Cadopolis AutoCAD 2009 Feeds

Farewell old friend

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:23 GMT

Autodesk Mechanical Desktop 1995-2008 Some of you may have read on the web or received an e-mail notification announcing the discontinuation of Autodesk Mechanical Desktop after the present 2009 release. For some of you this announcement was a long anticipated...

Link Excel and AutoCAD Without OLE and Win at the Blackjack Tables

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:21 GMT

OK the main point is not really winning at the card game Blackjack, but the table in this AutoCAD Tables in AutoCAD example does show the best moves when playing at the Blackjack card table. Autodesk University 2008 is in Shanghai China, Yokohama Japan and Las Vegas Nevada. In Las Vegas there is gambling available should you choose to gamble. I don't gamble when in Las Vegas myself except maybe a couple quarters in a slot machine. OK Shaan get on with it…

I created a Microsoft Spreadsheet showing what to do when the dealer’s hand is showing and you have a certain pair of cards in yours. This table does even the odds a bit, but in most gambling the odds are in the casinos favor no matter the skill.

Now at this point I could copy the Excel cells and using Paste Special in AutoCAD paste as AutoCAD Entities and end up with a native AutoCAD Table with the formatting, values, and the underlying formulas but I am not. In this example I want to show a cool and time saving tip and new AutoCAD 2009 feature. I want to have the spreadsheet linked between AutoCAD and Excel so if I update either they are synched up. I don't want to use the paste OLE object into AutoCAD as OLE is one of those things in Windows that can be a real pain. So we will use the new AutoCAD 2009 ability to create a Table from a data link to Excel. Note you must have Excel installed.

So I use the DATALINK Command. You can also select the Data Link option from the Tools menu.

I will then use the Data Link Manager to give the Data Link a name and then browse for a Excel spreadsheet.

I then can preview the spreadsheet and use the path or a relative path. I also selected a range in the spreadsheet.

Now I use the AutoCAD TABLE Command and select the Insert option “From a data link” and select the Blackjack Table I linked to and you can preview the table.

Now place the Table in your drawing. You can now edit the formatting and as I mentioned update the table from Excel using DATALINKUPDATE command. without having to resort to OLE which is a gamble itself. ;-)

That’s it!

I printed a DWF for reference and also placed one on the free Autodesk Freewheel where you can view a DWF without installing anything and works on any platform that can run JAVA in a browser.

Shaan's BlackJack Table DWF Click Here

Or click the below image to see the DWF in Autodesk Freewheel.

Now I need to get back to writing my many presentations and packing for travel to Istanbul Turkey this week.

Cheers and I hope to see you at one of the AU’s this year,
Shaan

Maya 2009

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:59 GMT

With Maya2009 now available I hope to post some new examples using nParticles soon.

ADAPT-Builder - integration link for Revit Structure is now available!

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:49 GMT

Revit Structure 2009 meets ADAPT-Builder.

The 3^rd generation of the integration link is now available.

The bi-directional integration offers ease-of-use by directly transferring model information from Revit Structure to ADAPT and back at the basic physical model level.

Carry out your detailed slab and foundation system design using ADAPT's powerful 3D finite element analysis engines (ADAPT-Floor Pro and MAT) that automatically create analytical models from your imported Revit Structure model. Transfer potential geometry changes as well as reinforcement objects from ADAPT-Builder back into Revit Structure.

This saves hours in redundant model manipulation, data entry and dramatically reduces coordination errors.

View ADAPT-Revit integration video…

For more information, please go to http://www.adaptsoft.com/revitstructure

Update 2 Available for AutoCAD® Architecture 2009

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:45 GMT

While links (for 32-bit and 64-bit versions) have not yet been posted here, if you check the Communication Center in ACD-A 2009, you should find Product Update 2 is now available. The Communication Center link will take you to a "live update" site. Be certain to read the README first, or a least the section on installation. No worries if you never installed Update 1, as Update 2 includes all of the Update 1 fixes as well, so you only need to install Update 2.

