Between the Lines: AutoCAD 2005

Converter converts any AutoCAD® drawing file to AutoCAD® Release 14, AutoCAD® 2000, AutoCAD® 2000i, AutoCAD® 2002, AutoCAD® 2004, and AutoCAD® 2005 file formats. Batch Drawing Converter allows conversion of pen widths to lineweights and the addition of page setups.

Supported Products
AutoCAD® 2004 and later
AutoCAD LT® 2004 and later
Autodesk Map™ 2004 and later
Autodesk® Mechanical Desktop® 2004 and later
Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2004 and later
AutoCAD® Mechanical 2004 and later
Autodesk® Building Systems 2004 later
Autodesk® Land Desktop 2004 later

http://www.autodesk.com/migrationtools

Posted on June 11, 2004 at 06:04 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

The New AutoCAD & LT 2005 Bible Coming in July from Ellen Finkelstein

AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible
Ellen Finkelstein
ISBN: 0-7645-6989-9

What can I say about Ellen. She has been a great person the years that I have known her and she takes a real nice approach to teaching a product and features in her books and her website http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/AutoCAD_tips.html. Ellen also started the tradition of people sending me cookies and others have followed such as Darren Young who sent me about 40 pounds of cookies.

Wiley::AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible

Now revised and updated for the latest program versions, this bestseller is a comprehensive reference and tutorial for architects, engineers, drafters, and others using the leading computer-assisted design software, AutoCAD, or its "lite" version, AutoCAD LT

Begins with AutoCAD basics, including the AutoCAD interface and commands, and progresses to complex topics such as programming and customization
No AutoCAD experience is required to use this book, and a Quick Start guide shows beginning AutoCAD users how to create a technical drawing their very first day
More than 150 tutorials use drawings collected from AutoCAD pros, giving readers valuable, real-world experience
Includes coverage of AutoCAD LT, the world’s most popular inexpensive 2D technical drawing program

The CD-ROM contains before and after real-world drawings, bonus appendices, freeware and shareware programs, the book in searchable PDF format, and a 30-day trial version of AutoCAD software

Pre order the book at the publishers web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0764569899.html

Posted on June 9, 2004 at 08:51 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

New AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2005 Books Released

Omura-2005

Mastering™ AutoCAD® 2005 and AutoCAD LT® 2005
By George Omura
Released June 2004
ISBN: 0-7821-4340-7 | EAN: 9 780782 143409 | UPC: 0252-11-443408

From the publishers website:

The Definitive CAD Resource Updated for 2005 Mastering AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 is a fully updated edition of Omura's enduring masterpiece. Once again, he delivers the most comprehensive and comprehensible coverage for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT users including information on the Sheet Set Manager, field command, table tool and the software's other productivity enhancers. If you've never used AutoCAD, the tutorial approach and step-by-step instruction will help you get started right away. If you're an AutoCAD veteran, in-depth explanations of AutoCAD's newest and most advanced features will help you become an AutoCAD expert. Whatever your experience, however you use AutoCAD, you’ll refer to this indispensable resource again and again.
Coverage includes:

Finding your way around the AutoCAD interface

Creating and developing an AutoCAD drawing

Keeping track of your projects with the new sheet set manager

Importing spreadsheets and editing tables with the new Table tool

Updating text automatically with the new field command

Controlling your drawings' printed output

Discovering hidden features

Mastering the 3D modeling and rendering process

Customizing AutoCAD

Linking drawings to databases and spreadsheets

Managing custom symbols

Securing and authenticating your files

Aligning and coordinating Layout views

Using Publish to share files with non-AutoCAD users

You can pre-order the book now at many online bookstores like Amazon.com Click Here

Another book was released in May

no-exp

AutoCAD® 2005 and AutoCAD LT® 2005: No Experience Required®
By David Frey
Released May 2004
ISBN: 0-7821-4341-5 | EAN: 9 780782 143416 | UPC: 0252-11-443415

From the publishers website:

The First Choice for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Novices – from the Leading AutoCAD Publisher!

AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005: No Experience Required is your step-by-step introduction to the latest versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, the world's leading customizable CAD software. Inside this perfectly paced guide are the clear-cut explanations and practical tutorials that you need to complete even the most elaborate AutoCAD projects.

Discover AutoCAD 2005's newest features as you plan and develop a complete project. Follow the tutorials sequentially or begin at any chapter by downloading the drawing files from the Sybex website. Either way, you’ll develop a solid grounding in the essentials and learn how to use AutoCAD's productivity tools to get your work done efficiently.

Gain the Imperative AutoCAD Skills

Find your way around AutoCAD and LT

Understand the basic commands and how to set up a drawing

Apply AutoCAD's coordinate systems

Master drawing strategies

Employ Polar and Object Snap Tracking

Set up and manage layers, colors, and linetypes

Use blocks and Wblocks

Drag AutoCAD objects from one drawing to another

Generate elevations and orthographic views

Work with hatches and fills

Control text in a drawing

Manage external references

Set up layouts and print an AutoCAD drawing

Use AutoCAD's enhanced tool palettes

Create and render a 3D model

Posted on June 8, 2004 at 08:42 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, June 07, 2004

The New AutoCAD 2005 Layer Manager and Filters

Lee Ambrosius of hyperpics.com and his blog "Beyond the UI" posted a good aticle on using the new AutoCAD 2005 layer dialog.

Link to Layer Manager Article

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on June 7, 2004 at 04:30 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, June 05, 2004

AUGI Customization Corner - June 2004

Great article on Tool Palettes Lee Ambrosius of HyperPics.com.

"With AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk incorporated the Tool Palette Extension for those that were not on subscription and added support for Tables, along with additional improvements like Auxiliary Scale. I will talk about each of these individual tools in this and subsequent articles. "

Read the article

Posted on June 5, 2004 at 01:53 PM in AUGI, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, June 04, 2004

The AutoCAD 2005 Easter Egg

neo

The excellent Autodesk product and resource for tips and tricks website CAD Forum has divulged details on the AutoCAD 2005 Easter Egg.

Easter eggs are the practice and long-standing tradition of software developers to add a little something special in the program such as listing team members for the project. Just like the Easter tradition of locating a surprise or a hidden egg also known as the Easter egg hunt. The Easter eggs are hidden and take some work to locate the sequence to activate making it also fun for some to locate and we have had informal contests in locating them in the past. In most cases, at least here at Autodesk the Easter egg development of the Easter egg does not take away from regular development work and the Easter eggs are developed usually in a short time and after hours so they do not effect the scheduled software development. For the last few releases, the Easter eggs have even listed top beta site customers as well.

Link to CAD Forums details on the AutoCAD 2005 Easter Egg Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on June 4, 2004 at 05:45 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Inside the Desk, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, May 27, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 - 5 of 5 Stars from Cadalyst Magazine

"All in all, AutoCAD 2005 will be a worthwhile upgrade for most users."

Link to Cadalyst Review

Posted on May 27, 2004 at 08:17 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Alireza Parsai has an AutoCAD 2005 Seminar in Toronto Tonight!

Alireza will conduct a seminar about new features of AutoCAD 2005 for TRACE local user group in Toronto.

For more details: http://www.trends.ca/~trace/

Posted on May 25, 2004 at 01:48 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Local User Groups, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Great Blog Post by Lee Ambrosius "Don't talk smack... instead give back"

Lee Ambrosius of hyperpics.com and his blog Beyond the UI obviously had taken a large amount of time and thought in order to compose this article. He explains the various ways of reporting and providing feedback to Autodesk.
Link to Article "Don't talk smack... instead give back"

Many will just expect a software company to know about a problem and it will magically be fixed in the next service pack but that is really not based in reality. We need to understand the problem and in many cases to reproduce it in order to determine the appropriate solution. That is why Autodesk has developed the Customer Error Reporting in our products. With the Customer Error Reporting the details if you choose to send them come back to us and we research them. This method is far better than asking a million and one questions of a customer. Also make sure to fill in the details so we can contact you if needed to get further details or a sample file. The Customer Error Reporting helps everyone and is definitely better than doing nothing or the default Windows error reporting which submits to Microsoft, which many applications use but what is Microsoft going to do about a problem with an application that is not theirs, well not much. Just like other businesses we rely on feedback from the customers. So if you find a problem or something you feel should be changed, please let us know.

Helpful Links:

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley

Posted on May 20, 2004 at 09:32 AM in AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Beta Info, Helpful Resources, Inside the Desk, Tips–n-Tricks, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Creating AutoCAD 2004 Tool Palettes and Custom Tools

Ellen Finkelstein (who sends me cookies) wrote an article about creating and customizing Tool Palettes for AutoCAD 2004 awhile back. I thought I would point it out again after receiving a few emails on the subject. The AutoCAD 2004 Tool Palettes extension adds even more abilities and the same abilities are included in AutoCAD 2005.

Link to Article

Cheers,
Shaan

Posted on May 20, 2004 at 01:49 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Perfect Paper Space, Part 2 by Lynn Allen

Lynn Allen has published her second part of the Perfect Paper Space series. Last month it was part 1 link here and now the latest.

