Acad - Fields, Attributes and Objects

If you are using AutoCAD 2005 or higher and need to input square footage information (spaces, planning, etc...) the use of Fields can make the tedious manual process much easier by giving you the ability to update automatically as your area changes.

This can be accomplished through the use of a closed pline object and Fields. To do this insert any text (single, multi-line or attribute) in your drawing, right click and choose Insert Field. From here set your Field category to Objects and the Field names to Object. From here simply select your pline using the Select Object button next to the Object type area. Final item is to select your formatting and in 2006 set your precision.

This tip courtesy of Mark Couture and that's not all. Watch the video example showing how to accomplish this with attributes and fields then putting this information into a table and use the formulas feature in 2006 to total the areas here.

**Note**
To view this video you will need the camtasia codec available from Techsmith.

Visualization - Blocking and Staging

Whether you are shooting your own movie or animation; one of the most important steps you can take is to do a quick storyboard to work out the details of items you need vs. those you do not. When pre-visualizing what you plan to show you may also find that a particular camera angle/effect works better than another alternative.

The alternative camera angles and motion chosen may seem hit or miss, if you feel this way you may want to review a DVD collection called: Hollywood Camera Work. I purchased this recently and have been reviewing the 9 hours of animated examples. Since reviewing this collection the way I have been looking at the camera work within the TV, movies, commercials and animation has been an interesting progression and opened up many new items never noticed.

Check out the site above for some of the sample clips and of course the more animation and camera work you do the more these principals apply to help make your work look even better.

happy rendering...

Revit Structure

Revit Structure (v1.0) has just been added as a 30 day trial download from the following link:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/autoindex?siteID=123112&id=2470966&linkID=5495519

Revit Structure is a new release of software based on the Revit platform that is designed for engineering and documentation software. This allows you do have bi-directional linking to analysis software and link to architectural models (both ADT and Revit Building) while using the parametric change management of Revit.

If you are using a third party structural analysis design program (ETABS, RISA-3D and ROBOT Millennium are currently supported with more coming) your model will stay linked and any analysis changes that need to occur will automatically update your model which are then updated throughout your project views and construction documents.

Another large item (eluded to above) includes the ability to use 3D object based model files created within Architectural Desktop and will export as 3D structural native objects back to Architectural Desktop after analysis. For any objects that are not supported within ADT (structural walls, etc...) will come into ADT as a mass element. With the ability to export structural elements, you can also send this file to Autodesk Building Systems for interference checking between ducts, pipes and structural members. If you are using Revit Building you can continue to use the interference check for any possible issues (Tools>>Interference Check).

Of course for those working with others on vanilla AutoCAD you can still import or link DWG files directly as either reference geometry or as a starting point for your design. Revit Structure supports importing and exporting DWG, DWF and DXF format files that will allow you work easily with most cad packages on the market.

happy BIM'ing...

ADT 2006 - Add Project

When using the Project Navigator in ADT/ABS 2006 when you create a new project within the Project Browser you have the opportunity to enter the Project Number, Name and Description. You also have the opportunity to use a "Template Project" (see graphic below).



If you choose the browse button (with the 3 dots) this will allow you to choose an alternate project template. By default the last path you browsed to will be stored in this location.

*(Note to self, check to find out how/where this value is actually stored).* Update: This value is stored in the registry: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16.2\ACAD-4004:409\Profiles\insert profile name here\Preferences\AecProject40] in the Key: "Project Template" Thanks to David Kurtz for passing this information along! :)

When creating a project using this method all the details, categories and sub-categories for Constructs, Elements, View and Sheets (we had the ability to do this for Sheets in the past but not the others) will be pre-created for you.

If you uncheck the "Create from template project:" box; the values stored in the Options>>AEC Project Defaults will be used.

**********
ADT BIM Guru Note
**********
If you are taking the time to centralize your files to a network location and create templates, take an extra moment to create a single (or multiple) Template Projects with all the details and categories you will commonly need.

happy BIM'ing...