I got an error message at the end of the installation, claiming it was incomplete, but when I reopened 2009, it showed as Version 3, which is Update 2. An attempt to install the Update again failed, saying the product was up to date. The first fix noted in the README was the improper scaling of non-annotative Multi-View Blocks from user-created tool palette tools, an issue I first noticed in 2008, and which persisted in 2009. A quick test resulted in correct behavior, so I am assuming that the Update installed correctly for now. Three cheers to the ACD-A team for fixing one of my pet peeves with this Update.

DWG Trueview hidden commands

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:48 GMT

The Cadforum has published some tips regarding 'hidden commands' in DWG Trueview 2009. Using this, I created this list of all of the available commands. Some of the interesting ones that add a bit of capability to Trueview are...

You can use RibbonClose and Menubar to remove the ribbon and restore the normal pull-down menus.
You can use the Menu command to load any menu you want, even though it won't help all that much since commands not on this list will not work.
The Xref/Image/ExternalReference command (they all do the same thing) opens the palette which is missing the right-click commands, but if you use the -XREF and -IMAGE commands, you can actually attach a drawing or image.
The Dsettings command is available.
The ClassicLayer command is available.

Here is the complete list.


3DCONFIG            
-3DCONFIG           
3DORBIT             
3DPAN               
3DPANTRANSPARENT
ABOUT
AI_EMPTYPRINC
ALLPLAY
AREA
BGPLOTRECEIVE
BROWSER
CAPTURETHUMBNAILS
CLASSICLAYER
CLOSE
CLOSEALL
COMMANDLINE
COMMANDLINEHIDE
DDPLOTSTAMP
DIST
DSETTINGS
+DSETTINGS
DWFCLIP
DWGCONVERT
DWGPROPS
EPLOTEXT
EXTERNALREFERENCES
EXTERNALREFERENCESCLOSE
GRID
HELP
HYPERLINKOPEN
ID
IMAGE
-IMAGE
LAYER
LAYERCLOSE
LAYFRZ
LAYOFF
LIST
MASSPROP
MENU
MENUBAR
MSPACE
NAVSMOTION
-NAVSMOTION
NAVSMOTIONCLOSE
NAVSWHEEL
NAVVCUBE
OPEN
OPTIONS
+OPTIONS
PAGESETUP
PAN
-PAN
PERSPECTIVE
PLOT
PLOTSTAMP
-PLOTSTAMP
PLOTTERMANAGER
PREVIEW
PROXYNOTICE
PSPACE
PUBLISH
-PUBLISH
+PUBLISH
PUBLISHTOWEB
QUIT
QVDRAWING
QVDRAWINGCLOSE
REDRAW
REDRAWALL
REGEN
REGENALL
RIBBON
RIBBONCLOSE
SEQUENCEPLAY
SETVAR
SHADEMODE
SNAP
STEPSIZE
STYLESMANAGER
SYSWINDOWS
TEXTSCR
THUMBSIZE
TOOLBAR
-TOOLBAR
VIEW
-VIEW
VIEWERPREFERENCES
-VIEWERPREFERENCES
VIEWGO
VIEWPLAY
VIEWPLOTDETAILS
VSCURRENT
XREF
-XREF
ZOOM

Understanding UCS (Part 2)

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:21 GMT

In my first article, I wrote about rotating the UCS about an axis and the use of the UCS command in 2D drawings. From this article on, we will learn about the 3D applications of the UCS command. Let's examine the various directions on a cube before we go further, in Fig.1.

Fig. 1

Well the figure itself is pretty much self explanatory.. AutoCAD 2009 users will enjoy easier access to these various views through the use of the View Cube, Fig. 2 .

Fig. 2

With the View Cube feature, you can have an easier understanding of your current view, the available views and your orientation. The cube comes with the predefined views written on the respective facets of the cube, and you also have a mini UCS drop down menu right under the cube.

