The CAD Setter Out

End of the year round up 2011

Paul Munford — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:30:40 +0000

End of the year round up 2011

2011 has been a pretty exciting year for the CAD Setter Out. Some of the highlights have included speaking at BIM show live, writing for Shaan Hurley, Steve Bedder and AUGI and having a number of my posts Tweeted by Lynn Allen :)

I began illustrating the ‘Cadaroo‘ cartoon with Curt Moreno, who made his début at AU (Cadaroo – not Curt).

I also joined Twitter, and I have made some great friends and contacts. Here’s a big happy Christmas and a merry new year to the #MadCADBunch :D

Thanks very much to the following Bloggers who have allowed me to write guest posts:

Thanks also to the Bloggers who have written guest posts for me!

The most popular posts this year have been:

An Introduction to Autodesk 123D (3,570)
AutoCAD Line Type Scales, The Secret Truth (2,881)
Download Nuts, Bolts Screws and other fasteners in CAD format from the ‘Accurate Screw Machine’ (2,545)
The secret to successfully copying an Autodesk Inventor Assembly (2,409)
What is Setting Out? (2,121)

The Most popular downloads have been:

The most popular Videos have been:

This year’s Top referrers are:

Next year?

I’ve been enjoying running the CAD Setter Out immensely , and I look forward to continuing into the new year. It’s my ambition next year to compile the best of my AutoCAD tips into a book.

I look forward to finding some more opportunities to speak or present on CAD, BIM and the state of drawing and design in the construction industry.

To everyone who has supported the CAD Setter out over the last year – THANK YOU!

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

How to increase your productivity with the AutoCAD properties palette.

Paul Munford — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:30:31 +0000

How to increase your productivity with the AutoCAD properties palette.

My absolute, tip-top, number one productivity tip for editing geometry in AutoCAD is to use the Properties palette.

Why? – Read on…

How to open the properties Palette

To open up the properties palette go to:

View tab > Palettes Panel > Properties.

Type ‘properties’ at the command line.

Or right click on any object and choose ‘properties’.

Like all palettes the properties palette can be dragged around the screen and docked where ever you want it to be. You can click on the little arrow icon to roll the palette up, and you can right click on the ‘spine’ of the palette to anchor the palette to the side of the screen.

Tip: The properties palette will open whenever you double click on an item that doesn’t have a double click action associated with it already.

Once you have the properties palette set up how you like it you can lock its position to stop it moving about.

I prefer to work with the properties palette anchored and rolled up to one side of the screen, but this could affect AutoCAD’s performance if your machine is a little slow. You could always set up a couple of workspaces to allow you to switch the properties palette on and off quickly.

The properties palette and model space

Straight away the properties palette is giving us some feedback, even from an empty drawing file. We not only get a good overview of the current settings in our DWG file, but we can edit them here without having to remember the system variables, or where to find the setting in the Options dialogue.

In particular, note the settings for the plot style table, annotation scale and visual style. I also want to point out that you have a full set of layer property tools here, which is handy if you don’t have the ‘Home’ ribbon tab open.

The properties palette and paper space

By switching to paper space, we can see that the properties palette automatically updates itself to show the unique properties that apply to the current paper space layout. This includes the layout name, plotsyle and page setup – all of which can be edited from here.

The properties palette and object filtering

Let’s go back to model space, and pick up some objects to play with.

Immediately the properties palette is giving us some feedback about the number of objects we have selected. Note that only the properties that are alike for all objects are displayed. Some of the cells are showing *VARIES*. This tells us that a number of the objects we have selected have properties in common, but that the values of the properties vary.

If we wanted to – we could set all of these properties for all the objects in the drawing in one fell swoop… Powerful stuff!

To see a bit more about what you have in the drawing, select a geometry type from the pull down at the top of the palette. For each type of object you will see their common properties, and you can edit these properties globally, without even having to remember the right command!

Tip: If you want to filter your selection results even further, click on the arrow and lighting icon in the top right hand corner of the properties palette to hand your selection set over to the ‘Quick Select’ command.

The properties palette and object editing

The properties palette is a powerful tool for editing an individual objects properties without having to remember the right command. Simply select an object (or a group of the same objects) and edit the values as you see fit.

The properties that will be available to edit depend on what kind of object you have selected. A property with multiple choices will have a drop down list. A property that requires a number or letter string will have an input box. Property cells that have a light grey back ground are read only.

If you see the little ellipses button ‘…’ this means that a further window will pop up to allow you to edit the value (try it out with Mtext). The pointer and cross button allows you to pick a new point.

The calculator icon will bring the value into the Quick calculator. You can use the value as the basis for a calculation and, if the value is editable, the result of your calculation will be pasted back into the properties palette which will neatly edit the object accordingly.

Polylines and splines have an extra option. Under ‘Vertices’ (for polylines) or ‘Control points’ (for splines), clicking in the cell will reveal a pair of arrows that allow you to click along the available points in order to amend their value.

Block attributes and Dynamic properties are also available from the properties palette, making global editing of blocks a breeze. The properties palette is an essential tool while creating blocks. While in the block editing environment, open the properties palette to edit attributes, parameters and actions as well as toggling the evasive ability to explode un-explodeable blocks.

Undoing properties palette edits

If you make a lot of edits with the properties palette, and then go back into AutoCAD and run the ‘undo’ command, all of your edits may undo at once. To undo one change at a time, remain with the properties palette open, right click anywhere over the properties palette and choose ‘Undo’.

Some neat properties palette tricks

To align multiple text strings, select them all and edit the ‘Position X’ or ‘Position Y’ value.
To change a leader’s arrow head, CTRL+select it and pick a new style of terminator from the drop down.
To add an override value to multiple dimensions, select them all and edit the text override value. Including double angle bracket in the value will preserve the dimensions dynamic value i.e.’<> SITE DIMENSION REQUIRED’.
To align dimension text to one end of the dimension annotation or the other, select the dimension and pick the value you want from the ‘Text pos hor’ box.
The properties palette is also a really quick way of editing a dimension annotation’s extension line properties, such as ‘Extension, ‘offset’ and ‘fixed’.
Use the properties palette to add a mask to dimension text, mtext, and Mleaders.

Rounding up

The uses you can find for using the Properties palette are as many and varied as there are objects in AutoCAD. I guess what I’m trying to say with this post is – If in doubt, right click… and chose ‘properties’!

