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Management

Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 17, No. 31)

27 Aug, 2012 By: Cadalyst Staff

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This Week's Software Tips

Summer of Love? No, Summer of LISP!
Hot Tip Harry never takes a vacation from investigating the best CAD code! Use the "Submit Tip" button below to send us your LISP routines. If we publish your tip, you'll earn a $25 gift card you can use to purchase a T-shirt or other prizes in the Cadalyst Store.

Sync Your Personal AutoCAD Settings from Anywhere
Frequent tipster Danny Korem points out a new feature added to AutoCAD 2013 that allows users to sync their settings to any machine running AutoCAD 2013 via the cloud. "AutoCAD 2013 has a new Online tab in the ribbon. The options settings there will let you synchronize your personal settings in AutoCAD from any workstation with Internet access." View the complete tip and post your feedback.

Create Hatch Patterns with Macros in LISP
Steven Matchett shares four custom hatch command macros that will automatically create hatches of specific pattern types with short keystroke combinations in AutoCAD. "These are my most frequently used hatches, and the LISP code that goes with them. Users can change the values to suit their needs." View the complete tip and post your feedback.

Draw Revision Clouds Where You Want Them
Mechanical engineer Perry Pattiz shares a revision cloud tip for AutoCAD. "I used to draw revision clouds freehand, and frequently they didn't end up exactly where I wanted them. Modifying the clouds afterward by moving the points or stretching the clouds is time-consuming, and doesn't produce natural-looking revision clouds." View the complete tip and post your feedback.

Reset Hatch Variables after Using Match Properties in the Hatch Editor
Brian Glover shares a command macro with us that will reset your AutoCAD hatch pattern settings to the default values. "The Match Properties function on the Hatch Creation ribbon or the Hatch Editor ribbon provides a quick and easy means of duplicating a hatch pattern already in a drawing. It does have one big drawback: All of the properties from the selected hatch are kept current after you stop hatching." View the complete tip and post your feedback.

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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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Books & Training

Crossrail, Bentley Systems Launch UK's First Dedicated BIM Academy
Crossrail and Bentley Systems have launched an Information Academy that will provide hands-on training to the Crossrail supply chain on the technology and software being used to design and build the railway, including building information modeling (BIM). The training is expected to impact other infrastructure projects by driving standards of design innovation within the construction industry. Next month, Crossrail will establish a BIM Industry Panel to promote collaboration and best practices in BIM.

Autodesk University 2012 Class Catalog Now Online
Autodesk software users planning to attend Autodesk University (to be held November 27–29) can now view the class catalog online to help plan their schedules. An account is not required for viewing the Autodesk University 2012 class catalog; however, AU members are allowed to sign up one week before general registration begins.

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Mark Your Calendar

RapidWorks v3.5 Demo
August 28, 2012
11 a.m. PT
This webinar will demonstrate how to turn NextEngine scanned points into solid models with the latest version of RapidWorks. Read more

BIM Perspectives from AEC Firms and a Legal Perspective of BIM
September 20, 2012
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This event will explore the multi-disciplinary project team and its best practices for using BIM (building information modeling) as a basis for a collaborative design and construction process. Read more

SolidCAD University
October 23, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This event is designed to help Autodesk design technology users sharpen their skills and network with others in their industries. 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

AMD's Accelerated Processing Unit: Will It Make Your New CAD Hardware More Affordable?
It's about time. After a hiatus from its role as a viable alternative to Intel for workstation-class CPUs, AMD is back. Read the CADspeed blog post

Visualize Femap Models with the Clipping Plane
Femap Tips and Tricks: Use this tool to quickly and easily view the interior of a geometry or FEA model. Read more

Edit an Autodesk Inventor iPart or iAssembly with Excel
IMAGINiT Tricks Tutorial: Have you been stymied when trying to edit an iPart or iAssembly via spreadsheet? Try this trick to modify the registry key. Read more

Use Part Design View Representations in Autodesk Inventor
IMAGINiT Tricks Tutorial: Part representations can help you with assembly constraints and model documentation. Read more