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Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 17, No. 20)
11 Jun, 2012 By: Cadalyst StaffThis Week's Software Tips
All-in-One CAD Tips: AutoCAD's Alias Editor, Sketchbook Designer, and Office Etiquette
Three great CAD tips in one! AutoCAD's Alias Editor puts your favorite commands at your fingertips; tap into your creative side with Autodesk Sketchbook Designer; and make your CAD office refrigerator a place that welcomes everyone's lunch. Sponsored by the HP Z1 All-in-One Workstation, www.hp.com/z1. View the video.
What's Your Secret?
Do you have any tips for using AutoCAD — or any other CAD software tool — more effectively and efficiently? Send them to us! If we publish your tip, you'll earn a gift card you can use to purchase a T-shirt or other prizes in the Cadalyst Store. Use the "Submit Tip" button below to send us your tip today!
Accurate Linework without Effort
Frequent tipster Danny Korem shares a tip about how to draw accurately in AutoCAD ― without even trying! "While drafting your linework, don't pay too much attention to accuracy or precision; we'll let AutoCAD take care of that." View the complete tip and post your feedback.
Put a Spell on Your Text
Rebekah S. Wolf, a CADD technician, shares a tip for managing text errors in AutoCAD. "I have seen many misspellings in AutoCAD text and notes in my time ― I'm sure we all have. It's even worse when we commit these errors ourselves," said Cadalyst Tip Reviewer Brian Benton. View the complete tip and post your feedback.
All Things are True, from a Certain View
Civil designer Sam Lucido discusses using saved name views in AutoCAD to manage viewports and other similar needs. "The View command is a very powerful tool in AutoCAD that has been around for a long time." View the complete tip and post your feedback.
Video Tip: A More Flexible DimAngular Command
Alex Borodulin of NYacad, which provides structural and miscellaneous steel detailing services and structural design and drafting, shares a video tip about the DimAngular command. At the DimAngular command prompt, you are given the choice to select an arc, circle, or line, or specify a vertex. You can, however, also select other objects: dimension lines, xlines, rays etc.
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Review Cadalyst's Tip Submission Guidelines, then Submit Your Tip for your favorite CAD software. If we publish your tip, you'll earn a gift card you can use to purchase a T-shirt or other prizes in the Cadalyst Store. Please remember to submit only code and other tips that are your original work (or provide the original source so we can include proper credit) and to tell us which software version you use.
By submitting code, you grant Cadalyst the right to print and distribute your code in print, digitally, and by other means. Cadalyst and individual authors retain all rights to the code; published code is not to be used for commercial purposes.
Got Feedback? To share feedback about one of today's tips, navigate to the tip using the link provided above, then click Comment. The Comment tool is available to registered users of Cadalyst's CAD Tips site.
Tips & Tools Weekly software tips for AutoCAD are reviewed in the latest version of AutoCAD by Contributing Editor Brian Benton. Use all tips at your own discretion, please. We're sorry, but Cadalyst staff cannot provide assistance with technical problems. Please refer to Cadalyst's LinkedIn and Facebook communities for assistance with AutoLISP and other AutoCAD customization questions.
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Resources
New CIMdata Whitepaper Explores SolidWorks' Manufacturing Support
PLM (product lifecycle management) consulting and research firm CIMdata has released a new whitepaper about providing early support for manufacturing through enhanced product design capabilities. "Executing Effectively from Design to Manufacturing," available for free download, describes how SolidWorks has expanded its CAD software to better support design-for-manufacturing concepts.
IMAGINiT Technologies Launches Portal for Australian Clients
IMAGINiT Technologies, which trains and supports users of Autodesk software and complementary technologies, has launched a new ProductivityNOW portal to serve its Australian clients. The portal offers technical resources, support, utilities, eLearning, and community. Although some content is exclusive to IMAGINiT customers, the portal is open to the public.