For more AutoCAD productivity tips read: Never use the Layers pull down again!

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

CAD Notes: Eleven killer viewport macros

Paul Munford — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:30:54 +0000

CAD Notes: Eleven killer viewport macros

Today’s post comes in the form of a guest post for Edwin Prakoso of CAD-Notes.com.

Every-time I find myself performing the same tasks in AutoCAD over and over, I look for ways to automate the task. Command macro’s are a really simple way of combining commands together to perform repetitive tasks in a single click.

In this guest post, I demonstrate 11 macro’s that are really handy for working with viewports, and I show how to add them to a tool palette.

Interested in the idea, but no time to mess about? You can download the palette file here:

ACME Viewport palette.zip

This is the demonstration file for the guest post I wrote for Edwin Prakoso's CAD Notes Blog. 'Eleven Killer Tool palette Macros for working with AutoCAD Viewports'

Downloaded 49 Times

[Edit] I’m very excited to say that this post also got picked up by Kate Morrical of the AutoCAD LT Unlimited Blog. Cheers Kate!

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

AutoCAD Layering productivity, never use the Layers pull down again!

Paul Munford — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:53 +0000

AutoCAD Layering productivity, never use the Layers pull down again!

If you are creating AutoCAD drawings which contain a lot of geometry, I highly recommend that you concentrate on keeping your geometry organised as you go along.

Using Polylines, Groups, Blocks, Xref’s and Layers will really help you to create and edit your geometry in an efficient fashion.

In this post I want to concentrate on Layers. In particular, I want to highlight a number of AutoCAD’s tools that will help you to speed up creating objects on the right Layer, without having to constantly reach up to the Layers pull down to change which Layer is current.

Layer control in QAT

If you haven’t tried the AutoCAD ribbon yet, I highly recommend it – Give it a whirl. One of the few problems I have with the Ribbon UI is that you need to switch to the ‘Home’ tab every time you want to change Layer.

My quick tip here is to add the Layer control to the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar). To do this, simply click over the Layer control and chose ‘Add to Quick Access Toolbar’. Your Layer control is now accessible no matter which Ribbon Tab you have current.

But this article is about the tools you can use Instead of using the Layer control – so let’s move on…

Layering Standards

If you work in an Architect’s office, I am sure that you already have standard Layers as part of your CAD standards. If you don’t have Layering standards set up at your company, then I suggest that you get to work on it!

In terms of increasing your productivity, it doesn’t matter whether you follow the AIA or ISO Layering standards. It doesn’t matter if you follow Bob’s preferred Layering standard or Bill’s. What matters is that you agree on a standard between you and that you stick with it. Once you have a standard you can begin to automate your processes.

Here is a good article on Wikipedia that will help you get started http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAD_standards#CAD_Layer_standards

Set by Layer

I recommend that you set up your plotting standards by Layer. If you want some of your geometry to plot differently, change the Layer it is on – don’t change its properties!

Changing the individual properties of an object ‘Hard codes’ the property to that object, which means you can no longer change the plotting properties of geometry in your drawing globally.

If you receive a drawing that has a lot of property overrides, you can clean them up using the ‘SETBYLAYER’ command. The SetbyLayer command strips out property overrides. You can clean up the whole drawing at once, or pick out individual items.

Tip: Start the ‘SetbyLayer’ command, and choose ‘Settings’ at the command prompt to pick individual properties to change.

Tool palettes

Remembering to use the company Layering standard can be a chore. But you can easily automate this task, to make sure that your Blocks, Annotations and Geometry end up on the right Layer, even if that Layer doesn’t exist in your drawing.

Tool palettes are often used as a Block management and insertion tool, but did you know that you can also create custom tools for Annotations or Geometry?

To create a custom tool, first set up your standard Layers and Annotation styles. Create your Geometry or Annotation on the correct Layer and save the drawing file (you could do this in your template file, before you save it as a DWT).

Now simply drag and drop the object from the drawing onto the palette. A custom tool will be created that not only creates the Geometry or Annotation, but creates it on the right Layer. Even if that Layer isn’t current. Even if that Layer does not exist in the current drawing.

For extra control, right click over the tool in the tool palette, and choose ‘Properties’. You will find that there are different properties available for each object type that you can also pre-set, depending on the kind of object that your custom tool is going to insert.

Finding the Layer productivity tools

Most of the tools I will be talking about in the rest of this post can be found in the ‘Home’ tab > Layers panel. You may need to click on the pull down to find them.

If you are using the ‘Classic’ AutoCAD interface, you will find them under the ‘Format’ menu > Layer Tools.

Of course, you can always type the command in at the prompt! Many of these commands don’t have an Alias, but you can easily add your own to the AutoCAD PGP file.

Make Layer current with LAYMCUR

If you need to change Layers while you are working, but you just can’t be bothered to move your mouse all the way up there to the Layer pull down, you can use the ‘LAYMCUR’ command instead.

Run the Laymcur command.
Select an object that is on the Layer that you want to be current.
The current Layer is changed to match the Layer that the object is on.

This is a really simple way of setting a different Layer current just by ‘grabbing’ the Layer you need from some nearby existing geometry.

Move object to Layer with LAYCUR

The reciprocal of Laymcur is ‘LAYCUR’. This command moves an object from the Layer it is on, to the current Layer.

First make sure that the correct Layer is current.
Run the Laycur command.
Select the objects that you want to change.

The objects will be moved from the Layer that they are on to the Layer that you have current.

Match properties & Layer match

The match properties command allows you to copy the properties of one object to another object. The properties that you can copy vary, depending on what kind of object you pick. For example Layer properties are common to all objects, but Annotation styles will only be applied to other Annotations.

You can select which properties you want to copy by choosing the ‘Settings’ option.

Start the ‘MATCHPROP’ command.
Select the object that has the properties you want to copy.
Type ‘s’ at the command line to bring up the Settings Dialogue (optional)
Select the objects that you want to copy properties too.

If you only want to copy the Layer properties from one object to another, you can use ‘LAYMCH’.

Tip: Laymch works in the opposite order to Matchprop. First you select the objects that you want to change, then you select an object on the Layer that you wish the objects to move to.

Add a new version of a selected Object

Add selected is a relatively new command that has been added to AutoCAD 2011 (it was introduced in AutoCAD 2010 as a Subscription bonus tool). Add Selected Adds another object, the same as the one you currently have selected.

