RobiNZ CAD Blog

Visual Project (and task) Dashboards with MindManager

Donnie, The CAD Geek (aka Travis), has a great post on how a MindManager Dashboard has assisted with the process of writing his first book.

Visual Project Dashboards with MindManager | The CAD Geek Blog

A book is a huge project but the same can apply to a simple task list. Due to a change in process I recently had to review some settings in a bunch of projects. I used a spare machine filling the gap in my workflow when tasks like render, print, publish tied up my primary machine.

The sporadic workflow and varied tasks per project meant it was useful to track progress; a job for MindManager. I could return hours, maybe a day, later and see the outstanding tasks, and progress, at a glance (example below).

I just use the MindManager task progress “Complete” icon and Task Management “rollup” feature to aggregate the results. Ticking a child topic complete (or partially complete) rolls up the status to its parent topics as a form of visual summary.

With tools like this one click can capture and convey a lot of information.

The film location blog banner

Karekare beach has interesting history and has recently featured in film & TV productions. If you saw the movie “The Piano” its seemingly remote location was not far from Auckland City. This photo was taken on a busy summer weekend, the car park was full, which explains the crowd!

Revit User Group Manawatu - Notice of March Meeting

Next Meeting feature Presenter: Productspec

5.30pm, Wednesday 3rd March 2010
@ Square edge fx2 theatre, Ground Floor to the rear of Square Edge Gallery, The Square, Palmerston North

Format for the evening will be;
5:30pm - Drinks, nibbles and chit chat session.
6:00 - 610pm - Welcome and introductions by Scott Sellars
6:10 - 6:20pm - Worksetting your project
6:20 - 6:30pm - Autodesk Revit Extensions
6:30 - 7:00pm - Productspec presentation & demonstration
7:00 - 7:10pm - Featured website of the month
7:10 - 7:15pm - Q&A session on the nights topics
7:15 - 7:30pm - Close of meeting

10 NZIA CPD points available for Registered Architect's.

Foxit PDF Preview Handler for Windows & Office

One thing missing after my move to Windows 7 was a decent PDF preview in Outlook. The default Office 2007 install gave an error referring to the Windows Vista PDF Preview Handler. The solution was Tim Heuer’s PDF Preview Handler for the excellent Foxit Reader. Thanks Tim & Foxit!

Foxit PDF Preview Handler - timheuer.com

The Foxit PDF Preview Handler is a piece of software written by myself with sponsorship from Foxit Software (providing the license so that we all can enjoy).

Notice of Revit User Group Wellington February Meeting

When: Wed 24 February 2010
Where: Productspec HQ, 14 Holland St, 5.30 - 7.30pm

Presentations:

• Polyflor Revit Content, by Kelly and Matt
• Preview of the Polyflor content available from PS
• COES MEP Revit Content, by Trent and Matt
• Preview of the newly created Revit MEP Content created by Productspec for COES
• Revit Architecture - Massing & Site Tool, by Steph Arlaud (HERRIOT + MELHUISH: ARCHITECTURE LTD)
• Discussion on linking survey plan, setting up True North/Project North, and generating topography surface. How to generate a cut/fill schedule for Resource Consent purpose.
• Schedules to Excel and the 2 Machine advantage, by Michael Warwick (Stephenson & Turner)
• Tables (schedules) in Revit and how to export and work with them in Excel (10mins). Sometimes you need to do more with the numbers than Revit will allow, how to pull the schedules out of Revit so you can use Excels number crunching power to get the results you want.
• Tips and advantages of working with 2 machines (e.g. laptop and workstation) (5mins)
• Get more processors without getting brand new hardware and use it to work more effectively.
• Closing - The year ahead from the Co-Chairs and Organising Committee

Door Prize!!

James Halstead/Polyflor are giving away 20 sqm of Expona Design flooring so bring a business card...

The end of the disks, I mean discs? Now it’s download!

I must be getting old…

Remember when AutoCAD came on a few floppy disks?

Then a handful of CDs, or a DVD?

I just finished building CAD application deployments that would require about 26,624 floppy disks. Admittedly it was AutoCAD Architecture/MEP, Revit Arch/MEP and 3DS Max (plus some 64 & 32 bit duplication) so a little more capable than the floppy disk era application.

 

And soon, the end of discs!

This arrived in the email yesterday:

“Please read this important notice about how you will receive your future Autodesk® software upgrades. In 2010 Autodesk is making download the default method for delivering your software upgrades.”

Yes, unless you really want the physical media your new application will be just a download away. Autodesk Beta releases have been delivered this way for several years and, given a reasonable broadband connection, I haven’t minded a bit. There is someone else who’ll welcome it. Gordie, who does the mail at work, will be relieved not to have me asking “are my presents are here yet?” every time I see him between the “it’s shipping” email and delivery!

