RobiNZ CAD Blog

Update all AutoCAD Architecture/MEP Palettes in a click

Everyone else probably realised this long ago but sometimes the obvious isn’t always… well, obvious.

AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) and MEP use Tool Palettes - like AutoCAD - but have the Content Browser to organise and share them. While the system has it’s quirks I’ve found it a brilliant way to share content, tools, and custom commands/process/tasks and it’s something I miss in Revit. Best of all it’s not CUI based and version independent so Tool Palettes/Tools/Groups created in ADT 2004 work fine in ACA 2010.

Manual, or Automatic?

You can have Tool Palettes update automatically when the application starts but if you have lots of tools it tends to slow things down. There is also little point as, once established, their content doesn’t change much as you can update/version object styles without re-creating their tools.

The other option is a manual update which can be forced by clicking the Refresh Icon on each Palette. You can refresh a Palette Set (group of palettes) from the Tool Palettes - Title Right Click Menu. Even that gets a bit tedious if you have lots of palette groups, especially as some can take a while to refresh.

The one click refresh

What wasn’t obvious, to me at least, is that in addition to the Palette Groups you create “All Palettes” is a Palette Set. For some reason I thought “Sets” referred to the groups (on the right side of the customise dialog) but no! You can switch to “All Palettes”, Right Click > Refresh Palette Set and update every palette with a click and, if you have hundreds tools like us, a quick coffee!

AutoCAD Architecture & MEP 2010 Update released

I’m waiting for Windows 7 64 before deploying 2010 at work so haven’t tried these. Lots of fixes, I mean updates, and they incorporate the recent AutoCAD 2010 update. Currently installing the AutoCAD Architecture update on my home machine to see how it goes.

Between the Walls: AutoCAD Architecture 2010 and MEP 2010 Product Update 1

Your Subscription expires soon? Soon?

It seems time flies at Autodesk or “soon” means something different in New Zealand.

Last week was my Subscription renewal anniversary. A couple of days after getting through that trauma (well, not really but…) a reminder email arrived. I nearly deleted it thinking it related to the, just completed, 09/2009 transaction but then noticed the date.

While it isn’t long in terms of human history when you’re talking about an annual subscription I wouldn’t call “in 363 days time” soon!

AutoCAD Architecture AND Revit?

Guillermo Melantoni's recent post on AutoCAD AND Revit prompted me to share how AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) can help your Revit work-flow. Yes, you read that right, ACA can help with Revit.

I'm not going to steal Guillermo's thunder by merging AutoCAD Mesh models with Revit (below). My example is rather more prosaic but I think it's a convincing reason to consider installing the AutoCAD Architecture, rather than just pain plain AutoCAD, included in AutoCAD Revit Suite.

AutoCAD AND Revit? yeah! - whatamesh.typepad.com

Imagine a world where everything isn't designed in Revit (yes really) and you need to collaborate with, or re-use old, AutoCAD content. One of the best things you can do is remove as much "AutoCAD overhead" by cleaning up dwg files before linking them to Revit. In my case it was a site layout designed in another AutoCAD'like package which I was using as the background for a Revit Model. I only needed the line work so wanted to clean out hatches, most notes, dimensions and other junk ready for Revit. While you can remove layers from linked dwg's in Revit I find its tools to be a bit too "all or nothing".

The AutoCAD Architecture has a "Select Similar" command which allows you to select object(s) like hatch, text etc then Right Click > Select Similar to instantly find all similar items (type & layer) for deletion. Although AutoCAD has "Quick Select" I find Select Similar much faster and you won't find it in AutoCAD. Even if you only use the AutoCAD portion of your Revit Suite for dealing to legacy content consider installing AutoCAD Architecture. Perhaps it's the best AutoCAD for Revit.

New Zealand Autodesk Solutions Day 2009 (2010 Product Launch)

I'll be at the Auckland June 4th event, see you there! Here's the blurb:

The Autodesk Solutions Day 2009 is aimed at professionals' involved in the design, construction and management of government and commercial projects within the Building, Civil, Geospatial and Manufacturing market place. This all day event will showcase the latest products, services and technology.

They are happening in Christchurch late May, Auckland early June.

Contact your New Zealand Autodesk reseller for details and to register!

David and the (AutoCAD Architecture 2010) Ribbon

David Koch is working through an extremely detailed tour of the new AutoCAD Architecture 2010 User Interface on his blog The Architect's Desktop. Part 3 concentrates on the Home Tab of the Ribbon, earlier posts on the Application Button and Ribbon modes.

AutoCAD® Architecture 2010 - UI Changes:

• Part 1 - The Application Menu
• Part 2 – Resizing the Ribbon
• Part 3 - The Ribbon, Home Tab

AutoCAD Architecture 2010 - A fresh new look tied with a ribbon

In 2009 AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) largely shunned the AutoCAD Ribbon interface leaving it for the Visualisation workspace alone (right). In contrast ACA 2010 totally embraces the ribbon with a new task focused interface. If you look into the CUI it retains the structure to handle toolbars and menus but ships with none*.

The AutoCAD Architecture 2010 User Interface

In addition to its new Ribbon ACA carries over the Properties, Content, Layer and Xref and Project Navigator Palettes. It has all new icons which follow the Autodesk "gray and light blue/yellow" corporate colour scheme which I have mixed feelings about. The icons are cleaner but in some places the "grayness" is just overwhelming, sometimes even confusing, but more on that later.

Recently I came across an old screen-shot from ADT 3.0. it's interesting to see how much things have changed, a pity some other aspects of the application haven't seen as much evolution...

What follows is my tour of the new UX. The ACA Ribbon, like AutoCAD's, can be customised so if you really don't like something you can change it. That all happens in the, dreaded by many, CUI dialog which has had some performance improvements this time around. I've found it mostly OK out of the box but have customised the way it works to better suit how I work. I'll save that for a later post as this one just looks at what's new and changed in this box of tricks along with few comments on how I would have changed it.

Max and the Revits arrive, it's 2010 for real

Today's delivery completed my set of "Twenty Tens". The arrival of Max (last week) and the Revit Architecture/MEP Series (today) mean it's time to think about building new deployments. As that will also mean moving to Vista 64 it should be fun

 

 

Where is My Command? - Revit and AutoCAD Architecture 2010

To assist with migration to its new User Interface AutoCAD Architecture 2010, like AutoCAD 2010, has a Command Search built into the Application Button. Tap in a command/tool name, or part of one, and the location is shown on the Application Button, QAT or Ribbon. "Related Results" also searches command descriptions, useful if you can't remember the exact command or term. Clicking a search result launches the command.

Revit Architecture 2010 doesn't have the Application Button Command Search and only offers a separate "Where is My Command" Help File. While this is useful it could be better and fortunately a Revit Blogger is doing something about that.

Nicholas Lyadurai and friends are working on a very cool "Where is my command" tool inspired by the Microsoft Office interactive on-line guides. Click on a tool in the old Revit 2009 User Interface to launch an animation showing the equivalent in Revit 2010. Although still "work in progress" (Design Bar and Tool Bar commands done, menus coming) it's a tool that can be used on-line, or downloaded, and one that should have been provided out of the box.

Where is my command Revit 2010 Flash movie - Revitize.blogspot.com

One of my friends and myself are working on a “Where is my command” interactive tool for Revit Architecture 2010 for Revit Architecture 2009 users. This tool is *similar* to Microsoft's Office 2007 ‘where is my command’ tool...

I LOVE "THE RIBBON", do you?

I'm going to be writing about some "recently ribboned" applications in the next few weeks, some better than others. Before that I have decided to set out how I feel about a variety of "already ribboned" applications and how I arrived at this conclusion: I love the ribbon!

There you go, I said it, but before you respond please read this:

These parameters will apply to my future discussions of "ribbon'ification". Hopefully they will also fend off some inevitable, but irrelevant, responses to any discussion of a graphic user experience:

• Keyboard shortcuts have no relevance; When you are talking about interaction with a Graphic User Interface other command access modes are not a factor. Yes keyboard shortcuts are faster and I use literally thousands.* If you only work in a few applications nothing will beat them. However like many users I use many applications in a day and only the basic keyboard shortcuts are common across them all.
• Loving the Ribbon doesn't mean loving all Ribbons: It's nothing more than a tabbed device to present tools and objects in a User Interface. Some applications do a better job than others but that's not a criticism of the concept, just it's implementation.
• It's not just the ribbon: The Fluent User interface includes: The Application Button, Status Bar Controls, Ribbon Components and Floating Cursor Toolbars. However, like most people, I'll mostly just refer to it all as "the ribbon".
• It's not the only User Interface, but it's the one that matters: It is the one most Windows users, lets face it most computer users, will face over the next few years especially as Windows 7 rolls out. For me Mac O/S option is not on the horizon so that debate is irrelevant too. For the majority of corporate computer users there is no choice even if you think it's better. That may change but I'm not holding my breath.

