RobiNZ CAD Blog

Wow, so that's what it looks like on a big screen

I got a new monitor today, for home, and must say it's taking some adjustment. From an old, but fine for home, 19 inch CRT to 24 inch widescreen* exercises the neck more as you reaaaad acrosssss ttttthhhheee sssscreeeenn. * Acer S243HL, if anyone cares to know, as size determined by clearance to a shelf above the computer desk that I'd rather not move. Liked the picture and preferred it's reflection free surround to the glossy opposition. Read more →

Cast your vote for Autodesk University 2010 Class Proposals

It’s too late to submit proposals for Autodesk University 2010 but you can influence what is presented by voting. Pick the 20 you would like to see and help get them on the list. With something like 1,800 submissions Autodesk need your help deciding what will be on offer at the top of the AU 2010 escalator: Vote Now for Your Favourite AU 2010 Class Proposals! Here is your chance to influence which classes will be offered at AU this year. Help us select from the large number of topics submitted by the international AU community. It only takes a... Read more →

Microsoft Word Help, that helps

Here is a great Microsoft Word resource that is more “real world how to get results” than the “this does that” help in Word. If you know someone who doesn’t use Format Styles (for me the key to Word efficiency), gets mixed up numbering or just wants a good introduction to Word visit: Microsoft Word Help at www.ShaunaKelly.com Basic concepts Styles in Microsoft Word Formatting Numbering, Bullets, Headings, Outlines Templates Word and Excel: links, charts and more Sharing Microsoft Word documents Tools Read more →

Snagit tames the Revit Browser (and other long windows)

The Revit Project Browser is great for bundling all the assets of a Revit Project into a single list. Unfortunately it’s “one view scroll, scroll scroll” interface can be tedious to document. If you want to use in a project standard or just share with collaborators (without sending the whole project) it can take several “page” snapshots to capture. With the Scrolling Capture “Capture Entire Area” option Snagit 10 makes even long or restricted windows easy to snag: Click in the Browser so it has focus Print Screen to start Snagit Then choose the “Capture Entire Area” option and wait!... Read more →

Notice of Revit User Group Auckland May Meeting

At Jasmax, 2 Marston Street, Parnell, on Wednesday 19th May 2010: 5.30pm Join us from 5.30pm for Drinks and Nibbles ($5 donation-receipts available) 6:00pm Welcome and Introduction by Robin Capper 6:05pm Presentation: Hans Grootegoed/Greg Reibel CADPRO Systems Ltd: Navisworks 2011 for Revit, Inventor and AutoCAD Users 7.00pm Wrap up – Robin Capper Tips, Tricks & Open Forum Please RSVP attendance by 5pm on Tuesday 16th March prior for catering purposes via the link at Revit User Group Auckland. A Meeting Register is taken for NZIA CPD Points. Read more →

Bring your own computer to work? Would you?

One of the most memorable aspects of my first day at TWL was finding the CAD computer wasn’t ready, going home and bringing my in own. It was only for a day or two and, coming from life as a contractor, supplying a computer wasn’t a big deal. That was more than a decade ago, and TWL IT is now rather more organised than it was back then, but a recent news article brought it to mind. Kraft Foods adds new support for employees choosing Macs It seems to be a trend that started with cars. I remember contracting for... Read more →

Snagit 10, All-in-One capture in a click

Snagit 10 was released this week with a bunch of new functionality that I’ll look at over a series of posts. The first alone justifies upgrading and you’ll use it for every snag. A new “All-in-One” capture profile merges screen, window, object, scroll and marquee select captures in a single fluent capture mode. Hit Print Screen, then glide around as Snagit automatically switches capture modes. For precision selection a cursor magnifier shows pixel level detail and a yellow border/highlight shows the selection extents. When the desired selection is highlighted just click to capture. Disclosure: I was involved in the Snagit... Read more →

Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2011 Products… and more?

A recent Autodesk Knowledge Base item, I first saw via Jimmy, detailed the order used by cascading licensing for Autodesk 2011 products. The AutoCAD Architecture sections has all the usual suspects along with a few names were new to me: Factory and Building Design Suite? Autodesk - AutoCAD Services & Support - Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2011 Products Published date: 2010-Apr-20 ID: TS14885918 “AutoCAD Architecture 2011 Cascading Sequence: AutoCAD Architecture 2011 AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2011 AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite 2011 Autodesk Factory Design Suite Premium 2011 Autodesk Factory Design Suite Advanced 2011 Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2011... Read more →

Use Blocks, AutoCAD will reward the investment

Although our store plans use stripped down fitting models (most a few hundred KB) sometimes you need more detail for presentation. Then it’s often faster, easier, to use raw supplier source files (usually supplied as ACIS Solids no matter what they use to make them) and accept the extra overhead. Today I wondered why two outwardly similar pallet rack files differed in size by nearly 20MB. Opening the large one I found more than three hundred clothes hangers had been used to demonstrate the garment capacity. Those hangers were all individual, and reasonably complex, solids. That was probably a result... Read more →

A short thought on history, and CorelDRAW

I stumbled on this while checking out the latest CorelDRAW X5 release. I really liked the chronicle of CorelDRAW’s evolution and think it’s something every platform should record.* I first used CorelDRAW 3, owned 4, 6, 7, 10 and currently 12. Not sure I’ll be going for X5 but it was nice to look back at the development of the graphics tool that satisfies my PC graphics requirements. A Short History of CorelDRAW® - CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Celebrating more than 20 years of innovation in design Imagine how dull documents would be if text and graphics could never be... Read more →