RobiNZ CAD Blog

Autodesk Ecotect?!

The Green Building Studio announcement was expected but I was surprised to see* news of the Ecotect acquisition. Apart from a couple of sessions at AU2007 I haven’t seen much of Ecotect. I haven’t used it but those I know who have are struck by it’s impressive visualisation.

To date my role in building energy studies has been as a modeller (using Revit MEP) with the analysis left to those best qualified to interpret the data. However the audience for all this was a building owner/operator. With the sophisticated modelling available communicating the results seemed more of a challenge than generating them.

Since the whole business of building performance modelling is new to many anything that helps create better solutions AND communicate them is welcomed. It will be interesting to see these develop as they are merged into the Autodesk BIM family. A “green post” to match my current, coincidental, green banner image.

Autodesk Enhances Sustainable Design Capabilities With Acquisitions of Ecotect and Green Building Studio Analysis Tools - Autodesk - Press Releases

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of its on-going commitment to support the practice of sustainable design and green building in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced two acquisitions to improve building performance analysis in the building information modeling (BIM) process.

Autodesk announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets related to the Ecotect software tools for conceptual building performance analysis from both Square One Research Ltd. and Dr. Andrew Marsh. Autodesk also announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Green Building Studio, Inc., a provider of web-based whole building energy, water and carbon-emission analysis software…

Related Links: 

• Sid Thoo’s introduction to Ecotect at AECbytes
• Autodesk Green Building Studio - www.autodesk.com/greenbuildingstudio
• Autodesk Ecotect is currently at www.squ1.com
• GreenBuild New Zealand – www.greenbuild.co.nz/

* I read this first at TenLinks.com

Tags: ecotect

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!

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 MEP - The Blog

Thanks to Miles’ HOK Green BIM Blog I found an AutoCAD MEP blog that wasn’t in my feedlist. Subscribed!

AutoCAD MEP - autocadmep.blogspot.com

More bitten by the CAD blog bug...

Catching up, post AU, and I’ve found a few new blogs to follow:

David Harrington’s ( CADDHELP – http://caddhelp.blogspot.com/

Dwayne Ellis’ A 3D Life – http://a3dlife.blogspot.com/

Trisha found this one for me by meeting the author at AU. It’s not a new blog but is new to me:

Abbie’s Ab's AutodeskBuildingSystems – http://abbie-abs.blogspot.com/

I’ve also taken Mike Perry’s advice and added the BLAUGI Blog to my side-bar links. I thought it was there already, honest!

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.

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.

 

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

A Tablet PC for CAD/BIM?

As it’s an evolution from “the drawing board” combining CAD/BIM software and Tablet PC seems natural. I wonder why it hasn’t been done by the major market players? In the early days hardware was a real limitation but newer tablets like the Lenovo X61 or Toshiba M400 have reasonable performance for portable use. I don’t see them as workstation replacements, rather an ideal way to take your design on-site or to a meeting where using a mouse isn’t practical.

I’ve tried mark-up with Autodesk Design Review (ADR) on a Tablet and liked it in-spite of the application’s User Interface (UI) not being very Tablet friendly. That was with ADR 2007 but, sadly, the newer free ADR 2008 makes more use of fly-out tools for mark-up formatting which are harder to use on a tablet. Even with the current UI the speed & ease of pen input for non-precision sketch/mark-up leaves a mouse/keyboard combo for dead, especially in the field where you can’t use them at all.

I’ve also played with AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture and Revit on a Tablet PC and all were usable, if not really viable full-time. There’s no perfect UI but for many environments & tasks the pen/tablet is far more natural, dare I say fluent, than the mouse & keyboard. I was surprised to find AutoCAD’s UI and command “logic” (selection/command sequence) worked better than the smarter object based applications.

Revit’s dialog heavy UI was the least accommodating which is a pity given the power of it’s engine to assist design. I’d love to see that Building Information Model manipulated with a Tablet friendly UI as a conceptual design tool. You wouldn’t want to do detail design work – lots of text or precision dimension entry – but for knocking around a concept the tablet & pen is the most natural human interface, at least until those surface displays with direct manipulation become affordable.