The Ribbon OR how Microsoft Office 2007 changed the [Windows] world:

The Ribbon, more accurately the "Fluent UI", arrived with Microsoft Office 2007. Ribbon shock ensued as the familiar File, Edit...Help array of menus and toolbars disappeared to be replaced with the Ribbon, Application Button and associated User Experience refinements. Most were lost at first when a familiar, if often illogical, layout of commands and tools was totally changed.

The first Fluent UI application I used was the one that started it all. Microsoft Office 2007 arrived and, yes, at times I got lost and cursed the new User Interface. It's strange but the disappearance of the File menu and replacement with the Application Button seemed to be more of a struggle than the ribbon. Yes, I spent some time getting used to a new work-flow based arrangement of tools but once over that hump I have found it becomes more natural.

MindManager, the best Ribbon so far:

Not long after Office MindManager 7 arrived. Another familiar UI was replaced by something totally new. Trigger another round of "ribbfusion" (confusion induced by a ribbon changes) while you abandon old habits and adapt to the new. I grew to like it and think Mindjet's MindManager Ribbon is the best I've encountered to date, even better than Microsoft's! I suspect this is because MindManager is a visual product and the ribbon presents visual controls far better than menu/toolbars ever could. Add to that MindManager's use of colour and nice tab layout and you have a dramatic improvement over it's toolbar'ed predecessors.

Snagit: Their Ribbon becomes Fluent:

Snagit 9 arrived with half of the Fluent UI. Snagit 9.0 was ribboned but the full experience arrived when 9.1 added context sensitive cursor toolbars and live preview for visual effects. It showed what a difference these, non-ribbon, items make to the Fluent UI.

AutoCAD 2009: Autodesk's first Ribbon rocks the AutoCAD world 

The AutoCAD Ribbon was as controversial as any but came with an out clause. Unlike Microsoft Office, MindManager and Snagit you had a choice between the old & new User Interface. Indeed many AutoCAD verticals imposed this choice by largely ignoring the ribbon and loading traditional toolbars. For those that chose to use it the AutoCAD Ribbon offered many features familiar from other Fluent Applications with one major addition: Customisation.

It's long been a strength, to some a curse, that AutoCAD allowed extensive customisation of it's User Interface. Unlike many other applications AutoCAD users often took advantage of this so the ribbon had to accommodate it. Unlike other ribbon applications AutoCAD 2009 also echoed the legacy menu structure within it's application button hosted Menu Browser. A mixture of old and new User Interface was probably a technical and commercial requirement for Autodesk but I suspect created more problems than it solved. A clean break does inflict more migration pain, but in the end it's an easier process.

 

What I like about the Ribbon:

I own Office 2007 but still use Office 2003 at work. This means, sadly, I have a direct daily comparison between old & new. As "ribbon shock" has abated I've grown to hate the old Menu/Toolbar UI as much as I love the Ribbon. Here are some of the reasons why:

It attempts to be task based and coordinated: Admittedly there is endless potential for debate in that line. I do find some applications do a better job of arranging the tools to suit work-flow,or maybe my work-flow just happens to match them better?

Before you howl about the old applications being better consider the task not the tools. Say you are In Word and want to change the page orientation. In the old Office it seems logical that it might be on the Format menu, but it's not there. You'll actually find it on File > Page Set-up which seems odd when page orientation is per section/page, not per file. In 2007 it's on the Page Layout" tab along with other page set-up controls which makes more sense. In that case the work-flow is better as the ribbon allows access to different controls for the task at hand. In other cases tool relationships could make the ribbon less efficient but that's down to tab arrangement and tool placement.

Cursor Tools: The hover toolbars in Office, and Snagit, place context sensitive tools at the work-face. This removes the need to trek to the ribbon for minor changes. It becomes the tool-box for major tasks with the cursor toolbars acting as your tool-belt, bringing the essentials to the work but not getting in the way.

Right Click > for comfort. If the hover annoys a right click brings up the same object toolbar options along with the traditional task oriented menu. The Fluent UI doesn't abandon these menu/toolbar elements but does relegate them to short task specific applications. That 20 item menu, 15 with flyout sub-menus is history!

Live Preview: This is one part of Fluent that is often not even thought of as a User Interface function. However it does significantly enhance the User Experience. Applying changes only to undo them when the implications are realised is eliminated. This could be done pre-ribbon but the integration of style galleries and tools along with preview is a significant advantage of the ribbon.

It's constrained but at least it behaves: Most ribbons are constrained into the top section of the application window. Their stable nature avoids weird start-up conditions like the toolbar scramble. The example shows PowerPoint but I have several applications from multple vendors which occasionally don't retain previous layout settings. With the Ribbon, and no toolbars, at least there is no random scramble.

In summary:

• Not all ribbons are created equal, some do a better job than others
• Often it's not about the ribbon, it's the choices made in the placement and design of tools
• The combinations of tools, galleries and other controls allow much more flexiblity in design.
• Task based UI have the potential to be more engaging if done well, more enraging if they are wrong.

Overall I think the Fluent UI represents a significant step forward in User Experience design. To sum it up in a line:

I love a good ribbon!

Also See:

ChiefTech: Office Suite lock-in: The same today as it was yesterday
I've always thought the interface changes for Office 2007 was a stroke of genius by Microsoft...

The Microsoft Office Fluent user interface overview - Microsoft Office Online
Taking into account extensive usability data and recent advancements in hardware and software, the team has delivered the most significant update to the Microsoft Office user interface in more than a decade...

The blue monster - gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"
As a marketing blogger, I get asked a lot, "What is the future of marketing?"
I always answer the same: "The Blue Monster".
What's The Blue Monster?
A Blue Monster is a Social Object that articulates a Purpose-Idea.
What's a Social Object? What's a Purpose-Idea?
Sit yourself down, pour yourself another glass of whisky. This might take a while to explain...

* From 5/24/2005 to 2/19/2009 (1367 days) keyboard shortcuts were responsible for manupulating/creating about 1/2 the content typed on this machine!

Total user Keystrokes typed including ActiveWords: 409,825
Total Keystrokes substituted by ActiveWords less ActiveWords typed: 404,019  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Total Content Entered: 813,844  
Percent of Total Content saved by ActiveWords that substitute and transform text: 49.64%

A present arrives... AutoCAD Architecture 2010 is here

On my blog birthday a "present" arrived in the form of AutoCAD Architecture 2010,

Wish I didn't know the subscription renewal won't be far behind!

On my blog birthday a "present" arrived in the form of AutoCAD Architecture 2010,

Wish I didn't know the subscription renewal won't be far behind!

Seeking your input on Visual Styles in AutoCAD (and other applications)

I saw this AutoCAD Visual Styles Survey posted on David Harringnton's blog and rushed to have my say. I'm considering 64 Bit Operating Systems for the 2010 Deployments as our larger projects are pushing 32 Bit memory allocation limits. It's mostly Visual Styles and Rendering that hit the red line.

Our AutoCAD Architecture files are small in real terms, 3 or 4 MB, but because of the density of fittings and store size can happily eat more than 3GB of memory in a 3D view with visual styles. Rendering on any platform can have similar problems.

Although it's entirely unsupported, not recommended and not for production I've tried the 64 Bit applications on the Windows 7 Beta. It's been impressive and proved that memory allocation problems will be resolved. Time to build a real Vista 64 Bit deployment, complicated by the business still being XP, and see if all the other stuff works.

If you use visual styles voice share compliments and concerns in the survey (there is room for both). If you don't use them do it anyway and tell the product team why!

AutoCAD Product Design and Usability Group would appreciate your feedback and input on using Visual Styles in AutoCAD and other applications.

Who Should Participate?
Any AutoCAD user who uses Visual Styles, custom styles or effects in AutoCAD and is familiar with similar features in other applications.