"LAST MONTH WE DIPPED our toes into paper space. This month let's wade deeper into this tricky subject. AutoCAD 2005 relies heavily on paper space layouts to maximize the Sheet Set Manager capabilities, so you'll want to be an expert in this topic."

Link to the article on the Cadalyst website

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on May 18, 2004 at 10:53 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, May 15, 2004

AutoCAD® 2005 Sheet Set Best Practices White Papers

The following three white papers on AutoCAD® 2005 Sheet Set Best Practices are being posted to the Autodesk web site any day, but you get them here first.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Best Practices Series
Sheet Set Manager:
Introduction to the Series
Lynn Allen, Cadalyst columnist

Wouldn't it be nice if an entire project consisted of just one drawing sheet, which we could simply create, plot, and hand over to our client? Unfortunately, in the real world, our projects consist of multiple drawing sheets: sometimes 10, 50, 100 or over 1,000 drawing files per project. How do most of us keep track of all those drawing files? We use Microsoft® Windows® Explorer.

Download - Introduction to the Series PDF

Best Practices Series - Part 1
Sheet Set Manager:
Organize Your Drawings
Dieter Schlaepfer, Autodesk, Inc.

You may have heard that the new Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD® 2005 software can manage, publish, and transmit an entire group of project files. But did you know that you can use the Sheet Set Manager simply to organize and access your existing drawings much more effectively?
There is almost no effort required, and you do not have to change the way you work!

Download - Best Practices Series - Part 1 Organize Your Drawings PDF

Best Practices Series Part 2
Sheet Set Manager:
Create a List of Sheets Instantly
Heidi Hewett, Autodesk, Inc.

Most sets of drawings include a cover sheet or title sheet that has a list of all the sheets in the set. This list enables people to find design data throughout the set of drawings, so it must always be accurate. As you add, remove, or reorganize sheets, you continually modify the list of sheets to ensure that it is up to date.
In AutoCAD® 2005, you can easily create a sheet list table with data that is extracted directly from the Sheet Set Manager. If you make changes to the sheet set, you can instantly update the sheet list table to reflect the changes.

Download - Best Practices Series - Part 2 Create a List of Sheets Instantly PDF

Posted on May 15, 2004 at 06:19 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, White Papers | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Registration and Activation (Authorization) Codes: How does it work for Subscription?

All products on subscription are pre-registered to the Contract Manager named at the time the Subscription order is processed. When installing your product you will be required to obtain an activation code. When requesting an activation code for product installations and reinstallations, please be sure to have your Serial/Group ID number available (found on your product package).

Group—A subscription contract may contain one or more groups. A company may choose to have several groups. Groups can be used to organize a subscription contract in different ways—for example, by product, office location, or department. Groups may also be organized by deployment—one group with stand-alone versions of a product and another group with a network version. (It is not possible to combine stand-alone and network versions in the same group). Each group is assigned a Software Coordinator. All products within a group share the same serial, or Group ID, number.

Group ID Number— A group ID is the unique numerical identifier that is part of the overall group name. It is derived from the serial number used to validate the first subscription put into the group. Each product added to that group subsequently assumes the group number when upgrades are shipped.

Note: The contract number for the company is derived from the first group put on the contract.
A group name can be any 20 alphanumeric characters, designated by the Contract Manager, to provide a unique label for a group.
Example:
Group ID: 339-11235813 San Rafael
The Group ID should be used when requesting an activation code for any products shipped under subscription. The Group ID is referenced on the product package as Serial/Group ID.

IMPORTANT: Autodesk software may be installed as a network, stand-alone, or multiseat stand-alone deployment. There are some variations to the process that depend on the type of installation you have:

Multiseat Stand-Alone—(Most common) Multiseat stand-alone deployments are installed on multiple individual computers but use only one serial number to represent and authorize the multiple licenses.

Network—Network deployments are installed on single server and one serial number represents and authorizes one or more licenses.

Stand-Alone—Stand-alone deployments have one serial number to represent and activate one license. Subsequent stand-alone, multiseat stand-alone, or network deployments of the same product must be represented by subsequent serial numbers. Therefore, multiple stand-alones of the same product must be entered into multiple distinct groups. Each stand-alone install will receive a different activation code.

For more information on subscritipon, please go to http://www.autodesk.com/subscription

Posted on May 13, 2004 at 04:49 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk Subscription, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, May 10, 2004

Quick Article on Design Document Communication with DWF

I just wanted to write a short article on using DWF and a workflow with markup. The DWF format is very small compared to PDF and other formats for transmitting to others. You can also use the free Autodesk DWF Writer 2 to publish from other applications such as Bentley MicroStation, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel or most any other application that can use a Windows System printer driver. You can publish in one click the entire Sheet Set in AutoCAD 2005 to DWF or a plotter. You can view DWF using the free Autodesk DWF Viewer or the $99 Autodesk DWF Composer as I show in this tutorial. The DWF is a open format and anyone can use the available DWF 6 Toolkit to write or view them.

In AutoCAD 2005 you can use the Sheet Set Manager to publish your entire Sheet Set in one click to a multi-sheet DWF.

You can use the free Autodesk DWF Writer 2 to publish a drawing sheet from Bentley MicroStation just as I did in the above image.

I simply dragged and dropped the DWF produced from the free Autodesk DWF Writer 2 into my multi-sheet DWF. I was also able to mark up (redline) the DWF in Autodesk DWF Composer which is only $99 or $49 to upgrade from the Volo View 2. You could also just view the resulting DWF files with the free Autodesk DWF Viewer but this does not have measure, mark-up and DWG viewing like Autodesk DWF Composer.

In this image you can see I can even mark-up the Bentley MicroStation produced DWF and even snap to the geometry for measurements or comments in the Autodesk DWF Composer.

Here you can see my mark up comments in a sheet in the multi-sheet DWF file on the sheet created from Bentley MicroStation. I can even indicate the markup status.

You can see the mark-up on an AutoCAD 2005 sheet in the DWF I can call out the question for another person. I can change the mark-up with snaps. After I make the mark up I can then send it back to the person with AutoCAD 2005 who created or who has the Sheet Set in AutoCAD 2005.

Using the Markup Set Manager in AutoCAD 2005, I can import the mark up and automatically navigate in the sheet set to the areas with the mark-up. I can also indicate the comments have been resolved and republish with the revisions.

I can even use the free Autodesk DWF Writer to publish Microsoft Word or Excel files to supplement the sheets or as a reference. I can even drag and drop raster images into the DWF such as a rendering or site photo. Best thing is that the documents when in the DWF format are not as easy to copy the data out to another document like a PDF and many do not want reviewers to get the data out. I can even have the reviewers indicate their mark-ups on the other documents in the DWF such as marking up the spreadsheet or the Bentley MicroStation sheet with my comment for the MicroStation user to “buy AutoCAD 2005" ;-) .

Helpful Links Relevant to this Tutorial
http://www.autodesk.com/dwf
http://www.autodesk.com/dwfcomposer
http://www.autodesk.com/dwfviewer
http://www.autodesk.com/autocad
http://www.autodesk.com/gofurther

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on May 10, 2004 at 01:06 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, DWF it, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Saturday, May 08, 2004

AutoCAD Express Tools Tutorial from http://www.cadtutor.net

Some AutoCAD Express Tools are covered in Michael's online article:

Layer Walk

BCOUNT

Change Space

Layer Isolate

You really should consider subscribing to his newsletter ‘The AutoCAD Toolbelt’.

[Read Article]

Posted on May 8, 2004 at 12:07 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, May 07, 2004

Edge Panning with AutoCAD

We added a little known feature in AutoCAD 2004 which is also in AutoCAD 2005. I figured I would explain this after reading a post in a newsgroup with a customer trying to figure out this discovery. You must have AutoCAD 2004 or higher installed and on Microsoft Windows 2000/XP. Edge panning is when you are panning the display by mouse in the AutoCAD window, and then you reach the edge of the maximized AutoCAD window and the display pans while you continue to move the mouse towards the edge. Pretty cool, give it a try. It comes in pretty handy when in large drawings as you do not have to reposition your mouse to be able to pan more of the drawing.

Click on the GIF image to see a larger Animated GIF of the difference from AutoCAD 2002 without Edge Panning and AutoCAD 2005 with Edge Panning.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on May 7, 2004 at 08:33 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

DWF Precision Follow Up

This is a follow up to the DWF Precision article by Brian Mathews of the DWF Team Link to Article

By default, DWFs are plotted from AutoCAD at 400 DPI—but this is far below the limit for DWF (up to 60 million DPI!). In fact, as Brian’s article points out, with the resolution that DWF supports, “DWF can measure the continental USA with a precision of +/- 2.4 millimeters when using the maximum DPI and paper size settings.”

To change the resolution (DPI) at which DWFs are published in AutoCAD based products:

Select the “DWF 6 ePlot” driver in the AutoCAD Plot dialog

Select Properties

Select the Custom Properties icon (in the Device and Document Settings tab)

Select the Custom Properties button

Change the vector resolution—e.g., to 1200 or 2400 DPI

Select OK

Select OK

Optionally save the changes to a different pc3 configuration file—e.g. with a 2400dpi suffix

Select an output filename

Select OK to plot to DWF

You could also just select ‘Custom’ in the dropdown list to set the resolution higher than 2400 DPI

For comparison I plotted a DWF and a PDF both at 2400 DPI:
DWF File Size on disk = 1.00 MB
PDF File Size on Disk = 5.23 MB

After opening the DWF in DWF Composer ($99) and taking a measurement with snaps and grabbing the geometry, I can see the section of interest is reported as 958' 8.94". Of course I could also just view the DWF in the free viewer. With DWF Composer I get redline markup, measurements, snaps, round trip the markup back to AutoCAD 2005 based products, and also a DWG viewer.