Thanks to “GottabeMobile” I found an application from Evodia which shows what “concept sketches” become with some smart software and a tablet. It’s software for Electrical Schematic design and looks brilliant. I can only say “looks” because the website is in French (my ignorance prevents me reading that) and I don’t have a machine to try it on as the Tablet PC’s I’ve used were loan machines. Donations to the “Tablet for Robin” fund accepted in the tip-jar  

I’ve seen all sorts of software used for this – Excel, Visio, AutoCAD/Revit MEP – but none an Electrical Engineer, who can drive a pen faster than a mouse, could use so fluently. You get the speed of a scribble with the power of software assisted design & layout. Imagine that with a conceptual Building Information Model. The pen may not be the ultimate design tool but it’s mightier than the… mouse.

Via GottaBeMobile.com - Using a Tablet PC for Electrical Sketching
“When you see how quickly someone can sketch out the schematics for a house, you have to wonder why electricians would ever choose to go back to paper.”

Tags: Evodia, GottabeMobile

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.

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

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.

Category Management for new 2008 names

Using product names on your blog means re-branding presents some challenges. Do you change to the new name or keep the one most people know. Luckily it doesn’t impact my Blog title or URL but I’ve revised some blog categories (indexes) to reflect recent name changes:

• Architectural Desktop changes to AutoCAD Architecture
• Revit changes to Revit Architecture
• Building Systems changes to AutoCAD MEP
• Auckland AutoCAD User Group now Auckland Autodesk User Group
• I’ve added Revit Structure and Revit MEP but will need to re-index some posts into these categories.

It won’t alter post permalinks and TypePad retains the old category URL. It might say AutoCAD Architecture but TypePad will always know it as ../architectural_desktop/index.html. Seems like some names will never die  

These changes shouldn't break anything but if you have any problems let me know.

Service update and something extra

Time for a post about CAD on this CAD blog . Lots happening but first some important service notes. If you haven’t already seen them check out these recent releases:

From BTP I learn there are service packs now out for AutoCAD 2007, Architectural Desktop 2007 & Autodesk Building Systems 2007. The verticals include the AutoCAD pack so only get the one you need.

From BTW: ADT Subscribers check out the new Spaces and Drawing Compare Module. More on this when I’ve had a chance to play, I mean learn, about it!

New Product Manager for Autodesk Building Systems

Autodesk Building Systems users, introduce yourself to Laura, have your say!

ABS has a new Product Manager! - Autodesk - Discussion Groups
“My name is Laura Gutwillig, though you will see me as LauraG on these discussion groups….”

“I am proud to say that we have a great team of folks working on this product, many whom you talk with through these discussion groups, that are just as dedicated as me. BUT...we still need you. We need to hear from you what's working and what is just plain not! Tell us what you need, and how you would like to see functionality improved.”

Lost your ABS Snaps tab in Autodesk Building Systems 2007?

If you are an Autodesk Building Systems 2007 user and run the “US Metric Profile” you may have found the Drafting Settings ABS Snaps tab missing. This Discussion Group post has instructions to restore it.

Autodesk - Discussion Groups - Missing ABS Snaps tab in US Metric Profile

Can the Building Systems Applications create Buildings?

So you need to do both Building Systems and Building related work. Will the discipline targeted Autodesk AEC applications allow this and what are the limitations.

Autodesk AEC Desktop Family:

The vertical nature of the “AEC Desktop family” makes this simple to answer. Autodesk Building Systems contains all the capabilities of Architectural Desktop, which in turn contains all of AutoCAD. The user interface presented on installation may not be identical but the functions are there. You may have to create a profile & workspace but once done ABS can do all that ADT allows.

Autodesk Revit AEC Family:

Once Revit was the same for everyone, but things aren’t so simple anymore. Revit became Revit Building, soon joined by Revit Structure and Revit Systems. There has been some debate on how the “flavours” of Revit compare for those doing multi-discipline work. Although sharing a common core they appear to be more companions, rather than vertical products, with selected tools exposed to suit the target design role.