What is it about ink, tablets (and the iPad)? A lesson from Autodesk University 2009

I took my iPhone and a HP Convertible Tablet PC (from work) to Autodesk University. It was the first time I’d travelled with both and the differences, in form and function, in real world use* were revealing.

That experience was at the forefront of my mind as I watched the iPad “reveal” and why I found it distinctly underwhelming.

* If a conference in Las Vegas can be considered “real world”!

What is it about “Ink” that makes it more than writing (analog or digital) or typing?

The MindManager map (right) was inked on a Tablet during an AU session on Revit. The key advantage over typing is its less intrusive, literally a digital pad/pen, and far more flexible.

With MindManager (or other apps like One Note) you can mix sketch and text, capture links (as links) and shift notes around if you need more room.

As many AU sessions are not linear – Introduction followed by related demonstration - I find that really valuable as you can squeeze additional topics into notes made earlier (impossible with paper).

The huge advantage of “Ink” is the recognised text behind the note (even without conversion) is searchable. In spite of the scrawl that is my hand writing MindManager knew one of those notes (below) related to curtain walls and found it. Recognition is what makes “ink” Ink and more than just marks on a screen.

• Imagine searching all your AU notes for a given topic? Tedious if they are dumb marks on a pad (analog or digital). A few seconds with Ink.
• Imagine typing the note below on a netbook? You couldn’t unless you have superb and rapid ASCII art skills!

A digital pad, with text recognition, can combine the best of both worlds for input and find anything in seconds.

Mindjet iPhone as a (key)note taker.

I used Mindjet on the iPhone to take notes in some sessions. Main reason was the tiny form factor meant it was easier to work, even compared to a Tablet PC in slate mode, in the tight seating layout. With the Map Info > White Background > Off (in the map) the phone also makes an unobtrusive platform for notes in a dimly lit room. Working on a tablet/laptop/netbook sized white screen would be like holding a torch, really annoying to those around you. By the way Mindjet, it’s a pity the Topic Edit screen doesn’t honour the map background setting for a true “low light mode”.

   

The resulting notes, typo’s and all, are seen below (click to view full resolution)

Is there a gap between iPhone & Notebook?

If, and it’s a big IF, the iPhone form factor could handle Ink I think you’d get away without a larger platform at all. The Tablet is nice to work on, literally a digital pad, but the downside is carrying/powering a larger device. Given I’m going to be travelling with a phone and likely to have a more powerful laptop (of some sort) I can’t see the need to fill that gap on the move, or even in the office. When the phone isn’t enough it’s generally because I need the space/power/flexibility of a more substantial platform. I still want My Perfect PC, a mobile workstation with pen/touch/ink input but it seems nobody has seen that gap as a viable market!

What about the writing applications for the iPhone/iPad?

There are "writing" apps for the iPhone but the ones I’ve seen, tried, don't have the intelligence of Tablet Ink. From what I've read the iPad can't currently multi-task 3rd party apps. I think they'll fix that, it's frustrating enough on the iPhone, but think Ink has to be part of the OS. It has to be everywhere you can enter info not just specific to an application. Windows has been doing it for a decade after all (OK in XP, really well in Vista, better in again in 7). Does Apple have ink aversion as a result of the Newton failure? I hope they give it another try, the time and hardware are right. Without it the iPad is just a big dumb smart phone (without a phone).

  "Writing" on the iPhone with Ibitouch Studio.com ijot

Revit User Group Auckland - Notice of February Meeting

Details of the next Revit User Group - Auckland (RUGAKL) meeting:

• When: Wednesday 17 February 2010 - from 5.30pm
• Where: Jasmax Offices, 2 Marston Street, Parnell

This weeks meeting proudly supported by COES & POLYFLOR

• Join us from 5.30 for Drinks & Networking
• 6pm Meeting Opens - Kerry Thompson
• Presentation 1 - Revit to Max: Rich Sales, Salesoft CAD Solutions
• Presentation 2 - Coes & Polyflor Revit Content
• Tips, Tricks & Open Forum

Please RSVP via the link on  the website - http://www.rugakl.org/ - by Midday Wednesday prior to the meeting  (for catering  purposes)

Renting software and the dangers of flying in cloud

Matt’s post on cloud based software rental, and the article he links to, is worth a read but be sure to also read the comment it generated, especially from Kevin Quigley.

Dezignstuff SolidWorks Blog » You-bought-it-you-own-it vs the Cloud

Kevin Quigley: Matt this is a serious issue. I can speak from personal experience of this type of licensing via my encounters with Think3 in the early 2000s…

While the rent vs “own” (ignoring the “what is a license” debate) has it’s attractions there is a potential risk when you are talking about long term data use. The “reverts to a viewer when you stop paying” mode is not a solution when business critical information is locked up in that file. It was one aspect of pre-Autodesk “rent not own” Revit that I regarded as a negative.

