Between the Lines

AutoCAD Exchange Community Launched

There is a new free online community for AutoCAD users named AutoCAD Exchange http://autocad.autodesk.com

This new site by Autodesk will feature many videos, Ask the Expert sessions, featured customers like Hollywood's Eddie Paul. There will also be some fun content like The TeknoChronicles of Z series, and even Roger Penwill CAD related cartoons. There is also the ability for members to share content and AutoCAD tips.

It should be another great resource for all AutoCAD users to bookmark and join.

There is also a CAD Management series I filmed in February with CAD Management guru Robert Green. It is amazing how they say the camera adds ten pounds to you, but I see it can also make me look hair challenged especially when appearing with Robert Green's healthy full head of hair. ;-)

Quite a bit in the AutoCAD Exchange community, and more as it begins to grow.

Cheers,
Shaan

I Did Not Make the US Presidential VeeP Nomination, but more Important Announcement

<spoiler> Republican presidential hopeful John McCain will announce Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate on Friday, according to U.S. media reports.</spoiler>

Now for the important announcement!

If you are looking for 1 or 2 excellent Autodesk product skilled people, that both have been publicly recognized by AUGI, as writers knowing their stuff, in addition to very nice and modest people, then I have two candidates that are in my top ten of Autodesk product users that are now available.

With some businesses adjusting or downsizing, there are also those that are growing and looking for the best quality people to make their business more productive and profitable and your opportunity to grab one of my top ten respected Autodesk and AutoCAD users is now and may not last long.

As I understand it in the past couple days since they became available they have both been getting interviews.

If you are interested, please email me and I will provide your contact information to them. Please send me an email.

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley

Robert Green’s CAD Manager Survey Time

Each year CAD Management guru, expert speaker, and Cadalyst Magazine writer releases a survey requesting CAD Managers to respond (anonymously).

This painless survey is very helpful for all in CAD Management to understand where they fit among fellow peers in benefits as well as identified frustrations, CAD Standards issues, and changes in the CAD Management. You could even use the survey results when released by Robert to discuss with your management team to better your position or help them understand CAD Management challenges as a whole and how to improve.

• www.cad-manager.com/survey

I would suggest if you are a CAD Manager to also subscribe to Robert’s newsletters and read his column in Cadalyst to keep up to date and tackle CAD Management related issues easily and with the least amount of pain, expense or the resorting to a long stick or electrical shocks in the chairs for CAD Management and CAD Standard enforcement.

• Cadalyst CAD Management Newsletter
• Cadalyst CAD Manager Column
• Cadalyst CAD Manager Q&A

I will be in Robert’s neck of the woods this week Georgia but knowing our schedules we wont even see each other but know in some distant CAD conference speaking engagement like AUGI CAD Camp or Autodesk University we will bump into each other again.

Cheers,
Shaan

AUGI HotNews - March 2008, No. 58 - AEC Edition Is Out!

Lots of great articles in this latest version and all for free just like AUGI membership and all the perks.

AUGI HotNews - March 15th, 2008

Some of the excellent articles:

The Price of "Free"
Studies have shown that people value what they pay for. But how do you reconcile that with the "free" nature of the Internet? Chris Lindner, AUGI President, ponders this in relation to AUGI.

Autodesk University 2008: Share Your Expertise

TIPniques: Design Review
Brian Benton reviews Autodesk's Design Review, a free, stand-alone product that can open, view, print, markup, and compare DWF files, and a lot more.

Your Toughest Users, Part 1
Every CAD manager must work with people. And sometimes, that's quite a challenge. Author Mark Kiker identifies some classic "troublesome" workers and offers advice on how to handle them.

AUGI CAD Camp - 2008 Events
The Spring/Summer AUGI CAD Camp schedule is set. Find out when this unique learning and networking event will come to your area.

AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks by Lynn Allen

Local Flavor: Portland Revit User Group
Local Flavor interviews board members of the Portland Revit User Group. Here's what they do to engage local users and keep them coming back.

Autodesk Subscription Value

This blog article was submitted by Florida based AutoCAD user Brian Benton. Check out Brian's blog for more http://cadablog.blogspot.com/

How often do you (or the company you work for) update your AutoCAD software? How much does it cost? What are the benefits of upgrading? How difficult will it be for our users to upgrade?