What Are We Looking For?
The Goal of this survey is to gather usage-specific data and user-specific preferences for Visual Styles, effects, and for the Adaptive Degradation features.

Visual Styles in AutoCAD Survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xI7NZwH2pLhkPZVlxxhU6w_3d_3d

Survey will be active: March 26- April 3, 2009.

Autodesk 2010 releases shipping, the little boxes and electrons are on the move!

The Autodesk website has had its out of season "Happy New Year make-over" for 2010. Many of the 2010 products are shipping including several* that matter to me: AutoCAD,  AutoCAD Architecture, Autodesk Design Review and 3ds Max Design.

I have been reliably informed the little plastic boxes with DVDs inside are in New Zealand already but the courier has not yet called at work, or home. If you're on Subscription, as I am, you can download many of the applications rather than wait for the shiny discs. If you're in the United States or Canada and just want to try AutoCAD there is also a free 30 day trial download. Other countries need to contact their dealers regarding the trial versions which seems quaintly regional in these days of border-less communication.

I have spent quite a bit of time with the beta versions but it's always interesting to see the final release. At work I'm considering a major shift to 64 bit O/S along with our 2010 deployments. It's not required for 2010, although there are some processor requirements that you should check out, but the increasing complexity of our data, bigger more complex models, means XP32 bit memory allocation limitations have become very real.

At home I'm using 2010 as an excuse to stop procrastinating and rebuild my machine. It has been running unchanged, apart from Windows & applications updates, since it arrived several years ago so it's time for a clean out. Again this isn't required for 2010, which will run alongside many earlier versions, but I have been looking at a once shiny new hard drive, sitting on the desk waiting to be fitted, for far too long!

Press Release Links

Autodesk 2010 Design and Engineering Software Product Line Now Available

Autodesk Introduces 3ds Max 2010 Software at Game Developers Conference

* No sign of Revit yet.

When I'm making icons - IcoFX

This post has been in the draft folder for too long. While travelling recently I read a post on another blog about IcoFX then remembered I'd never posted it!

As part of preparing our AutoCAD Architecture/MEP 2009 deployments I decided it was time to refresh the look of the standard cad desktop. We run customised AutoCAD Architecture which combines company specific settings with a New Zealand localisation package - Salesoft Pacifica. It has a custom icon to launch it as uses a special AutoCAD profile. Since I last updated them - back in 2006 - my company has re-branded, launched a new look website, and Autodesk have adopted the Big Letter icons. It was time for an update!

Our Intranet (called icRed - inspired by Split Enz?) shortcut just has the logo "stripes" so I used these in the new scheme.

The Intranet, Revit, Max & ADR icons are standard, the CAD Standard icons reflect the two formats it's available in (MindManager Map & Intranet hosted HTML) and there are customised ACA/AMEP icons which access our localised profiles.

The fun part with the ACA/AMEP icons was making something you could recognise in various forms without totally trashing the appearance of the original graphics. The lower left corner is out of bounds since it's sometimes covered by the shortcut arrow but totally changing the icon looses the link to the standard product. Those are still on the machine with local profiles for use when away from the network.

Making them is a snap with the brilliant IcoFX donor-ware software. You just create/import a 248x248 pixel image and edit it as you like. When you're happy go to Icon > Create icon from image and it generates the Windows Icon with all the variations of sizes and colour depths required. From there it pays to check out the lower resolution/depth images as they may benefit from a bit of sharpening up, but it's usually minor. IcoFX has image editing tools built in for creating icons from scratch if required.

IcoFX  - http://icofx.ro/
IcoFX is an award winning freeware icon editor. It is an all-in-one solution for icon creation, extraction and editing. It is designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Macintosh icons supporting transparency. With a wealth of tools and more than 40 effects at your fingertips, there’s virtually no limit to the icons you can create. You can easily convert your favorite images into icons, or icons into images.

For MindManager use I export a Topic image and create a Topic icon to use in my library.

• Topic Icon: Unfortunately MindManager won't display standard windows icons as it doesn't like 256x256 "XP True Color + Alpha" images. This is simple to fix:
  1. Copy the icon to your MindManager Library Icon Folder.
  2. Open the icon with IcoFX and delete the 256x256 XP image .
• Topic Image: Open the icon with IcoFX and export an image for your MindManager Library Icon Folder. 64x64 pixels to best matches MindManager 7 standard images, 48x48 for MindManager 8.

Images exported from IcoFX can be used in MindManager map topics & notes while topic icons can also be used to filter MindManager map views.

A new face "Between the Walls"

Shaan Hurley has taken over Chris Yanchar's "Between the Walls" AutoCAD Architecture blog as part of his Platform Technology Evangelist role.

He'll still be between lines, when he's not between walls which leaves me wondering what the third screen, in Shaan's 'toon, is for?

I suspect it might be for a mep.

I have some AutoCAD Architecture 2010 content coming as soon as I wrap some text between the screen-shots sitting in my draft folder.

Between the Walls

I had thought I could start updating this Between the Walls blog and nobody would notice my photo as the blog’s author instead of Chris Yanchar...

The Revit 2010 Ribbon Development Process

Kudos to the Revit Factory for sharing the process which went into a, much needed, overhaul of the Revit User Interface for 2010. Overall I think the ribbon is a huge step forward and working across several Autodesk platforms I do find the shared UX makes life easier. I also think there is room for improvement in the new Revit UX but will leave commenting on that for future posts. AutoCAD Architecture users should also watch this as a similar ribbon'lution is coming to ACA 2010.

Inside the Factory: The Ribbon Process in Four Minutes

While the Revit video focuses on the Ribbon it's only one component of what Microsoft term the "Fluent User Interface". Jensen Harris shared their development process back when Office 2007 was released. It's well worth viewing as backgrounds the rational for abandoning the traditional Menu/Toolbar interface and shows many prototypes on the road to the ribbon.

RobiNZ CAD Blog: The Story of the a Ribbon

It’s the year of the Ribbon, but why?

Jensen Harris, of the Microsoft Office User Experience Team, has posted a recording (and PowerPoint) of his awesome presentation at MIX. He tells the story of the Office UI development from version 1.0 to 2007. It’s a compelling explanation of why Microsoft ditched Menus & Toolbars for the task based “Fluent interface” with it’s Ribbon, Contextual Tabs, the Mini Toolbar, and Galleries.

The Foolish CAD Manager Blog

I found this relatively new CAD Manager blog via the Autodesk University Blog Network. Marla, from one foolish CAD Manager to another, welcome to the foolish world of CAD blogging!

The Foolish CAD Manager
The Foolish CAD Manager is an attempt to start stringing together those of us who need to connect and learn from others doing (or having done) the same things, rather than learning the same lessons the hard way all over again. These are clips of my foolishness and resulting wisdom (I hope), which may be if use to you, my fellow CAD Managers.

Keep sending Autodesk CER Reports

If you crash and the Customer Error Report (CER) report dialog appears, send it and include your email contact. You'll add to information resource which helps trace fixes, perhaps even find out which fix to apply if it already exists. I just got this for a hotfix I'd applied at work but not at home!

Shaan has details on the Autodesk CER and Customer Involvement process works here

SolidWorks to AutoCAD Architecture, via the blogosphere

In my "year review" post I mentioned reading SolidWorks blogs. Although I don't use it understanding the "other side" is handy when you're trying to share data. It paid off recently when I needed to create models for our store plans for fittings from a supplier who uses SolidWorks. I know little about SolidWorks and it seemed they knew little about sharing with other systems. A post on SolidSmack was a great help in suggesting the best method for conversion:

SolidWorks Tutorial to Protect 3D Model Data | SolidSmack.com
Save as Part: You may know you can save an assembly as a part file (AWESOME), but what you can also do is select what you want to show in the part (SUPER AWESOME). You have the option to show only Exterior Face, Exterior Components, or All Component.

From SolidWorks:

The supplier sent an ACIS(.sat) file but also a SolidWorks Part (.sldprt) using the "Exterior Components" option. It removed a lot of hidden detail I didn't need but retained the object part structure. This made deleting removing unseen components and detail like nuts, bolts and other components much simpler than dealing with thousands of faces the Exterior Face option generates.

Into AutoCAD, direct or via Inventor LT:

The .sat file imported into AutoCAD fine and could have been used without further processing. However, I also tried importing the SolidWorks Part file into Inventor LT. One advantage of Parts you have much smaller files to email (approx 50% .sat). You also get discrete components but no feature detail so you can't delete holes etc (which is what I was hoping). One advantage of this intermediate step was I could do further clean-up and export my own .sat  files without annoying the supplier.