If you have a line selected, Add Selected will add a line. If you have an Annotation selected Add Selected will add an Annotation, and so on. The new object will have the same Layer and Style properties as the old one, no matter what Layer or Style settings you currently have set.

Add Selected is really handy if you want to create a dimension annotation with the same properties as a previous dimension, and you don’t have to go anywhere near the Layers control or the styles controls to do it!

To use Add Selected, select an object, right click and chose ‘Add Selected’.

Copy objects to new Layer

You can quickly and easily copy objects to an existing Layer with the ‘COPYTOLAYER’ command.

Run the CopytoLayer
Select an object you wish to copy.
Select an object on the destination Layer you wish to copy to.
Select a base point that you wish to copy from.
Select point you wish to copy to.

The final point can be the same point if you wish to copy the object ‘in place’. Type @ at the command point to repeat the last coordinates without having to click with your Mouse.

If you don’t have any geometry nearby on the destination Layer, you can pick the Layer you wish to copy to from a dialogue. To get the dialogue follow steps one and two, but instead of picking a destination Layer enter ‘N’ at the command line for ‘Name’.

Tip: You can create a new Layer on the fly by typing your new Layer’s name into the dialogue (just make sure it meets your Layer naming standard!).

Merge Layers

If you want to clean up your Layers – but you don’t want to lose any geometry, you can merge all the objects on separate Layers into one Layer with the ‘LAYMRG’ command.

Note: This powerful command will delete the merged Layers from your drawing file – use it wisely!

Run the Laymrg command
Select objects on the Layers to be merged
Select an object on the target Layer

Objects on the merged Layers will be moved to the target Layer, and the original Layers will be purged from the drawing file.

Tip: instead of picking objects type ‘N’ at the command line to bring up a dialogue box. Note that, like the ‘COPYTOLAYER’ command, you can create a new destination Layer on the fly from the dialogue box.

Isolate & Un-isolate Layers

This tool is very handy when you are working in a drawing with a lot of Layers.

Run the ‘LAYISO’ command
Pick objects on the Layers you want to remain visible
All the other Layers will be turned off.
To get your previous Layer settings back, run the ‘LAYUNISO’ command.

Note: Any changes to the Visible/Invisible properties of Layers that you make between running the Layiso and the Layuniso commands will be completely ignored by the Layuniso command.

There are a couple of cool tips for this command that you may not be aware of.

Instead of turning all the other Layers off – you can lock them instead, just follow the options at the command prompt. You can couple this with the ‘LAYLOCKFADECTL’ command variable to ‘fade’ the locked Layers, allowing you to concentrate on the area you want to work on, whilst still referencing other Layers.

Isolate & Un-isolate objects

This tool was also new in AutoCAD 2011 (or 2010 with the subscription bonus pack). The ‘ISOLATEOBJECTS’ command is similar to the Layiso command, but with one important difference.

Instead of isolating the Layer of the selected objects, it isolates the selected objects themselves. Every other object in the drawing is made invisible, even if they are on the same Layer as the object you selected.

This is really a group of commands, the easiest way to use them is to select the objects you work with and right click:

To isolate your objects, right click and choose ‘Isolate Objects > Isolate Objects’.
To hide your objects, right click and chose ‘Isolate Objects > Hide Objects’.
To get your objects back, right click and chose ‘Isolate Objects > End object Isolation’.

Note: Object isolation does not remain between drawing sessions, so if someone else opens your drawing, all objects will be visible by default.

The current object Isolation state is highlighted by the little light bulb icon in the task bar. Yellow means that all objects are visible, red means that some objects are hidden. You can also click on the Isolate objects light bulb icon to change the visibility state of objects.

Lock & Unlock Layers

You can easily lock and unlock Layers right in the Layers pull down, but if you don’t know the name of the Layer that the object is on, how will you know which Layer to lock?

The easy way is to use the ‘LAYLCK’ command. You just need to run the command and pick on the Layers you want to lock… simple! To unlock Layers, use the ‘LAYULK’ command.

Tip: Set the ‘LAYLOCKFADECTL’ command variable to ‘fade’ the locked Layers, for quick visible feedback.

Freeze and Thaw, On and Off

By the same token, although you can set Layers to be frozen or thawed and on or off in the Layers pull down, it can be more intuitive just to point and click. The ‘LAYFRZ’ command allows you to freeze a Layer just by clicking on an object which is on that Layer, and the ‘LAYOFF’ command will turn the Layer off.

Use the ‘LAYTHW’ command to thaw all Layers in the drawing file globally, and use ‘LAYON’ to turn all the Layers in your drawing on at once.

You made it!

Phew, that was a long post. If you made it all the way to the end, I congratulate you! Thanks for sticking around. You can now consider yourself a Layer productivity expert. Go forth and create geometry, and never use the Layer pull down again!

Looking for more on AutoCAD Layers? Read this post to find out how to create and edit AutoCAD layers.

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

Autodesk University 2011, Nexus 360, Fusion for Mac, and Software for all.

Paul Munford — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:30:17 +0000

Autodesk University 2011, Nexus 360, Fusion for Mac, and Software for all.

Image by Shaan Hurley

If you’ve never attended Autodesk University – then I don’t recommend it. Because I would be jealous. Because I want to go!

I couldn’t make it this year, but I’ve been keeping my beady eye on events as they unfold. Although I couldn’t make it in person, I did send an Avatar in my place… more on that later.

What Happened at AU2011?

If you really haven’t been to AU before, and you’d like to know why you should, I recommend that you start off by reading this post by Robin Capper. Robin takes us through a typical day at AU – full of opportunities to learn from the best of the best, new technology previews, and networking.

Autodesk University 2011 Day 1 Innovation explosion #AU2011 – RobiNZ CAD Blog http://cadso.co/rDJORz

What was the BIG NEWS this year?

This years theme at AU seemed to be ‘disruptive’ technology. i.e. not only improving on existing platforms, software or techniques, but actively searching out new ways of working.

In the keynote speech, Autodesk’s CEO Carl Bass talked about ‘Software for all’ and the idea that your data, and the software to work on your data, should be available to you wherever you are and how ever you wish to access it.

Carl also talked about different ways of paying for your software, via subscription or ‘Pay as you go’.