So can you do buildings in Revit Systems?

I can’t comment, as Revit Systems is not released in New Zealand, however Steve Stafford has posted a excellent comparison on his Revit OpEd blog. It shows the Revit Building and Systems Design Bars and discusses what is, and isn’t, included.

Revit Building & Revit Systems Design Bar Comparison - Revit OpEd

New Architectural Desktop Community Launch at AUGI!

The new Architectural Desktop & Building Systems community at AUGI is live.

Read about it here: BLAUGI: New Architectural Desktop Community Launch at AUGI!

View it here: AUGI Architectural Desktop and Building Systems Community (req. free AUGI registration)

Mind Mapping the AUGI ADT/ABS Community

Richard Binning’s post on the Architectural Desktop/Autodesk Building Systems Community at AUGI caught my attention for two reasons:

1. There is soon to be a new ADT/ABS Community at AUGI!
2. A great MindManager Map, which you can download, that he’s using to document the structure & code being developed for the website. If you don’t have MindManager you use either their free trial or  free viewer to view mmap files.

This community looks like it will become a valuable resource for ADT/ABS users. AUGI Membership is free and gives you access to a whole world of CAD resources for all the Autodesk platforms.

Beside the Cursor...: Mind Mapping the Community Development at AUGI
“…a sneak preview of the Map being generated to document the launch of this new community designed to support Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems users”

Autodesk New Zealand Design Masters Quiz

Last night I attended the Autodesk New Zealand Design Masters Quiz (2007 Launch event). It was a mix of serious, well mostly serious, software demonstrations and quiz show fun. “Pre-Quiz” Dealer and Customer presentations showcased the full product range with AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor and Map demo’s featuring in the quiz.

A highlight was New Zealand Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete Hamish Carter. The tale of his journey to Olympic glory was great to hear. He also assisted TV’s Ric Salizzo run the quiz giving away loads of prizes, unfortunately not to Table 22!

Photos below: Some of the crowd (approx 400), Hamish Carter

  

It was also an opportunity to catch up with fellow Kiwi beta testers Chris Needham and Darren Myles (photos below by Shaan Hurley). Thanks to the Autodesk NZ team for a great evening.

 

Building Information Modelling takes off around New Zealand - The Salesoft Autodesk "Building Ideas Roadshow”

Is this a first for New Zealand?

Wellington has seen a 3,500 tonne building on a train but taking a Building Ideas Show on the road is an unusual solution for a problem posed by New Zealand’s geography and population distribution.

Faced with the challenge of presenting BIM Concepts and demonstrating the latest Autodesk AEC Applications throughout the land the team at Salesoft CAD Solutions have found a novel solution; take the Building Ideas Show on the road!

How do you move a BIM Road-show?

You may have recently seen the Microsoft X-Box Bus touring New Zealand. The Building Ideas Bus uses the same vehicle:

• This giant bus measures 13.5 metres long, 4.2m high and 2.5m wide while mobile.
• When it stops, for display, the sides slide out to give a total width of 4.7m
• It’s packed with the latest technology for presentation and hands-on demonstration of computer software so you can see & learn about it.

What will you see?

The Building Ideas Bus will bring the latest Autodesk Applications and information for Building Industry Specialists, Companies, Educators, and Students between Hamilton & Invercargill, finishing in Queenstown (1st – 10th May, 2006).

It will feature presentations focusing on Architecture, Structural Design and Education. You can see the latest Revit Building, Revit Structure, Architectural Desktop and AutoCAD applications in action. In most locations this will be before they are officially presented at the Auckland Autodesk New Zealand Design Masters Event.

So When, Where?

Road Trip Schedule
Date	Town	Location
May 1 – Monday	Hamilton	Civic Plaza, Site E
May 2 – Tuesday	Palmerston North	Railway Reserve
May 3 – Wednesday	Wellington	Civic Square
May 4 – Thursday	Nelson	Trafalgar Centre
May 5 – Friday	Christchurch	Cathedral Square
May 6 – Saturday	Christchurch	Cathedral Square
May 7 – Sunday	-	-
May 8 – Monday	Dunedin	Lower Octagon
May 9 – Tuesday	Invercargill	Don Street Car-park
May 10 – Wednesday	Queenstown	Copthorne Hotel

For details on sessions and timing click on the Timetable (thumbnail) below:

How can you find out more?