It was also a chance to learn a little more about Inventor LT! Having done the tutorials I had some idea how to attack it but there is nothing like mucking around with your own model. Like most applications many concepts are common but the little changes, like differences in WCS orientation & Zoom/Pan, that catch you out. I found the appropriate options to match AutoCAD which made life easier.

And finally the AEC Object model:

For our purposes you still need to further reduce detail but having a model to base things on saves a lot of effort. Below you see the original 1.9mb of SolidWorks data dumbed down to less than 200kb of AEC Mass objects. Using the original SolidWorks geometry as a guide, or basis for AEC conversion, makes creating an accurate lightweight model much easier (shaded transparency below). However, it's a pity there isn't a better way to remove unnecessary detail like hollow steel sections and threads without remodelling.

I wrote this draft several weeks ago, currently many of my SolidWorks blogger mates are at SolidWorks World in Orlando (it's like Autodesk University for SolidWorks). I'm sure they'll chime in if they escape from Disneyworld.

Grouping Layer Property Filters in AutoCAD based applications

An excellent post covering Layer Filters on Daily AutoCAD prompted me to share this tip about grouping similar types of filters. If you're not familiar with filters first read this, then pop back here: 

CAD Management: Layer Property Filters in AutoCAD | Daily Autocad

AutoCAD Architecture adds another level of filtering to AutoCAD based on it's Layer Keys. It was a desire to group these that led me to create a tree hierarchy. On the right you see the filters and groups of filters in our standard ACA/AMEP template with various preset filters grouped by type. It wasn't until much later that I was told this wasn't really a normal, or intended, use of the filters!

To create these groups is simple. The top level (Properties Filter 1 in this example) is just a normal properties filter, created with the button, but with no properties set. It's a filter that doesn't filter anything as is just a host!

 

• To create a "child" right click on the host filter (Properties Filter 1) and use the pop-up menu to add another filter, this time setting the desired properties. This is the only way to add a "child" filter.

• These filters can be seen/set in the layer dialog/palette or (from 2009) Ribbon Layer Panel fly-out.

 

You can't reorganise these filters, other than deleting and re-making, but once set up in your template there is little need to bother again.

Roopinder reports from the AU "AEC Round table"

Click through to Roopinder Tara's post, of interest to me were the comments on the visibility, or not, of AutoCAD Architecture, Revit database structures and the, inevitable, "what about Mac" question.

CAD Insider: AEC Round Table w. Jay Bhatt and Jim Lynch

Weak sales of AutoCAD Architecture?

Hardly surprising, considering AutoCAD Architecture;

• Is bundled with the Revit Suite (essentially given away for the price of plain AutoCAD)
• Is rarely promoted, if at all, as a stand-alone application (in our market at least).
• If mentioned at all, it's as transition path to Revit.
• Has had, excluding AutoCAD platform inherited improvements, minimal development in recent years.

It's much more than AutoCAD for Architects but perhaps it's also heading the same way as Mechanical Desktop.

Autodesk F3Q09 (Qtr End 10/31/08) Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha
"Turning to our 2D products, AutoCAD grew 10% and we saw a bounce-back of LT, which grew 12%. Revenue from 2D vertical products decreased 6% as we experienced particularly weak sales of AutoCAD Architecture on a global basis. We attribute the weakness of standalone AutoCAD Architecture to the slow-down in building worldwide and the recent launch of Revit Architecture Suite, which includes AutoCAD Architecture."

PS: Kudos to Seeking Alpha for their blog friendly Copyright & Reproduction policy (below) and upFront.eZine for the link to their transcript;

Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. (Until now investors have had to pay thousands of dollars in subscription fees for transcripts.) So our reproduction policy is as follows: You may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to Seeking Alpha and either link to the original transcript or to www.SeekingAlpha.com. All other use is prohibited.

Can a "." require 1GB of memory? - AutoCAD Architecture 2008

The Problem:

Open a old project with AutoCAD Architecture 2008 (ACA). Create a new view, attempt to place it on a sheet, Crash!

The Investigation:

My usual approach with problem files is to try them on another machine but this time that didn't help. This project was one of our first to use the (then) new Project Navigator way back in 2004. The view in question assembled a mixture of files from internal/external sources with both AEC/Vanilla AutoCAD content. A thorough audit of all the files, to check for corruption, found no problems. Purging only removed some obsolete content, the files & objects having been updated to current standards by ACA's Project Standards feature.

Watching while the view was placed, using the SysInterals Tools, revealed ACA displayed the placement "ghost image" OK but, once an insert location was selected, began using increasing amounts of memory as it tried to place the view. From a base of 500MB acad.exe consumed close to 1.6GB RAM, plus a similar amount of swap-file, before an error dialog appeared, then exit to desktop. It was actually Windows XP running out of addressable memory rather than ACA crashing that resulted in the exit.

Looking for anything out of the ordinary I noticed some of the Elements - which we use for Design Options - had a full stop, or period for US readers, in the filename. Although it's supposed to be OK in Windows I still avoid them as find they can cause problems in some applications. For example, older versions of PDF Writer used to truncate filenames at the first ".". Our current project template doesn't use any but this project was done in the experimental phase before it was established. More out of habit, rather than expecting anything miraculous, I renamed the files and tested again.

The Solution:

Removing that "." from the file names reduced memory use to by over 1GB to a mere 700MB and eliminated the error. Quite why it happened in ACA2008 and not before I'm not sure, There have been so many changes in the OS, Network and Application since that project was done in 2004 it's hard to know what was tripping up. Needless to say I was amazed what impact a single character in a file name could have!

There are many improvements to ACA2009 project handling so it will be interesting to see how it performs with this project. I was waiting for Update 2 before deploying it and just completed the trial deployment on Friday. More on that in future posts!

UPDATE 2008-10-28: Tried the project, with the old "." names, in ACA 2009 and it worked perfectly. Another justification for moving to 2009.

Everyone's AutoCAD Architecture/MEP crashing when opening project files?

"Crash Friday" began with...

• "My ACA Project crashed when I opened an element"
• Then another user "I can't open a construct either"
• Then from a MEP user "All the projects are broken"

First thing is to test it yourself so I opened a project which had been working earlier in the day with this result:

Things had been fine until about 10:30am so what might have changed?

• We've had lots of Windows updates over the past few days.... maybe?
• New Anti-Virus Definitions...  maybe?
• Something happening to servers/network/environment... maybe?
• A corrupt AutoCAD Architecture Project .apj file... one project possibly but all?

I used my "Stupid question of the day" quota to ask the eternally helpful resident network guru if anything special happened on the network today:

"There was a DHCP change, but that shouldn't be a problem..."

I did find DHCP Errors logged at about that time on more than one machine and it's impacting everyone, both AutoCAD Architecture & MEP, so time to investigate.

Maybe it's a network thing?

Fire up SysInterals Tools to see what is happening during the crash. At least it's predictable, easy to repeat, which is preferable to the dreaded intermittent error. I noticed the file seemed to open (could see model space graphics) but after that the AV and network connection polling went off the scale as some AutoCAD related components tried to run. In AutoCAD Architecture & MEP the Projects Standards mechanism kicks in at this stage and updates the file content to match the master files.

Project Standards was the clue!

A normal File>Open loaded the same file without error but it doesn't trigger the Project Standards check. I disabled Projects Standards, common to all projects here, on one project and things worked normally.

An audit of the Standard Master files found an error. It appeared ACA crashed while either accessing or updating one of the files leaving one with a few mangled property sets:

Auditing Entities Pass 1
Pass 1 78500   objects auditedSchedule Table Style (Property Set Definition)
                    eNullObjectId                       Will Erase
Pass 1 78800   objects auditedAecScheduleData Object (Property Set Definition)
                    eNullObjectId                       Will Erase
AecScheduleData Object (Property Set Definition)
                    eNullObjectId                       Will Erase
Pass 1 92700   objects audited
Auditing Entities Pass 2
Pass 2 92700   objects audited
Auditing Blocks 1200    Blocks audited
Total errors found 16 fixed 16

The resulting corruption meant anyone opening any part of a Project hit that error and then it was end of play! Audit and repairing the file stopped the fatal errors. Time to add it to my "Fixes & Bugs" reference map and get a coffee!

