Applied Software Blog

I'll be contributing blog entries to Applied Software's Blog...

Covering information, news, techniques and critiques from Applied Software's technical and sales team.

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In Canvas

In Canvas is a viewport control for View, Viewport, and Visual Styles. If you have used 3ds Max before, this feature will look familiar. It has been in 3ds Max for several releases. But will be very helpful in AutoCAD to have the same kind of functionality.

Located in the upper left corner of each viewport, this is a quick access tool to change settings within the viewport. See image above.

Content Explorer

Have you checked out the Content Explorer in AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture (ACA). It is pretty cool. It can be accessed from the Plug-ins Tab in AutoCAD or the Add-ins tab in ACA, both look like binoculars.

With Content Explorer you can catalog content for speedy access, index the objects in each file, and search for content in local drives, network locations, and the Autodesk Seek.

Click on the side image for a better look.

Autodesk 2012 shipping

Autodesk announced it wil lbe shipping 2012 products soon. AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture actually shipped on March 24th. Here is a link to Autodesk's website for more information on AutoCAD 2012. There are a lot of cool new features: http://usa.autodesk.com/autocad/features/

AutoCAD - Scaling

No its not a Mitsubishi car symbol. Its an icon of the cross section of a an architectural scale. The actual tool is for Annotative scaling of annotation objects like text, dimensions and graphical symbols. This feature was added a few releases ago, but I realized from teaching, that there are a lot of folks who are still working in Model Space, doing things the old way, and aren't aware of Annotative scaling.

By using the annotative scaling, it takes care of all the busy work of text sizes when changing scale. The quick, down and dirty of making it work, is to have all of these buttons turned on. They will lit up and showing the light bulb and lightening bolt in yellow once on. Also you need to be using Annotative text or dimensions. Set your scale and start drawing. The text and dims will display at the correct height per your settings and when you change the scale they will update. I last cool thing is that the text will scale according to the Viewport scale. Annotative scale rocks! Enjoy!!

AutoCAD - Get a grip!

Using grips in AutoCAD can be a useful way of editing your objects. Whether you are moving an object or lengthening a line, grips can be faster than finding the traditional tools for editing.

When the grips are "blue" they are cold or not selected. When you select the grips, they turn red, or whats called "hot", which means they are active and ready for action.

In recent releases of AutoCAD, more features have been added to grip selection. For example, on a polyline, we can now edit Vertices. Which includes: adding, removing or stretching.

AutoCAD

I've been using AutoCAD since Release 11, when it was DOS based. A lot has changed since then, and for the better! I enjoy finding new tips, tricks and little things to help make life easier.

Here is something simple but worth it. Osnap - Parallel. This Osnap allows you to draw a new line or object parallel to a reference object. You start the line command, and then using the Parallel Osnap hover over the reference line. You will see a symbol looking like this "//" over the line. It will disapear as you move off, but once you are lined up parallel with the reference line and your new line, the symbol will reappear and you can draw your line parallel. Simple but effective! Enjoy!

TREX - Trim Extend

TREX - Trim Extend. In AutoCAD Express Tools, there was added a command named TREX. Commandline: TREX... Pick to trim or Shift+Pick to extend [Project/Edge/Undo]:

It was a combination of Trim and Extend by holding down the Shift key. That functionality is now part of base AutoCAD. Now you dont need Express Tools to have this option. Its included. Either in Trim or Extend you can use the Shift key to toggle between the two commands. I suggest using the "Select All" option for cutting edge at the beginning to give you the most functionality.

BATTMAN

BATTMAN - Block Attribute Manager. From Autodesk Help... You can edit the attribute definitions in blocks, remove attributes from blocks, and change the order in which you are prompted for attribute values when inserting a block.

Attributes of the selected block are displayed in the attribute list. By default, Tag, Prompt, Default, Mode, and Annotative attribute properties are displayed in the attribute list. You can specify which attribute properties you want displayed in the list by choosing Settings.

For each selected block, a description below the attribute list identifies the number of its instances in the current drawing and in the current layout.

AutoCAD - Help F1

During a command in AutoCAD, if you need further assistance, select the F1 key. This will not only open up the Help menu, but it will open it up to the command you are working in.

AutoCAD - BPOLY

Bpoly, or Boundary polyline is a great command to create a polyine based off an enclosed area. The fastest and most effective method of creating a boundary polyline is to use the island detection. As long as the area is enclosed, like for hacthing, yo ucan select the middle open area of lines and circles, and BPOLY will create a closed polyline on the current layer.

AutoCAD - Linetype Scale

In AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture we can control the Linetype display or spacing. This control can be in either Model Space or PaperSpace.

For Modelspace linetype control, we use the command LTSCALE. This will change the scale factor of linetypes for all objects in a drawing. This can coinside with the Annotation scale of the drawing. A regeneration of the drawing is required after changing the LTSCALE. You can also use REA at the commandline for a quick keyboard shortcut to "Regen All" the drawing.

