AutoCAD Action Recorder

I really do not enjoy repeative tasks over and over in AutoCAD (and in AutoCAD Architecture). Thats why I am glad I can across the Action Recorder in 2011. It is a great little tool to save you a ton of time. Its under the Manage Tab, Action Recorder. Hit the record button, and do a taks in AutoCAD, and it will be recorded. When you are done, hit stop. U sed this to create a "cleanup" Macro. Basicially to Purge, Audit, change a few settings, zoom extents, and save the drawing. I ran this command on several files after having to open them and realizing they needed a good cleanup. Give it a try and see what yo uthink. If you want to learn more about Action Recorder, here is a link :http://docs.autodesk.com/ARCHDESK/2011/ENU/filesACG/WS1a9193826455f5ff-7c11d46c11cb8605735-68cb.htm

AutoCAD 2011 - teaching and learning

I spent part of today preparing for a class I will be teaching this week on AutoCAD 2011. Even though the majority of classes I teach are on Revit (Architecture/Structure) and 3ds Max, its good to get back to the basics. The class will cover the fundamentals of the software starting from the beginning with the concept the student has not used or even touched the software.

That takes me on a trip on memory lane. I personally have been using AutoCAD for 15 years, going back to release 11 when it was still DOS based. We had to learn the software commands, not the pretty buttons. So much has changed in the software in those years. But learnign the basics has remained the same. I am a big advocate of having students understand the basics. Its the same concept of learningto drive a manual transmission car vs. and automatic. I think you understand how a car works, runs and how you drive, and pay attention to everything going on around you. We still teach about Modelspace and Paperspace. The basic drawing tools commands. I feel its better to know the commands vs. where the pretty buttons are.

Find out more about the latest new features in AutoCAD 2011 with this link to Autodesk's AutoCAD website: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13779270&siteID=123112

Revit - Borrow vs. Checkout

To Borrow or not to Borrow, that is the question! I had a meeting with a client today about Revit setup and configuration. One of the topics that came up was Worksets. What are the best practices for Worksets? Worksets are interesting to understand when you first start learning about them (that's a seperate blog at a later date), but instead of the traditional Checking out feature, I have had a lot of success with just borrowing. This entails not checking out a Workset, but allowing team members to borrow items when needed. This system doesnt work for every office or studio, and all team members need to be on board with the idea. Its much more flexibile to select an item and click on the little boxes icon "make itme editable,

than to go thru the process of checking out a set, which restricts team members form accessing items in the project. Once you sync to Central you relinquish the element and move on. Again, this doesnt work for everyone, but it can be very effective and help to run a project faster. Give borrowing a chance!