These are but a few questions CAD Managers and IT Directors ask every March. Why? Because it is the time of year for the newness of spring, baseball, taxes (in the U.S. anyway) and the release of new Autodesk products! This year is no different. So, what are you going to do? If your company is considering upgrading to the latest release of design software from Autodesk, then may I suggest going with their subscription plan.

Let’s take a look at what it can offer you and your design team. In a nutshell, Autodesk subscription will provide a user with software updates, online training, web support and now even more (I’ll get into that later.) Don’t I get that without subscription? Not really. Without subscription you will pay full price for the software and then pay somebody else to train your users. If something goes wrong you will pay again to have it fixed. Where’s the fun in that?

The most obvious reason (and perhaps the most important) is that members of the subscription program will receive the latest updates to their subscribed software. Nice, real nice! Here’s how it works, again, in a nutshell. A user purchases a license of their favorite Autodesk product (AutoCAD, Civil3D, Revit, etc.) then purchases the subscription plan. During the length of that plan, if Autodesk releases a new release, then said user will receive it, at no additional cost. Since Autodesk has released a new version of most of their products every year since 2003, that has added up to huge savings for many users and companies. At the end of your subscription contract, just renew it. Of course the price of subscription is much lower than the price of the application, thus the savings. AND, if Autodesk decides to skip a year, you will still be saving. I suggest you take a look at Autodesk’s pricing to better understand this, but you will quickly see the financial benefits from subscription.

In the case that saving tons of cash were not reason enough to subscribe, Autodesk has added some additional carrots to sweeten the pot. Besides the automatic update of software, subscribers will also receive (I sound like a game show host-tell them what they’ve won Bob!!) direct one-on-one technical support from Autodesk (via web support); self paced e-learning lessons (to keep users up to date on the latest software); and extended licensing privileges.

All of these added benefits to subscription mean that you and your company will always have the latest software and the training needed to run it! If an issue pops up, just contact Autodesk via the web support. One more thing (as if cheaper, faster, and better wasn’t enough), Autodesk has added something to subscription available for the 2009 releases. Impression. Impression is a design document illustration software package. That’s a fancy way of saying that Impression will digitally render a drawing with the ability to make it look hand rendered. It was first released last year with great success. This year, Impression 2 will be available via a download to subscribers only!! For free! Anyone that is creating drawings and needs to better illustrate those drawings (better compared to 2D black and white prints) can, and should be using, use Impression. Go on and check it out before you buy, wait a minute, it’s free to subscribers!!

To wrap this up, Autodesk’s Subscription Program is a good deal. Users will get the latest software (at a better rate), free training, free tech support, free Impression, and even more. If you are looking at updating your Autodesk products, I suggest checking out their subscription plan before you buy.

AU 2007 - Friday Goodbye AU 2007, Start Planning for AU 2008

Thursday Night AU 80s themed party was HUGE and a blast. There were so many people, food , beverages, old 80s video games, pool tables, activities, 2 comedians, 1 chain saw juggler, and the band Tainted Love. After the party I went out with coworkers and customers to Tao upper floor which was a really cool place then for breakfast for the annual chicken and waffles with maple syrup at the Grand Lux located in the Venetian.

Autodesk University 2007 came to a final end today after the largest attendance of around and it could be a coincidence but when AU ended it got very cold, clouds covered the sky, and rain started here in Las Vegas.

 

Nice BLAUGI Blog post of AU 2007 related blog postings.:

What bloggers have had to say about AU 2007 so far

What bloggers have had to say about AU 2007 so far, Part II

Other AU 2007 blog post highlights:

• AU 2007 Day 3: Autodesk Labs Has the Neatest Technology
• AU 2007 Day 1, Main Keynote
• AU 2007, Extensive Blog Coverage
• Assis from AUGI Brazil celebrates his birthday at AU 2007
• Autodesk University - Day Two
• AU 2007 - Day One - Autodesk, in 360°
• Autodesk University 2007 - Day One
• Helpful and useful information for those attending Autodesk University 2007
• The Making of the General Session
• RobiNZ @ Autodesk University 2007 - "Designing the Future"
• Multi-Touch
• Exhibit hall craziness
• AU Video Booth -- Fun Things Come in Small Packages
• Autodesk University - Day Three

