xrefs at one time.

There is a new change for Autodesk Subscription customers in this Update 1. If you are a subscription customer a balloon notification periodically displays in the InfoCenter making you aware of how much time remains before your subscription expires.  The Updates for AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD MEP 2010, and AutoCAD Mechanical are currently undergoing pre-release beta testing on http://beta.autodesk.com.

AutoCAD Updates and Service Packs Updates & Service Packs

• AutoCAD 2010 Update 1
• AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1
• Readme

Tom Stoeckel has also blogged about this Update 1 for AutoCAD 2010 on the AutoCAD Support blog Without a net ~ Update 1 Released for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2010

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk University 2009 Events Update (Blogger Social, Shutterbugs, and Tweetup)

I have received several emails asking what I am planning for this years Autodesk University 2009 “AU 2009” . So I wanted to give a heads up of what I know today, and I am trying to nail down times, dates, logistics and locations.

Blogger Social Reception

Date & Time TBD

After a successful first Bloggers Social was held last year we will hold that again but with new identifying name tags. Imagine around 100 Autodesk customer product bloggers and Autodesk employees from product teams, Autodesk  bloggers, and executive management meeting up to meet face to face with each other and establish friendships to take home after AU. If you are a blogger about AU and Autodesk products then this is an event you cannot miss.

AU Shutterbug Tour

This fun event will be held again this year but event more organized and better. We will be exploring the regional beauty surrounding the Southern Nevada desert such as Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, the new Colorado bridge, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and other locations. Hopefully, this year we get to see Sean Toomey juggle fire at night for some interesting long exposure photos.

 

Date & Time Multiple dates and any times we can sneak away early in the morning before classes or late after classes and events.

Tentative schedule:
Sunday December 3rd   – full day
Monday December 4th   - half day
Friday December 8th   – full day
Saturday December 9th - half day

• Autodesk University 2008 Flickr photo set
• Autodesk University Shutterbug Tour 2008

AU Tweetup

 Date & Time TBD
AU Twitter users Tweetup at AU should be fun for those social networking to congregate in a single location face to face in real life IRL. We should also hold one meetup during the AU party Thursday night as well as during the beer bust in the exhibit hall Tuesday 7-10PM.

Follow me on Twitter! @mrcadman

The famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign is just outside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino which is the location of the Autodesk University 2009. For those wishing to photograph this famous and iconic sign please be careful crossing the busy road or go with out the free and fun AU Shutterbug Tour.

Make sure to sign up early for AU 2009! Spread the word far and wide about these fun AU activities.Stay tuned to this blog and my Twitter account @mrcadman for further updates on times, locations, and sign up details.

I hope to meet you at AU!

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Malicious Code / Virus Alert “acad.vlx” and Solution

There is a virus being reported by a couple AutoCADbased product customers. The original virus first popped up in 2005 and was very limited but has been changed slightly. Some antivirus software does detect this virus and remove it. Many great people worked behind the scenes over the past week to research and publish a solution.

The virus spreads simply by someone placing the malicious acad.vlx in a directory with the DWG files or a support path location being opened  and then spreads from there into open DWG files and by replicating itself.

The below LISP code detects and deletes any acad.vlxfile before AutoCAD attempts to load it, preventing the spread of the virus. The possible random strings written to the DWGfile by the acad.vlx appears to be harmless.  The malicious file acad.vlx is not an Autodesk file.

Update: Check with your CAD Manager or fellow employees to make sure you have not named your own customization as "logo.gif "or "acad.vlx" as the below LISP will not check the version but remove any file named logo.gif or acad.vlx. There is a file checksum published here AutoCAD malware: ACAD.VLX:

The Autodesk Technical Solution IS being published.to the AutoCAD Support Page and also being mentioned on the Support Blog - Without A Netby Tom Stoeckel:

ID: TS13717811
Published date: 2009-Aug-07
http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS13717811

Issue

Users of AutoCAD-based products have reported a malicious acad.vlx file that causes drawing corruption.

Solution

This is not an actual AutoCAD file provided by Autodesk. When the malicious acad.vlx file is loaded in AutoCAD, it corrupts the drawing, which may result in a Missing Language Pack dialog box displaying when you save and reopen the drawing.