Check out this great footage of ‘Uncle Carl’ from John Evans at the pre-AU bloggers Q&A.

John Evans – Autodesk University 2011 Press Q&A with Carl Bass | Design & Motion http://cadso.co/si7zKW

I also recommend this series of posts from Ten Links founder Roopinda Tara.

Roopinda Tara - CAD Insider: Autodesk University 2011 – Hits and Misses, Pt 1 http://cadso.co/spdnAH

The keynote speech was recorded and is available to watch on AUTV, as part of AU Virtual – see below.

AutoCAD WS 3D

The AutoCAD WS team took AU as an opertunity to announce the forthcoming updates to the AutoCAD WS web service.

AutoCAD WS will soon include support for 3D CAD files, GPS and Plot from your handheld device.

Will you soon be able to us 3D and GPS to place yourself ‘Inside’ you CAD model, and overlay the images onto the actual building site? Maybe, it’s certainly pretty exciting stuff.

It’s worth mentioning that AutoCAD WS is DWG viewer/editor that works behind the scenes in Buzzsaw…

What’s In The Next AutoCAD WS Release? | Autodesk | AutoCAD WS – Blog http://cadso.co/uZc4H3

Inventor Fusion for the Apple Mac.

Image by Melanie Perry

One of the really exiting developments at this years AU was the announcement of Inventor Fusion for the Mac. It is often pointed out that many student’s use Mackintosh computers – only to find that the software they are used to isn’t available to them in industry.

I don’t think that Fusion for the Mac is aimed at hard-core Engineers. In fact I don’t even think that it is aimed at Students. I think that Fusion’s natural home is the cloud, much like AutoCAD WS. This would allow us to view and edit AutoCAD Inventor 3D models, without having to own Inventor or AutoCAD. If you want to know more about Fusion for Mac, read this great post by Al Dean.

DEVELOP3D blog – Live from AU: Inventor Fusion for the Mac http://cadso.co/vrJeBt

Melanie Perry from ‘Mistress of the Dorkness’ Blog has another great review here:

Mistress of the Dorkness: Announcing Inventor Fusion – it’s on the Mac http://cadso.co/uvBQlE

Vault – Buzzsaw – Nexus, BIM/PLM Autodesk 360

Possibly the biggest announcement, and most disruptive technology to come out of Autodesk University 2011 is ‘Nexus 360’.

Nexus is a complimentary product to Autodesk Vault (PDM – Project Data Management) and Autodesk Buzzsaw (Project collaboration). Vault runs on your own server and looks after your project data. Buzzsaw (also known as Streamline) runs on a web server and allows you to collaborate with your supply chain.

Autodesk 360 (Nexus) sits on top of all of this to add PLM (Project Lifecycle Management) tools to your workflow.

Interestingly, the same set of tools are being sold as PLM 360 and BIM 360, acknowledging that the big challenge in manufacturing and building construction is often the amount of data that needs to be coordinated and managed. The same tool set can be applied to both industries (with a little tweaking!).

There’s been quite a lot on Nexus 360 already – check out these great posts for more info.

Al Dean – DEVELOP3D blog – Live From Autodesk University: Autodesk & PLM. Strap your boots on. It’s coming http://cadso.co/sa3uxB

Oleg Shilovitsky – Autodesk PLM Nexus – First Hands On Demo « Daily PLM Think Tank Blog http://cadso.co/seBNWo

Kennth Wong – AU 2011: Autodesk’s 180 Turn with 360 | Kenneth Wong’s Virtual Desktop http://cadso.co/u4BEqg

Randell Newton – GraphicSpeak » Autodesk intends PLM global domination with Nexus http://cadso.co/sJwoWL

Ray Kurkland – Autodesk PLM 1.0: not perfect – but a great start « Raykurland’s Blog http://cadso.co/s2YiNu

This video from Helge Brettschneider on the CAD relations blog has a great explanation of how you might use Autodesk 360 from Shaun Dotson.

Special Autodesk University 2011: First customer feedback on Autodesk PLM with 360 Nexus http://cadso.co/v85Ohz

Autodesk University Virtual 2011

If you can’t make it to AU, then check out AU Virtual. This year’s AU Virtual interface is vastly improved since last year, it is slick and easy to navigate.

There is far more Virtual only content this year, with many classes being pre-recorded and available before AU started. This gave many presenters from outside North America (who also couldn’t attend the event in person) a chance to contribute – which I highly applaud.

AU Online is available all through the year, and as a resource is rapidly outgrowing AU itself. If you never checked up on AU online, you can find out more here.

AU Virtual 2011 http://cadso.co/uvilK4

The CAD Setter Out’s AU Avatar

Cadaroo at AU 2011

Although I couldn’t make it to AU this year, I was pleased to be offered the chance to have a piece of work displayed during Shaan Hurley’s crowd sourced Legal disclaimer.

I had this Cadaroo piece accepted, and I was chuffed to bits! It gave me a warm feeling to think that my artwork was on display in front of 8,000 people – however briefly!

For more on Cadaroo – check out Curt Moreno’s ‘Kung Fu Drafter Blog.

You can read more about this gargantuan power point show here:

Shaan Hurley – Crowd Sourced Edition Legal Disclaimer at Autodesk University 2011 Behind the Scenes – Between the Lines http://cadso.co/vJKUVh

And you can see the whole thing in all it’s glory on YouTube here:

I’d like to say thanks very much to Shaan Hurley for giving me the chance to participate in AU 2011 from afar, and I’d like to thank all the Bloggers featured in this post for sharing their experiences at Autodesk University 2011.

Finally I’d like to thank Curt Moreno for handing out hundreds of these Cadaroo Buttons, and Irene Irene Radcliffe for this photo.

Still in the dark? Read up on what it’s all about… Are you attending AU?

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

The CAD Setter Out on EvD – Engineer Vs Designer

Paul Munford — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:30:36 +0000

The CAD Setter Out on EvD – Engineer Vs Designer

OK, this doesn’t really count as a guest post. One of the many strange things that I enjoy doing purely to amuse myself, is to illustrate peoples Twitter tweets. What can I say, it tickles me…

This tweet from @CADtoolbox, Thomas Rambach lead to this illustration of @Solidsmack Josh Mings, and @CADJunkie, Adam O’hearn – the dynamic duo behind ‘Engineer Vs Designer’.