Checking the same section of interest in Adobe Acrobat Pro 6 (~$600), I had no real intuitive snaps and the distance was 8.11". I guess this is a miniature city ;-). "PDF: the right choice for itsy-bitsy cities and large hard drives".

With a higher DWF DPI setting, the advantages in terms of precision in the DWF files should become very clear when comparing DWF vs. PDF.

While 2400 DPI is sufficient for most needs, those using maps and GIS may need a higher DPI. AutoCAD allows for a Custom setting increasiong the DPI up to 60 million DPI.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on May 5, 2004 at 04:58 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, DWF it, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

AUGI Customization Corner - May 2004

Autodesk User Group International has posted a nice article of tips on AutoCAD Switches written by and AutoCAD Guru and also one of the most experienced and feedback providing AutoCAD customers Lee Ambrosius.

Link to Article

Lee also has a blog for many great tips on AutoCAD titled "Beyond the UI".
http://hyperpics.blogs.com/beyond_the_ui/

"Last month, I finished the second installment of using and creating scripts for use with AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. Here, I’ll turn the attention from customizing inside of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT to the desktop shortcut. There are many options to get AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT start up. You have seen one of these options or switches in the previous articles about scripts. That switch was the /b switch, which allowed for the loading of a script when the desktop shortcut was used. This article investigates the many other switches available to you." Read More

Posted on May 4, 2004 at 09:40 AM in AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Great User Group Meeting

It was nice meeting the 38+ people in attendance last night at the San Francisco AutoCAD Users Group to see the presentation of AutoCAD 2005 by Shawn Gilmour of Autodesk. Congratulations to the winners of the drawings for the AutoCAD 2005 and the books. I have placed a few photos from the meeting in my daily grind photoblog.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on May 4, 2004 at 08:39 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Local User Groups | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, April 30, 2004

White Paper: Best Practices for AutoCAD Migration

I have posted here the white paper "Best Practices for AutoCAD Migration" because a couple have had issues when downloading it from the Autodesk FTP server. This white paper covers many of the best practices to follow in order to make migrations much more easy.

Download cust_migr.pdf

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 30, 2004 at 07:36 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, White Papers | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Local AutoCAD Users Group Meeting Notice - San Francisco AutoCAD Users Group (SFAUG)

The next SFAUG meeting will take place on Monday, May 3rd and will be dedicated to AutoCAD. Shawn Gilmour from Autodesk will present the new release AutoCAD 2005.

Doorprizes

Time and place:
May 3rd, 6-8pm.
SFSU Downtown Center
425 Market Street, room 2601/2602

More Information on SFAUG see http://www.sfaug.org/

I will be there along with a few other Autodeskers to assist and answer any questions people may have. Please introduce yourself to me as I always enjoy meeting local users of Autodesk products and understanding how they use our products.

Don’t miss it.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 29, 2004 at 10:23 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Local User Groups, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Background Mask Tools for AutoCAD 2005 by Lee Ambrosius

Lee Ambrosius has written some tools to work with the new AutoCAD 2005 feature Background Masking and posted beta versions on his AutoCAD related blog "Beyond the UI". Lee is a wealth of information and tools for AutoCAD.

LInk to Lee's post with the download of the tools:http://hyperpics.blogs.com/beyond_the_ui/2004/04/background_mask_1.html

The tools:

-DIMMASK - Allows you to apply and remove Background Masking for Dimensions from the command line

DIMMASK - Allows you to apply and remove Background Masking for Dimensions from the command line. Standard colors are selected though the Color dialog box.

-DIMSTYLEMASK - Allows you to apply and remove Background Masking for a Dimension Style from the command line

-MTEXTMASK - Allows you to apply and remove Background Masking for Mtext from the command line

MTEXTMASK - Allows you to apply and remove Background Masking for Mtext from the command line. Standard colors are selected though the Color dialog box.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 27, 2004 at 09:56 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Updated Migration Tools Released

The Autodesk web site has now been updated with the updated AutoCAD Migration Tools. There is also a migration best practices document.

http://www.autodesk.com/migrationtools

Best Practices for AutoCAD Migration PDF (62 KB)

Menu and Toolbar Porter (re-written)
Import your menus, toolbar items, and keyboard shortcuts (accelerators) from previous versions of AutoCAD into AutoCAD 2005.

Autodesk Batch Drawing Converter (no real updates as the file format has not changed)
Convert any AutoCAD or AutoCAD-based drawing file to AutoCAD Release 14, AutoCAD 2000, AutoCAD 2000i, AutoCAD 2002, AutoCAD 2004, and AutoCAD 2005 file formats.

Autodesk Customization Conversion Tools
Convert your customized menus, files, command aliases, and layer states, and script with greater ease.

Tools included
The following four tools are included in the Autodesk Customization Conversion Tools download:

1. AutoLISP Compatibility Analyzer details AutoCAD® 2004 and AutoCAD® 2005 compatibility issues found in AutoLISP and Menu LISP files. AutoLISP Compatibility Analyzer searches for known AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD 2005 compatibility issues. When an issue is found, an explanation of the compatibility issue and suggestions on how to correct it are provided.

2. Command Alias (PGP) Porter designed to help you bring your custom command aliases from previous versions of AutoCAD into AutoCAD 2004 or AutoCAD 2005. You can also use this tool to add, replace, or remove command aliases from any AutoCAD PGP file.

3. ScriptPro takes AutoCAD scripting to a new level with an easy-to-use interface, logging, reusable project files, enhanced scripting with new keywords and utilities, and robust error recovery. Using ScriptPro you can apply a set of commands to multiple drawings by simply specifying a script file and the list of drawings that you would like to apply the script to.

4. Layer State Converter allows you to convert between the layer states created by LMAN (one of the AutoCAD® Express Tools) and the saved layer states introduced in AutoCAD® 2000i software. To use Layer State Converter, type one of the following commands on the AutoCAD command line:

CONVERTLS - Converts AutoCAD layer states to LMAN layer states.
CONVERTLMAN - Converts LMAN layer states to AutoCAD layer states.

Posted on April 27, 2004 at 06:28 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Monday, April 26, 2004

DotSoft ToolPac 8.0 for AutoCAD

Terry over at Dotsoft has done it once again with Toolpac 8.0 for AutoCAD. He has packed over 675 tools to increase productivity in AutoCAD into his new release of the popular ToolPac 8.0 for AutoCAD.

For more info see the ToolPac website:
http://www.dotsoft.com/toolpac.htm

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 26, 2004 at 01:06 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Alireza Parsai of cadpanel.com and AutoCAD 2005 Table Tutorial

Tutorial on the new AutoCAD 2005 feature, Tables.
by Alireza Parsai of http://www.cadpanel.com/

Click the following link to view the tutorial
http://www.cadpanel.com/trainees/2005tables/040425tables2005.htm

Thanks Alireza for all of your great tutorials available on your web site and caddigest.com.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 26, 2004 at 09:17 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

AutoCAD Electrical 2005 eBeta Enrollment Open

To enroll to be considered for this eBeta opportunity go to:
http://betaprograms.autodesk.com/betaweb.htm then follow the instructions especially the code name.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 20, 2004 at 01:41 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Beta Info | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

DWFit Hyperlink Style!!

From Mark Douglas MKM & Associates

"MKM is excited about the power DWF will bring to its office. We look forward to the day when we can jetison PDF and use DWF exclusively for many great reasons. Here's just one....
Open the below DWF file in the free Autodesk DWF Viewer. It will open directly to a Plan sheet. Here you will see there are Detail bubbles. If you CTRL-Click the Detail bubble it will HYPERLINK you RIGHT to that detail Number on another Sheet. Using Autodesk DWF Composer has cut our Back check times in Half!! This was sooo easy with a little Lisp code and Robert/Myself's brain power. Plus has some cool AutoCAD tables in it."

Download DWF file

"LISP Used to link the detail bubbles to the hyperlinked details: Here is a explanation on what it does and how it works for our Company. We typically name our drawings. Job Number first then the Sheet name. So it looks like this.....040001S1. 040001S2..and so on. Well the code strips out the information from the DWGNAME variable and makes. 040001 & S1. Then takes the Number from the detail Bubble. Say S2. Then Puts them together. 040001S2. Then creates a hyperlink to the drawing. Using Misha's Convert Hyperlink to DWF then you're all set. here is the Code I use. It originated from some other code, then modified to fit our needs.
The Bottom part of the Code after the Hyperlink part is from Misha, A little too complicated for me. But works!!"

