Between the Lines

Over 8 Million!

Autodesk Surpasses Eight Million Licensed Users Eight million is a big number and more than the number of people that live in London, Moscow, Bangkok, or Chicago! Technorati tags: Autodesk del.icio.us tags: Autodesk Read more →

autodesk.com and MURLs

I have received a few emails about the Autodesk website update that occurred last week. Much of the feedback was good and then some had to do with broken bookmarked URLs. It is with a sincere thank you and hats off to Autodesk Web Gurus Tom Williams and Eric Wright for compiling the following information for me. The URLs for autodesk.com are based on the category structure of the website, and have and will change over time. We do our... Read more →

Show Autodesk Your AutoCAD Screen!

The AutoCAD Product Design Team is gathering a collection of screenshots to broaden our view of our customers work environment. We are looking for a screenshot that best captures your normal toolbar arrangement, palette setup, dashboard position, etc. We will use these screenshots to aid our design decisions concerning the user interface of AutoCAD and any other Autodesk products. As a participant in this project, we ask you to email us your country and product name. Then, take a screenshot... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 Preview Guide & More

Fellow team member Heidi Hewett has posted on her AutoCAD Insider Blog the AutoCAD 2008 Preview Guide as well as a bunch of other informative posts about AutoCAD 2008. AutoCAD 2008 Preview Guide Viewing 3D Block Definitions in AutoCAD 2008 AutoCAD 2008 Graphics Hardware DWF Underlays in AutoCAD 2008 Set All Object Properties to BYLAYER in AutoCAD 2008 Dimension Enhancements in AutoCAD 2008 Visualization in AutoCAD 2008 DGN Support in AutoCAD 2008 Tables from Datalinking and Data Extraction in AutoCAD... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008: New Invert Xclip Command Option

The AutoCAD Product Feedback Contact Us web form received a submission the other day. The actual product team members monitor this email alias and reply. "I would like you to improve the XCLIP command so that you have an option to suppress the display of Xref not only outside of the defined boundary but also inside of it, sort of being able "invert" the clipping area." I sent a personal response back within minutes explaining: "Thank you for using the... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 New Features Workshop Online

Check out the interactive Flash based tutorials for some new AutoCAD 2008 features which comes with AutoCAD 2008 but also now available online. Link Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk del.icio.us tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 Easter Egg Hint

As I reported previously there is a virtual Easter Egg in AutoCAD 2008. Now here is a hint to finding it. The Easter Egg is located in the new Visualization enhancements in AutoCAD 2008. Remember that AutoCAD 2008 just began shipping on March 23rd, 2007. A few of the enhancements in AutoCAD 2008 for Visualization: Materials Palette The Materials palette has been updated to provide faster, easier access to materials properties. Applying Photometric Data You can create realistic rendered images... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 and Other Autodesk Products Shipping

Boxes started shipping to customers on March 23rd, 2007. I hope to get a video and images of the first boxes going out the door soon and will post them. I do know that the first Autodesk Impression went to Boise Idaho. Here is an updated AutoCAD Release Timeline image I created for my Unofficial AutoCAD History Site which I hope to complete updating this week. Cheers, Shaan Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD LT 2008, Autodesk, Autodesk... Read more →

Autodesk University 2006 Video

During Autodesk University in Las Vegas last year Helge Brettschneider and myself shot photos and video during the event to create a video showing the power of AU. This is our third year doing this fun and unofficial media project for AU. The following is a short draft in low resolution of a video being created from AU 2006. Unfortunately we could not publicly show all of the really cool Blue Man Group performance video. It was actually shot in... Read more →

Very Nice Autodesk Story Video "Experience it Before it is Real"

The video shows the impact of experiencing your designs before they are built and showcases many Autodesk customers designs. The video is pretty cool graphics and sound mixing so turn up your speakers. Experience it Before it is Real Video (640x480 00:02:59 Windows Media Video .wmv 33,043KB) Tags: Autodesk, Video, Design, AutoCAD, 2D, 3D Read more →

New AutoCAD Graphics Card List & XML Database Update

New look and new data for AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008. Cheers, Shaan The Graphics Hardware List provides you with the status of certified, supported and non-supported graphics hardware for the new 3D display features in AutoCAD® 2007 and AutoCAD 2008 based products. http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard The Certified Hardware XML Database The AutoCAD Hardware Certification Database file contains data that AutoCAD uses for optimizing the performance of graphics hardware. http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscardupdate Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, Graphics Card, Autodesk, Hardware Certification Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 Tables Tutorial Available

Free AutoCAD tutorials will start to be posted regularly to the Autodesk website. There is a new one that was just posted on working with AutoCAD 2008 Tables and includes sample files. If you do not yet have AutoCAD 2008 you can download the 30 day full trial from http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-trial. AutoCAD Tutorials http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-tutorials Working with Tables in AutoCAD 2008 This tutorial outlines the procedures involved in creating a cost estimate table in AutoCAD 2008 by linking cost data maintained in... Read more →

Download AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008

That's right, the full download for 30 day trials is now live. You can download and run a fully functional version for 30 days. You will need a broadband connection in order to download. Run the latest products through their paces and check out the new features. AutoCAD 2008 is available in both 32 bit and 64 bit. This offer is valid only in the United States and Canada. For countries outside the United States and Canada, contact your local... Read more →