Revenge of the Sith

If you ventured out recently to watch the latest Star Wars release you may have been impressed with all the visual effects (including great digital environments and background action).

What you may not have known is that for some of the effects; the use of Max and Brazil were used. More on this can be read over at VFXWorld, as they are running a three part series on the VFX of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

happy rendering...

Back to work...

After a great vacation it was off to the Augi CAD Camp in St. Paul. This stop on the tour had 124 attendees who gained a wealth of focused knowledge. It was great getting to meet and chat with so many users; not to mention getting to see several old friends. If you are interested in showing off your cad skills take your try at the AUGI Top DAUG contest, the winner this round was my good friend Lee Ambrosious.

There are several other cities that were just recently added to the list for the fall of 2005:

Orange County, CA USA - August 16th
Salt Lake City, UT USA - August 23rd
Toronto, ON Canada - August 30th
Paramus, NJ USA - September 13th
Cleveland, OH USA - September 15th
Jacksonville, FL USA - September 27th
Boston, MA USA - September 29th
Denver, CO USA - October 25th

If have been looking for a single day of focused industry knowledge on Autodesk software then this is something you should not miss. If you are looking for more than a day, AU 2005 is approaching soon (11/28-12/01 in Orlando, FL.)!

From here it was off to Dallas, TX and now Harrisburg, PA. More to come from the road this week on the BIM front.

Fun With Structural Members - Part I

If you have worked with Structural Members within ADT in past releases for any length of time, like me you have probably wished for the ability to mass fill out the nodes within a column grid. Unfortunately this has only been possible during the creation of the column grid, otherwise you had to place these one-by-one or create and copy to multiple node locations.

Well things have changed for the better in ADT 2006. If you already have a column grid placed you can mass fill out nodes without columns by simply using the ctrl key during placement of the column.

The use of the ctrl key during placement presents us with three options:

1. Add a column to a node
2. Add columns to all nodes
3. Add column at a point

There is a red visual indicator shown on the screen, depending on the option cycled to above, indicating the insertion point(s) you are getting ready to use. Video is often a better medium to show examples, so you may wish to watch the following video example.

The techsmith codec is required to view the file and is available from the techsmith website.

ADT/ABS 2006 - Rename and Renumber Sheets

A common procedure within the Project Navigator is the need to change the name/numbering of the sheet file. In past releases of ADT (2004/5) we had the option of renumbering the sheet by simply selecting the sheet>>right click and choosing the rename and renumber option.

In 2005 the fields feature was introduced allowing you to populate your titleblock with the associated data, which allows for better coordination. Unfortunately when renaming the sheet title this did not rename the associated .dwg file and lead to some confusion.

In 2006 there are two new options when renaming which include Renaming the associated .dwg file to match the sheet title and prefixing the sheet number to the file name.



happy BIM'ing...

Unveiling Max 7.5

Max 7.5 has been released for those on subscription. A few of the notable features include integration of the new features within Viz 2006, Mental Ray 3.4 and Hair and Fur.



Shaan mentions some additional benefits of being subscription including: multiple e-learning tools and of course the previously released Cloth Extension for 3ds Max 7.

All set to install this over the weekend.

Happy rendering...

The road goes on forever...

To quote music artist Robert Earl Keen; "The road goes on forever and the party never ends..." :)

This past week has involved traveling to DC, Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA to speak and of course meet with a variety of people and those interested in the latest releases of software from Autodesk.

With three tracks for attendees to take (BS, MS, IS) there was a lot of information for everyone. Within the Building Solutions track we had an awesome presentation showing AutoCAD 2006, ADT 2006, Revit Building 8, DWF Composer 2 and Buzzsaw within the pre-design, design, construction and post construction phases and how/where each of the new features plays a role within the Building Lifecycle Management curve. If you were not able to make it out we missed you.

There will be some upcoming webcasts for some of the products we did not have time to cover (ABS is one that was requested by several of you).

