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AutoCAD 2012: Who Says 2D is Dead?
22 Mar, 2011 By: Bill FaneThe majority of the latest enhancements beef up 2D functionality, including two new commands for generating 2D working drawings from 3D models.
There are two kinds of designers in the world: those who design in 2D and those who design in 3D. The software companies keep saying, "The world is 3D. Why are you still working in 2D?" and make it sound as if the 2D people are veritable Neanderthals. They may be right, but that's not the point. A couple of articles I have read recently indicate that the use of 3D software is far from being all-pervasive in the design world — in fact, 2D users still seem to be in the vast majority. Well, Autodesk has not forsaken the 2D crowd.
The “What’s New” document for AutoCAD 2012, which was included with the beta version but not the shipping version, ran 54 pages — the majority of which were devoted to explaining 2D enhancements. On top of that, many of the 3D additions and enhancements are there to help you produce 2D drawings from 3D models.
Reversing the sequence of the “What’s New” document, let’s take a look at some of my favorite 2D enhancements in AutoCAD 2012, announced today and shipping in early April. The product is available standalone or as part of one of the many new Autodesk Design Suites for 2012.
Hip, Hip, Array!
Consider something as mundane as the Array command. What could they possibly do to improve it? Quite a bit, as it turns out. For starters, they have eliminated the dialog box and gone back to make it command-line driven. Say what? In this day and age of icons, ribbons, and GUIs, they've gone back to the command line?
Yes, and it saves many mouse picks. When you invoke Array, it simply asks you to select objects. Once you do so, it then asks you to specify the number of rows and columns. Now here comes the clever part: You can enter values directly, or you can simply move your cursor for a live, dynamic preview. Similarly, once you have specified the number of rows and columns, you can specify the row and column spacing simply by moving your mouse, again for a live dynamic preview.
... to dynamically define the number of rows and columns ...
... and the spacing.
Polar arrays work the same way, as does the new Path variant. The latter is much like the existing Measure and Divide commands, the difference being that they can insert blocks along a path line, spline, or polyline, while the Path array can place blocks or any selection of separate objects offset from the path.
But wait! There's more! Arrays can now be associative. If you double-click on an array, the Properties dialog box lets you change the number of columns and rows as well as the spacing. Better yet, associative arrays are also parametric, so that quantities and spacing can be determined from other parametric values. You can also grip-edit to stretch or shrink the array, and the number of rows and columns will change accordingly.
Associative arrays can be edited as a unit...
You can also redefine the base elements of an array, you can relocate one or more elements relative to its neighbors within the array, you can substitute one or more objects for one or more elements in an array, and you can reset everything back to the original array specification. It just keeps getting better and better!
... and you can replace and/or move single elements within the array.
This also works for both Polar and the new Path arrays.
Speaking of GUIs, AutoCAD 2012 includes the requisite "improvements" to the ribbon and other graphic elements of the user interface, but it also includes a significant acknowledgment that fancy GUIs may not be the most effective way to control software. If you watch AutoCAD super-power users such as Lynn Allen (Autodesk technical evangelist) and Dave Espinosa-Aguillar (a consulting engineer and popular Autodesk University speaker) in high-speed action, they almost invariably rely on typing command names and aliases.
 AutoComplete speeds up invoking of commands. |
The bad news is that Autodesk has discontinued the old screen menu from DOS days. I have long maintained that it was the fastest and most efficient interface, because it was not cluttered up and slowed down by all the fancy graphics. It was also fully context-sensitive because it originated in the days before three-button mice. You never needed to right-click to get the options for a command.
Fillet and Chamfer commands. Getting back to the 2D enhancements, AutoCAD 2012 includes a significant improvement to the Fillet and Chamfer commands. Having picked the first object, all you need to do is to move your cursor over the intended second object to see a preview of the operation. If things aren't what you want, you can change the radius or length specifications before completing the command. This works for two objects or when applying fillets or chamfers down the length of a polyline.
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AutoCAD Tips!
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