Download Edited LISP File

Posted on April 20, 2004 at 11:23 AM in AutoCAD 2005, DWF it, Tips–n-Tricks, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Perfect Paper Space, Part 1 by Lynn Allen - Cadalyst

"EVEN AFTER 12 YEARS, the most frequently requested articles are those on paper space. So, after many moons (and many pleas from readers), it's time to dust off these tips and update them to reflect the new features in AutoCAD 2005.

A great deal of confusion still surrounds paper space, as evidenced by the extremely large turnout at Autodesk University for the "Lost in Paper Space" class (perfectly taught by Dan Abbott). There are also many different theories regarding the proper route to perfect paper space. I'll attempt to present the pros and cons of all sides and let you decide what works best for you."

Link to the Entire Article on Cadalyst Magazines Web Site

Posted on April 15, 2004 at 11:52 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Information by AutoCAD Bible Book Author Ellen Finkelstein

Check out the updated information from Ellen Finkelstein on AutoCAD 2005 at her website. Ellen is the author of the very popular AutoCAD Bible books.

Features Shown:

Tables

Fields

Sheet Sets

Command tool palettes

Layer groups and descriptions

Text background masks

Trimming hatches and hatching almost closed areas

Plotting in the background

ZOOM Object option

New COPY command default

http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/autoCAD.html

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 14, 2004 at 05:25 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Give AutoCAD® 2005 a Try, For Free!

You can order a free AutoCAD® 2005 Trial CD-ROM or a run the fully operational online AutoCAD® 2005 streaming trial.

AutoCAD® 2005 30-Day Trial CD
(This offer is valid only in the United States and Canada. For countries outside the United States and Canada, contact your local Autodesk Authorized Reseller)
Link to Order Form

AutoCAD® 2005 Streaming Trial
(Stream a full version of AutoCAD® to your desktop for 30 consecutive days at no cost. Create, view, save, and plot your own files and fully experience exactly how AutoCAD software operates in your work environment.)
Link to Streaming Trial

Make sure to have a look at the documentation to see what some of the new features are.
Link to Features Documents

Comparing AutoCAD 2005 with Previous Releases PDF White Paper

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 13, 2004 at 08:22 AM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sunday, April 11, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tool Palette Trick - Insert Block using LTSCALE

From Misha (Misha Belilovskiy) of Autodesk who posted this trick in a reply to a discussion thread in the public Autodesk discussion group for AutoCAD 2005.

You can't do it using AutoCAD UI but it is possible if you are not afraid editing your Tool Palette source ATC file. Here is how you do it.

If you would like to replace Auxiliary scale in tool properties (for instance with LTSCALE) you can do the following:

1. In AutoCAD Tool Palette right click on the block you want to change, choose Properties and assign DIMSCALE Auxiliary scale.

2. Close AutoCAD and use Windows Explorer to navigate to the source Tool Palettes ATC files.

3. Open ATC file with the name of your palette in Notepad or your favorite ASCII editor.

4. Find DIMSCALE assigned to your block and replace it with LTSCALE.

5. Save the file, open AutoCAD and check your Auxiliary scale value. It should now be LTSCALE. You are done.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 11, 2004 at 06:43 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Friday, April 09, 2004

HIDE in AutoCAD® and Architectural Desktop 2004 - 2005 Article by archidigm.com

Nice online article showing the HIDE command options and results.

Link to Article

Also check out the site http://www.archidigm.com

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 9, 2004 at 05:19 AM in Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, April 08, 2004

Combining Autodesk Network Licenses

Are you aware that you can combine multiple network licenses into one license? If you have a mix of network licensed products, you can combine them into a single license file for running a mix of licensed products or releases.

This could also be the products you upgraded in Autodesk Subscription program. Then when you roll out the new version you could continue to use the prior release until all your users have migrated or moved to a new project to start the new release.

Knowledge Base Article from http://support.autodesk.com

Link to Knowlege Base Article
http://support.autodesk.com/getDoc.asp?id=TS65928

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 8, 2004 at 12:51 PM in Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Autodesk Subscription, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Custom Background Mask command for Mtext by Lee Ambrosius of hyperpics.com

As a true AutoCAD master, Lee wrote and shared a quick LISP for the new AutoCAD 2005 feature Background Mask.

Link to Lee's article with a LISP file

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 8, 2004 at 07:00 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | TrackBack

Thursday, April 01, 2004

UK Architecture Firm Specializing in Timber Framing Using ADT

Chris Yanchar wrote a very nice blog article on Timber Framing and ADT. It is always amazing to see what our customers do with our products and their success.

If you have an exciting or interesting use of our products or the products you design using our products, send me an email at [email protected] with the subject line of "Blog" and the details and I will spotlight it in this far reaching blog with thousands of unique readers per day. This is the most active CAD/Autodesk related blog currently on the web.

Here are some screenshots (click thumbnail for larger image):

The Link to the Blog "Between the Walls" article

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on April 1, 2004 at 09:20 AM in Announcements, Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Tutorial: Interoperability Between AutoCAD 2005 and Architectural Desktop 2005

Chris Yanchar has written a nice tutorial on the interoperability between AutoCAD 2005 and Architectural Desktop 2005 on his blog "Between the Walls".

"With the new ability for AutoCAD 2005 to natively read in ADT drawings, I thought a short tutorial about the advantages of collaborating with consultants with native ADT drawings versus exploding to 2D would be helpful. Also discussed is the basic interoperability between the ADT Project Navigator and the AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager."

Link to Article: Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 30, 2004 at 12:37 PM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Online Streaming Trial is now live

Stream AutoCAD® 2005 directly to your desktop for 30 consecutive days at no cost. The trial currently available is a fully functional version of AutoCAD 2005—including the ability to create, view, save, and plot your own files. This trial is available only in the United States and Canada.

Before initiating your trial, please read the recommended system requirements. Since the initial activation for the trial requires a download of 10–15 MB (depending on system configuration), we recommend this trial for users with high-speed Internet connections.* Please note that activation time will decrease after first use, while overall speed and performance will increase with greater use.

To Begin Trial
Register for the streaming trial.
Log in and follow the instructions to download the streaming trial software.
Locate the “AutoCAD 2005 Trial” icon on your desktop and click it to begin your trial.

System Requirements

Software:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, Windows XP Home, or Windows 2000 (SP 3 or SP 4)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (SP1) or later
Macromedia Flash Player (Version 7.0 or later)
Microsoft .NET Framework1.1 or later (New Requirement for Layers)

Hardware
Intel® Pentium® III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon™ processor, or better
256 MB RAM
300 MB free disk space
Display resolution of 1024 X 768 with True Color
Microsoft-compliant pointing device

Internet Connectivity
High-speed Internet connection (ISDN or higher)
PC Administrator privileges

Frequently Asked Questions

*If you do not have a high-speed internet connection, you can request a 30-day trial CD through our website or your local Autodesk Reseller.

Posted on March 30, 2004 at 06:46 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

New Plotting and Page Setup Changes in AutoCAD 2005 Video Demo by Sterling Systems

Sterling Systems has produced a free online video demonstration showing some changes to the Plotting and Page Setups for the newly released AutoCAD 2005.

Link to Site

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 30, 2004 at 04:21 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, March 29, 2004

Autodesk Subscription e-Learning Tutorials Posted for AutoCAD 2005

For those on Autodesk Subscription, tutorials for AutoCAD 2005 are now available exclusively to subscription customers on the Subscription Center.

AutoCAD 2005 e-Learning Content Available now:

Working with Views
Working with Named Views and Viewports
Working with Model Space Views and Resource Drawings

Managing and Creating Sheet Sets
Creating Sheet Sets
Managing Sheet Sets

Working with Tables and Fields
Creating Tables
Creating Fields

Working with Palettes and Layers
Using Tool Palettes
Working with Layers

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 03:34 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk Subscription, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Great AutoCAD/AUGI Resource With Some Really Good AutoCAD 2005 Articles

The current AUGIWorld Magazine Issue for March/April 2004 is out and defintely worth a read especially for the AutoCAD 2005 articles explaining some of the new features with tips and tricks. There is also a good CAD Salary Survey in this issue.

Link to PDF of the AUGIWorld March April 2004 Issue
Hosted by Lee Ambrosius of hyperpics.com the author of many of the great articles.

Link to AUGI

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 12:23 PM in AUGI, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Comparing AutoCAD 2005 with Previous Releases

Below is a link to a White Paper on key feature differences of AutoCAD 2005 back to AutoCAD 2000.

Link to PDF Document

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 12:02 PM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 white Paper Benefits of Network Licensing

Exerpt from the White Paper:
"Benefits of Network Licensing Network licensing is a powerful concept used by a broad array of workstation-based software products. The purpose of this white paper is to show how network licensing software can help you get the most from your software budget.

Network licensing helps ensure that your users have access to the right software at the right time and enables you to control the use of your software easily and efficiently. Effective use of network licensing software requires investment in planning, implementation, and maintenance. But, used properly, it can generate significant benefits for you and your organization.

Of course, all of the benefits discussed below are only available if you can get the network licensing software up and running during the installation of your software. With AutoCAD® 2005 software, we have introduced a new Network License Authorization utility. With this new utility and the Register Today software, CAD or IT managers can quickly and easily describe their license server configuration and company information and then submit that information electronically to Autodesk at any time and from anywhere in the world. This electronic transaction is then processed automatically (usually in a matter of minutes) and the license file is returned and placed on the license servers that the manager designated during the submittal process. The new utility works with both a direct connection over the Internet to Autodesk’s systems, and through email. We will continue to support phone requests, but this method will not be as automated as using the new utility."