Engineer Vs Designer is the dankest product design podcast on the block all thanks to JOSH MINGS of SolidSmack.com, and ADAM O’HERN of cadjunkie.com. Each week we’ll bring you the latest digital design news, tips & tricks, Q&A, and an industry special guest.

If you haven’t listened to the EvD pod-cast before – go and check it out right now – you’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

I’m pleased to say, Josh & Adam liked my cartoon so much, they included it on this weeks episode of EvD. Thanks guys!

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

From CAD to CAM, Cleaning up 2D DWG files for CNC.

Paul Munford — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:30:00 +0000

From CAD to CAM, Cleaning up 2D DWG files for CNC.

If you work with a CNC programmer, or you are a CNC programmer! Here are a AutoCAD few tips and tools that you can use to clean up the 2D geometry in your DWG files ready to bring into your favourite CAM programming software.

Place your geometry on a ‘CNC’ layer

Be nice to your CNC programmer. Create a Layer in your DWG file for CNC paths and copy the relevant geometry onto it. To make this easy, use the ‘COPYTOLAYER’ command. Copying the relevant geometry to the correct layer is a simple as point and click.

Flatten

Geometry that does not have a Z coordinate of Zero, when it really should do, can massively confuse the CNC machine. You can use the ‘FLATTEN’ command to set all the Z coordinate values to ‘0’.

‘Flatten’ is an AutoCAD express tool, so it isn’t available to AutoCAD LT users. If you are using AutoCAD LT, you can use the properties palette as a detective tool to help you see what’s going on.

Type ‘PROPERTIES’ at the command line to open the properties palette. Select each entity you are having a problem with, and check out its properties.

For lines, check that the Z value of the start and finish points is set to 0 (Zero). For 2D polylines make sure that the elevation is set to 0 (Zero). For splines click in the ‘Fit Points’ cell and use the forward and backward arrows to step through each fit point, making sure that the Fit point Z is set to 0 (Zero).

(click on the images for a larger view)

Overkill

CNC machines don’t like overlapping geometry. This can cause them to go back and forward over the same area needlessly.

‘OVERKILL’ was an AutoCAD express tool that has now been included in the main product. The ‘Overkill’ command removes redundant geometry in the following way.

Duplicate copies of objects are deleted.
Arcs drawn over portions of circles are deleted.
Lines, partially overlapping, but drawn at the same angle are combined into a single line.

I have found that it is better to run each option of the overkill command individually for the best results. You may need to play with the tolerance a bit until you get the results you are looking for.

Convert splines and ellipses

CNC machines don’t like compound curves such as ellipses and splines. CNC machines like polylines – which can only include line and arc segments. You will need to convert splines and ellipses into arcs before you can join them up into a polyline.

In AutoCAD 2012 you can now convert a spline to a polyline using ‘SPLINEDIT’.

Select the spline to convert.
Enter p to convert to Polyline.
Specify a precision value or press Enter to end the command.

In tests, we have found that our CAM software does this better than AutoCAD. But this is still a useful tool for those who don’t have another option.

There are a number of other ways that you can convert Splines and Ellipses to polylines. You can read more about it in this post on converting Ellipses to Arcs.

Polyline, fuzz distance

CNC machines don’t like geometry that nearly, but doesn’t quite join up at the corners. By turning your lines and arcs into polylines, you can be sure that the corner junction points are spot on. If the polyline won’t join up, you have identified a problem that needs fixing.

A quick way to join multiple lines into one polyline is with the ‘PEDIT’ command. Type ‘pedit’ at the command line, then immediately chose ‘M’ for multiple object selection. Select all the objects you want to join, and then type ’j’ for the join option.

You will be prompted for a ‘Fuzz’ Distance’. This is the margin of error between lines that overlap, or don’t quite join. Set this higher than your biggest overlap/gap and AutoCAD will join all your lines together in one fell swoop.

Tip: If you get an annoying prompt that says ‘Do you want to convert these lines to polylines’ set the ‘PEDITACCEPT’ system variable to ‘1’ to suppress it.

Fillet zero

If you are looking for a little more precision, try the Fillet command. The fillet command has a hidden option which is great for joining up corners.

Type ‘FILLET’ at the command line to start the fillet command. Don’t worry about the current fillet radius that is shown. Simply hold your finger down on the shift key and pick two lines. Bingo, bango the lines will be joined neatly at the junction.

Holding down the ‘SHIFT’ key temporarily overrides the current value of the fillet command with ‘0’ (Zero) which will effectively trim/extend each line or arc to each other in one operation. As a bonus, if one or other of your entities is a polyline, the other entity will automatically be converted to a polyline and added to it.

Select touching objects

Sometimes your lines just don’t want to connect up into Polylines, and it can be difficult to tell where the problem is. A quick way to tell where the problem break might be is with ‘FASTSEL’. Fastsel is an express tool, that prompts you to select one object, and it then selects any items that are touching that object.

Fastsel has two modes. To change modes type ‘FSMODE’ at the command line, and select ‘off’ or ‘on’. With Fsmode set to ‘on’ AutoCAD will now select every item that is touching every item that touches the item you select… ad infinitum.

Tip: you can use FSMODE ‘transparently’ (i.e. while in the middle of another command) by typing ‘FS at the command line, note the single quote mark before the command alias.

Export DXF

If you only need to export part of your drawing out to a DXF file, you can do this with the top secret options in the Export DXF command.

To make us of this, type ‘DXFOUT’ at the command line, and then pick ‘Tools’ and then ‘Options’ from the ‘Save Drawing As’ dialogue that pops up.

In the ‘Saveas’ options dialogue pick the ‘DXF options’ tab, and check the ‘Select objects’ box. Hit OK. When you return to the ‘Save Drawing As’ dialogue, set your file name and path as usual. When you hit OK, you will be prompted for a selection set. Only the geometry you select will be exported.

Chspace

‘CHSPACE’ is a very handy command for moving geometry between model space and paper space. You need to be in paper space for this to work. Type ‘CHSPACE’ at the command line, pick an object, pick a viewport, and the geometry will be ‘pushed’ through the viewport into model space. The command will even scale the geometry by the viewport scale automatically.

To move objects in the opposite direction, start off in paper space and double click in a view port to make it active . Now run the ‘CHSPACE’ command and select the geometry you wish to move. It will be ‘Pulled’ through into paper space and scaled for you.