AutoCAD Architecture + Revit in the same box!

This is a long post because it is huge news! It appears something I have wished for since Autodesk first offered an Revit/AutoCAD bundle is about to happen. I read it first on Gregory Arkins blog but here is the detail from the Autodesk FAQ he posted;

Changes for AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009.1
(section 1 of the FAQ document)

1.1 What changes are being made to the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite?
The 2009.1 release of AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite expands the software applications that comprise the suite to include AutoCAD 2009, Auto CAD Architecture 2009, and Revit Architecture 2009.

1.2 Why is Autodesk including AutoCAD Architecture 2009 software in the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009.1?
Autodesk is including AutoCAD Architecture 2009 software in the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009.1 to make it easier and more cost effective for AutoCAD Architecture customers to transition to building information modeling (BIM) using Revit Architecture software. Now AutoCAD Architecture users can benefit from the flexibility of having a single license that provides AutoCAD 2009, AutoCAD Architecture 2009 and Revit Architecture 2009 software applications, eliminating the need to maintain separate licenses of AutoCAD Architecture and Revit Architecture.

1.3 Will AutoCAD Architecture software still be available as a stand-alone license?
Yes, AutoCAD Architecture software will still be available as a stand-alone license for AutoCAD Architecture users who are not yet ready to transition to building information modeling using Revit Architecture software.

1.4 Are there any feature enhancements to the products in AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009.1?
No; there are no changes to the features and functionality in the products that comprise AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2009.1.

A refreshing change!

In the past I have asked (at the highest levels); Why is there no "Revit/Architectural Desktop Series", similar to the Revit/AutoCAD Series, being offered as a migration path for ADT Subscription users?

The answers were always rather vague but along the lines of; We don't see a work-flow requirement...

Why would you need both? As an AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) user, and owner, I see a real need to run both platforms;

• Staying on ACA? Having Revit allows you to work with Revit Projects without export/translation issues. You can do your bit without imposing the data migration overhead on the Revit users.
• Moving to Revit? There is still a need to use/edit legacy ACA projects during the transition and long after which leads to a problem with the Revit/AutoCAD bundle.
• Plain AutoCAD cant read AutoCAD Architecture Projects. In-spite of being "file compatible" AutoCAD has no idea how to handle ACA's Project Navigator and Project Structure. The geometry of an ACA project can be displayed by AutoCAD but it cannot represent/edit ACA project information like levels, divisions or project related data.

As an ACA owner, I did not want to move to Revit + AutoCAD as the "AutoCAD component" was inferior to what I have in AutoCAD Architecture. I often use ACA features within AutoCAD files where Revit data will never be available. Just yesterday I used ACA Scheduling to analyse areas and count car parks in a site.dwg file originally drawn in LT97! Yes, I could have imported it into Revit for that but opening and editing the AutoCAD file, while still having counting and area scheduling, was the simplest solution.

While I work for TWL I have access to Revit anyway as we run a network license mix which allows both platforms. It's just fortunate that the current requirements for both don't currently exceed the licenses. A single user, like I am at home, doesn't have this flexibility and has to commit to ACA or Revit, or spend a fortune!

An AutoCAD fit for Architects? When Architectural Desktop became AutoCAD Architecture it was promoted as "AutoCAD for Architects". I wondered;

If AutoCAD Architecture is "AutoCAD [made better] for Architects" why isn't it part of the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite? They get the "less better plain AutoCAD" yet it's aimed at Architects?

Matching MEP: It also brings the "Revit Architecture Suite" into line with the "Revit MEP Suite" which has always bundled Revit MEP and AutoCAD MEP.

What prompted this change?

I have no idea but I wonder if it was customer demand or a desire to increase ACA/Revit migration. Since I gave up my little battle for this option back in 2006 it certainly wasn't to me!

The official line is:

"..to make it easier and more cost effective for AutoCAD Architecture customers to transition to building information modelling (BIM) using Revit Architecture software."

If that is the case why have Autodesk made it harder and less cost effective for years? There is much mention of "transitioning" in the FAQ and one line leads me to wonder about the future of ACA.

[ACA] "will still be available as a stand-alone license for AutoCAD Architecture users who are not yet ready to transition" [to Revit]

Does "not yet ready" imply there will be a time by which it's necessary to be ready?

Its strange that bundling was never a problem with Revit MEP but it was developed after the Autodesk acquisition. Was there some sort of condition in the acquisition agreement for Revit Architecture preventing this until now?

Whatever the true reasons, it has already prompted plenty of speculation in the Autodesk and AUGI Discussion Groups.

Is this the end of AutoCAD Architecture? No-No-No-Yes!*

• No, because it's still going to be sold as a stand-alone product
• No, because it's a still a very viable Building Modelling tool
• No, because it's got a large user base, or rather license base as I wonder how many just use it as AutoCAD.
• Yes, in New Zealand anyway..

Revit has taken off in New Zealand and, I suspect, effectively wiped out any ACA growth**. Those that are using it either have large legacy datasets or have not yet tackled the migration to Revit.

If you are using ACA for facilities or building life-cycle management , as was promoted before Revit became Autodesk Revit, migration is a major task. You can't just start the next project with Revit and forget the past. Running both products is the only option but Revit will dominate as collaboration drives people towards similar platforms. It's ACA which is the orphan in our part of the world.

There are still plenty of skeptics luddites people who think BIM is a fad or AutoCAD is all you need. However, even old dogs will have to learn new BIM tricks when Revit is a project requirement! That isn't going to happen in the future, it's happening now.

* To be read in the voice of Jim from "The Vicar of Dibley"
** I have no hard proof of this but it's my impression from the ACA/Revit user community.
NOTE: Due to some TypePad problems I had to remove & re-post this item several times. If you saw a couple of versions of it in your feed reader that's why.

You say AutoCAD Product Update, I say AutoCAD Bug Fix...

Autodesk’s AutoCAD 2009 based service packs, the “big” between release bug fixes, are out. This time they have been re-branded from Service Packs to Product Updates. 

What’s in a name, apart from confusion?

To me a Service Pack fixes things while Product Update implies some sort of new/improved/updated functionality. From the read-me it appears these Product Updates just fix things. However for AutoCAD subscription users there are also some new, I’m having a pre-subscription VIP program déjà vu moment here, “Bonus Packs” which do add new & improved functionality.

It’s kind of amusing that the file-naming hasn’t matched the marketing change as I’m currently down-loading aca2009sp1.exe, autocad2009lockedsp1.exe, ars2009sp1.exe (amep). SP1 for Service Pack 1 by any chance?

Adding to the confusion over in Revit’ville there are no Service Packs or Product Updates as they have Web Update Enhancements. In spite of that name they only update Revit not the entire interweb.

Autodesk, couldn’t you just settle on one name for these things? I’d suggest; “Bug Fix”.

What’s in an Update?

U’mm, I’ll get back to you on that. I couldn’t try the AutoCAD update (only run verticals) and didn’t even know the ACA/MEP ones were coming so can’t offer much advice. Whatever they are called it’s best to test them before inflicting on your production world in case a fix for one thing breaks another. Also be sure to really read the read-me, especially for AutoCAD partial CUI/Ribbon junkies.

You can get updates via the Subscription Site, or the Services & Support>Data & Download>Updates & Service Packs section of the respective product pages;

• http://www.autodesk.com/autocad
• http://www.autodesk.com/autocadarchitecture
• http://www.autodesk.com/revit
• http://www.autodesk.com/revitmep
• http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure

UPDATE 2008–07–26: I just found similar comment on this thread on the AutoCAD Discussion Group

AutoCAD Architecture or MEP disappears when opening project?

Ever had AutoCAD Architecture/MEP just "disappear" when opening project? It’s not a fatal error, not a crash, but the main window and task bar button is gone. Floating toolbars, Palettes and other UI items may still be displayed and work normally (even the command line). The reason is a valid acad.exe process is still visible in Task Manager. It’s gone, but it’s there, but it’s gone!

From my investigation this happens in ACA/AMEP 2008/2009 (see this Discussion Group thread) and the cause seems to be corrupt Project Profile settings. If you shutdown the application and delete the problem config file normal behaviour is restored.

You can shut down with the command line, using "exit", if it’s still visible and you'll be prompted to save any unsaved work. If the command line not visible select something which is, to give the invisible application focus, then try Control+Q to exit AutoCAD. If none of that works right click and end acad.exe in Task Manager (CTRL+Shift+Esc).