It’s why I prefer the hybrid - create & save local/sync in cloud - approach of services like Live Mesh.

(Yes, this blog is hosted on a cloud service, and that image up there is coming from another, but I write nearly all the content off-line (saved & backed up locally) and there is a Export function in TypePad. It is just HTML content so rebuilding would be a mission, but not impossible)

A folder too far? 3DS Max Deployment creation fails with access error

I was creating a deployment and it failed with a folder access problem, then Windows Installer error. The folder was there (accessed with Explorer) and I had full control access so rights shouldn’t have been a problem.

A web search revealed the “Internal Error 2350” could indicate a problem Windows Installer or perhaps the supplied media. Rather drastic fixes included removing/adding the installer or copying the media to your hard drive but the solution proved to be much simpler.

I noticed our Server set-up plus the Autodesk folder structure resulted in a very long folder/filename path. I tried using an shorter alias namespace (for the same destination folder) the result was a trouble free deployment build.

ActiveWords, Camtasia Studio and Windows 7

I recently got a new PC and this video from Buzz (not the Google one) shows why ActiveWords was my first install after Windows 7 was running. He made the demo with Camtasia Studio (another favourite app of mine).

To give an idea how ActiveWords changes your computing (and why I can’t stand using a PC without it) the title for this post was created by entering “awf, camf and w7f”, letting ActiveWords do the rest. In a bit over a month it has saved close to an hour of typing and that’s just on my home PC.

Caught out by a real inkPad

ActiveWords runs fine on Windows 7 64 but I inadvertently installed it’s inkpad component. The ActiveWords inkpad enables everything you see Buzz do in the demo to be done with a pen. Scribble CNN and the browser will open, then navigate to their site. Try that on your iPad…

It wouldn’t be a problem on a Tablet PC but my old Dell monitor doesn’t support direct input! The inkpad agent was easily disabled until my new touch enabled widescreen monitor arrives (yeah right!)

1. Exit ActiveWords (Inkpad will also close).
2. Open AgentManager (C:\Program Files\ActiveWords\AgentManager.exe).
3. Move "AWInkPad" to the "Unregistered" column
4. Re-start ActiveWords

Download ActiveWords, there is a 60 day risk free trial.

Virgin Racing, the ultimate digital design test?

There’s lots of talk about virtual design/manufacture/prototyping but starting next month it gets an extreme test. Virgin Racing recently launched their first Formula 1 car, the VR-01, for the 2010 season. Its a computer designed/tested car without the usual wind tunnel model validation. In a sport where hundredths of seconds count it’s severe test for those CFD equations.

Virgin Racing - www.virginracing.com

The VR-01 is the first of a new breed of race car, designed exclusively using CFD – computational fluid dynamics. This radical all-digital design approach is driven by Virgin Racing technical super-brain, Nick Wirth.

Windows 7 tips from Tim Sneeth

It’s not really new to me, played with the beta/previews, but living with Windows 7 really is a pleasure except…

One annoyance was the prominence given to Windows Live Messenger as it runs as an icon in the taskbar. I don’t use it much and want it running without consuming that real estate. Easier said than done as none of the Live Messenger options seemed to support this.

One of Tim’s bumper list of secrets sorted that (see 28: run in Vista compatibility mode) putting Messenger in back it’s place in the system tray. There are 29 other “secrets exposed” in his post:

The bumper list of windows 7 secrets – Tim’s blogs.msdn.com

Google New Zealand

Love today's www.google.co.nz look

UPDATE 2010-02-03: And here is the story behind it:

Kiwi Doodler’s work displayed for millions to see

Today we're celebrating Kiwi kids’ return to school on the Google New Zealand homepage - with New Zealand’s inaugural Doodle 4 Google winning image replacing the Google logo for the day.
Last year, for the first time, Google asked New Zealand students to give the Google logo a uniquely Kiwi makeover by creating a doodle to reflect the theme of ‘My New Zealand’. Eight-year-old Amelia Abbott of Nelson won the competition with her entry, ‘Green and Gorgeous’, and today's it's proudly on our home page for all to see….

Autodesk $implified Upgrade Pricing March 16th deadline approaches

Mark, CADDManager Blog, has posted about the change coming to Autodesk upgrade costs that kicks in from March 16th. Although “simplified” the change from product age related pricing to a flat “50 percent of the price of a new license” seems to mean simply more expensive.

Although it was announced some time ago you should be aware if you have Autodesk® 2007, 2008, and 2009 era products not on subscription the change will impact you should you wish to update or re-subscribe.

If you have a current 2010 product, on subscription or not, and are considering a cross-grade to another platform (say AutoCAD Architecture to Revit Architecture Series) you should also check out your options before March 16th. The new simplified pricing can also impact these prices and not in a good way.

Autodesk Simplified Upgrade Pricing | CADDManager Blog

You need to be aware of a change that is coming…