Insert views and export layout model space

If you have a .DWG file that has been created with Autodesk Inventor, you may find that all the geometry is in paper space. The Inventor views are actually in a magic hinterland somewhere between paper space and model space. However, all the Inventor views are available in the drawing file as blocks.

To get to the Inventor views use the ‘INSERT’ command to insert the view into model space as a block. You can also browse the available blocks that are in the drawing via the Design centre. You will need to explode the blocks once you’ve inserted them and you may need clean up the geometry a bit.

For more on this tip, check out this post on How to extract 2D AutoCAD geometry from an Autodesk Inventor DWG Drawing File.

For a quick way to put the whole layout into model space, use the ‘EXPORTLAYOUT’ command to export the entire layout into model space in a new drawing. If you do this, don’t forget that you may need to scale the geometry up or down a bit to suit the view scale.

Rounding up

Drawings are quickly becoming just one of our deliverables. Often a 3D model or 2D geometry is also required for CNC or CAM processing down the line. Creating good clean DWG files is rapidly becoming part of your job.

Can you think of any other processes you use to clean up and extract your geometry for CNC? Please feel free to leave a comment…

Read this post for more ways to optimize your AutoCAD DWG drawing files.

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

How to optimize your AutoCAD DWG drawing files

Paul Munford — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:30:00 +0000

How to optimize your AutoCAD DWG drawing files

If you’ve been following the CAD Setter Out for a while, you will know that I recommend keeping your geometry organised as you go along. Using Polylines, Groups, Blocks, Layers and Xref’s effectively will help you to work quickly with your drawings files. Working this way will also go some way to preventing your DWG files becoming bloated or corrupt.

If you’ve been working on a file for some time, and you’ve noticed AutoCAD slowing down, then it may be worth doing a bit of a clean up to help slim that drawing file down. This could also be necessary when dealing with files from clients, suppliers or contractors.

I’ve listed a few tools and tips below that could help you put a bit of zip back into a sluggish DWG.

Back up before you mess up!
Go easy on explodes
Delete unused geometry
Find Invisible objects
Delete unused layers
Delete unused Layer filters
Check your styles
Purge
Purge Regapps
Audit
Recover
Wblock
Other issues that could be slowing your DWG down

(If you use Architectural Desktop, check out the extra tip from Mike in the comments)

Back up before you mess up!

As always, save a copy of your production DWG files before you mess about with them :) This is particularly important if you are working with a third party drawing.

Go easy on explodes

If you receive a drawing from a third party, don’t be tempted to explode all their blocks. This can be a really bad idea. If there is more than one copy of each block in the drawing then the blocks will actually be saving memory.

If you suspect a block is causing a problem, copy it out into a blank file and exploded it. Then follow the advice below on the new file. Carefully rebuild the block and then replace or re-define the block in the original drawing.

Be really, really careful that you don’t explode a dynamic block. The dynamic properties of the block will not be able to resolve themselves and this may corrupt your DWG.

Delete unused geometry

If you need to make a change to your drawing, It can be tempting to copy the old detail to one side ‘just in case’. This is all additional data that AutoCAD needs to manage. If you end up with a lot of unnecessary, old or out-dated geometry, create an archive copy of the DWG file and delete your intermediate work from your working DWG file.

Note: A quick way to delete all unnecessary objects from your drawing file is to hit CTRL+A (select all), then hold down the Shift key whilst de-selecting what you want to keep. now hit delete. Poof! All unused data will be gone ;)

Find Invisible objects

There are a number of objects that could be effecting your DWG’s file size – that aren’t always visible. This could include empty text strings, points and blocks that contain only invisible attributes.

To pick up points, type ‘DDPTYPE’ at the command line to change the size and style of points in your drawing. You can now delete what you don’t need.

To find empty text strings, type ‘QTEXTMODE’ at the command, set the value to ‘1’ and perform a regen. This will replace all the text strings in your drawing with bounding boxes. You can now hunt down and delete any empty text boxes. Set qtextmode back to 0 when you are done to put your text back to normal.

Note: From 2010 AutoCAD has the option to purge empty text strings in the ‘PURGE’ dialogue – see below.

To find Block definitions that contain Invisible attributes, type ‘ATTDISP’ at the command line, and set attribute display to ‘on’. You can now select and delete any previously invisible blocks that you don’t need.

To find 3D objects with invisible faces, type ‘SPLFRAME’ at the command line, and set the value to ‘1’. This will reveal the shapes control polygon, allowing you to select and delete it.

It is possible to create an AutoCAD group with nothing in it. Fire up the ‘GROUP’ command and ‘explode’ any groups you don’t need or recognise.

Note: AutoCAD 2012 now has the option to purge empty groups – see below.

Finally, to find wipeouts that have their frames turned off type ‘TFRAMES’ at the command line and hit return. This system variable toggles wipeout frames on and off.

Delete unused layers

Did you know that AutoCAD won’t let you delete a layer that is in use? Open the Layer manager, select every Layer you don’t need and hit ‘Delete’. You can’t accidently delete a layer you need. This will get rid of a whole load of extra data that AutoCAD doesn’t need to manage.

AutoCAD won’t let you delete the active layer, so check which layer is active before you start. AutoCAD won’t let you delete a layer that is frozen in a viewport – even if there are no objects on that layer, so check through each viewport if you have problem layers.

Tip: Use ‘LAYMRG’ to merge objects to a target layer. The original layers are purged from the drawing.

Tip: Use the ‘LAYDEL’ command to permanently delete any layers that you can’t shake. Be careful with this tool – there’s no going back!

Note: The system variable ‘SHOWLAYERUSAGE’ puts a check mark in the layer dialogue by each layer that is in use. If you have lots of layers in your drawings, setting this to ‘0’ will prevent AutoCAD from tracking ‘in use’ layers, which will help speed things up.

Delete unused Layer filters

Now you’ve deleted all the layers you don’t need out of your drawing, maybe you’ve got a whole load of layer filters you don’t need either? The quickest way to clean out layer filters is with the ‘FILTERS’ command. This pops up a little dialog which allows you to quickly delete unused layer filters from your DWG file.

Note: The command is ‘FILTERS‘ – not ‘FILTER’. The Filter command is like an Uber Quick select tool.