Download PDF file

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 11:56 AM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Fit & Finish Features White Paper

AutoCAD® 2005 software contains over 25 “fit and finish” features. Derived predominantly from direct
customer feedback and requests, these features and usability improvements enhance many commonly used commands and processes.

There are many other features in AutoCAD 2005 but this is a nice list of some of the golden nuggets as a direct result of cusomter feedback, interviews, visits, beta test site feedback, and AutoCAD wish list items.

Download PDF File

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 11:50 AM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 and the Section 508 Compliance White Paper

Working with AutoCAD 2005 and Section 508 Section 508 requires that federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. The Center for Information Technology Accommodation (CITA), in the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Governmentwide Policy, has been charged with the task of educating federal employees and building the infrastructure necessary to support Section 508 implementation.

With this white paper, Autodesk offers background information to help our customers understand the accessibility features of Autodesk’s AutoCAD® 2005 software, in the context of the Section 508 standards. This was done with the intent to enable agencies to be compliant with the Section 508 regulations.

The document contains subsets of the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards as published in 36 CFR Part 1194 and provides an analysis of AutoCAD as compared to these standards. For the purposes of this paper, “AutoCAD” refers to AutoCAD 2005 and all Autodesk® industry products that are based upon the AutoCAD 2005 platform, including AutoCAD LT® 2005. More information on Section 508 can be found on the Government’s website located at: http://www.section508.gov/

Download file

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 11:44 AM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Nice Online Demo of Tips and Tricks with AutoCAD 2005 by Sterling Systems

Sterling Systems has produced a free online video demonstration showing some nice tips and tricks for the newly released AutoCAD 2005. This is worth a few minutes to see some of the lesser known new features of AutoCAD 2005.

Link to Site

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 29, 2004 at 11:00 AM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Autodesk Is Now Shipping AutoCAD 2005

Link to Press Release

AutoCAD 2005 is now shipping and the press release mentions the beta site customers we had from 37 countries.

"Over 1,200 beta customers around the world have tested and endorsed the newest AutoCAD software for its ability to help them better create, manage and share complex data and design information more easily. Added features to manage and publish sheet sets and communicate project information for markup and review also enable customers worldwide to improve their on-time, on-budget project delivery.
"We have already improved the speed and efficiency in organizing our project drawings by using the Sheet Set Manager feature in the newest version of AutoCAD," said Robert Pappas, project manager at Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, in Norfolk, VA. "By keeping all our drawings in one location and automating the title block, the Sheet Set Manager provides us with a consistent set of drawings that can be shared among our consultants through DWF."

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 25, 2004 at 03:18 AM in AutoCAD 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, March 12, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Preview Online Demo by Avatech

Avatech Solutions posted a nice online video presentation of AutoCAD 2005. CHeck it out and see some of the new features of AutoCAD 2005 before the product ships on March 22nd 2004.

Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 12, 2004 at 12:41 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 First Impressions by Robert Green of Cadalysts CAD Manager's Newsletter

Robert's email newsletter is definitely worthwhile subscribing to as he discusses very common CAD Manager Issues and information.

"I've been working with AutoCAD 2005 for a couple of months now, and I believe it's the best AutoCAD release since Release 14. AutoCAD 2005 does some things that should have been done a while ago (we'll get to those shortly) while making compelling strides in usability and interface construction."

Read the entire article by Robert Green Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan just 2 days more until I go to Brazil!

Posted on March 12, 2004 at 12:14 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tutorial on the New Fields Feature by Alireza Parsai

AutoCAD 2005 offers many interesting features such as Sheet Set Manager, enhanced Tool Palettes, enhanced drafting tools, Tables, and Fields. Fields are specialized text objects set up to display data that may change during the life cycle of the drawing. When a field is updated the latest value is shown on the screen. In this tutorial you will learn how to use fields in your drawings.

Tutorial Link: Click Here

Posted on March 10, 2004 at 12:33 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lynn Allen's AutoCAD 2005 Tips & Tricks Preview - March 2004

My fellow Autodesker and buddy Lynn Allen has provided a sneak peek at her new book to AUGI members.

From AUGI:

An AUGI Exclusive! Lynn Allen, Cadalyst columnist and Autodesk Technical Evangelist, is giving AUGI members an exclusive preview of some of the time-saving features in the new AutoCAD 2005 software. Lynn’s new desktop reference guide “Lynn Allen’s Top 10 Tips for AutoCAD 2005” is not even on press yet, but we got her to share some insights.

Lynn Allen’s Top 10 Tips for AutoCAD® 2005 Software
Tip # 1: Step Savers Click Here

Read on the AUGI website and become a member if you are not already a member of AUGI.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 10, 2004 at 11:33 AM in AUGI, Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AUGI Customization Corner - March 2004

Autodesk User Group International has posted a nice article of tips on Script Files Customizing AutoCAD written by and AutoCAD Guru and also one of the most experienced and feedback providing AutoCAD customers Lee Ambrosius.

Link to Article

Lee also has a blog for many great tips on AutoCAD titled "Beyond the UI".
http://hyperpics.blogs.com/beyond_the_ui/

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 10, 2004 at 11:17 AM in AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tips from Lee and Lee's new blog!

Check out AutoCAD Customer Extraordinaire, Lee Ambrosius and his new AutoCAD related blog! Beyond the UI

Great article there on what Lee's favorite new AutoCAD 2005 feature is Click Here

Also Getting the Most out of Editing in a Viewport (VPMAX / VPMIN) Click Here

Lee Ambrosius
HyperPics, http://www.hyperpics.com
Blog: http://hyperpics.blogs.com/beyond_the_ui

Congratulations Lee!

-Shaan

Posted on March 9, 2004 at 09:39 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, March 08, 2004

My Brazil Trip in 6 days... Sao Paulo, Manaus, and Rio!

Well my journey to Brazil begins in only 6 days on March 14th, 2004. I am getting really excited at this point. I have had all of my shots and other travel requirements completed, except packing. I also have a few CAD users lined up to chat about AutoCAD while in Brazil.

Highlight Summary of my Trip:

March 14th Depart from San Francisco International to Sao Paulo Brazil via Miami. 16.5 hours travel
March 15th Arrive in Sao Paulo I have evening CAD chat setup with Mauricio Ritzmann.
March 16th Customer visits, presentation preparation, and some sight seeing if time permits. I have to try the pizza as I have heard so much about the special pizza from Sao Paulo.
March 17th & 18th Work...Presentations
March 19th - 24th Manuas in the heart of the Amazon Jungle for some time off. I will be going up the Rio Negro River for some piranha fishing and hiking with my base camp being the Amazon Ecopark.
March 24th & 25th In Rio for a customer visit and some site seeing.

If you are located in Sao Paulo, Manaus, or Rio and want to get together for some CAD chat, email me at [email protected]

I should have connections to the Internet the entire time with my HP TC1100 Tablet PC and a PCMCIA GSM/GPRS datacard. I will also have AutoCAD 2005 on this Tablet PC.

I am planning on updating the blog with photos every chance I get.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 8, 2004 at 01:23 PM in Amazon Trip 2004, AutoCAD 2005, Tablet PC, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 07, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tip Enabling/Disabling the Node snapping for Mtext objects

http://hyperpics.com/tipsandtricks/cad/mtext_node_snapping.htm

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 7, 2004 at 11:29 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, March 06, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tip Changing the Draw Order of Text that is using Background Mask from Lee at hyperpics.com

"AutoCAD 2005 introduces many new features from Sheet Set Manager to Tables and Mtext with Background Masking. Background Masking is a great tool that can be used to hide geometry below text. .."
Read more at the link below

http://www.hyperpics.com/tipsandtricks/cad/texttofront.htm

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 6, 2004 at 10:42 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, March 04, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tip Enabling/Disabling the Taskbar Feature in AutoCAD from Lee at hyperpics.com

"Since Office 2000 Microsoft has been using a "Windows in Taskbar" feature with its Office products. A similar feature has been added to AutoCAD 2005 and is nice if you normally only have a couple drawings open at a time. It allows you to quickly switch between open drawings..." read more at the link below

http://www.hyperpics.com/tipsandtricks/cad/taskbar_feature.htm

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 4, 2004 at 10:35 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Upcoming Product: Autodesk DWF Composer

Autodesk DWF Composer is a new product coming from Autodesk soon. You can also enroll for the beta program currently.

Product Info

Beta Enrollment

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 4, 2004 at 06:16 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Beta Info, DWF it | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Beau Turner - Fan of AutoCAD/ADT 2005 Fields

Beau Turner writes in his blog "Will Render for Food" that he really likes the Fields feature of AutoCAD 2005.

Link to Beau's blog post

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 3, 2004 at 06:25 AM in Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Features & Benefits Document

This PDF document discusses some of the benefits and the problems solved with AutoCAD 2005.