Delete your personal ProjectProfiles .aws file. These are re-built after deletion but you will loose project specific customisation. Open this folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\[LOGON]\Application Data\Autodesk\[APPLICATION_NAME]\enu\Support\Profiles\ProjectProfiles

You can delete all or just delete the problem project.aws. To find that open them with Notepad. The "Name=" section shows which project has generated the .aws. Once that’s done launch ACA/AMEP with a full user interface again!

An Aussie AutoCAD Architecture Blog!

Nathan has just gone public with his Australian, Aussie, AutoCAD Architecture Blog. It’s already got a bunch of great content so go & read it now! I’ve subscribed!

Aussie ACA (ADT) - ausaca.blogspot.com
Hi Aussie's, Kiwi's and any other metric users from around the world who hopefully will feel welcome to drop in and provide some great tips. I am intending to use this site to promote specifically content relative to what I know of the Aus market place and also to discuss the current state of ACA in Australia…

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 and BIM?

It might not be parametric but AutoCAD Architecture 2009 (ACA) has included a number of updates which enable Building Model Information to be managed and exchanged. By refining existing features like Classifications, Property Sets and IFC import/export ACA enables object and performance data to be managed in the Building Model and exchanged with other applications. 

It’s a very BIM’like focus for an application Autodesk marketing relegates to being “AutoCAD for Architects”. If you’re looking at AutoCAD Architecture as a tool to speed up drafting there is little point loading it with performance data or considering IFC exchange. If you want an AutoCAD based Building Model which manages Information…

I was going to write a longer post on the new ACA 2009 features but over at BIMology Tomislav already has!

BIMology: Smarter and Greener BIM with ACA 2009
This article might be offensive to those that are fundamentally opposed to the idea of using ACA as a BIM supporting platform, but nevertheless I cannot withhold my enthusiasm for the improvements that have been made with this new and somewhat downplayed release of 2009…

Resene Paints Colour Books for AutoCAD 2009, including LT!

AutoCAD 2004 introduced colour books for managing custom colours. Since then, Resene Paints (New Zealand) have created AutoCAD Colour books for their entire paint range. There are now over three thousand colours, including the latest “The Range 2008”, which work fine with all versions of AutoCAD from 2004 - 2009 (and verticals). Via Kate’s LT Blog I discovered AutoCAD LT 2009 will also support True Colour, Colour Books and Fields.

This allows you to specify Resene colours anywhere AutoCAD allows colour selection (Layers, Objects, Hatches etc) without having to enter RGB values. The full colour name and code are displayed and can also be used for annotation.

If you insert an object field in annotation (Insert a Field > Object Field > Select the Object > Colour) if/when you alter the object colour the annotation updates automatically. No more typing in colours and codes or printing then realising you’ve not updated a colour swatch name!

The example (click thumbnail right) shows leader text and colour swatch text labels referencing hatch objects & (below) the AutoCAD 2009 Layer Palette & Colour Book Selector. 

Colour Books For AutoCAD software From Resene Paints
Resene have created Colour Books suitable for Autodesk AutoCAD 2004 to 2009 (including AutoCAD based products). These allow you to specify Resene colours anywhere AutoCAD allows colour selection (Layers, Objects, and Hatch fills etc).

AutoCAD 2009, Explode, gone?

Where’s the Dynamite?  Has Explode gone?

While many CAD Managers may prefer it was gone, Explode is still there in 2009. What’s missing is that iconic, umm, icon! For as long as I can remember, to create havoc in an AutoCAD file you just clicked on the Dynamite.

In AutoCAD 2009 it’s been replaced with an icon showing a collection of faces “flying away” from each other. It kind of represents a real world explosion but for AutoCAD it’s a little misleading. When you explode something in AutoCAD, it breaks into components but they don’t go anywhere!

I’m not sure why it was changed. Maybe, like the 3D Viewcube/Wheels, it’s shared by other products and is part of Autodesk’s drive for a more unified interface? Perhaps the “dyna’mighty redness” of the old icon was just too bright for the rather monotone 2009 colour scheme? Or maybe it just didn’t work? If you “2009’ify” the old icon it does look more like a bug on the windshield!

Boom, Boom, to edit AutoCAD Architecture Multiview Block components.*

We use AutoCAD Architecture Multiview Blocks extensively so Explode is actually a handy tool for updating library parts. The nested blocks in MV Blocks can’t be edited directly. You could insert the correct block (then refedit it) but that gets tedious, especially in a standards or project file with hundreds of blocks. An quick alternative is to use explode to expose it;

• Copy the MV Block (you’re going to destroy it soon so don’t use the original)
• Set the view/display to show nested block you want to edit
• Explode shatters the MV Block leaving an anonymous (unnamed) block
• Explode again to reveal the correct component block for the current view, ready to refedit.

* Blame watching too much Basil Brush as a kid for this line.

More AutoCAD 2009 blogging

From the creator of “The Bible”:

Ellen Finkelstein, Author of AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Bible, has “burst into blog” with a tour of the AutoCAD 2009 complete with per feature “Conclusions”. I bet the AutoCAD Team are checking how their features rate as you read this

AutoCAD 2009 New Features - www.ellenfinkelstein.com
It's that time of year again when I summarize the new features of the latest release and give you my opinion…

The Mistress reveals her Pastafarianism (phew!):

Mistress of the Dorkness: Some AutoCAD 2009 thoughts
“OH MY FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!
There's a new interface!”

Steve Johnson now has more “Prequels” than George Lucas! 

AutoCAD 2009 - www.blog.cadnauseam.com
The Prequel Part 13 - ViewCube: For many 3D users of AutoCAD, the ViewCube is likely to be the most useful new thing in AutoCAD 2009. There are a couple of problems with it, at least in the Release Candidate: It does not work in 2D wireframe…

One of these is Steve Johnson at AU 2006, the other is the Author/Owner of cad nauseam

 

Time flies, it’s Autodesk 2009!

Autodesk have announced their “2009” product releases including AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture/MEP and Revit Architecture/MEP. While there is a lot to see in these products some of the announcements made today regarding acquisitions and subscription are just as interesting. It’s a month or so before the release products ship but via the MyFeedback program I’ve had access to a few of them for a while. There are some major changes in all the applications and lots of refinements, although some I’d classify as bug fixes. These are my highlights from the releases, I’ll follow with more detail in future posts. To maximise browser compatibility I’ve shared animations (captured with Camtasia) in .gif format which does limit colour and gradient rendition. The static captures are a better guide to the true appearance, in my case as seen on Windows XP, and details may change between now & release.

AutoCAD 2009 – It’s the User Interface… 

While there are lots of refinements the major impact is how AutoCAD looks and feels. If you’ve recently upgraded to Office 2007 things might seem a little more familiar but AutoCAD veterans are in for a shock. AutoCAD has adopted many of the principles and general layout of the Microsoft Fluent UI however, unlike Office, Autodesk’s interface allows full customisation. It’s all new from the “A” (for AutoCAD) desktop icon to the “AutoCAD” Button, Menu Browser and Ribbon. Even the old status bar text toggles have changed to swish new icons. The focus shifts from tools to tasks as, like Office, the interface attempts to present tools and controls relevant to your work-flow. If your priorities differ the AutoCAD Ribbon allows the same level of customisation as the previous toolbar UI. Unlike Microsoft Office, AutoCAD also retains the old UI so those who can’t live without the legacy Menu/Toolbar model have still that option. Of course the command line, dynamic cursor input and keyboard shortcuts are there for those who prefer the keyboard approach.

• This  capture shows the “AutoCAD Button” and Menu Browser which allows access to Menus, Recent & Open Files and Recent Actions. The options for thumbnail and image previews make finding & selecting files easier. The Quick Access toolbar (next to the A, displaying New, Open, Save etc here) can hold any command you use frequently.

• Below you see a few features of the AutoCAD Ribbon in action. It can be partially or completely hidden (it flies out when you hover over it) and the individual panels can be pinned open or torn off. New look icons and tool-tips are featured which have a crisp, if monotone, appearance more like Inventor.  The ribbon is customised using the CUI (shudder) and combines with the existing “workspace” and Tool Palettes to support a task focused approach. Sadly the appearance is a bit Henry Ford! Any colour you like as long as it is dark or light grey. I suspect it was designed for Vista as, to my eyes, clashes horribly with the default XP blue & beige. I’m running XP with the grey theme which is more acceptable. Layers can be managed from the Ribbon Panel, a traditional layer dialog or a new mode-less, always open, dialog.