Check your styles

AutoCAD won’t let you purge text, dimension or multi-leader styles while they are in use – even if you are not using the style in the drawing. Check which styles are current before you purge.

Purge

AutoCAD’s PURGE command will allow you to clear out data from your AutoCAD file’s database that isn’t part of the drawing. For example, even if you have deleted all copies of a block out of a drawing, it’s definition will still be in the drawing’s database. This is the same for Annotation styles.

Remember to check the ‘Purge nested objects’ box to clear out nested block references. AutoCAD 2010 has the handy option to clear out empty text and zero length lines. AutoCAD 2012 includes the option to purge empty groups.

Application menu > Drawing Utilities Panel > Purge

Command entry: purge

Save your file after you’ve purged it to re-write the database before you audit. You may need to purge and audit a couple of times to completely clean up your DWG. I recommend that you purge your file production files frequently as part of your housekeeping routine.

Tip: You can use the PURGE command as a detective tool to help with problem files. Checking the ‘View items you cannot purge’ radio button to discover any un-PURGE’able nasty’s that are hidden in your drawings.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If you need to clean up a lot of problem drawings, you could try either of these third party plugins:

http://www.jtbworld.com/smartpurger.htm

http://www.manusoft.com/software/superpurge.html

Purge Regapps

‘PURGE REGAPPS’, is a secret option of the command line only version of the purge command. ‘Regapps’ is short for ‘Registered Applications’.

AutoCAD holds a bit of memory space free for vertical products such as AutoCAD Architectural desktop to use if they need it. If you receive files that could have been created with one of the AutoCAD verticals, you can claw back some memory space by using this command.

Type ‘-purge’ at the command line, then type ‘r’ and hit ‘enter’ to chose ‘Regapps’. AutoCAD will prompt you to list the names you want to purge. Just hit ‘enter’ to accept the default asterisk ‘*’ which will select all the available regapps. Now type ‘N’ and hit enter so you don’t have to verify each regapp to be purged.

AutoCAD will recreate any regapps memory space it needs should the file be re-opened by an AutoCAD vertical, so this won’t cause anyone problems down the line.

Note: If you created a back up copy of your file, compare the file size now. You should notice that it is substantially reduced.

Audit

AutoCAD’s ‘AUDIT’ command inspects the drawing file’s database for errors. Type ‘AUDIT’ at the command line, Type ‘Y’ to fix errors and then hit the F2 key to see what AutoCAD has done to your file. Save your file before you run the purge command again.

You may need to run the Purge – save and Audit – save commands a few times to completely optimize your file.

Recover

The recover command is a little like the ‘AUDIT’ command – only you run it before you open the problem drawing. To use the recover command, go to the application menu (The Big Red A) and choose, Drawing utilities > Recover. You will be prompted to pick a file.

Note: This is one of the few things in you can do in AutoCAD without a drawing open already.

The file will be Audited, and then opened in AutoCAD.

Wblock

If nothing else works, try ‘WBLOCK’ing the geometry you require into another drawing. The wblock command will only take what it needs to support what you have chosen to export from your drawing. This can leave corrupted elements behind.

Other issues that could be slowing your DWG down

If you are running antivirus software, make sure that common AutoCAD file types such as DWG, DWS, DWT, DXF, BAK, SV$ are excluded. You can see a full list of AutoCAD file extensions here:

HyperPics: File Extensions Related to AutoCAD

The Scale List Bug

AutoCAD 2008 included a bug which copied all annotation scales from x-referenced drawings into the host drawings, even if they already existed. This creates a massive number of unrequired scales in your drawing. If you are working with someone who is using AutoCAD 2008, you might still come across this problem.

More modern releases of AutoCAD have an automatic detection system for this problem. If you open a problem file, AutoCAD will prompt you to see if you want to re-set the scale list. I recommend you choose ‘Yes’!

To reset the scale list in a corrupted drawing, follow the command line entries below:

Command: -SCALELISTEDIT Enter option [?/Add/Delete/Reset/Exit] : Reset

Reset scale list to defaults? [Yes/No] : Yes

Scale list reset to default entries.

Enter option [?/Add/Delete/Reset/Exit] : Exit

If you are using xref’s, make sure you clean out the xreff’d files before you clean out the host drawing.

If you need to clean up lots of files you can use this Scale List Clean up utility from Autodesk.

Download the Scale List Clean up Utility from Autodesk

Full and Partial saves

AutoCAD only does a ‘full’ save when you hit save. AutoSaves are incremental (only what’s changed will be saved). The system variable ‘ISAVEPERCENT’ controls how often a full save will be done. Setting isavepercent to 0, will result in a longer save time, but a better organised fie (all saves will be full). Setting isavepercent to 100 will result in a faster save time, but more sluggish performance.

I hope that you found this article useful and that you’ve managed to breath some new life into your crusty old DWG’s!

Read this post for more ways to clean up your AutoCAD geometry for output to CNC/CAM.

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

How to copy Autodesk Inventor Parameters between documents.

Paul Munford — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:30:23 +0000

How to copy Autodesk Inventor Parameters between documents.

The ability to copy parameters between Inventor documents has been a long standing request of the Inventor user community.

Well, from Inventor 2011 we have a solution. We can now export parameter name and value pairs from a Part, Assembly or Drawing and import them into another document.

You can find the Import and Export tools under the ‘Manage’ tab on the ‘Parameters’ panel.

Note: In an Assembly file, you can also find the import and export parameter tools under the ‘Assemble’ tab on the ‘Manage Panel’.

Exporting Inventor Parameters

To export a set of Parameters, click on the fly out at the bottom of the panel and choose ‘Export to XML’. This will output your entire set of parameters e.g. Model, reference and user Parameters to an XML file. You will be prompted to save the XML file with a name and location of your choice.

To filter the list of Parameters that you wish to export, first open the parameters manager and check the box in the ‘Key’ column, next to the parameter that you wish to export.

Next – export the parameters as before, but this time when the ‘Export to XML’ file save dialog pops up, click on the ’Options’ button. You can now chose to export only Key parameters.

This image shows the Exported XML file opened in XML Notepad.

Importing Inventor Parameters

To Import a set of parameters click on the fly out and pick ‘Import from XML’. Browse to the XML file that you wish to Import the parameters form and click on ‘Open’.

There are a few things about importing parameters that you should be aware of.

If there are no parameters in your new file, the imported parameters will be imported as ‘User’ parameters, no matter what kind of parameter they were in the original file.

