Between the Lines

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!

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See The Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour 2009 First Week Completed

Had a great week with Lynn Allen, Heather, Lisa, many Autodesk partners, and hundreds of customers last week on the See the Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour. We were in Orlando, Atlanta, and San Diego. I met a great amount of customers from single person design firms to some major cruise lines and movie studios using Autodesk products and looking to learn more. I covered a wide array of Autodesk products in the AutoCAD Family including AutoCAD 2010, AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD MEP 2010, AutoCAD Mechanical 2010, AutoCAD Plant 3D, and some future cool things like the upcoming Alias Sketch for AutoCAD.

The travel schedule was a little tight with the three events one after the other but we made it.

Sign up to attend the free events. Lynn Allen and myself will be winging around the North American continent in October.

October 6 Orlando, FL 

October 7 Atlanta, GA 

October 8 San Diego, CA 

October 13 Columbus, OH 

October 14 Montreal, QC 

October 15 Edmonton, AB 

October 20 Boston, MA 

October 22 Washington DC

I am posting photos of the events.
See The Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour 2009 Photo Gallery

Tomorrow I take off for this weeks leg of the tour in Columbus, Montreal, and Edmonton. I hope to see you at the events!

Cheers,
Shaan

For those social media butterflies on Twitter you can follow me at @mrcadman or now on the new Google Wave at 3dhurley@googlewave.com

See the Difference Tour with AutoCAD 2010 Tour in October

Sign up to attend the free events. Lynn Allen and myself will be winging around the North American continent in October.

I will be covering the AutoCAD Family of products such as AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD Architecture  with features and tips as well as a discussion on the possible future technology and trends. I have a bunch of content to fit in a 90 minute presentation making for a fun challenge. No fancy bus or stage roadies on this tour but should be fun.

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

“Take a Journey through the AutoCAD Family of Products
Shaan Hurley, Platform Technology Evangelist”

Sign Up for the See the Difference with AutoCAD 2010 Tour locations.

• October 6 Orlando, FL 
• October 7 Atlanta, GA 
• October 8 San Diego, CA 
• October 13 Columbus, OH 
• October 14 Montreal, QC 
• October 15 Edmonton, AB 
• October 20 Boston, MA 
• October 22 Washington DC

Hope to see you along the tour!
Shaan

AutoCAD Mechanical Videos on AutoCAD Exchange Now

For those of the mechanical engineering persuasion and using AutoCAD Mechanical or thinking about it there is some great new resources. The AutoCAD Mechanical View on the AutoCAD Exchange is now live and some nice videos have been posted to both the AutoCAD Exchange and YouTube.

You can select the discipline view for the AutoCAD Exchange in the upper right by selecting View > Mechanical View. It is essentially a discipline filter so you could see all or just your specific flavor of AutoCAD.

 AutoCAD Exchange Mechanical View

AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Video series on the AutoCAD Exchange  Mechanical View as well as on YouTube. The video series is by AutoCAD Mechanical Product Manager Adam Perry.  Adam did a great job on the videos!

• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Standards Based Design
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Design and Drafting
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Machinery Generators
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Documentation & Reporting
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Collaboration with Autodesk Inventor 
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 BOM Extraction Tool
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Part Publishing
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010Simulation
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 Network License Cascading
• AutoCAD Mechanical Product Manager Adam Perry Bio

Now I need to get back to some late Sunday night last minute packing for a very early flight tomorrow morning to San Francisco. I wonder if Lynn Allen has any left over ribs that won her 1st place in a competition this weekend. mmmm

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 Mechanical Highlight – 2D Finite Element Analysis

For those that use AutoCAD Mechanical which is the mechanical design specific flavor of AutoCAD are you aware there is Finite Element Analysis FEA? I have been using AutoCAD Mechanical since it was acquired from GENIIUS by Autodesk back when I was a customer in Oregon. The 2D FEA feature has been in AutoCAD Mechanical since I can remember but you hear very little about it or people are shocked when they realize this powerful feature is in there. It is not the complex 3D modeling and simulation you get with Autodesk Inventor but a great AutoCAD based 2D FEA to give you valuable design feedback on your 2D sections including Von Mises, defection mesh and more,

 

Below is a solved 2D FEA of a section fixed at both ends and a load in the middle just like me sitting on a park bench <Jethro Tull flashback>.

FEA in AutoCAD Mechanical is one of those hidden gems.

Cheers,
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

Utah Autodesk User Group Idea

I am kicking around the idea of a monthly user group meet up in downtown Salt Lake City at my office. The group would  not be discipline specific and cover all Autodesk products from AutoCAD users to 3ds max visualization specialists with a focus on fellow user tips and tricks, and networking.  We could also do some local trips and activities to feed our inner geek as well as social needs.

If you are interested in a Salt Lake City Autodesk User Group meet up please please email me with the subject line of “User Meet up”. and also spread the word to others that might be interested in a  meet up get together..

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Reference Manager “Refman”

How can you update and re-path AutoCAD drawing reference files such as other drawing files, fonts, or plot configuration files after a path has changed?

Reference Manager is the answer. In AutoCAD 2004 the Reference Manager was added and it is included with other AutoCAD based products like AutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD Mechanical. The tool is easy to add drawings and see where reference files were found or not..You can search, select all, invert selections, edit selected paths and even use find and replace paths in batch. The Reference Manager can run outside of AutoCAD and without AutoCAD running.

You can locate the Reference Manager from the Windows Start Menu > Programs > Autodesk > AutoCAD 200x > Reference Manager

 

Cheers,
Shaan

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

MEASUREGEOM Hotfix Released for AutoCAD 2010 Products

There is a new hotfix in response to Customer Error Reporting (CER) reports we have received from customers. This solution applies to all AutoCAD 2010 based products such as AutoCAD 2010,AutoCAD LT 2010, AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD Mechanical 2010, DWG TrueView 2010, and more listed in the ReadMe.

MEASUREGEOM is a command that was released to AutoCAD 2009 Subscription customers last fall in the AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 1 and was also included in the AutoCAD 2010 based products. It added new measurement capabilities such as measuring the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected objects or a sequence of points.

If you entered your email into the CER dialog and hit this issue you should receive an email from Autodesk alerting you to a fix in the near future.

Link to Hotfix

If you crash an Autodesk product (hopefully not), please make sure to send in the CER report with details and your email with each and every incident so we can research the problem.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk 2010 Product Codenames

For those interested in Autodesk trivia, this is for you. When software is being developed it does not have a formal name, and is often referred to as a codename project throughout development and beta testing. The names are selected by the teams and some take great liberty and humor in their selection while some may align with their products theme.

Below is the only complete listing of Autodesk internal codenames for 2010 projects thus far.

AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 and other Autodesk Manufacturing Products Shipping

The worlds best manufacturing industry design applications are shipping!
If you are a customer on Autodesk Subscription.check out your Subscription Center for a download “electronic fulfillment” option.
If not the box is on its way all over the world.

 

 

 

• AutoCAD Electrical 2010 English
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 English
• AutoCAD Inventor Suite 2010 English
• AutoCAD Inventor Professional Suite 2010 English
• AutoCAD Inventor Routed Systems Suite 2010 English
• AutoCAD Inventor Simulation Suite 2010 English
• AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite 2010 English

I have used all of these products in production at some point or another except one as I am no electrical engineer. Digital Prototyping is not just a word, it is a competitive advantage in mechanical design.

Cheers,
Shaan