Now let's try to draw a cylinder lying on the cube that we had drawn earlier. You have to set the UCS on the “front” face of the cube to be able to draw the wanted cylinder. See how the command works:

Command: UCS
Current ucs name: *NO NAME*
Specify origin of UCS or [Face/NAmed/OBject/Previous/View/World/X/Y/Z/ZAxis]: FR

Although we see only a number of options available for the UCS command, you can in fact enter many values for it. Simply enter FR to specify the FRont plane. While this is not among the options, it is accepted as one of the default values and the necessary arrangements are made, Fig.3 .

Fig. 3

As you can see, the Z axis is arranged so that we can draw the heigth of objects perpendicular to the front plane. The base of objects will be on the front plane (XY plane) while they will rise in height along Z axis. We can easily draw a cylinder on our cube as in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

It is ideal to use the UCS command for cubes, walls or facedes of buildings. You can access these settings using the UCSMAN command in AutoCAD 2009, Fig 5.

Fig. 5

It is easier to access them on earlier versions through the UCS II toolbar, Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

If you are using 2008 or higher, and you have the Dynamic UCS feature enabled, you may not have to play with UCS settings at all, for simple shapes and faces. The UCS can become parallell to a face if you are trying to draw in the middle of that face, Fig.7.

Fig. 7

I tried talking about orthographic UCS in this article. More complex surfaces will be covered in another article.

Maya 2009 Bonus Tools are available

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:37 GMT

There&os;s a couple new tools in there

Restoring Classic Layer Filters

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:41 GMT

I ran into a problem early on in our deployment and testing of AutoCAD Civil 3d 2009 that I couldn’t figure out. I had swallowed the new Layer Properties Manager hook-line-and sinker and quickly found that some of the highly-used AEC Layer Filter tools that I had grown very accustomed to using were missing. The [...]

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Hidden Messages and a new MTEXT Feature!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:25 GMT

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting a wonderful AutoCAD user by the name of Alan Dunn from Atlanta, Georgia. Alan was the creator of the CAD Card, slide charts for AutoCAD. I remember back in my teaching days highly recommending these to my students as they put so much valuable information in one location (and eliminated the need for a calculator to figure out all those pesky scales). Sadly, Alan passed away much too early in life, but his widow, Susan, has kept the CAD Card going. She just informed me that there are two new Metric CAD Cards available so be sure to check it out!

On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Hidden Messages and a new MTEXT feature:

Over the years AutoCAD has included a variety of messages to help the user along. In most cases, you have the opportunity to tell AutoCAD to turn off said messages when they start to annoy you. But what if you turned off one of those messages and wanted to bring it back? Or what if you are a CAD manager and one of your users has turned them off (and really shouldn't have!). AutoCAD 2009 has finally provided a low stress means of bringing back those messages (which we will get to momentarily).

Segue: We have all learned the hard way what happens when you hit the Escape key while in MTEXT, you lose all your hard earned text. You must gracefully exit the MTEXT editor - by doing a Ctrl+enter, hitting OK, or by picking anywhere outside the box (I just threw in a bonus tip there). Thankfully, AutoCAD 2009 provides a nice net for those of us who are tired of losing our text. Now when you hit an escape while in MTEXT, the following dialog will appear.

But what if you like it the old way where an escape cancels out of the box? What if you understand that you will lose all the changes? No problem - you can check "Always perform my current choice" and select the "No" button and you'll be back to pre-AutoCAD 2009 behavior. Now let me remind you that "Always" is a pretty strong word. It is right up there with "Never". What if after the fact you choose to change your mind? How do you get the dialog back?

Note: Those of you with fear of commitment would never check that box and consequently would never have an issue with this. You know who you are...

No problem - Simply go to the System tab in OPTIONS as seen below and you'll find a new button for controlling Hidden Messages.

That will take you to the below dialog where you will find all those messages you've turned off - a simple click can turn them all back on or you can turn them on individually.

Incidentally...I couldn't get a message preview no matter how hard I tried so I'm not sure what the deal is with that! (waste of space I guess)

So there you have it! "Always" doesn't have to mean "Always" any more...

I'm off to work on my presentations for AU China (yes...there is an AU in China!)...Have a great Wednesday!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:22 GMT

Date: Wednesday October 29, 2008

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6.

Click here for map.