Next week is the Augi CAD Camp in Omaha, NE on 5/10/05 at:

The Georgetowne Club
2440 South 141st St
Omaha, NE 68144

The day is shaping up with many great courses and instructors including:

AutoCAD 2006
(S1-1) The 12 Hidden Secrets of AutoCAD Productivity Revealed!
Instructor: Matt Murphy
Productivity is a goal of every AutoCAD user. Unfortunately, using AutoCAD every day does not in itself make you more productive. You improve productivity by choosing the shortest, most efficient technique for each specific drawing problem. Learn how to improve your productivity by tapping into AutoCAD’s hidden secrets and eliminating repetitive steps. Wouldn’t you be more productive if you could eliminate half of the clicks and picks you’re making today? See for yourself the 12 hidden productivity secrets that elude most AutoCAD users.

Autodesk Vault & ProductStream
(S1-2) Practical Data Management for Mechanical Design Projects
Instructor: Greg Dohrman
Efficient and effective data management is essential to any CAD project. This course covers the capabilities and applications of Autodesk Vault and Autodesk Productstream for the mechanical CAD area. We will start with a high-level discussion of the reasons companies need effective data management strategies. Then we will look at the useful applications of Autodesk Vault for managing work in process engineering data. Finally, we will move on to the release management and collaboration capabilities of Productstream as we extend engineering data throughout the organization and beyond.

Autodesk Civil 3D 2006
(S1-3) Subdivision Design with Civil 3D
Instructor: Jessica Montoya
With the continuing building boom the need to quickly and accurately develop subdivisions is critical. In this session you will learn how to use the new features in Autodesk Civil 3D for Subdivision Design. Topics covered will include using the parcel layout tools, site grading tool and the corridor model. You will also learn how to use the Civil 3D rendering capability to bring the site to life. This course is designed for civil engineers who want to learn how to get the most out of the subdivision design tools in Civil 3D.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems
(S2-1) Building Design and Construction Project Management Made Easy
Instructor: Beau Turner
In today’s world of building design and construction we are continuously hearing the words data management, document management, drawing management and even building lifecycle management. The question is how this applies to the everyday use of CAD. In the past this was simply done by the use of subdirectories and file-naming conventions. Today Autodesk has embedded tools into Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems that manage this for you. In this session we will cover Building Level Management, Constructs, Elements, Views and Sheet Sets in the Project Navigator. Now you can manage your data with a new level of control.

Autodesk Inventor 9
(S2-2) Mastering the use of Styles in Inventor
Instructor: Scott Hale
Inventor Version 9 introduced a new concept of how to manage and control drafting standards, dimension styles, layers, etc. within Inventor’s .idw environment. This session explores how you can take advantage of this technology, and the factors that will influence how to best implement it within your company. The class is designed for the beginning or intermediate user of Inventor who has a good foundational grasp of Inventor drawing environment practices.

Autodesk Civil 3D 2006
(S2-3) Essentials to Integrating Autodesk Civil 3D Styles
Instructor: Jessica Montoya
Autodesk Civil 3D Styles provide an incredible opportunity to integrate your company’s CAD standard into your design process. Through integration, standard layers, colors, text styles, and the multitude of considerations that hinder the design process can be automated, leaving you more time to design. This course uncovers the complex structure and hierarchy of Civil 3D styles, giving you the knowledge to build and integrate them into your design process. So if you’re using Civil 3D or Autodesk Land Desktop, or would simply like to learn the next generation of software for civil engineering, attend this session!

AutoCAD 2006
(S3-1) The CAD Manager’s Handbook 2005
Instructor: Robert Green
This session is designed for the working CAD manager who must juggle CAD technology and management problems on a daily basis. This presentation will cover a combination of best practices, useful utilities, outsourcing problems, learning and training strategies, upper management coordination topics and ideas for keeping your overhead low while advancing your career. A special emphasis will be placed on how to tackle standard problems using low-cost methods that even your accounting manager will love. If you have to manage a corporate CAD department and are under pressure to contain costs and stay productive, this class is for you.