PDF AutoCAD Features and Benefits Link

Example from the document:
"Archiving Problem
To archive project documents, organizations typically must copy individual drawing files from one folder to another. Storing multiple versions of drawing files increases the risk of using incorrect or out-of-date project information.

Solution
The Sheet Set Manager produces and stores copies automatically, providing a more dependable method for archiving project data.

Benefit
Automatically archiving the sheet makes it easy to revisit project milestones. In addition, it ensures that you work with pertinent data and minimizes the chance for mistakes caused by storing multiple versions of drawing files."

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 3, 2004 at 06:11 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Comparing AutoCAD 2005 with Prior Releases of AutoCAD

There is now a White Paper posted comparing features of AutoCAD 2005 with prior releases.

PDF White Paper Link

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 3, 2004 at 06:04 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, March 01, 2004

Shaan's Unofficial AutoCAD History Page Updated for AutoCAD 2005

AutoCAD 2005

I have now updated my Unofficial AutoCAD History site to include AutoCAD 2005 information and links to the command and system variables resources now maintained by Lee Ambrosius of HyperPics.

Shaan's AutoCAD 2005 Info Page
http://betaprograms.autodesk.com/history/autocad_2005_history.htm

Commands and System Variables
http://betaprograms.autodesk.com/history/command-map.htm

AutoCAD 2005

The Evolution of Design Technology
As design evolves, so does design technology. The AutoCAD 2005 platform represents new heights of productivity, not just in terms of speed and power. But also in terms of more effective ways of managing the project information that is encapsulated in your final documentation.

The New Standard in CAD Productivity
A new standard in CAD productivity began with the AutoCAD® 2004 platform, giving users measurable efficiency gains, like 52 percent smaller file sizes and up to 70 percent increased productivity.* AutoCAD 2005 and product based on AutoCAD 2005 build on the speed and power of the 2004 platform with new tools like the Sheet Set Manager that move beyond single drawing productivity to include the efficient creation, management, and sharing of entire sets of related drawings.

From Single Drawings to Entire Sets of Related Drawings
Design projects can require hundreds or even thousands of drawing files. And each file can have multiple layouts depicting different views or scales of project data. Manually managing sheet sets using a file or folder structure on a local disk drive or network server is time-consuming and error prone. Introducing the Sheet Set Manager for AutoCAD and AutoCAD-based software. It expands beyond single drawing productivity to the efficient creation, management, and sharing of entire sets of related drawings. How does it work? You can use the Sheet Set Manager to

Easily collate drawing sheets into logical sets and subsets that you can define by company, project, or other industry standards

Quickly assemble sheet sets using existing drawings, propagate sheet standards over multiple projects, and provide simultaneous access to sheet sets within your local area network

Simply add or remove sheets from a sheet set or any subset by using the Sheet Set Manager tool palette or the context-sensitive menu

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 1, 2004 at 02:47 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Discussion Group both NNTP and Web based are live.

http://discussion.autodesk.com

The web based discussion group is located:
http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=136

The NNTP link for the AutoCAD 2005 discussion group is:
news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.autocad.2005

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 1, 2004 at 08:51 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Autodesk Website is Updated with 2005 Products "Go Further"

Read all of the information about the 2005 line of Autodesk products on the Autodesk website. The new website is now live as well as register for the Go Further Tour.

2005 Industry Solutions Link

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on March 1, 2004 at 06:12 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, February 27, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tip: Ignoring Hatch objects with running Object snaps from Lee of Hyperics.com

Ignoring Hatch objects when using running Object snaps
http://www.hyperpics.com/tipsandtricks/cad/osnaphatch.htm

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 27, 2004 at 06:02 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Any Los Angeles AutoCAD 2002 Users want to Participate in Productivity Studies?

Dates: March 15th-19th
Length:
Mon-Wed 9:00-4:30, Lunch 1:00-2:30
or
Wed-Fri 9:00-4:30, Lunch 1:00-2:30
Location:

El Segundo, CA

Info:
Autodesk is looking for a group of experienced AutoCAD 2002 users to participate in a productivity study that will focus on moving from your current software to a new version of AutoCAD. The study is being funded by Autodesk but will be performed by a team from the UC Berkeley School of Architecture. The location of the study will be determined by interest however we are targeting the Los Angeles area.

The study will require approximately 30 hours of time from each participant. This will include a day of training in the use of the new version of AutoCAD. The basic study group will be a team of three people, working through a standard set of industry tasks during the course of a day. In addition to the training, each participant will receive a Not For Resale (NFR) copy of an Autodesk product*, and the chance to interact directly with the study team and the AutoCAD Product Management group. The results of the study will be published by the UCB team, and will be incorporated into an Autodesk white paper.

Please pass this invite on to any interested colleagues.

Please contact Traci Van Patten ([email protected]) if you are interested in participating.

Posted on February 26, 2004 at 05:54 PM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

My New HP Tablet PC TC1100 & AutoCAD 2005

I now have a new Tablet PC the HP Compaq Tablet PC TC1100 . This is a real nice unit. I took it home last night and had to beg to get it back from my 2 year old daughter. I am using AutoCAD 2005 on this unit and intend to use this as my primary road machine when out of the office for customer visits and presentations. I am even taking it deep into the Amazon with a special HP case and a GSM cellular data card so I can be online anytime even in the Amazon Jungle. With many of the new features in AutoCAD 2005 and even AutoCAD 2004 with the Tool Palette extension it makes AutoCAD far more easy to use on the Tablet PC. AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD 2005 is already Tablet PC Logo compliant. My daughter was even running AutoCAD 2005 (see image below) on this unit and she loved playing with the grips and stretching objects as well as the revision cloud.

Two year old Katelyn with AutoCAD 2005 on the HP Tablet PC TC1100

I will write more on the subject of the Tablet PC and AutoCAD together as well as the upcoming Brazil trip.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 26, 2004 at 05:28 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Tablet PC, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Article: Collaboration's New Age

Collaboration's New Age
By Peter Coffee

"Instead of marking up a drawing and sending it to someone else as either a paper document or a flat image file, an AutoCAD 2005 user will be able to annotate the drawing electronically and transmit those annotations to whoever needs to act on them. The person receiving that input will be able to call up the original drawing, see how those comments relate to it and check to see if they're still relevant to the current version of that drawing."

Read the entire eWeek article
Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 26, 2004 at 05:11 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Article: "Improved workflow for drafting, design pros"

AutoCAD 2005

"Improved workflow for drafting, design pros
BY P. ANGELINA
AUTODESK Inc has unveiled the latest version of its AutoCAD software for 2D drafting and design, and basic 3D visualisation.

AutoCAD 2005 has been enhanced to allow customers to better manage and publish sheet sets (drawings), and communicate project information for mark-up and review, said Autodesk design solutions division product management manager Shawn Gilmour. " cont...

Read the full online article:
Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 26, 2004 at 01:14 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Autodesk Subscription, DWF it, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

828 Tips and Tricks Currently from cadforum.cz

This is an awesome resource to bookmark for Tips and Tricks for all Autodesk Products especially AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor. They are also very knowledgable and helpful people located in the Czech Republic.

The Link from CAD Studio's CadForum.cz:
http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/default.asp?tab=2

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 26, 2004 at 01:27 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Autodesk is Looking for AutoCAD Tips, Submit Yours

Autodesk is compiling a list of Tips and Tricks for AutoCAD. Submit yours. Any AutoCAD release is appreciated and will be published very soon perhaps in the AutoCAD Communication Center.

Link to Online Submission Form

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 24, 2004 at 06:18 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, February 23, 2004

AutoCAD 2005: A First Look by Greg Corke, AEC Magazine

An article by Greg Corke of AEC Magazine was released as a select article on caddigest.com on AutoCAD 2005.

From the articles conclusion:

"The introduction of Sheet Sets is by far the most important and far reaching of the new features in AutoCAD 2005."

"I think the introduction of new Tables functionality speaks for itself. It’s remarkable that there haven’t been tools to deal with this problem before, but from what I’ve seen the addition is sure to please many users."

"There is no doubt in my mind that DWF is a powerful format, much more intelligent than PDF, and this year should be an interesting one in helping to shape the future for publishing formats."

Read the Article

Posted on February 23, 2004 at 05:31 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, DWF it | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, February 22, 2004

Steven Papke's Vizdepot.com Posts AutoCAD and ADT 2005 Articles

Check out what Steven likes about the upcoming releases.

http://www.vizdepot.com/showarticle.php?s=&threadid=164

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 22, 2004 at 05:17 AM in Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cadalyst Magazine - Autodesk previews Architectural Desktop 2005, Building Services 2005

Cadalyst magazine article on Architectural Desktop 2005 and Building Services 2005

http://www.cadalyst.com/cadalyst/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=86182

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 22, 2004 at 02:03 AM in Announcements, Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, February 21, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Sheet Set Description and Exercises and Features from Ellen Finkelstein

Ellen Finkelstein has posted a list of AutoCAD 2005 features and more coming soon as well as new books:
Click Here

She has also posted a Sheet Set Description and Exercises. Of course you must have the AutoCAD 2005 to go through the exercises.
Click Here

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 21, 2004 at 12:36 PM in AutoCAD 2005, Beta Info, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, February 20, 2004

HOT NEWS! AutoCAD 2005 Beta and ADT 2005 Beta Available to all Autodesk Subscription Customers

If you are a current Autodesk subscription customer, you can now get the AutoCAD 2005 and ADT 2005 Beta releases by download. Keep in mind this is not the final released products, but beta releases.