A few of my highlight moments:

   
   

• The clay modeling submissions and conversations about the Autodesk 25 year memorabilia at the Autodesk MyFeedback booth.
• Lynn chasing me around the event floor after the comedian used my photos to joke about Lynn's hair over the past.
• Luciana, Assis coming from Brazil and Luciana being out of Brazil for the first time and Vegas no less must be overwhelming and paint a inaccurate view of what the United States is like.
• Laughing till I cried with the group at La Scena when discussing the weird infomercial's being shown on the hotel TV channel 5.
• Not answering my wake up call and security showing up at my door to make sure I was fine. My phone did not ring as it was on the wrong line.
• My Blackberry getting fried and not working much of the time although Martyn Day also suffered a similar problem when he lost the navigation ball on his Blackberry.
• The Venetian club Tao and the upstairs environment and view down the strip.
• Being on a panel during Yoshi Hondas CAD Management Town Hall with such esteemed co panelists including David Harrington, Tom Conti, Jamie Casile, Daniel Herbert, Danny Counts, Veronica Lamb, and even the infamous Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture sat on the panel in front of the attendees but never answered a single question.
• Stan running into me with the scooter.
• The AUGI Top DAUG Competition
• The 360 degree high definition system during the keynote and showing of code name Metropolis. I sure whish I could have that system for gaming. ;-)
• Jeff Jeff Kowalski Autodesk CTO and his presentation keynote as it was cool and his presentation style was reminiscent of a smooth Steve Jobs.
• Lynn Allen's picture from the 1980s that she showed to over 7000 people.
• Having my face and interview on the AUGIWorld Magazine cover.

I head back to Utah tomorrow morning then to Brazil on Monday for CAD Camp and then onto Peru for some Amazon jungle trekking and photos. I need to also get my voice back and caught up on email, pack, and process and backup photos.

I want to say thank you for all who attended Autodesk University as well as those vital to its success, fun, great social networking, conversation, laughing, and the great classes like AU ringleader Lynn Allen,  Carl Bass, Joseph Wurcher, Cheryl Romero, Lura Flynn, Leslie Coggan, Patricia Lundberg, Matt Murphy, The Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture, Martyn, Steve, Donnia, Chris, AUGI, Autodesk, exhibitors, Press, Mike and Melanie Perry, Owen, Darren, Devon, Mike, Robin, AC, Karen,  RK, Rob, Dave, Luciana, Assis, Eric, Shawn, Evie, Gary, Mark, Jim, Don, Elise, Next Engine, Crystal, Ellen, Sunith, Helge, Brian, Volker, Celeste (nice costume entry and also congrats on winning the iTouch), Jeff, Jay, Robert, Peter, Kate, Rusty, Don, Emmanuel, Christine, Bob, Hans, John, Jon, Nate, Roopinder, Doug, Douggie, Alex, Steven, Jamie (nice outfit for the party), Tommy, Beth, Jim, Shawn, Matt, Richard, Mike, Rich, Shari, Shawn, Bud, Yoshi, Pete, Jerry, Heidi, Denise, David, Denise, Jonathan, Fenton, Katy, David, Bill, Kim, Candy, Grand Lux, La Scena, Dell, Donnie, HP, TechSmith, Thomas, Tom, Betsy, Kal, Jo, Borracca, Anthony, Stan, Larry, Kat, MyFeedback Members, AUGI Top DAUG participants, Red Bull, The Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon, The Venetian, and many many more people, groups, and companies that make AU the best show on earth and an event worthy of people traveling from all around the world to attend and participate. I hope to see all of you and more back in Las Vegas for Autodesk University 2008.