The acad.vlx file creates a copy of itself in the Help folder (for example, C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2010\Help\logo.gif). Several other files are also modified and the ACADLSPASDOC system variable is set to 1, allowing the acad.vlx file to be loaded into other opened drawings, thereby corrupting them.

The cleanup process outlined below detects and deletes any acad.vlxfile before AutoCAD attempts to load it, preventing the spread of the virus.

To prevent additional file corruptions

1. You must be a system administrator on your Microsoft^® Windows^® operating system to complete this process.
   1. In your product installation folder, locate the Support folder (for example, C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2010\Support).
   2. In the Support folder, double-click the acad20xx.lsp file (for example, the acad2010.lspfile). Add the code below to the file. AutoCAD will detect and delete the acad.vlx and logo.gif files.

      (defun cleanvirus( / lspfiles lspfile x) (setq lspfiles '("acad.vlx" "logo.gif"))
      
       (foreachlspfile lspfiles (while(setq x (findfile lspfile)) (progn (vl-file-delete x) (princ "\nDeleted file ") (princ x) );progn );while
      
       );foreach) (cleanvirus)

   3. Open each of the following files:
      • C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 20xx\Express\acetauto.lsp
      • C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 20xx\Support\ai_utils.lsp
      • ROAMABLEROOTPREFIX\Support\acad.mnl
        Note: Replace ROAMABLEROOTPREFIXwith the value returned by the ROAMABLEROOTPREFIX system variable.
   4. If present, delete the following line of code:
      (vl-file-copy(findfile(vl-list->string'(108 111 103 111 46 103 105 102)))(vl-list->string'(97 99 97 100 46 118 108 120)))
      
   5. Save each file.

   End of Solution Document.

<hurley_warped_humor_alert> Many times some precautions can prevent most risks of malware or virus by maintaining vigilance on what files are allowed into your environment as well as running up to date antivirus software. This is common sense and like knowing what direction the dog is pointing before you pet it in a dark room or not golfing downwind of Tiger Woods or the golf announcer. hurley_warped_humor_alert>

For more tips on preventing virus in AutoCAD see AutoCAD and Viruses

Shaan

Be Remarkable, Get Certified for Autodesk 2010 products

Certified Associate and Certified Professional exams now available for newest versions of AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Revit Architecture, and  AutoCAD Civil 3D Software. Show your fellow employees, employers, and prospective employers proof of your skills and knowledge as well to strengthen your resume when searching for a new job.

Autodesk will also offer free certification for the second year in a row at Autodesk University, as well as a preparation lab, offering assessment and practice tests and a study room with study materials. Autodesk University is the premier event for Autodesk users with thousands of attendees and the top notch classes in Autodesk products plus some fun in Las Vegas.

There are over 100,000 certified individuals including some who got the special free offer last year at Autodesk University.

Certification Program Flyer

Certification Exam guides are available.

• AutoCAD® 2010
• AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2010
• Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010
• Autodesk® Inventor® 2010

Updated July 30th, 2009

50% discount on the assessment tests

• You can begin preparing for the exams now – An assessment test is a great place to start!
• Use the promo code below (not cases sensitive)
  • RemarkAutoCAD
  • RemarkInventor
  • RemarkCivil3D
  • RemarkRevit

This offer is valid from Aug 1st through 31st 2009.

Go to www.autodesk.starttest.com

The assessment test gives immediate feedback on strengths and weaknesses

For more information on Autodesk Certification for 2010, please visit: http://www.autodesk.com/be-remarkable or http://www.autodesk.com/certification.

AU! Also there may be another free opportunity for those attending Autodesk University 2009 in Las Vegas to get their certifications for free like at AU 2008.

Autodesk Assistance Program Expands to Europe and Beyond

“In these uncertain economic times, many companies have had to let good people go. If you were one of them, you might be wondering how to advance your career in this challenging global job market.”

After rolling out the program for those displaced workers architecture, design, engineering, and manufacturing in North America Autodesk is expanding the program.

The program will first be rolled out in Northern Europe then remaining Europe then onto Mexico and Brazil over the next few months.