AutoCAD 2006
(S3-2) Rendering Inside AutoCAD
Instructor: David Cohn
Learn how to convert 3D drawings into finished, professional-looking renderings using the tools already built into AutoCAD software. This session covers all AutoCAD lighting, materials, landscaping and other rendering commands. We’ll take a typical architectural model and create finished photorealistic images of the building in both daylight and night settings.

Autodesk Revit Building
(S3-3) How Revit can Keep Design Options from Breaking Your Budget
Instructor: Beau Turner
Client requests for design options have never been greater than they are today. We even hold classes on how to negotiate with clients to keep the number of option requests as low as possible. Within our industry, we know that each design option can cost large amounts of hours and often puts us over budget or causes us to miss deadlines. We have long wanted a way to quickly look at a design option, find an answer and then continue to design, without destroying the work we have already done. In this session we will look at Autodesk Revit and the design option tools that address so many of the industry needs when it comes to design options.

AutoCAD 2006
(S4-1) The Productivity Power of Palettes Revealed!
Instructor: Matt Murphy
There is more to Tool Palettes than just a quick way to add blocks and hatch patterns to your drawing. Palettes provide the shortest, most efficient way to increase your productivity without programming and customization. In this session you will learn the hidden techniques to migrate existing toolbars, object styles and macros into Palette Content Tools. Youll also learn how to create and manage shared palettes and palette groups. This session is for any user of AutoCAD 2004 to 2006 who wants to gain a comprehensive understanding of and full productivity using AutoCAD Tool Palettes.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006
(S4-2) Everything You Wanted to Know About Display Controls
Instructor: Beau Turner
It is widely agreed that Autodesk Architectural Desktop’s display control system is one of the most powerful tools available to the building design industry. Understanding the display control system is paramount to any successful implementation of Autodesk Architectural Desktop. In this session we will go from the top to the bottom and all the way around the display controls, so that you can make easy work of the system when you get back to your office.

Autodesk Land Desktop and Autodesk Civil 3D 2006
(S4-3) Think Outside the Contour: Grading in 3D
Instructor: Jessica Montoya
To produce accurate and complex grading scenarios, you'll need to understand the concepts and techniques to convert the traditional approach of grading with contours to today's approach of grading in 3D. We will start with the use of the Grading Objects tool, as well as the use of 3D polylines, in both Autodesk Civil Design and Autodesk Civil 3D. We'll then cover Target Regions, Slope Tags and editing Grading Objects as well as many of the tips and techniques, plus things to avoid. This session is designed for users of Autodesk Land Desktop and Civil 3D with a medium to high skill level, who have a basic understanding of terrain.

AutoCAD 2006
(S5-1) Get Going with AutoLISP
Instructor: Robert Green
AutoLISP/Visual LISP is a powerful way to extend AutoCAD’s functionality, but many avoid using it because they think it’s too hard to learn. This course lays out the basics of AutoLISP using a building block approach of practical examples you can use every day to tailor AutoCAD to your specific needs. We’ll cover lists, functions, command definitions, accessing the command line, debugging and how to set up user machines to pull AutoLISP functions from your network. This class assumes intermediate AutoCAD capability and the ability to edit/save files using a text editor such as Notepad. No prior AutoLISP experience is necessary.

AutoCAD and Autodesk DWF Composer
(S5-2) Collaborating with AutoCAD and Autodesk DWF Composer
Instructor: David Cohn
Do you need to exchange drawings and collaborate with others who don’t use Autodesk products like AutoCAD? Learn how to publish AutoCAD drawings as multi-sheet DWF files and then collaborate using Autodesk DWF Composer. This class covers creating DWF files; using DWF Composer to view, measure and mark up those DWF files; and then using AutoCAD’s Markup Set Manager to view and respond to those markups in a seamless collaboration process.