See the AU 2007 Flickr Photo Group and my Flickr Gallery

http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2007/pool/ ( it is free to share your AU 2007 photos there)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl//sets/72157603222810607

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/

    
   

Cheers,
Shaan

 

Technorati Tags: Autodesk University 2007, AU 2007, AU 2008, Autodesk University 2008, Autodesk, Las Vegas, Blogs

AU 2007 - in CAD Mgr. Class

I am currently in Robert Green's CAD Management tips and tricks class. Currently Robert has a great talk about how to be able to be lazy and make things easy for training such as using Camtasia by TechSmith to create nice video tutorials.

At 3:30 I am on the CAD Mgr. Town Hall panel part 2 with Yoshi Honda.

Both of these sessions are on the 5th floor in Palazzo - O-P.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk Product Manager Update

The Autodesk Product Manager utility has been updated to work with the most recent Autodesk products. The Autodesk Product Manager is a nice hidden gem to determine what products and versions you have and can even scan your network. This optional tool you can install from AutoCAD product installation menu or the DVD like the current AutoCAD 2008. Many times it is perfect for people, IT, or CAD Managers that don't know what is being used and their versions in their company and that is where this tool shines.

And now a secret tip, the BIN file is actually an XML file so you could actually add other products or tools to search for if you know how they are defined in the registry.

 

 

 

Updated BIN file for Autodesk Product Manager Utility

Autodesk Content Search alpha Technology Preview Now Alive and Free

What:
Early this morning Autodesk has made available a web based alpha technology preview of the beginnings of our new content search technology. Autodesk Content Search may not be the official name. There will be 2D and 3D content from many of the leading content aggregators like McGraw Hill Sweets, BIMWorld, and Reed FirstSource. In addition to the content aggregators we also are providing all the sample content from AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD MEP which will  be indexed into the search content. The browse option on Content Search alpha allows you to browse for content using AEC industry standard classifications, including MasterFormat 2004, Omniclass 1.0, and Uniformat II. In this first incarnation of Autodesk Content Search it is mainly aimed at AEC architecture but could be expanded in the future for more disciplines.

In the searches you will see supported file formats from the Revit RFA, AutoCAD DWG, DWF, DGN, SKP, Word documents, and PDF. If the DWF is in your content item result you can even choose to view it in Autodesk Freewheel with no installation of anything required.

Where: 

http://cs.labs.autodesk.com/?target=_blank

Why:
This alpha technology preview is for you to have a look at a product evolving and actively seeking feedback to help shape the future. It is different than a standard web search engine as it actually can search based on the attributes of the design data and parameters. Currently the attributed data is only extracted only from DWG files and Revit RFA files. Content Search alpha will be updated constantly.

 

Please give us your feedback

Feedback: Labs.ContentSearch@autodesk.com

John Benstead's Excellent AutoCAD History/Adventure/Evolution

In this year that is the 25th year of AutoCAD and Autodesk, New Zealand based Jon Benstead posted on his http://www.cadit.net blog a about AutoCAD history from a 20+ year AutoCAD veteran/legend/survivor. The story and photos are priceless to those wishing to see and understand the evolution of CAD and AutoCAD. The lettering machine will most likely make many shake with flashbacks or scratch their heads wondering what it is.

AutoCAD - In The Beginning...

Thank you for sharing John.

Can I please share your images in my AutoCAD History images on Flickr or if you have a Flickr account (free btw) you can tag them with AutoCAD History and I will then add them to the group collection links.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/sets/72157600140924927/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/472931@N23/

AutoCAD 2008 Productivity Study Report from Cambashi Published

There is more to performance and productivity than timing whether one command is .0002 or .00012 seconds long and that is productivity of tasks you perform using the software. Think about it for a minute, simple things right-click and or middle wheel functionality and how you could not work the same speed without them now as is the case for me when going back to play with AutoCAD R14 that has no middle wheel mouse functionality to double click zoom extents. There are many features in the past releases up to AutoCAD 2008 that streamlined the work flow and process to have a net increase in productivity ala do more in less.

The findings from independent and well respected industry research firm Cambashi:

• AutoCAD 2008 is significantly more productive. On average, architects using 2008 completed the exercise 26% faster than those using 2005.

• Training makes all the difference – AutoCAD 2008 users who invested time in a short period of training were substantially faster.

Download AutoCAD08_Productivity_White_Paper_Final.pdf

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