 

What assistance includes is:

• Free Software License*: Student licenses of 17 Autodesk® products, including AutoCAD®, Revit® Architecture, Autodesk® Inventor® Professional, and/or AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software.  
• Free Online Training: On-demand training available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with Subscription eLearning, Autodesk University online, and Books.
• Reduced-Cost Classroom Training: Over 70 Autodesk Authorized Value Added Resellers and Autodesk Training Center (ATC®) partners are offering classroom training at their training facilities for free or for a significantly reduced fee. (Offerings will vary, please check with your local reseller or ATC to get details)
• Certification: Certification preparation and exams available at discounted rates.

Seize the opportunity now. Don’t just survive, thrive!

For more information about the Autodesk Assistance Program, please contact your local reseller, contact Autodesk directly at assistance@autodesk.com or visit www.autodesk.com/assistanceprogram.

Press Release Autodesk Assistance Program Expands to Europe

I personally have had many good friends be let go in many industries including Autodesk itself. In recent months some have had more luck in finding a replacement position so lets all hope this trend continues. If you have positions you are trying to hire for please send me an email and I would be happy to post it to the many readers of this blog. Please email me with the subject line of “09 Jobs”.

Some great job seeking advice was blogged by recently unemployed and again hired.Donnie Gladfelter aka The CADGeek

Job Hunting Tips From The CAD Geek

I wish everyone and business a speedy recovery and increasing busy workload.

Shaan

AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide Posted Online

The AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide is now posted and available free online.

Many have requested this and I was told it was a top request by members of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) last year. The Autodesk User Assistance Team worked and to produce this and it was authored by none other than AutoCAD guru Lee Ambrosius. This is a free extensive online guide.

Contents are thorough and help anyone wanting to venture into the .NET API in AutoCAD to develop customization and automation. The .NET API for AutoCAD is in addition to APIs such as AutoLISP, ObjectARX. .NET is for both 32-bit and 64-bit where the Visual Basic for Applications was only designed for 32-bit. If you are seriously interested in automating AutoCAD tasks or building a custom tailored AutoCAD application you should look into the AutoCAD .NET API detailed in this guide.

AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide

• Introduction
• Getting Started with Microsoft Visual Studio
• Basics of the AutoCAD .NET API
• Control the AutoCAD Environment
• Create and Edit AutoCAD Entities
• Dimensions and Tolerances
• Work in Three-Dimensional Space
• Define Layouts and Plot
• Use Events
• Develop Applications with VB.NET and C#
• VBA/VB to VB.NET and C# Comparison
• VBA to VB.NET and C# Comparison
• AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide

Cheers,
Shaan

Ask the AutoCAD Experts Guillermo Melantoni and Shaan Hurley on the AutoCAD Exchange

Yes AutoCAD masters (aka AutoCAD Ninjas) Guillerm Melantoni and myself will be taking and answering your questions this week on the AutoCAD Exchange. The AutoCAD Exchange is free with  simple signup. The benefits of AutoCAD Exchange are networking with fellow AutoCAD users, learning, and laughing.

AutoCAD Exchange: http://autocad.autodesk.com

Guillerm Melantoni and Shaan Hurley ‘s Blogs:
Between the Lines - Shaan Hurley
What a Mesh! - Guillermo Melantoni

Twitter:
Shaan Hurley @mrcadman

Ask The Experts your AutoCAD question  
Have a question?

Ask Experts: Guillerm Melantoni and Shaan Hurley July 27th - July 31st

AutoCAD Exchange Ask the Expert

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and 3ds Max Supported on Apple Boot Camp

Autodesk has formally announced that we are officially supported Apple Boot Camp for Mac users for some 2010 products. Autodesk has tested and customers have been using many products on Apple Boot Camp for some time but now there is official product support for this environment. The support is currently for English language products. We have a growing Mac user community and are working to better support them by producing Mac-Compatible as well as Boot Camp-Supported products.

Autodesk Expands Support for Mac Users
www.autodesk.com/mac

Here is the currently list of supported products:

• AutoCAD® 2010
• Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010
• Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010
• AutoCAD® Inventor® Professional Suite 2010
• AutoCAD® Inventor™ Suite 2010
• Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010
• Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010
• Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010

Apple® Boot Camp Support for AutoCAD® 2010

Apple® Boot Camp Support for Autodesk® 3ds Max®

Apple® Boot Camp Support for Autodesk® Inventor®

Apple® Boot Camp Support for Autodesk® Revit® Products

I am returning from vacation next week and really excited so be prepared for a flurry of activity.