For Paperspace we look at using PSTLSCALE with a variable of 1 or 0. For 0 there is no linetype scaling. The linetype spacing is based off the modelspace of the drawing. For a setting of 1, the viewport controls the linetype scaling. So if you change the scale of your viewport, it will update the linetype spacing.

Someone might ask why use one method over the other. Well the advantages of using PSLTSCALE set to 1, is that when ever yo uchange the viewport scale, you lineweights will change as well. In the above example PSLTSCAL is set to 1. We have two different scales, but the linetype scale and spacing look the same. This is a consistancy many companies want to achieve.

AutoCAD - Tablet - I regress

I found the fold up insert that came in the AutoCAD Release 14 box for tablet overlay. This is a real blast from the past. The overlay sat over top of the Digitizer tablet. The buttons could be programmed to make drawing faster. To bad AutoCAD and the computers at the time were so slow.

Life is easier using 2011. No Tablets. Now if I can find my old 24+ button puck around here somewhere?

AutoCAD - < > Greater Than / Less Than

No its not gang symbols. Its the greater than / less than symbols - hand gesture. I show my students this when teaching AutoCAD to get them into the thinking of using and thinking of these symbols because in AutoCAD in the commandline they represent the default value or last value used. Which menas you can save time by not having to do additional typing verces just hitting the enter key to accept whats in the "< >" value. So we can save additional time by using the default or previous used value by reading the commandline with the greater than and less than symbols "<>". Remember the graphic and save your self some time!

AutoCAD - Subset Commands

I taught a AutoCAD beginners class last week, in which I had a lot of fun teaching and sharing information about AutoCAD and how to make it work efficiently. One of the things I discovered quickly in the class is that half the students like "Button" commands, and the other half likes typing or knowing what the command were, or evern the shortcuts for them. Now I learned AutoCAD rel. 11, back in the day when it only came in a DOS version. We didnt have pretty picture buttons, so we had to learn the commands. I am thankful for this, because several of those same commands still apply and work today over 15 or so releases later. Continueing on this thought and in my class we discussed the Commandline. How it is your friend, and telling you the next thing to do, or atleast a suggestion. We also talked about the "Subset" commands or transparent commands that you can execute while actively in another command. Those are located in the commandline. Example below. You can type the capital letter of the subset command to activate it. This is a great way to save time. Some commands have options like Close, Undo, or Join, depending on the initial command you are in. IF you havent used these subset commands, give thme a try. Enjoy!

[SubsetCommandInBrackets]

AutoCAD - Filters

AutoCAD filters are helpful but it seems arent used as much as they should be. Filters can be based off of Layer Propeties or Group. The Properties Filter is based off of the Layer criteria like: on/off, Name, Color, etc. This makes it easy to filter all of the red layers or layers that start with "A". For the Group filter, this is when the consistancy of layer criteria is mixed. We want to Group layers like A-Door with a color of green, and S-Grid with a color of red. There isnt a similarity between them, but we can pull them together in a Group.

AutoCAD - changing with the times

AutoCAD... its been around so years and years. Continuely adding and changing. I started using AutoCAD in release 11, when there wasnt a Windows version. It only came in DOS. We used a puck for a mouse nad it had 24+ butotns on it. We also used something called a tablet which was a mouse pad metal box looking thing that had commands and drawing area on it. Now-a-days, when people mention tablets for CAD, they are talking about Tablet PCs or Ipad. Times have changed and so has the software, but many of the basic commands and tools I learned back then, I still use today.

AutoCAD - Draworder

Draworder, its been around for several releases, and is a great tool to use for stacking up hatches or text over hatches. Draworder changes the draw order of images and other objects. You can type DRAWORDER at the commandline or access the tools from the Draw Order Tool bar, along with getting the the tool fro mthe Modify Panel on the Home Tab.

Here is a link to Autodesk Support referring to Draworder: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU/filesACR/WS1a9193826455f5ffa23ce210c4a30acaf-4bce.htm

AutoCAD - different approach

AutoCAD is the base program that Autodesk wrote from scratch back in the early 80's. It is general purpose, meaning it can be used across several industries. That does not mean it is "general" in its capabilites. One of those unique approaches is drawing up colored elevations for products or equipment. The example to the left is one example of using gradient coloring in AutoCAD. AutoCAD now-a-days has industry specific tools for the different "flavors" of AutoCAD. See which one works best for you: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=15408167&siteID=123112

Acad Mac

I had mentioend Acad for Mac the other day, but it struck me to be so interesting, I haveto talk about it again. It even sounds odd to say AutoCAD and Mac together. Lets hope they are developing other apps. for Mac like Revit. Other Autodesk apps like 3ds Max Design will run under Mac's Boot Camp. So atleast that is a step in the right direction.

Here is anAutodesk link to AutoCAD for Mac: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=15421056&siteID=123112