For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

ORUG is proud to announce its 2-year anniversary. To celebrate, we're holding our first annual EXPO! Members are encouraged to bring and showcase their projects to the group. Participants will be entered to win prizes. Any ORUG member can bring and show their projects but we would like to request that expositions to the Expo have the following minimum criteria to be eligible for the draw:

Revit Model

One exterior rendering that will be submitted to Jay Polding prior to Wednesday October 29. This rendering will act as registration for the prize draw

One interior rendering

One floorplan

One elevation

One section

Brief explanation to the group about the project and the Revit Model

Laptop with the files mentioned above

We are looking for 3 eligible entrants to do "pecha kucha" presentations about their projects. Pecha Kucha presentations require each presenter to use a slideshow of 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds. This results in a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds.If you are interested in entering and participating, please email jpolding@cadmicro.com.

Exhibition - ORUG EXPO 2008

Jay will provide a brief introduction of the exhibitions in slideshow format.
Our 3 “Pecha Kucha” entrants will then present.

Exhibitors will then set up at individual tables and be able to discuss projects with other members.

Finally, we will be conducting a draw from registered participants. The draw will include two seats of 3dsMAX Design 2009 (Not For Resale version).

Autodesk University 2008Are you attending Autodesk University this year?

Please let us know if you have registered by emailing alau@cadmicro.com

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com. There is no charge to attend.

MDT RIP

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:23 GMT

Autodesk has ceased development of Autodesk Mechanical Desktop and will no longer release new versions of the product, and Mechanical Desktop 2009 is the last version of the product to be made available.No surprise. The first sign of impending death:...

Getting to AU on a Budget

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:38 GMT

Congratulations, you sold your boss on the many Autodesk University takeaways, and Viva Las Vegas! Of course for you to take anything away from AU, you have to get there first. For many just convincing your boss to lay down the cash to go to AU was probably difficult enough, and you haven't even booked your flight. With corporate budgets tighter than ever and airfare prices increasing every day, how can you insure you're getting the biggest bang for your buck?

Before continuing I should mention that I am by no stretch of the imagination the world’s expert on travel. Instead I am just a geek who has spent many hours searching the internet trying to find the best deal possible. After all a geeks worth is measured not by what he/she knows, but how well he/she can Google – right?

Types of Airfare Sites

Aggregators
These sites employ a model similar to a search engine like Google. They do not sell the airfare, or even book it. Instead they search a compilation of sites in an effort to locate the best fare available. Since they neither sell nor book flights, they generally make their money with affiliate hotel deals and on-site advertisement. Many of the best deals can be found on these sites.
Booking Engines
Booking engines are similar to aggregators in the way they search multiple websites to find the cheapest price on a flight. Unlike the aggregators, these sites do however book a flight on behalf of an airline, collecting a small fee in addition to the price of the flight.
Airlines own Website
Especially for flights found on booking engines, you’ll want to pay a visit to the airlines website to see if you can get the flight without the booking fee. Additionally some airlines (Southwest) do not share their fares to the aggregators.

When to Book Your Flight

New fares are generally applied at midnight, so 12:01 am is generally the best time to score an awesome deal on a flight. I have not personally had a chance to try this theory, but I have seen Wednesday mentioned as the best day to book airfare. The theory behind this one is that airlines post their new fares on Friday, other airlines generally react on Monday, and Tuesday is the “price war” day. Therefore the dust settles with the fares posted Wednesday. It’s suggested the cycle then begins all over on Thursday (fare increase).

Finding a Flight

There’s certainly no shortage of travel websites among the ranks of the internet, but which ones are actually worth going to. Personally my preferred site has been Kayak.com. It’s an aggregator, and has done well by me when it’s come to finding the cheapest fare. Another popular aggregator has been Sidestep.com, which is now owned by Kayak.com. Another aggregator that has caught my attention of late is Farecast.com. Not only does it find the cheapest flight, it predicts ticket prices seven days out.

With that my suggested method of attack is as follows; start with the aggregators, proceed to some of the budget carriers, finally end with the booking engines.