Go login to your Autodesk Subscription website to get the details and instructions. Make sure to read the installation instructions and documentation carefully and also have a broadband connection to download.

Cheers
-Shaan

Posted on February 20, 2004 at 11:22 AM in Announcements, Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Autodesk Subscription, Beta Info, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Another AutoCAD 2005 Link

http://www.morateknikutveckling.se

We have not had any problems at all with the new version, this was the
easiest transition so far. And we have been around for more than 20 years...
It loads as quick as an old DOS release!

Keep up the good work!

regards,

Ola Wallgren
president,
Mora Teknikutveckling AB

Thank you Ola.
-Shaan

Posted on February 20, 2004 at 08:04 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Product Activation Information Site is Now Live

Autodesk has now gone live with a product activation website.
http://www.autodesk.com/activation.

Some who have heard the announcement that like the customers outside of North America for years that AutoCAD 2005 will include the product activation in North America as well. The activation is not the old Cdilla technology and is very transparent and well received during beta testing and other products. You can also still install per the license agreement at home and work for your standalone installation.

Unfortunately, some with ulterior motives have tried to stir the pot with incorrect information or unsubstantiated rumors before the product has even been released. Product activation has been used in discreet 3ds studio Max, Revit, and all trial and student versions of AutoCAD for a few years. The technology has been improved and made as transparant as possible to not inconvenience our customers. Many other companies use the same technology like the latest released products from Adobe, Macromedia, and Symantec and many many more. Many other CAD software packages use similar product locking including Bentley, Solidworks, PTC, and many others. While the reason for implementing this into North America is not that others do it, we do understand concerns and have attempted to provide a wealth of product activation information to alleviate any concerns.

There is a link to submit feedback and questions on the activation web site (http://www.autodesk.com/activation).

Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley

Posted on February 20, 2004 at 07:16 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Autodesk Redraws Drafting Software

Good article on the new release of AutoCAD 2005 and DWF Composer.

Autodesk Redraws Drafting Software
By David Becker
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1012-5160338.html

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 19, 2004 at 12:13 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, DWF it | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Article from Cadalyst Magazine

Cadalyst magazine wrote brief article on the upcoming AutoCAD 2005.
Link

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 18, 2004 at 02:44 AM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Tenlinks.com Announcement on AutoCAD 2005

Autodesk Introduces AutoCAD 2005 Family of Products

Cheers,
-Shaan (in Baltimore)

Posted on February 17, 2004 at 09:48 PM in AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Helpful Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 Press Release Goes Live!

The Introduction of AutoCAD 2005 and Family of Products Paves the Way for Autodesk Customers Across All Industries to Realize Maximum Productivity Gains During Design Creation, Management and Collaboration

SAN RAFAEL, California, February 17, 2004 — Today's introduction of AutoCAD 2005 software and family-based products, by Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, delivers improved design creation, management and collaboration solutions for its customers in the building, infrastructure (GIS and civil engineering) and manufacturing industries. The core of this release is AutoCAD 2005, a product optimized to save time and money by improving efficiencies in the digital workflow process for drafting and design professionals. AutoCAD 2005 provides enhanced capabilities that allow users to better manage and publish sheet sets and communicate project information for mark-up and review. These new features enable customers worldwide to improve their on-time, on-budget project delivery.

"AutoCAD 2005 demonstrates Autodesk's increased commitment to its customers' growing business needs, and what the industry requires for integrated workflow and collaboration," said Gisela Wilson, Director of Product Lifecycle Management at IDC.

Lifecycle Management (the effective management and tracking of complex project data throughout the entire length of a project) is a critical success factor for Autodesk customers working in the building, infrastructure and manufacturing industries. The portfolio of products built from the new features in AutoCAD 2005 delivers the functionality needed for efficient workflow processes. Users now have the ability to create and manage coordinated sets of drawings and project teams can review and mark-up the sets of drawings for more effective communication.

AutoCAD 2005 Tailored for Industry Sectors
Setting the new standard in CAD productivity, AutoCAD 2005 is optimized to meet specific industry needs so all customers can reduce costs and improve efficiencies throughout their project lifecycles. Productivity has always been a cornerstone in the profitability and viability of any industry that creates, manages, and shares complex data and design information. Whether creating sophisticated 2D and 3D design and drafting, complex data driven analysis and mapping, or object-based modeling; Autodesk industry solutions help increase productivity, improve team collaboration and reduce cycle times.

“The fact that all the infrastructure products are seamlessly integrated to share data back and forth will be a great improvement on our system,” said Ed Williams, senior analyst, Southern Company. “We will now have the capability to share data more efficiently than we have in the past.”

One Consistent Set of Drawings
This release has evolved AutoCAD software from single-page drawing to the creation and management of entire sets of related drawings, directly inside the application. There can be hundreds of pages within a complete set of drawings (or sheets) that is ultimately delivered to a customer. But it is the complete "sheet set" that encompasses all the information including annotations and other critical design data used to complete the project. Customers use information contained in the sheet set to communicate effectively and ensure the consistency and the highest quality over the project lifecycle.

Today, most organizations manage sheet sets using a file and folder structure on local disk drives and network servers. This manual method is labor intensive and susceptible to error. The new "Sheet Set Manager" feature provides an easy way to collate drawing sheets into logical sets and subsets that users can define by company, project or other industry standards. The user can quickly assemble sheet sets using existing drawings, propagate sheet standards over multiple projects, and provide simultaneous access to sheet sets within their local area network. Sheets can be easily added or removed from a full set or any subset by using the Sheet Set Manager tool palette or the context-sensitive menu.

"The newest version of AutoCAD solves some of the key workflow issues that I have been trying to resolve," said Darren Myles, CAD/IT Manager at LHT Limited, a leading New Zealand-based engineering and design firm. "The new sheet set manager, fields and tables will improve the consistency and accuracy of our drawings."

Integrated Collaboration Platform for Effective Communication
Another critical element to design lifecycle management is the ability to review drawings and communicate across entire project teams. The design review process has always been time-consuming and expensive because of multiple rounds of printing, mark-ups, and delivery. Autodesk Design Web Format™ (DWF™) for publishing is integrated into AutoCAD 2005 for an easy and cost-effective way to distribute and communicate digital design data throughout all project lifecycles. Saving sheet sets in DWF enables designers, engineers, and their colleagues to quickly and easily communicate design information electronically to anyone needing to view, mark-up, review, or print the design information. Customers can review and mark-up the drawings with Autodesk DWF Composer a new advanced collaboration tool that integrates the comments back into AutoCAD 2005 to complete the design review process. Customers can also use Autodesk DWF Viewer, a free, lightweight application that allows anyone on the project team to easily view and print DWF drawings.

"We expect AutoCAD 2005 to set a new industry standard because of the productivity and efficiency gains our customers can experience," said John Sanders, vice president of Autodesk's Platform Technology Division. "This release will prove to be critical in helping our customers across all industries achieve their business objectives."

Autodesk AutoCAD 2005 Family of Products
The AutoCAD® software product family includes 11 enhanced design application releases optimized for the building, infrastructure, and manufacturing markets. The following applications will be available with the AutoCAD® 2005 release: AutoCAD LT® 2005, Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2005, Autodesk® Building Systems 2005, Autodesk Map™ 3D, Autodesk® Land Desktop 2005, Autodesk® Civil Design 2005, Autodesk® Survey 2005, and Autodesk® Raster Design 2005. AutoCAD 2005 will also serve as the foundation for future versions of AutoCAD® Mechanical, and AutoCAD® Electrical and Autodesk® MapGuide software applications. In addition, Autodesk® Revit® 6 software, the latest release of Autodesk's purpose-built building information modeling platform, is compatible with the new AutoCAD 2005 family of products.

Purchasing and Consulting Information
Many of the new products from the Autodesk software family will be available next month through Autodesk Authorized Resellers (www.autodesk.com/reseller). The easiest way to keep Autodesk design tools up-to-date is through the Autodesk® Subscription Program including Support Services. For an annual fee, the program provides the latest versions of licensed Autodesk software, offering a budget-conscious way to stay current with the latest technology. Customers can also access Autodesk Consulting and Training services to maximize the value of their investment in Autodesk technology. For more information about the Autodesk Subscription Program, visit www.autodesk.com/subscription. For more information on the AutoCAD, please visit www.autodesk.com/preview2005.

About Autodesk
Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Design Web Format, and DWF are either registered trademarks of trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
© 2004 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on February 17, 2004 at 06:10 AM in Announcements, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

AutoCAD 2005 and 2005 Based Products Announced "Go Further"

AutoCAD 2005 AutoCAD LT 2005 ADT 2005
Civil Des 2005 Map 3D 2005

Official Autodesk 2005 Preview Site
http://www.autodesk.com/preview2005

AutoCAD 2005 Preview Guide - PDF

AutoCAD® 2005 Information

Creating a single drawing as efficiently as possible is important. Delivering a coordinated set of drawings in a timely manner directly benefits your bottom line. With AutoCAD® 2005 you can do both. Everyday tools like the table object and tool palettes boost productivity, and the new Sheet Set Manager helps you control content across entire sets of related drawings, enabling you to lower the risk for errors. Then, in a single view, you can compose and collate sheet sets and share them with your project team using plots, eTransmit, or DWF™ (Design Web Format™) files.