Autodesk.com Gets a New Look

Just a few minutes ago the switch was flipped and http://www.autodesk.com got a new look and lots of new information. You’ll notice that Autodesk.com has a new look and feel. Have a look around. We’ve reorganized key content on our Home page, main gateway pages, and product center pages to help you navigate more quickly to important areas. We give you targeted information and more contextualized links. We’ve improved our visual design to better articulate the leadership in design technology... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 Easter Egg Hunt

Chris Dodge found the AutoCAD 2008 easter egg. Easter eggs are done as free time permits and there is no impact on main development. It is a software industry tradition from people proud to show their names and thank beta testers for testing and feedback. Discussion Groups Index > AutoCAD Groups > AutoCAD 2008 > Found the 2008 Easter Egg http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=553208 Now people need to find the proper way to get to the easter egg instead of the programming route.... Read more →

Roopinder Gets Solid

Roopinder Tara, the man behind the CAD and design news site www.tenlinks.com and his CAD Insider blog has now started a new service of creating solid models and part catalogs at www.innovate3D.com. They can create 3D Inventor models for you. Roopinder told me anyone who mentions they read about it on this blog “Between the Lines” would get 3 free Inventor models. Now I need to get Roopinder to provide their online gallery in the 3D DWF format or the... Read more →

AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 Service Pack 2 Beta

The AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 Service Pack 2 betas are now available to members of the AutoCAD Futures in the MyFeedback zone for testing and feedback. This Service Pack 2 provides Microsoft Windows Vista support as well as addresses other issues including many CER reports and other customer reported issues. Once beta testing is completed the Service Packs will be released to the general public on http://www.autodesk.com/support. If you are not a member of Autodesk MyFeedback and wish... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008 Trick: Plotting/Publish One or To Many Trick

The following system variable will allow you to create a single file or multiple for example Publish multiple sheets to a single PDF or individual by sheet. There is a system variable: PUBLISHCOLLATE When set to 1 it sends 1 single job When set to 0 it sends individual files Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, Autodesk, Plot, Publish Read more →

Run AutoCAD 2007 or AutoCAD 2008 on an Intel Based Mac

We have completed some internal testing for running AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008 on Apple Boot Camp running Microsoft Windows XP on an Intel based iMac and MacPro machine and found no problems. Essentially you boot to Microsoft Windows XP which will run like a native Windows XP machine after setting up the Apple Boot Camp. While this environment is not officially supported by Autodesk, we did test it and it is one way to use your Mac to run... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008: MATTs (Multiline Attributes)

No longer are you limited to a single line text attributes, you can now create and use multiline attributes "MATTs". The MATTs also get a very nice set of special formatting options in a MText like editor. To create a multiline attribute definition Click Draw menu > Block > Define Attributes.... or at the Command prompt, enter ATTDEF In the Attribute Definition dialog box, under Mode, select Multiple Lines. Enter tag information, location, and text options. (Optional) Under Text Settings,... Read more →

AutoCAD 2008: DGN Underlay Video

Perhaps you work in a multi CAD platform office or work with contractors or suppliers that use another CAD system like MicroStation V8. AutoCAD 2008 adds the ability to import, export, and even reference as an underlay the V8 format DGN file content/geometry. The underlay option is a nice way to not convert or modify the V8 DGN file but base your design in AutoCAD DWG on the referenced DGN geometry. I created a short 2 minute video during the... Read more →

DWG File Loads Slower in New Version

I have received a few emails from people saying their new version of AutoCAD was slower at loading files and found a common situation. Opening older format DWG files can take more time but there could be a good explanation for this. If you are trying to open a file from a prior format, AutoCAD must convert to the new version first. Try saving in the current AutoCAD released format such as 2007 and then opening to compare opening time... Read more →

Autodesk MyFeedback Web Portal Re-Design Project

The Autodesk MyFeedback portal is used to manage all Autodesk beta and feedback projects for Autodesk products. We are starting the re-design project based on past feedback and are now speaking with possible design and development companies. We will also be gathering more MyFeedback portal design and usability feedback from existing MyFeedback users over the next few weeks. We are looking for portal user interface design and development company for this large web portal. We have an existing ASP based... Read more →

New Autodesk Public Discussion Groups for 2008 Products

With some of the 2008 products preparing to start shipping, a few of the new product discussion forums are now being added. AutoCAD 2008 public discussion forum Web: http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=247 NNTP: news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.autocad.2008 AutoCAD Architecture 2008 public discussion forum Web: http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=248 NNTP: news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.autocad-architecture.2008 Technorati tags: AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, Discussion Groups, Autodesk Read more →

AUGI Connection Newsletter Article March 2007 on the new AutoCAD Customer Involvement Program "CIP".

My fellow team member Brian Souder a longtime veteran here at Autodesk along with AUGI wrote an article on the new Customer Involvement Program "CIP" in AutoCAD 2008. The new CIP feature in AutoCAD 2008 provides the option to send AutoCAD usage and hardware details to Autodesk "opt-in". Why would you do that, well all the data is anonymous so we have no idea who you are just your usage and hardware details so we can make more informed design... Read more →