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Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 15, No. 10)
22 Mar, 2010 By: Cadalyst StaffThis Week's Software Tips
Disappearing Toolbars
Frequent tipster Leonid Nemirovsky shares with us some simple code that can bring new life to your toolbars. "I have my own toolbar that has 3 rows of 10 buttons each, with the AutoCAD and custom commands I use most." View the complete tip and post your feedback.
Dimension in Decimals or Fractions
Manufacturing Engineer David White sends us a routine he wrote to help himself dimension properly. "I was taught years ago that one should design with care, and that unnecessarily close tolerances should be avoided to keep manufacturing costs down." View the complete tip and post your feedback.
Minimize 3D File Size with WBlock
CAD Administrator Michael O'Flaherty sends us a surprising way to reduce the size of 3D files. "When creating a library of 3D standard parts it's important to keep the size of the part as small as possible; smaller part files result in smaller assemblies." View the complete tip and post your feedback.
Make Layers via the Keyboard
Tipster Bill Neuhauser gives us a quick keyboard-only method to creating a new layer. "If you just want to create a new layer and make it current, how about trying the old-fashioned way?" 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 by Cadalyst staff and the Tip Patrol before publication. Use all tips at your own discretion, please. We're sorry, but editors and Tip Patrol members cannot provide assistance with technical problems; please refer to Cadalyst's Hot Tip Harry-Help discussion forum for assistance with AutoLISP and other AutoCAD customization questions.
Sincere thanks to our volunteer Tip Patrol members: Brian Benton, Don Boyer,
Mitchell Hirschklau, R.K. McSwain, and Billy Wooten.
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Resources
Autodesk Publishes BIM Implementation Resource
Autodesk has released a free, web-accessible guide for building industry professionals. The Autodesk BIM Deployment Plan: A Practical Framework for Implementing BIM includes support materials and a framework based on real-world applications of BIM (building information modeling). Tools include templates to help manage multi-discipline communications within a BIM project, as well as suggestions for the roles and responsibilities of each party in a BIM process-based project, best business process examples, and suggested software to support an effective BIM environment.
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Deals & Freebies
Jidea Oy Offers Free Week of 2D CAD Software
Finnish software firm Jidea Oy is offering a seven-day free trial of JCAD tabula, its 2D CAD software for the construction industry. The software comes with symbol libraries covering a range of design areas, and it includes M-Color, a presentation plotting tool that helps users develop graphical elements for traditional CAD drawings.
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Opportunities & Honors
COFES 2010 Seeks Survey Participants
Cyon Research, organizer of the Congress on the Future of Engineering Software (COFES), has launched two surveys in anticipation of its 2010 event in April. The market status survey, which addresses the impact of the economy on the engineering software market, comprises a dozen questions and takes about five minutes to complete. The software survey is an in-depth study of users of design and engineering software tools and will take about 20 minutes to complete. The surveys are open to anyone in the engineering software community and will be open until approximately May 15.
2010 SmartGeometry Speakers Win International Science Award
Bentley Systems has announced that Jenny Sabin and Peter Lloyd Jones, workshop leaders and speakers at the SmartGeometry 2010 Conference, which begins tomorrow in Barcelona, recently won the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. Sabin, an architect, artist, and educator, in collaboration with cell and molecular biologist Jones, won for her creation of a 3D structure that simulates the predicted network generated by human lung cells as they interact with an extracellular matrix. Sabin's work was modeled with the help of Bentley's GenerativeComponents design software.
Student Wins Competition to Design Green Car with Autodesk Tools
Sean Coleman, a student at the College of Design at North Carolina State University, is the winner of the Shell Eco-Marathon: Autodesk Real-World Challenge. The global competition provides real-world experience for students seeking to use their design skills to create energy-efficient cars. Coleman used Autodesk Inventor, Showcase, and Alias to design the car, which will be realized as a full-size, functional model by Shell Oil.
Bentley Calls for Be Inspired Awards Nominations
Bentley Systems is accepting entries until June 18 for the 2010 Be Inspired Awards competition, which will recognize exceptional infrastructure projects and the teams responsible for creating them. Award winners will have their projects featured in Bentley's publication The Year in Infrastructure 2010, and Bentley will make a $1,000 charitable donation on behalf of each winning organization.
Autodesk Names M2 Technologies Reseller of the Quarter
Autodesk has selected M2 Technologies, a manufacturing design solutions provider, as Reseller of the Quarter for North America for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2010. Autodesk selects the Reseller of the Quarter based on quality of customer service, level of support and professional education, overall growth, and vertical sales.
3D Jewelry Exchange Launches CAD File Creation Program
3D Jewelry Exchange, a new web-based service, is offering CAD designers commissions to create 3D models of jewelry. There is no membership fee for designers to upload their work to the site. 3D Jewelry Exchange also offers rapid prototyping and casting services.
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Mark Your Calendar
Webinar: Optimizing Building Energy Analysis Workflows
March 25, 2010
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
This complimentary webinar from Bentley will discuss optimizing building energy analysis workflows and use predictions using Hevacomp Simulator and EnergyPlus 4.0. Read more
Webinar: Office2PDM Data Management
March 31–June 23, 2010
Various times
This webinar will discuss how to interact with the SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Vault directly from inside of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Read more
San Francisco Revit User Group: Shared Coordinates
April 14, 2010
San Francisco, California
Using materials presented at AU 2009, Teresa Martin, AEC application specialist at Ideate, will walk attendees through the steps of utilizing shared coordinates within a Revit building project. Read more
Capture 3D Users Group Conference and 3D Metrology Workshop
October 6–7, 2010
Newport Beach, California
Topics at this fourth biannual conference will include 3D scanning, quality control, inspection, and reverse engineering. 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
Choose the Best Monitor for CAD
CAD 101: Arm yourself with these solid fundamentals as you set out to find the consumer- or professional-grade LCD display that's right for you. Read more
Autodesk Subscription, Part 6
Q&A Series: How many users can have access to Subscription Center? How do I set this up? Read more
Arrival of the Desktop Supercomputer
Nehalem workstations offer a strategic advantage we haven't seen in years, and now — yes, now — is the time to ramp up. Read more
GIS Docks at the Port of San Diego
To provide varied departments with a common operating picture, the Port Authority implements GIS solutions that make facilities data accessible to all — including CAD users. 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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