If there are parameters in your new file that have the same name as the parameters that you are importing, the parameter names in the new file will not be affected. The type of the parameter will also not be affected. If it is a model parameter, it will remain a model parameter, but the value of the parameter in the new file will be overwritten by the value of the parameter that is being imported.

Note: You will not be prompted that this value will be overwritten – so take care!

The value of reference parameters will not be overwritten.

It is possible to export parameters from any file and import them into any file. You could export parameter name and value pairs from a Part file into and Assembly file or from an Assembly File into a Drawing file (and Visa Versa).

Round up

While this isn’t as user friendly as a simple Copy & Paste from the parameter manager dialogue in one file to the parameter manager dialogue in another file, it does work pretty well.

There could be a useful aspect to having your company standard parameters saved out into an XML file that you could import when you need it, for example if you are receiving a part from a subcontractor or supplier.

I would like to see the Import and Export controls added to the file manager dialogue, so that you could see your parameters being imported in front of your eyes.

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.

Autodesk Digital Prototyping Forum 2011

Andrew Handley — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:30:52 +0000

Autodesk Digital Prototyping Forum 2011

If you can’t attend AU this year, and you are missing the AUGI CAD camps, then I hope that you managed to get to Autodesk’s Digital prototyping forum in Birmingham (UK).

This is the second year that Autodesk have run the DP Forum, and they are really hitting their stride. I was particularly impressed with Steve Bedder and Robin Oldroyd’s presentation on the Product Design Suite of software. Steve and Robin have really got to grips with how all the various software products come together and can be used in conjunction with each other (Even Mudbox!).

My only disappointment this year was that there wasn’t a lot of input from Autodesk users – maybe the slip up last year put the team from Autodesk off…

This year’s DP forum came hot on the heals of BIM Show live. Having wangled my way into demonstrating Inventor at a BIM conference, I was honoured to introduce Andrew Handley, an Architect, to DP forum. I thought that Andrew’s take on the day would provide an interesting counterpoint, and he graciously accepted the offer to write a guest post for the CAD Setter Out. Over to you Andrew!

-Paul-

DPForum 2011 – An Architects take on Engineering solutions

I was lucky enough to attend the second annual Autodesk Digital Prototyping Forum at Aston Villa Stadium with Paul Munford (@Cadsetterout). During the day I was surprised and delighted when Paul asked if I would like to write a guest blog post about the day.

As an architect and long time user of Autodesk software, I’m well aware there are people that design and document things other than buildings, but beyond the odd session at Autodesk University this was the first time i’d spent a day immersed in the world of design with Inventor at the centre as opposed to Revit.

The Digital Prototyping Forum followed the inaugural BIM Live Show at the Business Design Centre London, where Paul was speaking while trying to ignore my iPhoneography. Attending the events back to back provided an interesting compare and contrast that strengthened the idea that the Building in BIM is the verb not the noun. We’re all regardless of area and discipline increasingly modelling, generating and extracting information from which to build.

Vicki Butler Henderson was MC for the event. We don’t get celebrity MC’s at AEC events; or not that I can remember. It worked and actually provided a welcome foil to the presentations. Further light relief was provided by quiz questions such as, ‘Name the Autodesk software used to model Gollum’. Answers were given by delegates via electronic handsets.

I was impressed with the demonstrations of sketch design tools such as Sketchbook Designer and the way they can be used in the early design stages. Sketchbook Designer is included in all the Autodesk Building Design Suites, but I have not yet heard any reports of it being used.

The demonstration during the ‘Digital Requirements Gathering & Concept Design’ breakout session, eloquently highlighted the potential of Sketchbook Designer, Mudbox and Alias for early stage design. There are Autodesk mobile app equivalents of Sketchbook on iOS and Android and Mudbox on iOS, yet these barely got a mention until the closing session.

The eco materials selection tools built into Inventor raised my hopes that increasing exchange of data and models with Revit might lead to more accurate energy analysis, understanding of embodied energy and ultimately building life-cycle.

Filling order books earlier with visualisation was discussed, be it via the improved rendering native to Inventor or increasingly using 3D Studio Max, now included in 2 of the 3 of the Product Design Suites. Visualisation to sell design is very familiar to architects but thinking about it as a way of filling the order book earlier is a new perspective.

Visualisation was linked to a broader view of digital asset creation and the ability to repurpose digital assets, in this case for use in Inventor Publisher creating what as an architect I would call O&M manuals. This was great stuff and the comments I heard during the day bemoaning the lack of inclusion in the Product Design Suites made a lot of sense. I could see a use for Inventor Publisher in AEC, especially as IPM files are an export option in Autodesk Labs ‘Project Photofly’, allowing models to be viewed on iOS and Android devices.

A presentation of Factory Design Suite! sarcastically I thought, ‘this is going to be very…well, niche’. I was wrong and have to confess to being impressed. There were elements such as the focus on robots that are niche, however this is exactly the purpose of attending events like the Digital Prototyping Forum; an opportunity to hear about a broader range of design applications. Fundamentally Factory seems to be about documenting workflows and processes, this was demonstrated by the fact a ship building firm is using Factory Design for parts of their design process.

The geekout session of the day was attending the ‘Design Automation and Rules Based Design’ session, presented by Steve Bedder of Autodesk. Essentially an hour of iLogic voodoo from Steve with Paul providing a running commentary and mild smugness that something so simple, accessible and yet powerful would be a welcome addition to the Revit Family Editor.

The closing session by Keith Perrin covering Autodesk Futures closed the day. I always enjoy hearing Phil Bernstein of Autodesk speak and Keith’s presentation was equally inspiring.

There were no earth shattering revolutionary announcements, just an eloquently concise demonstration of Autodesk’s evolution and incubation of ideas. Key ideas presented included, empowering everyone not just the power users, which we are starting to see with the democratisation of design tools via app stores, both desktop and mobile. Solver technologies that increasingly are cloud based so again democratising tools and reducing or removing cost as a determining factor of innovation.

Thank you Paul for being my guide and thank you Autodesk for a great event. I look forward to hopefully attending the Digital Prototyping Forum 2012.

P.S. The answer to the Gollum question is Mudbox.

You might also enjoy reading:

The CAD Setter Out - AutoCAD and Inventor Tips, Tricks & Tutorials.