Between the Lines

AU Disney/MGM Studios Party Tonight!

From the AU 2005 schedule: "Special Evening Event - Disney/MGM Studios Party Relax after a day of classes and enjoy just-for-fun activities such as movies, rides, game shows, and entertainment, along with terrific food and beverages. You'll arrive at a gala opening-night setting. You'll leave with memories of a fabulous evening of "Show Biz." Disney/MGM Studios web site This should be a fun evening. I will be taking a ton of photos. Cheers, Shaan Read more →

Autodesk University 2005 Day 3

AU 2005 is becoming a blur to me with so many people (over 5000) and so many classes (over 400). This event really should have been a full 5 days or maybe two weeks to be able to have the time to meet everyone and absorb all of the new training from the classes. I cannot believe what little time I have and how fast it goes. My personal highlights from Tuesday 11/29/05: Lab session: I assisted in Heidi Hewett's... Read more →

AU 2005 Keynote starts in 11 minutes...1PM EST

I am just sitting in the hall near the Pacific room which seats 5000 people and uploading more images to the AU 2005 gallery. I will add notes on the photos that I am uploading later as I have to run and get a seat in a minute. The 5000 seats are expected to go fast and I want to see it up close. Cheers, Shaan Read more →

Day 1 done, Day 2 of AU 2005 coming

I just got done posting more photos from day one of AU 2005. It was an action packed day of classes, AUGI meeting, and the Beer Bust. I am still convinced I was given the AutoCAD booth duty during the beer bust to keep me out of trouble. I was excited to hear my name mentioned by Rich Uphus of AUGI about my participation in the designing of the new AUGI Wish List System. AUGI did a great job. Robert... Read more →

AUGI Annual Meeting and Beer Bust Tonight!

A great day of classes is being followed by an evening of fun. The AUGI annual meeting will be at 7PM tonight and then followed by the AUGI Beer Bust with food, beverages, and of course beer. I will be in the AutoCAD booth so stop on by. I have been adding photos to the AU 2005 image gallery but not nearly as fast as I have been taking them. The lighting is so dim in the halls and rooms... Read more →

And they're off! AU 2005 classes kick off

What has 10,000 feet, can cripple a hotels Internet backbone, can surround a hotel lobby bar in seconds, come from around the world, and are responsible for designing cool things? Autodesk University attendees! AU 2005 is now officially kicked off. With over 5000 attendees and 375 classes this year in Orlando, it is the largest ever. AU keeps growing year over year and it is getting difficult to find locations large enough to accommodate the CAD Geeks. I spent Sunday... Read more →

AU 2005 Photo Gallery

I have now started posting photos from Autodesk University 2005 in Orlando Florida at the Walt Disney World Dolphin and Swan Hotels. Spread the link to the AU 2005 Image Gallery http://autodesk.blogs.com/photos/autodesk_university_2005/index.html If you want to help shape the future of Autodesk products, come find out how to become involved in beta and feedback projects at my Between the Lines session Tuesday at 5PM. Autodesk is always looking to add more and more customers to the thousands worldwide already involved... Read more →

Now at Autodesk University

A tip for those attending AU this year but have not arrived. Print the $4 off coupon from the AU website for ground transportation. Then near the baggage claim in Orlando Intl. airport go to the Mears shuttle desk. This will save you money. A cab or van can cost $48 one way to the Dolphin and Swan hotel at Walt Disney World but with the coupon it is $25 round trip. I proved to a few AU attendees on... Read more →

Cool new DWF contest, win a Apple iPod Nano

There is now a Autodesk DWF Apple iPod Nano contest. Submit your DWF files and perhaps you will be a winner of one of those cool small Apple iPod Nanos. The contest will run through January 27th, 2006. www.autodesk.com/dwf-nano Read more →

Have AutoCAD open the last file automatically

This free and unsupported LISP routine was written by Autodesk employee Randy Kintzley. Randy was responsible for many of the hugely popular AutoCAD Express Tools and some great core AutoCAD features . If you get a chance to attend a programming class from Randy it will be well worth it. He has some of the fastest keyboard fingers I have ever seen and can write a write a routine live on the fly from a request in the audience. This... Read more →

Warning: New email virus "sober virus"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10162734/from/RSS/ Apparently a new email virus is in the wild and destined to be the largest of the year. It is spreading at 2000,000 copies per hour. Whatever you do, resist the temptation to open and email that appears to be from the FBI or Paris Hilton. Come on, now why would you really think you were receiving a "real" email from Paris Hilton. ;-) Shaan Read more →

Autodesk University Class Handouts

I want to thank Melanie Stone of AUGI for reminding me about the past years Autodesk University "AU" class handouts in her Mistress of Dorkness blog. AUGI now has available for download the awesome handouts from the AU 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 for free to AUGI members. Of course AUGI membership is also free all you need to do is register and you get the keys to 4 years of top notch training. If you want the handouts... Read more →