• The new status icons for Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar etc replace the old text labels.

• AutoCAD now features refined 3D View Cube (nice!) and Steering Wheel controls (yuk!) similar to those previously seen in Autodesk Design Review!

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 – Refinement, Refinement…

As usual AutoCAD Architecture inherits many of the AutoCAD features, but interestingly not all. It makes less use of the Ribbon and won’t use the mode-less Layer dialog seen in AutoCAD. It features improvements to Walls (Cleanup and end-caps), Spaces and Project Navigator to aid work-flow. Perhaps my favourite feature is a tiny one. When you have over a hundred live projects the ability to close the current one from Project Navigator, without opening and finding it in Project Browser, is awesome!

• AutoCAD Architecture in Design Workspace Menu/Toolbar and Visualisation Workspace Ribbon mode.

Revit Architecture 2009 – Exceptional Rendering…

Yes, Revit could always render, thanks to Accurender, but invariably it looked “OK, except…”. For 2009 the factory have incorporated the high quality Mental Ray render engine as seen in Max, AutoCAD and other products. This change alone would justify Revit 2009 for me but there are many other improvements. Sadly apart from an “R” desktop icon (get it?) Revit has not benefited from major UI changes other than the View Cube and Steering Wheel 3D viewing controls seen in other Autodesk products. The new render UI is delightfully simple and credit to the team. Inter-operation between Revit and Max has also been improved.

Other announcements:

• Autodesk announce acquisitions of analysis technologies from Green Building Studio and Carmel Software
• Autodesk Impression free for AEC application subscription customers!? See this post for more detail
• 3ds Max Design and 3ds Max 2009 Entertainment announced. Autodesk also announced Viz development is ending and it’s “encouraging customers to shift to 3ds Max Design”. As a Viz user, subscriber, I’ll be interested to see what form this “encouragement” takes as the press release only has US pricing!

That’s all for now, it’s time for bed!

Tags: Autodesk, 2009

AutoCAD Architecture 700,000,000 millimetres from home

Take a look at the image right/below (click the thumbnails if you want a closer view). This is an old file (from the 90’s) and displaying it in 3D with a conceptual shader revealed geometry falling apart. Posts that should be square had degraded to triangles, shelves were sloping and outlines were displaced from the shaded geometry.

At first I was perplexed but then found the problem. We draw in metric with one millimetre = one AutoCAD unit. The site, rather than building, plan was being used as an underlay and it used a datum which placed the store just over 700km from 0,0,0!

When you’re measuring in millimetres adding 700km results in some huge numbers and I suspect the system was just running out of numbers. Moving everything closer to home (0,0,0) sorted out the graphics.

Visualizing Thermal Transfer in AutoCAD Architecture

Tomislav Zigo has a great post showing how ACA + Steady-state heat transfer analysis software can be combined to help communicate design intent.

BIMology: Visualizing Thermal Transfer Data in AutoCAD Architecture
This example focuses on a presentation technique that architects could use to clearly communicate their decision in the choice of building envelope composition.

Curved text in AutoCAD?

I got an email from a reader with the question;

“Do you know if there is a way to wrap text around a curve in AutoCad MEP?”

I haven’t looked at how you’d achieve it in a AutoCAD MEP label but for plain text this just requires the Express Tools installed. You create the curve then add the text with the Express>Arc-aligned Text command*.

Once created you use the same command to modify the layout, content and position from this dialog:

* If you don’t see the Express Menu verify if the express tools are loaded. At the command prompt, enter EXPRESSTOOLS to enable the tools. If not:

• You can install the AutoCAD Express Tools as part of the AutoCAD installation, or you can add them later using Add or Remove Programs on the Control Panel. Depending on your environment this may require admin rights or may need to done by your IT/CAD Manager.
• Express Tools are available in their original form, in English only, and are not supported. No updates have been made to the tools. Double-byte characters are not supported.

Moving Projects in AutoCAD Architecture

As part of a move to new CAD hardware I did some project file housekeeping. This required shifting 5GB of project files (store projects) and re-pathing them.

Probably about 2,000 dwg files, lord knows how many paths. After the move I loaded each project, re-pathed, then checked things to see if the new paths worked OK. The whole process took maybe 90 minutes, most of that waiting for files to copy (backups in case it all went wrong!) or move.

I didn't need those backups, it all worked perfectly. Thanks AutoCAD Architecture Team!

Beating the AutoCAD Architecture/MEP Fixed Width Schedule Quantity Column?

While creating an AutoCAD Architecture Schedule I added a Quantity Column (1). As intended it combines like items to show a total number rather than each item but the result was too w i d e at the default 80 units (metric). Normally you select the column (2), modify and override the cell format (3) by editing the Cell Size fixed Width (4). However as you can see the width setting is grayed out. I couldn’t find any way to change this. I then though maybe it’s controlled by the header width setting. Sure enough the header override isn’t grayed out and can be set to any value. Problem is, that doesn’t override the fixed cell width…

After a futile attempt to “un-grey out” the cell width it was time to avoid the problem. You can hide the big wide Quantity column (Modify > Hide) and show the same values in a formula column. This is a normal column and responds to the width override setting.

Add a formula column (1, 2) then add the Quantity using the “Insert Quantity” button (3). The resulting field [QUANTITY] (4) displays the same value as the real quantity column. You can the override the cell format (5) and set any width you desire (6)which was 20 for me.

After I post this i suspect someone will tell me how it’s easy to “un-grey” that field and edit the quantity column width, if not…

AutoCAD 2008 SP1 Hotfixes

If you’ve installed AutoCAD 2008 Sp1 (or any vertical based on it) there are a couple of hotfixes you should investigate:

• Hotfix - Linetype display – This hotfix repairs a problem in which linetypes unexpectedly display as continuous in AutoCAD® products after the installation of a Service Pack.
• Hotfix - Raster Error – This hotfix repairs the following fatal error in AutoCAD® products when opening a drawing or inserting an image file after the installation of a Service Pack.

Autodesk Patch Wednesday?

Microsoft have their “Patch Tuesday” but seems this Wednesday it was Autodesk’s turn.

Guess who was about to build a new master CAD deployment but got distracted and ran out of time. Then he arrived at work the next day to find nearly every CAD product had been patched overnight! Procrastination is sometimes a good thing.

Keep up to date with Autodesk Product Support, Updates & Service Packs via RSS Feed at:

http://rss-support.autodesk.com/subscription

Tick the products you want to watch and add the feed created to your reader. Revit MEP isn’t listed but the AutoCAD MEP selection seems to get it as well.

 

The power of a model, lets you forget!

Last week, while talking about standards, I asked the retail design team a question:

“What’s the colour, hatch scale and pattern of the space used for a Toy dept in one of our store plans.”

They use them daily but struggled to remember because nobody ever thinks about it. The truth is I had no idea either as it was something set up years ago. Originally it was a lisp that added a predefined AutoCAD hatch, now it’s an AEC Space (added from a tool palette) which also reports area, volume, perimeter and other custom information.

That’s a simple example but shows the power of embedding information in objects and automating process. This story from Cadalyst shares how modelling and automation helps one firm build better houses, quicker;

Small Changes Add Up to Big Savings - Cadalyst AEC
“For more than a year, Lindemann Bentzon Bojack Engineering (LBBE) has been advocating the potential advantages of whole-house design.”

"Applying the idea of whole-house design, enabled by 3D models, means our teams work simultaneously on a project so that it's completed in 30 days vs. 90 days -- a 66% time savings,"

“To organize those 700,000 drawings that the company produces yearly in Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) as well as track revision information, Avatech's team designed a custom application to get ADT's Project Navigator and Sheet Set Manager”

Jimmy Bergmark interviewed by NOVEDGE blog

In the latest post on NOVEDGE Franco Folini interviews Jimmy Bergmark of JTB World.

Like many I first “met” Jimmy via the Autodesk Discussion Groups, his website and blog. He’s a keen contributor and has a wealth of knowledge in CAD related programming and customisation. In 2005 it was a real pleasure to meet him in person which given I’m in New Zealand and he’s in Sweden was no simple task. We met in Orlando, about halfway, as both attended Autodesk University 2005.