Watch for updates at: www.salesoft.co.nz

Register your interest at: team@salesoft.co.nz

AutoCAD/ADT 2007 and Zone Alarm

I just completed my installation Architectural Desktop 2007 at home. I started it up and it all worked fine until I tried to close a drawing.  Hitting the X caused the processor to hit 100% and after about 30 seconds a fatal error. Thinking maybe it was a bad install I tried again after a re-boot, then re-installation but got the same result.

Perplexed, I started Sysinternals Filemon and watched it while recreating the crash. That was not hard as it happened every time I closed a document. Filemon revealed furious activity by "vsmon.exe" just prior to the launch of the error logging process.

"vsmon.exe" is a component of the ZoneAlarm personal firewall I run and the solution was to give acad.exe increased “trust” in ZoneAlarm’s Program Control. Now, thankfully, I can close a dwg without a fatal error!

Autodesk New Zealand Design Masters Quiz (2007 Launch event)

Details for the New Zealand Autodesk 2007 Launch event are on-line. It changes every year, as the format is refined, but this post about the 2006 event shows it goes far beyond the average software launch. Register now at the Autodesk NZ site.

Autodesk New Zealand Design Masters Quiz

• When: Tuesday May 9th 2006
• Place: Aotea Center, Auckland, New Zealand
• What:
  • Pre-Event In-depth Technical Presentations: 13:00 to 16:50
  • Design Masters Quiz: 17.30pm to 20.00. Compete and win in a team based quiz, hosted by well known television presenters. 

Highlights:

• In depth Technical Presentations.
• More Prizes! - More Food! - More Fun!
• Chance to meet Shaan Hurley “Between The Lines AutoCAD Blogger” and Autodesk My Feedback (Beta) Program Manager.*

* Ok I added that last one but you will, Shaan’s going to be in NZ for the event to answer all your toughest AutoCAD questions

Update:

2007: A ADT/ABS Space Odyssey

Space can represent many things as the image (right), from http://www.visualthesaurus.com shows.

As Architectural Desktop & Building Systems evolved different requirements for measurement, display, grouping, and analysis led to a combination of objects, each with unique capabilities, simply to model and display 2D Area and 3D space;

• AEC Spaces, the oldest, could define room boundaries, model horizontal floor and ceiling surfaces and simple room volumes.
• 2D only AEC Areas could be grouped and themed and also offered extended calculations and analysis export.
• ABS added AEC E-Space which handled modelling and engineering data related to building systems.

With 2007 the ADT/ABS team have managed something physicists would love to do and created a single unified description of space.

A heavily revised AEC Space object merges all the capabilities of the former 2D Area, 3D Space and E-Space objects then adds some new tricks of it’s own. Free-form spaces can model complex room volumes and spaces can be made associative with their bounding objects.

It’s interesting that Revit 9 features new “Room” objects also driven by the need to model volume and area for design and analysis.

The changes to ADT are particularly good news for me. We started measuring building areas with AEC Spaces way back in ADT 2. This was one reason for adopting ADT and was later extended into measuring retail merchandise areas (departments). When AEC Areas arrived the grouping and calculations seemed like a useful capability for aggregating building areas and retail departments but we never got around to migrating hundreds of spaces in hundreds of store plans. When you open a drawing with 2007 legacy Space/Area objects are migrated to the new “2007 Space” objects so now it’s as if those capabilities have migrated to us.

* Apologies, could not resist the rather terrible pun of the title from my favourite film: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Scoop, 2007 guesses what is happening in Auckland on May 9th...

RSS is a powerful thing. Checking the blog feeds last night I notice someone is planning to be in Auckland on May 9th for the Autodesk Design Masters Event (2007 Launch)…

* Since confirmed, pencil it in your diary, details to follow…

New ABS Blog

Beau Turner has links to two new CAD blogs. “Systems Blog” is for Autodesk Building Systems products (ABS now, RBS when it arrives) and the other, “How to grow technically and professional for the lazy drafter” :-)

Will render for food...: Systems Blog.