Cheers,
Shaan (both Windows and a Mac user)

AutoCAD Adware Details

Tom Stoeckel of Autodesk Product Support has detailed on the Without a Net blog a bogus AutoCAD ObjectARX application causing some problems for a few Chinese AutoCAD users. Malicious code writers are nothing new but just be cautious about the ObjectARX applications you download or use as well as most anything you download or install on your computers.

AutoCAD Adware Trojan

New Autodesk Beta Website

New and exciting changes have been introduced to Autodesk’s Beta Program where we invite customers to test and provide feedback on pre—release product so that we ship the highest quality of product possible.

The Autodesk MyFeedback Beta platform was retired by May 31st, 2009 at which  point the new Autodesk Community officially came to life at http://beta.autodesk.com.

Autodesk beta participation has grown considerably since we started our online beta communities in 1999.  I joined Autodesk in 1998 on the Beta Team back when we still shipped CD and printed guides. I had been an Autodesk customer and involved in multiple Autodesk betas. I knew I could make a difference for customers and loved a good challenge. We went from a small email lists and doing a couple products to well over 30,000 participants in over 140 countries using over 60 Autodesk products. It is time to upsize again to a new Autodesk Beta Community.

Make sure to sign up for the new Autodesk Feedback Community site before the busy beta release season in the fall. The sign up takes only a few minutes to enter the information about your Autodesk product use and hardware you intend to use to test the pre-release beta software. We need you to provide the critical customer feedback which is vital to shape the future of all Autodesk products.

http://beta.autodesk.com –> New User Signup

Cheers,
Shaan

AUGI AutoCAD Wish List Top Ten Cycle One February 2009

I want to thank AUGI’s President Mark Kiker, the dedicated and hard working AUGI AutoCAD Wish List volunteer Brenda Richardson, and the AUGI membership for another great cycle of nomination and voting for the AutoCAD Wish List. While I cannot provide details on future development publicly, I can say you will be pleased at our listening and knocking more items off the Wish List. You, the user of our products are vital to defining the direction and future functionality of our products.  We at Autodesk sincerely appreciate your helping shape the future of Autodesk products!

1. Transparency of Objects Submitted by Brian Fryhover
2. Plot All Layout Tabs Without Using Publish Submitted by Candice LePorte
3. Fade Colors of XREF Submitted by Girish Gohil
4. Add More Parameters and Constraints to Dynamic Blocks Submitted by James Hitt
5. Turn Off Objects Regardless of Layer Submitted by John Semanko
6. Double Click in a Viewport to Exit Viewport Submitted by Karl Goulding
7. Multiple XCLIP of XREF Submitted by Laura Smagin
8. Intersection Snap on Solids Submitted by Forrest Hoffnar
9. Select Like Objects Submitted by Dave Fox
10. Change Properties Across Multiple Sheet Submitted by Gary Murphy
11. Send Shaan on a free trip to visit Hawaii CAD Camp with Yoshi Honda, Brazil, India, Kuwait, China, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, and Down Under to meet with AUGI members and give free refreshments and share AutoCAD Tips and Tricks.

OK so I added number 11 myself but the remaining 10 are great wish list items for AutoCAD.

Detailed Voting List for 2009 Cycle One http://www.augi.com/autocad/results.asp?cycle=ACAD010

AUGI membership is free and there are many many benefits to the membership. Get involved and network, Share and Learn. Don't just sit on the sidelines, make a difference.

Your Wish, Is Our Command!

Shaan Hurley
Autodesk Platform Technology Evangelist

Focusing on the AutoCAD Fantastic Four

In June I will begin to focus on my Autodesk Platform Technology Evangelist position and less on managing all Autodesk product betas. I will be the mouth and ears for customers, the design and development, and product management teams.

I am adding 3 more great products to my hat for my position as Autodesk Technology Evangelist. In addition to AutoCAD, I am now involved with AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Mechanical and what I call the AutoCAD Fantastic Four. I am truly excited for having the cross discipline focus. These products are used by millions and relied upon and Autodesk is continuing to improve them based on customer feedback. They are not going anywhere or being retired they are being focused together with the same AutoCAD DNA they share which will result in a much more consistent and powerful features using more coordinated team resources.