Aggregators (Start with these)

Airline Websites (these airlines are known for their cheap rates, and somewhat common omission on aggregators)

Booking Engines

I will once again mention the booking fee charged by the booking engines. Oftentimes you can use one of the booking engines to find a flight, and then go to that airlines website to book the same flight without the booking fees. Booking direct with the airline isn’t always the cheapest, but is certainly worth checking out.

Autodesk University 2008 Top DAUG t-shirt contest, time to vote

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:52 GMT

The below is from post “Design the Top DAUG t-shirt for Autodesk University 2008, and win a FREE! pass to Autodesk University 2009”

Then what?

Each eligible design will be posted on AUGI.com for voting from October 6 - October 17, 2008.

AUGI members will vote for their top pick.

Members can vote only once.

The design with the most votes will be awarded the Grand Prize.

It's time to choose your! top 5 designs from the 102 entries. To review all the entries and cast your votes, click on the below button:

Good luck to all the people who submitted...

Maya 2009 North American Launch Events

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:00 GMT

Maya 2009 is coming to a city near you

AutoCAD 2009 Article - Much More to AutoCAD 2009 Than Meets the Eye

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:47 GMT

David Cohn published a new AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 article “Much More to AutoCAD 2009 Than Meets the Eye” in Desktop Engineering. It is a good and very well balanced article which points out there is more than the initial impression of the interface changes to AutoCAD 2009. David also wrote about the interface changes and that he preferred them, but you can customize and revert back to an older AutoCAD styled interface.

That is one of the strengths of AutoCAD in that you can customize it to your own needs and likes. We knew that if we were to develop the ribbon in AutoCAD that we would have to go above and beyond the ribbon in Microsoft's Office to make it customizable.

So with AutoCAD 2009 the tradition of make it your way and almost 3 ways to most anything continue to the delight of many.

Cheers,
Shaan

6 October 2008 New Feature Releases for Autodesk Subscription Customers

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:02 GMT

On October 6, 2008, Autodesk Subscription members, as part of their benefits, can download the following new feature releases including the new 64-bit versions of Autodesk Revit, Autodesk® Inventor® 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack, training as well as local language training content, and the 64-bit DWG Reader for Autodesk NavisWorks 2009:

AutoCAD 2009

Transitioning from AutoCAD 2008 - Simplified Chinese

AutoCAD Architecture 2009

Erweiterung für AutoCAD^® Architecture - German Only

AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit Architecture 2009 64-bit
Swedish Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009– Swedish only

AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit MEP 2009 64-bit
Swedish Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009 – Swedish only

AutoCAD Revit Structure Suite 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit Structure 2009 64-bit
AutoCAD Structural Detailing Engine 2009
Swedish Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009– Swedish only

Autodesk Inventor 2009

Autodesk® Inventor® 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack
Transitioning from Autodesk Inventor 2008 Parts 1 & 2 e-Learning - German, French, Italian, Korean, Latin America Spanish
Inventor 2009 Essentials e-learning – 40 lessons – Simplified Chinese, Russian, Portuguese

Autodesk NavisWorks Review, Simulate, Manage

64-bit DWG Reader for Autodesk NavisWorks 2009

Revit Architecture 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit Architecture 2009 64-bi
Swedish Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009– Swedish only
Video Help for Revit Architecture 2009

Revit MEP 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit MEP 2009 64-bit

Revit Structure 2009

Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - English, French, Japanese
Globe Link for Revit 2009
Revit Structure 2009 64-bit
Swedish Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009– Swedish only

AUGI Training Program, free courses in Autodesk Products - October 2008

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:06 GMT

It is still not too late to sign up and enjoy free! courses (classes) in Autodesk Products, delivered to you by the AUGI Training Program. ATP Courses for October 2008 start today! (2008-10-06).