Autodesk University 2005 Photos

Only 6 days left before Autodesk University "AU" 2005. This will be my 3rd AU blogging from the event but I have attended all AUs since 1998. I have now created the AU 2005 photo gallery on this blog. I will be posting photos live from AU next week in addition to blogging. With over 5000 attending AU this year I wont be able to take a photo of each person but if you hunt me down at AU I... Read more →

New Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5 Released

It slices, it dices....Today the new releases DWF Writer 3 and DWF Viewer 6.5 were launched publicly after beta testing with customers. There are some really nice enhancements in both of these update free products. What’s New in DWF Viewer 6.5 Section 3D Models Move and Rotate 3D Components View Combined 2D/3D DWFs (the ability to combine DWF files will be announced) User Interface Enhancements Microsoft® Office Drag and Drop Support Windows Explorer Integration: Preview, search, print, and email DWF... Read more →

I have been quiet..traveling and preparing for AU

I have been quiet for the past few days because I am preparing for Autodesk University "AU" which is only a week away and looking to be over 5000 people this year. I have also been traveling this week so time has been scarce. I have a few posts planned for next week, all I need to do is sit down and write them and then it will be an all AU blog for a week. I will for the... Read more →

AutoCAD Mechanical Job Opportunity

Can you survive cold winters in Michigan, have a mechanical background, and enjoy a challenge and working on the future of a great product? Autodesk is looking to add a new position to the AutoCAD Mechanical Team in Novi Michigan. The position is for a Technical Marketing Mgr. Link to Job Opening Read more →

More Product Usability at AU 2005

Autodesk will be conducting DWF and Buzzsaw user feedback/usability sessions at Autodesk University. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to [email protected] stating your interest, along with your phone number. Pam will then contact you to set up an appointment. DWF sessions: Monday, November 28th: 7:30 - 9am Wednesday, November 30th: 9:30 - 2pm Buzzsaw sessions: Tuesday, November 29th: 7:00 - 9am and 11 - 1pm Wednesday, November 30th: 9:30 - 2pm This is a great way... Read more →

Free AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Block Training from DG CAD

Daryl of DG CAD sent me an email to let me know he is offerering free AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Block training lessons. Dynamic blocks can be a powerful way to save time and reduce the number of blocks you maintain. Free AutoCAD 2006 Dynamic Block Training Videos Lesson 1: Overview Lesson 2: Stretch - Array - Align – Flip Lesson 3: Point Parameter - Stretch - Rotate – Flip Lesson 4: Lists - Lookup Parameters – Lookup Actions – Rotate... Read more →

Autodesk Product Usability Sessions being held at AU

The AutoCAD Team is looking for participants in Usability sessions at this year’s Autodesk University. Spaces are limited and you will be notified if you have been added to a session. All sessions will require you to complete and Non-Disclosure agreement onsite. This is another way to help shape the future of Autodesk products and get to see some very cool stuff in the process. Monday, November 28th Design Preview: InfoCenter – a gateway to AutoCAD knowledge 6:30-8:30pm Evaluate User... Read more →

DWG TrueConvert is now available for download

The free standalone batch DWG conversion tool DWG TrueConvert is now available for download. DWG True Convert requires no AutoCAD to be present on the system. http://www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueconvert Past blog post about this tool and what it does: DWG TrueView & DWG TrueConvert Press release of DWG TrueView and DWG TrueConvert New, Free Autodesk Tools for Viewing and Converting DWG Data Enhance Communication and Collaboration Read more →

New Windows portal and tune up website

Microsoft has a new beta website for tuning up your Microsoft Windows. There is also be a nice customizable home page included that I have been using as http://www.start.com for awhile but now it is apparantly migrating to http://www.live.com. The home page is nice and clean and also very easy to add my RSS feeds to the site using an OPML file. The security and tuning page is http://safety.live.com/. More things in the works: http://ideas.live.com/ Cheers, Shaan Read more →

Over 9 Million Downloads of DWF Viewer!

From an email to me from DWF Evangelist Scott Sheppard. I have been tardy in keeping my eye on the number of Autodesk DWF Viewer downloads. We have passed the 9 million user mark and are almost halfway to 10 million. The number of people downloading the free Autodesk DWF Viewer continues to grow due to the popularity and benefits of the DWF format over other electronic formats for CAD documents. To put this in perspective, each of the following... Read more →

AutoCAD & Autodesk Inventor Customer Survey

The Autodesk Inventor Team is looking for some feedback in an online survey for customers using both AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor. Check out the Inventor Teams blog for the details. Link Cheers, Shaan Read more →

Deploy the free DWG TrueView to your network users

Jimmy Bergmark posted on his blog instructions on how to silently deploy the new and free DWG TrueView to your network users. Now you can deploy the DWG viewer to your network users so they can view their DWG files with the same visual fidelity and accuracy as AutoCAD. Link to Silent installation of Autodesk DWG TrueView Thank you Jimmy! -Shaan Read more →

AutoCAD Network Licensing Redundant vs. Distributed

I created a quick visual guide to the differences between redundant and distributed FLEXlm® license servers. Distributed is the preferred method due to the ease at which a server failure can be identified, easy to manage, and can be distributed across a WAN. Distributed Redundant Read more →