AutoCAD 2005 System Requirements

Intel® Pentium® III or later, with 800 MHz or faster processor, or compatible Microsoft® Windows® XP (Professional, Home Edition, or Tablet PC Edition), Windows® 2000 Professional 256 MB RAM (recommended) 300 MB free disk space for installation 1024x768 VGA with true color (minimum) Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 CD-ROM drive Mouse, trackball, or compatible pointing device

AutoCAD 2005 Customer Quotes

David Stein, AMSEC LLC The new table entities and table features are awesome! We develop software for the shipbuilding industry and their design processes demand tables of all sorts and shapes. This new functionality makes our jobs (as well as the jobs of our end-users) much easier and more productive.
Darren J. Young, Cold Spring Granite Company
This next release of AutoCAD is one of the best releases to date. The Sheet Set Manager and Field features are robust and just plain well thought out. By utilizing these features, as well as the table objects, users will see tremendous productivity gains. I don't know that I've seen a release whose new features have the potential to impact such a large segment of the AutoCAD user base across all disciplines in such a huge way.

Steven D. Papke, KBJ Architects, Inc.
I really can't say enough good things about the new layers dialog box. I really appreciate the count of the layers displayed versus what is in the drawing. The design delivers information in a manner which is very simple, straightforward and intuitive.

Brian Allen, McKEOWN INC.
The next version of AutoCAD has the best feature set of any AutoCAD release since AutoCAD 2000. The use of fields alone will save our company huge amounts of time. When we use fields with the new tables feature, we’re able to quickly produce material lists, legends or notes. The Sheet Set Manager is also a great time saver - no more searching directories for drawings that are related to the current project, it's all part of the sheet set now.

Darren Myles, LHT Ltd. (New Zealand)
The latest version of AutoCAD provides the answers to some of the workflow issues that I have been trying to resolve for some time. The sheet set manager, fields and tables will improve consistency and accuracy of drawing information."

Robert Pappas, Norfolk (Virgina) Redevelopment and Housing Authority
Sheet Sets are an extremely efficient way to organize the project drawings. By keeping all the drawings sheets in one place and automating the information in the title block, the Sheet Set Manager creates a consistent and easily managed set of project drawings that can be transmitted with ease, through either DWF or traditional internet formats.

AutoCAD LT® 2005 Information

With AutoCAD LT® 2005 you can easily create, plot, publish, and share your 2D designs. You get more done in fewer steps with a streamlined plotting interface and drafting features that boost your productivity. Quickly create tables, better manage large groups of layers, and conveniently access frequently used content to work more efficiently. Sharing your data widely is a snap: even team members without AutoCAD LT software can view and mark up your published DWF™ files, and you can instantly distribute multiple DWG files in a single step. Plus background plotting frees you to work while you print out your drawings.

New Table Functionality
Tool Palette Enhancements
Easier Layer Management
Enhanced Multiline Text Editing and New Symbols
Simplified Publishing
Easy Data Sharing with DWF Files
Streamlined Publishing to DWF
Working with AutoCAD 2005 Users

What are the key differences between AutoCAD LT 2005 and AutoCAD 2005?

Both the AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 software programs use the same software architecture and technology, and both create the same native DWG file format and the new DWF™ (Design Web Format™) file format. Both products offer collaboration functionality that enriches, expands, and simplifies your design processes to save time and money. But AutoCAD 2005 provides additional capabilities in the following key areas:
3D capabilities

Sheet set management

Customization (LISP, ARX, VBA)

Presentation graphics

CAD standards management

Network licensing

Links and More Info

Autodesk.com AutoCAD 2005 preview site should be up at http://www.autodesk.com/preview2005. Main site to launch in the next few weeks. As well I will be updating my AutoCAD History Site with 2005 details and customer drawing gallery.

Lee Ambrosius of www.hyperpics.com A great resource on AutoCAD 2005

What's New in 2005 PDF

References updated for 2005:
AutoCAD Quick Guide Reference PDF
System Variables Quick Guide PDF
System Variables General Overview PDF
Environment Variables Quick Guide PDF
Environment Variables General Overview PDF
Command Quick Guide PDF

Jimmy Bermarks AutoCAD 2005 site
www.jtbworld.com/autocad2005.htm

Terry Dotson of Dotsoft's article on AutoCAD 2005
http://www.dotsoft.com/acad2005.htm

WorldCAD Access AutoCAD 2005 Top Ten
http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2004/02/top_10_whats_ne.html
http://www.upfrontezine.com/2004/upf-373.htm

From Patrick Emin of CADxp.com AutoCAD 2005 site in French
http://www.cadxp.com/
http://www.cadxp.com/Downloads+index-req-getit-lid-225.html

Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro) story on AutoCAD 2005 and based products.
http://www.yucad.com/neo.htm

Do you have a link to an AutoCAD 2005 or based product? Send me an email with the link.

Do you have a question regarding AutoCAD 2005? If so post your question as a comment to this blog entry. I will try to answer when I can as I am traveling this week.

More details, images, tips and tricks, articles, and resources very soon as there will be a lot of press articles and more over the next day.

Trivia tidbit on the AutoCAD 2005 image. It is the Yokohama Ferry Terminal in Japan.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Posted on February 17, 2004 at 12:01 AM in Announcements, Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2005, Autodesk, Beta Info, Helpful Resources, Tips–n-Tricks | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Between the Lines

AutoCAD and Autodesk related blog.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

AutoCAD White Papers Are a Great Resource

Friday, June 11, 2004

How to Save an R14 DWG from AutoCAD 2004 and 2005 Products

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

The New AutoCAD & LT 2005 Bible Coming in July from Ellen Finkelstein

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

New AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2005 Books Released

Monday, June 07, 2004

The New AutoCAD 2005 Layer Manager and Filters

Saturday, June 05, 2004

AUGI Customization Corner - June 2004

Friday, June 04, 2004

The AutoCAD 2005 Easter Egg

Thursday, May 27, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 - 5 of 5 Stars from Cadalyst Magazine

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Alireza Parsai has an AutoCAD 2005 Seminar in Toronto Tonight!

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Great Blog Post by Lee Ambrosius "Don't talk smack... instead give back"

Creating AutoCAD 2004 Tool Palettes and Custom Tools

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Perfect Paper Space, Part 2 by Lynn Allen

Saturday, May 15, 2004

AutoCAD® 2005 Sheet Set Best Practices White Papers

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Registration and Activation (Authorization) Codes: How does it work for Subscription?

Monday, May 10, 2004

Quick Article on Design Document Communication with DWF

Saturday, May 08, 2004

AutoCAD Express Tools Tutorial from http://www.cadtutor.net

Friday, May 07, 2004

Edge Panning with AutoCAD

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

DWF Precision Follow Up

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

AUGI Customization Corner - May 2004

Great User Group Meeting

Friday, April 30, 2004

White Paper: Best Practices for AutoCAD Migration

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Local AutoCAD Users Group Meeting Notice - San Francisco AutoCAD Users Group (SFAUG)

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Background Mask Tools for AutoCAD 2005 by Lee Ambrosius

AutoCAD 2005 Updated Migration Tools Released

Monday, April 26, 2004

DotSoft ToolPac 8.0 for AutoCAD

Alireza Parsai of cadpanel.com and AutoCAD 2005 Table Tutorial

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

AutoCAD Electrical 2005 eBeta Enrollment Open

DWFit Hyperlink Style!!

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Perfect Paper Space, Part 1 by Lynn Allen - Cadalyst

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Information by AutoCAD Bible Book Author Ellen Finkelstein

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Give AutoCAD® 2005 a Try, For Free!

Sunday, April 11, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 Tool Palette Trick - Insert Block using LTSCALE

Friday, April 09, 2004

HIDE in AutoCAD® and Architectural Desktop 2004 - 2005 Article by archidigm.com

Thursday, April 08, 2004

Combining Autodesk Network Licenses

Custom Background Mask command for Mtext by Lee Ambrosius of hyperpics.com

Thursday, April 01, 2004

UK Architecture Firm Specializing in Timber Framing Using ADT

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Tutorial: Interoperability Between AutoCAD 2005 and Architectural Desktop 2005

AutoCAD 2005 Online Streaming Trial is now live

New Plotting and Page Setup Changes in AutoCAD 2005 Video Demo by Sterling Systems

Monday, March 29, 2004

Autodesk Subscription e-Learning Tutorials Posted for AutoCAD 2005

Great AutoCAD/AUGI Resource With Some Really Good AutoCAD 2005 Articles

Comparing AutoCAD 2005 with Previous Releases

AutoCAD 2005 white Paper Benefits of Network Licensing

AutoCAD 2005 Fit & Finish Features White Paper

AutoCAD 2005 and the Section 508 Compliance White Paper

Nice Online Demo of Tips and Tricks with AutoCAD 2005 by Sterling Systems