I will continue same as always on this blog Between the Lines the same as I have the past 6 years but will have more time to dedicate to writing more tips and tricks and cover more products, user groups, and great customers as well as traveling for events and speaking engagements.

Before coming to Autodesk, I was a mechanical designer involved in a wide variety of large projects from process equipment, pressure vessels, shell & tube heat exchangers, large bridges, hydroelectric and navigational locks, nuclear steam generators,and military watercraft. Having been involved in a wide variety of projects gives me a diverse background of project experience and disciplines to draw upon in my jobs at Autodesk.

Please let me know how I am doing or what you would like to see in the blog. If you want a very large audience for AutoCAD tips, I would be happy to publish your tips and give you a very visible credit and potentially get you fame and fortune, ok maybe not fortune but thousands read this blog daily.

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley MoMH (Man of Many Hats)
Autodesk Platform Technology Evangelist

Autodesk Imagine Virtual Event May 19th, 2009

Find out how to turn "What if" into reality & Why Design Matters

The Autodesk Imagine Virtual Event is an online live event with interactive chat sessions included.

Tuesday May 19, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EDT
7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. PDT

Sign Up Now

Agenda

The Autodesk Imagine Virtual Event Agenda May 19, 2009

10:00am–5:00pm EDT / 7:00am–2:00pm PDT

• Exhibit Hall Open

11:30–12:00pm EDT / 8:30–9:00am PDT

• What's New in Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions for Mechanical & Electrical Engineers
• What's New in Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010
• What's New in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010
• What's New in Autodesk Revit MEP 2010
• Infrastructure Modeling / Mapping and GIS
• Autodesk Solutions for Entertainment: What's New in Maya 2009

12:00–12:30pm EDT / 9:00–9:30am PDT

• Take Design Further: Lynn Allen's AutoCAD 2010 Tips & Techniques

12:30–1:00pm EDT / 9:30–10:00am PDT

• Autodesk Solutions for the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

1:00–1:30pm EDT / 10:00–10:30am PDT

Scheduled Chat Sessions:

• AutoCAD LT 2010: PDF output and underlays
• What is Digital Prototyping and What's in it For Me?
• The Latest and Greatest in Autodesk Revit
• Infrastructure Modeling / Mapping and GIS
• Best Practices: Autodesk Solutions for Entertainment
• Autodesk Solutions for the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

1:30–2:00pm EDT / 10:30–11:00am PDT

• 3D Conceptual Design inside AutoCAD 2010

2:30–3:00pm EDT / 11:30–12:00pm PDT

• What's New in the Autodesk Vault Product Line for Data Management
• What's New in Autodesk Solutions for Industrial Design & Visualization
• What's New in Autodesk Revit Structure 2010
• What's New in Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010
• What's New in Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2010
• Join the Conversation: Design Matters – when managing utility networks
• Autodesk Solutions for Entertainment: What's New In 3ds Max 2010

3:00–3:30pm EDT / 12:00–12:30pm PDT

Scheduled Chat Sessions:

• Autodesk Manufacturing Software Solutions – Indentifying the Right Products for You
• Rock & Road: Dig into AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010
• Design Matters: When Managing Utility Networks
• Autodesk Solutions for Entertainment: Production Workflows

4:00–4:30pm EDT / 1:00–1:30pm PDT

Scheduled Chat Session:

• Straight Talk about AutoCAD 2010 Benefits

I hope to see you there as I will be participating in the chat sessions such as “Straight Talk about AutoCAD 2010 Benefits“.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk MyFeedback Portal and Forums Closing May 30th 2009

Our current MyFeedback platform used for running Autodesk product betas has grown way beyond its originally designed structure and we are looking to introduce you to a new Autodesk Feedback Community over the next few month. We are also reorganizing the management of Autodesk betas. Beta projects will be managed individually on this new community by each of the four Autodesk Divisions.

We will be retiring MyFeedback on May 30th 2009. We will be moving future betas to our new Autodesk Feedback Community server.

Q&A
Q: Where is this new Autodesk Feedback Community?
A: The new Autodesk Feedback Community is located at http://beta.autodesk.com . You can sign up at http://beta.autodesk.com/signup now.

Q: Will my account be automatically migrated to the new Autodesk Feedback Community?
A: No, you will need to sign up on this new Autodesk Feedback Community at http://beta.autodesk.com/signup

Q: Will I need to sign up again or can I use my old MyFeedback login?
A: With this new Community you will need to sign up for a new account.