The CADRE BSD Blog

Just found this tonight, David Butts of CADRE Systems has a blog focusing on the Architectural Desktop, Building Systems and Revit.

The CADRE BSD Blog

New Autodesk DWF Viewer & Writer - Slice/dice, de-construct and create DWF's

There are new versions of the freebie DWF Viewer and DWF Writer applications. 

Many of the new viewer features are aimed at exploring 3D DWF models although improvements to operation, integration, and 2D DWF viewing haven’t been forgotten. I’ll start with the Viewer and it’s new  3D features as they are powerful and the most fun!

Slice and Dice!

With a 3D DWF you can slice a section though the model for a better look inside. The screen-shot (click for full-size) shows a section through an ADT house model. The section is live and you can drag the “section plane” around with the “triad” axis object. You can add up to six sections at any time. Right click on the Section name in the views pane to access display/control options for each section view.

Raise the Roof!

If a section is not enough just pull the model apart for a better look. Click the move button then select & drag model elements out of the way. In the screen-shot (click for full-size) the blue roof slab has been lifted to look into the interior. You can reset the model to make good all your demolition by selecting elements/groups in the Content Browser Model tree then Right-click>Reset.

Not everything new is 3D focused. Many existing functions and interface features have been refined:

• Best news is the return of these guys! . Yes, the page change buttons which went missing in 6.0 are back!
• The layer dialog has been integrated into the Content Browser pane instead of floating.
• Email and Print from direct from Windows Explorer DWF icons.
• Email a DWF from File>Send menu in the viewer.
• Drag n drop DWFs into Microsoft Word & PowerPoint documents. This embeds the DWF into the document. Sadly, if you want to have “live” DWF’s in your PowerPoint presentation, with the viewer operating in the slide, you still need to add the DWF Control via Insert object.

Not everything I wished for is there, I’m still hanging out for better navigation of Architectural DWF’s but there is more than enough in here to make the DWF Viewer worth a download.

There is also an update to the companion free DWF writer. It allows applications without built in DWF publishing to print a DWF via File>Print then selecting DWF Writer as your printer. It also adds one click “Publish to DWF” tool-bars to I.E. and Microsoft Office applications. With OpenGL enabled applications (mainly CAD) you can even “DWF Write” a 3d model DWF.

To update existing DWF Viewer installations just launch the viewer & you should be prompted to update. If not force an update from the menu Help>Check for updates.

• Download the viewer from: www.autodesk.com/dwfviewer
• Download the Writer from: www.autodesk.com/dwf-publishing

Learn more about DWF, inc sample files, from: www.autodesk.com/dwf

More details on Shaan’s AutoCAD blog: Between the Lines: New Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5

Autodesk DWG TrueView™ - view DWG files for free

Autodesk have released a free viewer for AutoCAD DWG format files. Yes, you can finally the use the words “Autodesk”, “DWG”, “Viewer” and “Free” all in one sentence without the word “wish”  

Shaan, Between The Lines ~ AutoCAD Blog, has a post with all the details but the summary is:

• It’s built on the AutoCAD RealDWG™ engine
• Offers AutoCAD style viewing, zoom, layer dialog etc
• It has the ADT object enabler built-in (Yeah from an ADT user!) and is compatible with other AutoCAD enablers.
• It opens, prints (plotters/Printers) and publishes (to DWF) like AutoCAD 2006
• It supports AutoCAD style support pathing, plotters, plotstyles etc
• It’s free

The downside is it’s about 100mb to download but hey, that’s what broadband is for!

Between the Lines: New and Free DWG TrueView™ - view DWG files
DWG TrueView™ is now available for free from Autodesk.
http://www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueview

A common question is now Autodesk offers a free DWG Viewer why bother with DWF?

In another post at BTL Mr DWF Evangelist*, Scott Sheppard, details the role DWF plays and the advantages of sharing DWF files instead of AutoCAD drawings.