ATP216 - Advanced Revit Structure.
The third of three, this course teaches the advanced functions of Revit Structure.
ATP227 - 3ds MAX Design 2009.
Be prepared to be floored as we create stunning photo-realistic renderings with an ease unlike any previous version of 3ds MAX or VIZ.
ATP232 - AutoCAD Electrical fifth level.
In this class we will cover how to insert parametric as well as full unit PLC's into our schematics, create new parametric modules to supplement the large out of the box selection.
ATP233 - AutoCAD Fields.
We'll look at the basics of fields: what options are available, how to tie them to borders, their use with Sheet Set Manager and so much more. You'll walk away wondering how you ever lived without them!

To Register go to the Current ATP Courses page. Note: You must be logged into AUGI to register for ATP classes.

See you in class!

Ditch excess RegApps & Speed Up Your Drawings

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:08 GMT

So you have this drawing, and despite clearing our your Annotative Scale List, running the PURGE command, even clearing out your layer filters the gosh darn drawing is still slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. And even after all of that, your drawing is still 1 MB in size – what gives?

The issue is most likely due to these little things known as regapp ID’s which can lurk in a drawing and substantially impact drawing performance. The term regapp is actually short for registered application. The basic premise of these so called regapps is a connection is made between AutoCAD and some external applications (ie AutoLISP, ObjectARX, .NET, etc). When this connection is no longer needed, a regapp of that former connection is retained inside the AutoCAD DWG database.

Removing RegApps from a Single Drawing

Thankfully getting rid of these unreferenced regapps is rather simple. Being one of AutoCAD’s best kept secrets, the hardest thing is just knowing about them. The secret to getting rid of these is the command line version of the -PURGE command (note the hyphen).

If you type –PURGE at the command line, you can then specify R for RegApps. Finishing the command will subsequently remove these unecessary objects from your drawing. Now save and watch your file shrink!

Removing RegApps from Multiple Drawings

The above method is great if all you have is a couple drawings to purge the RegApps from. Autodesk recently posted a Regapp ID Cleanup Utility which will allow you to remove these pesky things from multiple drawings at once.

CSI link to Revit Structure 2009 is now here!

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:24 GMT

Computers and Structures, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of CSIxRevit2009, a significantly enhanced link that allows for data exchange between ETABS^® v9.5.0 and Revit^® Structure 2009. CSIxRevit2009 now supports true round-tripping, specifically four different workflows of data interchange:

1) Exporting from Revit Structure to create a new ETABS model
2) Exporting from Revit Structure to update an existing ETABS model
3) Importing from ETABS to create a new Revit Structure model
4) Importing from ETABS to update an existing Revit Structure model

The CSIxRevit2009 link is a powerful integration tool, allowing you to maximize the capabilities of ETABS and Revit Structure 2009.

CSIxRevit2009 is only compatible with ETABS v9.5.0, and both require a new license.

SUM subscribers are eligible to receive the upgrade to ETABS v9.5.0 and CSIxRevit2009 free of charge. Non-SUM subscribers must purchase an upgrade to ETABS v9.5.0 to use CSIxRevit2009.

For more information go to: http://www.csiberkeley.com/Revit/2009/

Please contact CSI Sales for further information or call (510) 649-2201.

Top DAUG t-shirt contest for Autodesk University 2008 closes today

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:06 GMT

Image: Last year's winning design, by Robert Geiger.

Regarding post “Design the Top DAUG t-shirt for Autodesk University 2008, and win a FREE! pass to Autodesk University 2009”, there is now only a few hours remaining until the submission deadline (October 3, 2008, 11:59 AM PDT).

Therefore to give yourself the chance of winning a free pass to AU 2009 you will need to get your design(s) entered NOW!

For complete contest details / information visit the below link:

Design the Top DAUG t-shirt for Autodesk University 2008, and win a FREE! pass to Autodesk University 2009

Good luck!

Free AutoCAD Webcasts

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:27 GMT

My coworker Heidi Hewett mentioned next weeks free AutoCAD Webcast on 3D and Visualization as well as archived webcasts.

Heidi’s Post: Free AutoCAD Webcasts!

AutoCAD Best Practices Webcast: 3D Visualization and Navigation

Date & Time: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. PDT
Using AutoCAD® 2009 you can display your models in various forms for both modeling and presentation purposes. Use visual styles to view the model as wireframe geometry, conceptual-style faces, or realistic materials. Learn to apply materials from an extensive library that is included with AutoCAD, or create and modify your own custom materials. Use the new ViewCube and SteeringWheels to navigate around your model, and then save and replay key views with the new Shot Properties and ShowMotion functionality.

Register Now!

RTC 2009 - Call for Papers

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:00 GMT

RTC = Revit Technology Conference (aka The *AU "down-under")

My friend Wesley Benn, his team of experts and the members of the Revit User Group of Sydney (RUGsyd) organize this event each year (fifth year this). I was fortunate enough to attend and present at RTC 2006. I had a lot of fun and I still wear my hat! Events have conspired against me to prevent my return...no loss for them as they've continued to have great sessions and presenters. My loss....

So you like to teach/talk about Revit? Are you looking for an excuse to go to Melbourne, Australia? They are calling all speakers/presenters to offer course submissions for review and acceptance. Here's the pertinent details:

When: June 18-20, 2009
Where: The Sebel Albert Park Hotel, Melbourne, Australia

What do you do now? Download the FORM and follow the instructions!

Deadline for submissions is Friday 31 October 2008. Good luck...but not too much so that you don't knock me out of the running!!

I'll post a link as soon as their site is up and running.

(* AU = Autodesk University)

Oh...you could also just plan to attend!?! You don't HAVE to speak to attend!!

What's on labs for the manufacturing industry?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:00 GMT

A Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey emailed us:

Do you have a recent presentation of the latest stuff available on Labs for the manufacturing industry?

Inventor Product Manager, Sam Antos, provided the answer with a PowerPoint presentation. I have taken Sam's slides and fashioned them into a blog article.

iMap for Inventor

Skeletal iMap views to identify and modify complete assembly structure, including sub-assemblies
Constraint iMap views to interactively investigate, create, and manipulate key relationships and constraints
Navigate your Digital Prototypes!

// More iMap info

New User Interface

Modern, ribbon-based UI for increased productivity, ease of use, and learnability
Intuitive, task-based grouping of commands
Customizable Quick Access Toolbar
Document switching thumbnails
Progressively detailed Tooltips

// More UI info

Advanced Simulation

Key Plassotech capabilities that augment the Autodesk Digital Prototyping solution
Part and Assemblies FEA and modal frequency analysis
Parametric simulations and multi-criteria optimization
Quickly set up simulation models that provide usable results

// More Advanced Simulation info

Shrinkwrap Add-in for Inventor

Easily provide a single solid part as a substitute for a complex assembly
IP protection for suppliers by quickly removing all internal components from an assembly
Substantially less memory usage compared to the fully detailed assembly

// More Shrinkwrap info

Inventor Plastic Features

Dedicated, purpose-built Inventor environment for designing complex plastic parts
Automated creation of common technical plastic features
Innovative Progressive Shelling technology for thin-walled plastic parts

// More Plastic Features info

ShareNow Add-in for Inventor

One click publishing from Inventor to easily share designs with non-Inventor users
Browser-based viewing without additional software
Real-time and/or at-your-convenience collaboration including markup

// More ShareNow info

Also available on Autodesk Labs

Thanks Sam!

Enumerating the benefits of modeling software technologies for the manufacturing industry is alive in the lab.

New Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 extension now available!

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:32 GMT

Monday was the unofficial release (Press Release) date of all the new 64-bit Revit products which also included new versions of some of the extensions previously available such as the Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 extension. Below is a link to the download page on the Autodesk Subscription site.

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11586302

Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009
Release Date: 2008-09-29
Batch Print provides an easy way to print a large number of drawings (views and sheets) from a Revit® Architecture 2009, Revit® Structure 2009, or Revit® MEP 2009 software project.

After preparing the default printer and the Revit software project, use Batch Print to send any number of drawings to the printer and to control the order in which they print. When you start the print job, Batch Print manages the printing of the drawings, requiring no further interaction from you. If desired, you can monitor the progress of the print job using a status dialog.

Batch Print is now compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009, and Revit MEP 2009 software.