AutoCAD 2006
(S5-3) AUGI Tips and Tricks
Instructor: Donnia Tabor-Hanson
“Did you know you could do that?” is the question you will be asking each other in this class. Short cuts, some basic LISP routines, speed tips, variables and ways of using some AutoCAD commands you might not have thought of...that is what this class is all about. I have been collecting tips and tricks for years and AUGI is my favorite place to find them. Come see some of the latest as well as a few old favorites. You may even have time during class to share some of your own!

Looking forward to being back in Omaha, I hope to see you there!

Autodesk VIZ 2006 - Now Shipping

Autodesk is now shipping VIZ 2006.



For those interested in features and more information check out the following:
Autodesk feature list, Alex's blog and the Autodesk press release.

This has shaped up to be one awesome release!

happy rendering...

A New Discreet Look

Discreet has the new brand showing on their website.

happy rendering...

ADT 2006 Schedule Tag Changes

In past releases of ADT (2005 and lower) the process to create your own custom tags was not a process for novice users. All that has changed with the 2006 release, now if you can sketch it you can create it. For a good example at seeing this step-by-step check out this post by David.

With many companies now starting their migration to 2006, if you are one of them you will need to be aware that the old schedule tags in DesignCenter (2005 and lower) relied on a file called PropertySetDefs.dwg to attach Property Set Definitions to each drawing. The default path for this was C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\ADT 2005\enu\AEC Content\Imperial or Metric\Documentation\Schedule Tags. (Side Note: For users of ADT 2005 if you open this file it says ADT 2004, not a problem just a minor oversight) ;)

This has changed in 2006 as the Schedule Tables, Schedule Tags and Property Set Definitions have been centralized (moved) to the following location: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\ADT 2006\enu\AEC Content\Imperial or Metric\Documentation\Schedule Tables.dwg.

This makes the file above a one stop location for modifying related content/data.

Bonus Note: Schedule tags are no longer available thru DesignCenter but can be found in the palettes/catalogs with more options than before (including the ability to easily attach Property Set Definitions to your objects without a tag).

happy scheduling...

Locking the AutoCAD SSM

For those using the Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD 2006 one of the minor changes you may overlook from 2005 is the lock notification when a sheet file is in use by either yourself or another team member (see graphic below):


(*Note: this locking notification does not occur in ADT 2006)

Another useful item in regards to locking notification is that as the .DST file gets written to/updated briefly you will see a lock icon next to the sheet set name in the SSM when this occurs (see graphic below). If you see a green dot in the lock icon it means you have temporarily locked the DST file, if it is red it means another team member has it temporarily locked.



happy cadding...

ADT Education on Subscription

ADT e-learning has been updated on the Autodesk Subscription site for 2006. A few of the items that are now available:

Walls (detailed), Styles (doors, windows), Openings, Details (excellent), Display Themes, Schedule Tags, Tables and more...

Courtesy of Chris.

happy BIM'ing...

Plans have been hatched

One of the new simple and overlooked items within ACAD 06 is that hatches now display the area and cumulative area when selected. This one simple item can save you a few keystrokes in retrieving data.




happy hatching...

New Look for Vizdepot

For those who have not visited the Vizdepot recently, version 4 of the site is now up and live. Steven has a few new features that are being completed almost daily to make the experience even better.

If you have not been by in a while stop by to have a look.

happy rendering...

CAD Drawings and Photoshop

Over the past two years I have seen a growing interest among cad/visualization users to increase their photoshop skills. Recently I have been reviewing the latest book from Scott Onsott called "Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop".



Having integrated photoshop in my workflow for a number of years and learning the hardway what works and what does not, this is one book I wish would have been made available in those early days. From the simple to advanced this book offers quite a bit including (but not limited too): layers, raster/vector understanding, color fills, entourage, custom utilities (lisp, maxscript) to get to/from AutoCAD and Viz/Max, compositing, painting and numerous other techniques.

If you have a cad background and looking to make the transition to using photoshop and learn the many tips/tricks to make this easier you should purchase this book.

happy rendering...