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Deals & Freebies
Bricsys Provides Educational Users with Free Software
Bricsys, a provider of engineering software, has launched an International Academic Program, which gives students and educational institutions free access to all versions of Bricscad software and APIs (application programming interfaces). Registered students, instructors, and educational institutions can use the software for 12 months before requalifying.
MW3D-Solutions Offers Free Trial of Mac Modeling Software
Visitors to the Cheetah3D web site can freely download the 3D modeling and rendering program for trial purposes. To save files, however, users must purchase a license ($99). Software developer MW3D-Solutions recently released Cheetah3D v6, which is integrated with the Bullet physics engine for simulating rigid-body and soft-body dynamics.
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Opportunities & Honors
Aras Announces Recipients of 2012 Collaborate & Contribute Awards
Aras, a provider of PLM (product lifecycle management) software, presented the 2012 Collaborate & Contribute Awards at its ACE 2012 International conference, held May 1–3 in Troy, Michigan. The awards went to ECCO, for its Firefox browser client for Apple Mac; Gentex Corporation, for the AML Studio Editor; and Minerva, for the Alternative Structure Browser for large assemblies.
AIDEA Wins Open BIM Build London Live 2012 Award
Philippines-based architectural firm AIDEA won the OpenBIM award in Build London Live 2012, using ArchiCAD BIM (building information modeling) software for its winning design. Build London Live is a 48-hour virtual design competition using cloud-based technology. Eleven competing teams, comprising members from 37 nations, were challenged to design a museum.
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Mark Your Calendar
Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium Road Show
Through June 30, 2012
Various U.S. cities
This free seminar will demonstrate Adobe's Creative Suite 6 (CS6) Production Premium. A Maxon station will demonstrate how the company's Cinema 4D 3D graphics software integrates with CS6. Read more
BIM Components Live Online
June 19, 2012
9 a.m. PT
GRAPHISOFT will host an online seminar about the solutions ArchiCAD 16 provides to ease the creation, sharing, and finding of custom BIM components. Read more
INTERGEO 2012
October 9-11, 2012
Hannover, Germany
Participants of this conference will explore topics such as Open GeoData and energy issues, cloud computing, 3D and new technologies, urban development, and property valuation. Read more
For a complete list of CAD meetings, conferences, training sessions, and more, check out our calendar of events on Cadalyst.com. Are you hosting an event that you would like to include in our calendar? Submit details at least two weeks in advance to news@cadalyst.com.
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What's New at Cadalyst.com
All-in-One Video Tips Offer Something for Everyone
Cadalyst's All-in-One video tips, sponsored by the HP Z1 All-in-One Workstation, combine three useful tips into one quick video. Host Curt Moreno, the Kung Fu Drafter, shares advice on topics ranging from resumes and training to xrefs and sheet sets. Watch the videos
Processors for CAD Hardware:
Find the Balance Between Multiple Cores and Increased Single-Thread Performance
Several years ago processor vendors began backing away from a sole focus on cranking up clock frequencies and otherwise striving to squeeze every last possible bit of performance from single-thread processing. Read the CADspeed blog post
From the Trenches: Connect Project Teams with AutoCAD and ProjectWise
Does your dispersed team rely on AutoCAD and Bentley ProjectWise? This tutorial explains how to integrate the two. Read more
CAD at Your Fingertips
Handheld devices and a rapidly expanding selection of apps are usurping laptops for access to data from virtually any location. Take CAD into the field for better coordination, collaboration, and presentations. Read more
No More Cloudy Days
Slice through the hype and determine how cloud technology can work for you. Read more
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AutoCAD Tips!
Autodesk Technical Evangelist Lynn Allen guides you through a different AutoCAD feature in every edition of her popular "Circles and Lines" tutorial series. For even more AutoCAD how-to, check out Lynn's quick tips in the Cadalyst Video Gallery. Subscribe to Cadalyst's Tips & Tricks Tuesdays free e-newsletter and we'll notify you every time a new video tip is available. All exclusively from Cadalyst! |
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Considering Wide Format Printing Solutions?
Four FREE White Papers Available:
