Autodesk has made available a trial version of AutoCAD which can be downloaded and used for 30 days:
"AutoCAD® 2006 30-day trial software is now available in a downloadable format at www.autodesk.com/autocad-trial. Customers can download this fully enabled trial version and immediately start to experience exactly how AutoCAD 2006 software operates in their work environment."
"Area31" offers "Custom programming, design ideas and other interesting oddities for CAD programmers"
"The Mad Cadder" offers "News and links on Autodesk Products such as AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop, Building Systems and Revit"
These are both excellent resources of information and offer clear, concise articles.
Both sites have been added to my "CAD LINKS" section.
The Autodesk Informer blog was launched in September 2004 and as of today (January 6, 2005) has had 25,000 visitors.
In 2005, The Autodesk Informer will continue to be a source of product and industry news as well as provide a collection of useful tips and tricks.
For a laugh, check this out - evidence on the existence of Santa Claus for the scientifically-minded: http://www.physlink.com/Fun/IsThereSanta.cfm
A new website located at http://www.inventor-certified.com provides information on certification programs for Autodesk Inventor:
Discreet has announced that customers on the subscription program for 3D Studio MAX software will receive a software extension (plugin) in January for cloth simulation:
More informationThe Cloth Extension to 3ds max 7 delivers a sophisticated cloth simulation system that gives artists the creative tools to build realistic, film-quality clothing for 3D characters in Film, Television, Advertising and Games projects. With this powerful new tool in your 3ds max 7 arsenal, you can:
- Build clothing that behaves just like it would in the real world
- Create cloth that reflects both fabric type and clothing pattern and can be tailored to fit any model.
- Save and share your cloth types to boost productivity among artists.
The latest release of Autodesk Revit; Autodesk Revit 7 is now available for download from the download center.
This download will serve as a trial (60 days). Customers on subscription can also download Autodesk Revit 7 from the above site but will not be able to authorize the product until they receive Revit on CD.
The "Place Component" command in Autodesk Inventor only allows you to place a single component at a time. Therefore, it can be a tedious and time-consuming operation when you have multiple components to insert. As a workaround, launch Windows Explorer but adjust it so that you can see your assembly window in the background.
Navigate in Windows Explorer to a folder within your project and select the components that you would like to place using the CTRL and SHIFT keys. With the components selected, click and drag from Windows Explorer into the assembly window which should be partially visible in the background.
Click on the image to see a larger popup window showing this process.
Note: Since the first component in every assembly becomes the grounded component, I will typically insert this first component using the traditional "Place Component" command and then use the method above to quickly place the remaining components.
Netstream Solutions Inc. is pleased to announce the upcoming beta program for iCenter 1.5. Netstream is looking for candidates to test this exciting new release to ensure the highest possible product quality. A limited group of qualified participants will receive a "FREE LICENSED VERSION" of iCenter for their efforts. Please select the link provided below if you are interested in registering for this Beta opportunity.
http://www.netstream.ca/betaregistration.php
Some of the enhancements included in iCenter 1.5 are:
> Formulas and Concatenation of iProperties
> Database Combo Lists for iProperties
> Sorting and Filtering the iCenter Browser display
> Multi Select and Multi Set of iProperty values
> Stored Custom Views
Kind Regards,
The Netstream Solutions Team
3D Studio MAX 7 (3ds max 7) trial is now available for download.
Discreet started shipping 3D Studio MAX R7 to customers today (October 13, 2004).
For product information go here.
Download 3ds max 7 technical specification document.
Read the press release here.
Autodesk Inventor automatically applies constraints when creating geometry in the sketch environment (ie: parrallel, perpendicular, tangent, etc.). While this is generally very useful, there can be cases where you don't want Inventor to perform auto-constraining as you create sketch geometry. By holding down the CTRL key as you draw, auto-constraining is temporarily disabled.
Autodesk added a very nifty (yet undocumented) system variable in AutoCAD 2005: "OSNAPHATCH"
This system variable controls whether AutoCAD has the ability to snap to hatch patterns.
To change the setting of this system variable type "OSNAPHATCH" at the command line. There are 2 available settings:
"0" - Ignore hatches when snapping
"1" - Hatch patterns can be snapped to
Thanks to Michael Rotolo for submitting this very useful tip.
Autodesk will be running a series of four, 1 hour webcasts for Autodesk Vault.
The topics and dates are:
Design Resuse - Thursday, September 23rd
Version Control - Thursday, October 21st
Design Team Management - Thursday, November 11th
Getting the Most out of Autodesk Inventor - Thursday, December 16th
The webcasts begin at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time (1:00 p.m. Eastern time) but you must register for the event.
In AutoCAD 2005 type “XREFTYPE”. This system variable controls the choice of either Attachment or Overlay in the Xref Manager when attaching a drawing. By default, XREFTYPE is set to 0 (Attachment), set the variable to 1 (Overlay) and when the user goes to attach the Xref, OVERLAY is the default choice in the dialog box instead of attachment.
Thanks to Michael Rotolo for submitting this tip.
Most users are aware that AutoCAD uses "Support Paths" which identify the locations where both dependent AutoCAD files and any custom files (ie. lisp addons) reside. Since AutoCAD defines multiple support paths and the fact that you can include your own additional paths, locating a file within one of these locations can be a tedious process; especially since later versions of AutoCAD point to locations outside of the installation directory.
That being said, using a single line of lisp code at the command line in AutoCAD makes locating these files a breeze. In lisp, the FINDFILE function searches all of your support paths for the file that you specify. Therefore, as an example, if we wanted to search for the "ACAD.PAT" file within the support paths we would simply enter the following at the AutoCAD command prompt and hit enter:
(findfile "acad.pat")
Looking at the image we can see the exact path to this file (click on image to see it enlarged).
So you've designed a part in Autodesk Inventor and now you would like to create a mirror of it so that you have both a left and right-hand version of the part file. Fortunately, in Autodesk Inventor this is a very easy process. In order to accomplish this task, we need to make use of Inventor's "derived component" functionality.
A derived component creates a part file that is based upon another file. Essentially, the source file is referenced (linked) into the new component, thereby creating a derived part. Because there is referencing between the files, a change made to the source file will propagate through to the derived part. The nice thing here is that after you have created your mirrored part, should you need to go back and change the source file, those changes will appear in the mirrored version either by re-opening it or clicking the "update" button.
Assuming that you've already created the source file, here is the process to create a mirrored version:
1) Begin a new part file
2) Finish the sketch
3) From the "Part Features" commands, choose "Derived Component", the "Open" dialog will appear
4) In the dialog, browse to the source file and click "Open" (ensure that the source file is contained within the project file as you are referencing between files)
5) In the "Derived Part" dialog that appears (see image below), click the toggle for "Mirror" and then say "Ok"
6) At this point you can add any additional features to the mirrored version that do not appear in the source file (note: changes made to the source file will appear in the derived part; however, any changes made to the derived part will not affect the source file)
7) Save the mirrored part
Closing thoughts: Derived parts are very powerful and in future installments we'll talk about some of their additional uses.
Discreet has announced the upcoming version of 3D Studio MAX (R7) and product literature is available on discreet's website.
From a design visualization perspective, the following features are of note:
3D Studio MAX and Autodesk VIZ allow for the creation of a default template file named "maxstart.max" or "vizstart.max" depending on what product you are using. This defines the default settings used for new files created either when the application starts or when a new scene is begun using File > Reset.
From the help file for 3ds max:
maxstart.max − At startup and when you reset, 3ds max looks for this file in the Scenes directory specified in Configure Paths, and if found, loads it. This allows you to specify the default state of the workspace whenever you start or reset the program.
Note: In the above paragraph, the default template file should be called "vizstart.max" if you are using Autodesk VIZ.
Personally, I customize this file so that I have a 4-view layout but with the views defined orthographically. With this configuration, the upper-left view is "TOP", lower-left is "FRONT", lower-right is "RIGHT" and upper-right is "PERSPECTIVE" as indicated by the image.
The updated version of Autodesk DWF Viewer is available for download.
Primarily the updated viewer adds support for viewing 3D DWF files.
Note that when you go to the download link above, it is not necessary that you enter your contact details. You can opt-out of this process by choosing the "go straight to the download" link.
Autodesk has begun shipping Autodesk Inventor Series 9 to customers. Users on the Subscription program are already receiving their copies.
Click here for more information on Autodesk Inventor Series 9.
Autodesk Inventor Series 9 also includes Autodesk Vault 3 for integrated data management.
Often times while working within the viewport in 3D Studio, you want to do a transparent pan. However, if you try to pan with the middle wheel/button on your mouse, the current command is cancelled. Instead, while you are in the command, move your mouse to the location that you want to be the new view center and hit the "i" key.
The Properties Manager command is the most versatile command for modifying object properties. However, in my experience, many users aren't aware that you can access sub-selections within this command to limit the objects that you want to modify. When you make a selection within the properties manager and that selection is made up of different types of geometry, the selection dropdown will indicate the word "All (#)". This is an indicator that your selected objects are not all the same type (for example: you may have a selection made up of lines, dimensions, arcs and blocks). By clicking the down button at the right of the dropdown, you can access a subset of this overall selection.
An example of where this can be very useful is changing the properties of a schedule or parts list. Simply make a selection of the entire schedule or parts list and at the "All" level, change the properties common to all objects. Then click the dropdown and access the "Text" objects to change properties specific to the text objects and repeat for the linework by accessing the "Line" objects.