NOVEDGE blog: An Interview with Jimmy Bergmark, AutoCAD Guru
Jimmy Bergmark is the owner and principal of JTB World, a Swedish consulting company specializing in AutoCAD programming and customization. Jimmy is well known in the AutoCAD community because of his constant presence and highly qualified advice in several discussion forums and also because of his popular technical blog…

Tags: JTB+World, NOVEDGE

HOK Blog!

HOK have a couple of new(ish) blogs looking at buildingSMART (Building Information Model) and Green design. It’s great to see companies sharing their experience & knowledge!

HOK CAD Solutions - Welcome to this HOK CAD Support blog
“This is the idea: let’s use this blog as a communication track to gather knowledge and share; we hope that you will be willing to author posts and share opinions to make this work. Postings will be by HOK and invited guests, viewing is by anybody inside and outside HOK….”

http://hokcadsolutions.blogspot.com/

HOK GREEN BIM - Welcome to my new Green Blog - Miles Walker
I plan to capture my path into green design in architecture…

http://greenbim.blogspot.com/

Also check out Miles' other website on BIM:

4BIM – A web site exclusively for Building Information Modelling

http://www.4bim.com/

Via autodesk-revit.blogspot.com

Tags: HOK, buildingSMART, BIM

AutoCAD Architecture/MEP slow to start, or error opening a project?

The Problem;

You have a problem opening a ACA/AMEP project or slow application start-up (I’m talking 10+ minute slow) on a given machine. This is specific to a user/machine and others using the same project are OK.

A possible cause;

The problem may be a bad personal Project Profile.aws file. By default Tool Palette Group information is written to the profile.aws files in the current user profile. This action only occurs when you open a project in the Project browser.

If the .aws is corrupted it can cause an error when the project is accessed by that user. If the project was active when ACA/AMEP is closed down the next startup will also be very slow or fail.

A Fix;

Deleting the users personal ProjectProfile .aws file for the problem project will restore access on that machine. With ACA/AMEP closed browse to this folder in explorer;

%userprofile%\Application Data\Autodesk\[ACA/ADT version]\enu\Support\Profiles\ProjectProfiles

You’ll see a non-project profile “ADTNonProjectProfile… .aws” and project specific profiles with names like “204DA426_95AA_49B6_A42E_4AB29C169962.aws”.

Make a copy, so you can restore if needed, & delete the .aws file. You can delete them all or open each.aws file with Notepad to see which project it relates to. The “Name=” value will match the project name. Then just delete the problem project’s .aws.

If I've had any problems with start-up on a given project & specific machine it's helped.

AutoCAD Architecture Customer Council feedback

The AutoCAD® Architecture Product Team run a Customer Council to gather feedback on AutoCAD Architecture. To date this has been in the form of user surveys on preferences and requirements for future versions. They take a little time but unlike many user surveys which just disappear into the interweb the ACACC shares the results. You get learn interesting facts like how many times… 

Well, I can’t share the results outside the council so get involved & sign up for the AutoCAD® Architecture Customer Council - www.adtcc.com . You’ll learn more about the application you use and help improve future versions!

Tags: AutoCAD+Architecture+Customer+Council

On the Ning Nang Nong, Where AutoCAD Architecture goes Bong!

It’s been one of those days, actually two days. Finish a deployment for AutoCAD Architecture, test it and find it works perfectly until you shut down. Then, after a short delay, “Bong”!*

Running filemon I found that an acad.err file was being written/updated after shutdown with an error message:

FATAL ERROR: Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0xc144614 Exception at 622d51cch [current day] at [shutdown time] drawing:

The only event in System Monitor was the licence service stopping and there was no Windows or Autodesk CER. Even worse, it only happened when my customised profile was current. The default profiles were “bong-less”. This turned out to be a vital clue, but thats easy to say with hindsight. Adding confusion, I hadn’t seen this with previous ADT 2006 & 2007 builds using the same profile settings.

Since the custom profile includes a myriad of options the only way was to start from scratch. I copied the default profile, bong-less, then added an item/path/preference, then closed down waiting for the “bong” or hoping for an “absence of bong”. Eventually I found the cause was Civil 3D object pollution in the template I was using. How Civil 3D got in there I don’t know but without it’s object enabler installed, and the proxy object dialog off, the only indication of any problem was a “bong” & acad.err log.

The solution was to create a clean template: no more Civil 3D stuff, no more bong. Since there is likely already Civil 3D polluted content out there, and we do see the occasional Civil 3D file, I also added the Civil 3D Object Enabler to the build. The default profiles were fine because they use different templates. So why didn’t ADT 2006/7 bong & error with same template and no enabler installed? I don’t know…

* I’m a Spike Milligan fan. “Bong” was actually “Windows XP Critical Stop.wav” but using that wouldn’t allow me to misquote Spike’s wonderful “Silly verse for kids” which I loved as a kid, and still do…

Top poetry is complete nonsense - (includes “On The Ning Nang Nong” text) - BBC News

See the top 3 favourite poems in Britain including Spike performing Ning Nang Nong – low quality RealPlayer .ram file – BBC News

XML Schema Monkeys?

It’s strange what you find on a CAD Discussion Group. It started with a question about the AutoCAD Architecture Tool & Catalog system, a serious answer mentioned “XML Schema”, then a comment about it being “developed by monkeys” led to this amusing site:

 

Credit to “the Other Frank”. Thanks for making my day!

AutoCAD Publish to Google Earth "updated for 2008"

One of my most popular older posts is the result of people searching for “AutoCAD, Google Earth & kmz”. About a thousand people a month find this post about the Autodesk Labs AutoCAD Google Earth Extension. The good news from Shaan is that it’s just been updated for 2008!

Between the Lines: Publish to Google Earth for AutoCAD 2008
New Version for AutoCAD 2008 posted!

Google Earth Extension Technology Preview
This AutoCAD 2008 add-on is useful in publishing and viewing your DWG-based data and 3D models within Google Earth™.
Applicable Products: AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008, AutoCAD Map 3D 2008

Tags: Google+Earth

No 64 bit for AutoCAD Architecture 2008?

Thinking about that new 64 bit OS/Machine for AutoCAD Architecture? Before you go shopping check out this comment from Jason (copied from this post, also posted to an ACA Discussion Group thread):

“My firm has been using ADT 2007 (and the previous releases) on Windows XP x64 in a production environment for nearly 2 years. The only caveat was to make sure that the 64 bit version of the .net 2.0 package was installed and that the "support file search path" pointed to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007...' due to the way that XP x64 segregates the 32-bit native programs from the 64-bit native ones. Autodesk has never supported the install of ADT on 64-bit OS's. But they allowed the programs to install.

In ACA2008, they have programmed the .msi installer to abort on the detection of a 64-bit OS. Chris Yanchar's response is that they are not supporting ACA2008, hence the installation limitation. My contention is that Autodesk should include this functionality in the current release (ACA2008) as they did in previous releases.”

I’m not running 64 bit, or even Vista, yet so hadn’t encountered this limitation. Strangely the ACA System requirements published on the website only state XP/Vista and there is no mention of 32/64 bit at all, even in the linked FAQ PDF.

Autodesk - AutoCAD Architecture - Features & Specifications
Recommended System Requirements

• Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ processor, 3 GHz or greater
• Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP2 or later) or Vista™ operating system
• 3 GB RAM
• 3.1 GB free disk space
• 1280x1024 monitor and display adapter capable of 32-bit color
  128 MB or greater, OpenGL®-capable workstation-class graphics card
• MS Mouse—compliant pointing device
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or later)
• The preceding requirements are recommended for effective use of AutoCAD Architecture.

I assume it also applies to AutoCAD MEP? If AutoCAD Architecture/MEP will not install on a 64 bit OS it should be clearly stated.

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 arrives in Nu Zild!

Nice surprise tonight when I got home from work tonight: 

• A large box which I opened to find…
• A smaller box which I opened to find…
• This DVD case.

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 has arrived in New Zealand! *

* Well, mine has anyway!

 Also, after a quick download, has Autodesk Design Review 2008:

Beyond the Paper: Autodesk Design Review 2008 Now Available
After hours of tireless effort working on the Nile project, Autodesk Design Review 2008 has been released. It is available for download from the Autodesk web site…

UPDATE 03–04–2007: Yay, another big box, with a little box, with a DVD containing Viz 2008 arrived today!