Q: What does this mean for non-beta related forums?
A: The new Autodesk Feedback Community will only support active beta projects. There will not be futures or miscellaneous discussion forums hosted.

Q: What will happen with existing forum posts, will they be available after May 30th?
A: The server will be offline and access to content and posts will be unavailable. You can keep a local archive on your machine by following the instructions

Q: Will there be NNTP access in the new Autodesk Feedback Community?
A: Yes, in the beta projects in this new community you will have the choice of HTTP:, SMTP email, and NNTP to participate in the discussion forums.

Want to archive discussion newsgroup content offline?
Many people choose a NNTP newsreader because you can use them to download newsgroup content and work with it while you aren’t connected to the Internet. You can download the forum posts to your Outlook Express or Windows Mail in Vista, and FreeAgent  for later review.

NDA Reminder
All content from the MyFeedback website and discussion forums are considered confidential and not to be disclosed or publicly published.

Remember May 30th 2009 MyFeedback will be redirected to http://beta.autodesk.com and you will need to sign up to continue Autodesk beta testing of products at http://beta.autodesk.com.

We appreciate your past participation and hope you will join the new Autodesk Feedback Community. Things will be different but give it some time to adjust to all the changes. After signing up and your account is approved on the new Autodesk Community you will receive an email. You will then be able to login and see if there are any beta projects you would like to be considered for. You may also receive an email invitation to a specific beta asked on your profile. Most Autodesk beta projects start in the Fall so some may not get into a new beta for a few months.

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley

Get Certified with the 2010 Beta Exams for AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit Architecture, and AutoCAD Civil 3D

The Autodesk Professional Certification program is pleased to announce the release of the 2010 beta exams for AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit Architecture, and AutoCAD Civil 3D.

• Gain a competitive edge by getting 2010 Certified (you must take both the associate and professional level exams in a specific product if you are not a 2009 certified professional However if you are a 2009 Certified Professional you only need to take and pass the 2010 associate exam.)
• Customer cost $25 per test by using the consumer shopping cart.

The beta period is open for a 2 week period for each exam,ending on May 20 & 22^nd, depending on which exam.  We encourage you to take advantage of this period so that you can update any existing certification or earn your first certification at a low cost. 

Why do we beta test our exams?

Whenever a new exam is created, the exam items need to be calibrated and tried out within a testing situation. In order to do this, exams are made available in a Beta format.   After the items are tested within the Beta setting, each item is analyzed statistically and reanalyzed for technical accuracy, appropriateness, and readability.

What customers should expect when participating in Beta testing?

• The exam may contain small errors (this beta is to catch and correct these any errors.)
• Exam questions may or may not be the same ones that appear on the final exam (this is why your feedback is important.)
• Scoring may not be immediate, but will most often take place 6 weeks after taking the exam (score reports will only be delivered directly to the test takers.)
• You will be asked to provide feedback on a short survey at the end of the test (thank you in advance.)
• Test takers will be notified via email when their score is ready so valid email addresses are important.
• You have the chance to provide feedback via a survey at the end of the test to help influence a better test.

How can you participate?

1. Purchase a 2010 exam using the consumer shopping cart at http://autodesk.starttest.com. Be sure to download exam objectives to help you better prepare for the exam.
2. Contact an Autodesk Certification Center near you by using the locator at www.autodesk.com/certification. Be sure to contact the Training Center to confirm they are participating and to schedule your beta exam.
3. Make sure sure to take the exam by May 20 or May 22 (to be valid for 2010 certification status.)

Beta Program Information

May 5 – May 20 

• AutoCAD 2010 Associate
• AutoCAD 2010 Professional
• Inventor 2010 Associate
• Inventor 2010 Professional

May 7 – May 22

• Revit Architecture 2010 Associate
• Revit Architecture 2010 Prof (imperial)
• Revit Architecture 2010 (metric)
• Civil 3D 2010 Associate
• Civil 3D 2010 Professional (imperial)
• Civil 3D 2010 Professional (metric)

Access to Training Guides and Exam Objectives

If you have any questions about the Beta testing program, contact certification@autodesk.com.

Best of luck in your certification challenge!
Shaan