Between the Lines: The advantages of sharing DWF files instead of native AutoCAD drawings
“Comparisons between DWG and DWF aside, with DWF, users can do more than just view the design data….”

There is a need for DWG Viewing and a role for DWF as a compact, secure view/mark-up net friendly format. It’s nice that both are now supported and both are free.

* Scott’s Official Title is “Autodesk DWF Technical Evangelist”

Update 30 October, 2005:

I originally referred to Scott as “Mr DWF”. In a discussion group post Scott states that the real Mr DWF is Brian Mathews: “Brian invented the DWF format and designed/built our original WHIP! Netscape
Navigator plug-in.”

So Scott is now Mr DWF Evangelist  

Beating the Layer Key hassle

Back in July I read a neat post at Richard Binnings Beside the Cursor...  Blog, wrote a draft post referencing it and somehow didn’t post it. So here it is…

Richard has tackled one of the more tedious tasks for anyone upgrading between various versions of ADT/ABS.

Layer Key Styles are vital to the auto layering of AEC content and the further you go with ADT/ABS the more likely you are to customise or add keys specific to your standards or content. Then an upgrade arrives and you need to look at the Layer Key Styles, old and new, and find:

• New keys to be added: Sometimes new features or objects will have new layer keys
• Old keys to be deleted: Occasionally keys can be removed if the objects they supported have changed.
• Which of your custom keys to import/migrate.

The usual answer (for me anyway) was to copy the various keys to Excel and compare them. You still had to manually create the keys based on the results of this comparison.

Richard has tackled this task by creating some nice Excel/VBA tools to allow easy comparison of Layer Key Styles and  copy/transfer of keys between them.These make it easy update of your own Layer Key Style. Have a look at this series of posts which have the code and instructions for the various tools.

• Copying LayerKeys between Layer Standards: An article about exporting layer keys to excel and performing comparison using VBA.  Also included, a teaser on the following upcoming articles shown below:
• Layer Key Migration Utility Post: An article on how to use the Layer Key Copy utility.  An unlocked VBA source routine that copies layer keys between layer key styles.
•  Layer Key Migration Utility Update: An updated download to allow selection of DWG, DWS, and DWT files [for instead of just DWG.

Seeing the plot with AutoCAD 2006

It won’t help you figure out “who done it” in the thriller you’re reading but I found an AutoCAD variable that will let you see the plot.

If you have a plotter with a small on-board display, like our HP 800, AutoCAD’s recently acquired habit of sending the full path of the plot file to the printer can be rather frustrating. You see an endless list of truncated paths but can’t see the filename.

AutoCAD 2006 “fullplotpath” variable toggles between sending the full path or just the filename. This makes reprints from the plotter and cancelling other peoples plots, so yours come out faster, much easier.

Command: fullplotpath
Enter new value for FULLPLOTPATH <1>: 0

0 Sends the drawing file name only, 1 Sends the full path of the drawing file

Autodesk Building Systems 2006 interactive overview

The “Interactive Overview” demonstrates features added to Autodesk Building Systems. You can step through the “Production, Changes and Coordination” sections seeing the new concepts and commands applicable. Many have animated demos which is a great way to see these features in action.

Look for the interactive overviews on the www.autodesk.com/buildingsystems page.

Via: Between the Walls

 

Autodesk adds Product Knowledge Base RSS feeds

Autodesk have made Knowledge Base articles available via RSS Feed . Now you can subscribe to product specific feeds and get notification when articles are posted.

Add these to existing RSS Feeds for product related Autodesk Discussion Groups and Autodesk Blogs and you have a huge information resource that’s working for you.

The image shows my current Autodesk related RSS feed list. Imagine visiting each of these sites to see what content is new. It would take ages.

With RSS you subscribe to the feed. Periodically your reader scans the feeds to see what content on each site has changed since your last visit. You can then easily scan or search the results. It means you know what is there but read only what you really want to see.

Don’t waste time finding information, let it find you!

For more information about finding and using the feeds see: Between the Lines: Autodesk adds RSS feeds for product knowledge base