Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 14, No. 6)

This Week's Software Tips

Hot Tip Harry: Live on the Web
Hot Tip Harry’s latest AutoCAD customization tips are now posted online at Cadalyst’s CAD Tips site. Harry’s posting tips all the time now, and you can find the latest ones by checking the Recently Posted list, along with the latest tips from Tips & Tools Weekly. You can also find out about the latest tips from Harry himself (aka Cadalyst's Bill Kramer) by hanging out on Harry’s Tip Jar Discussion Forum. Look for the posts labeled "Hot Tips!" for regular updates. Among Harry's latest additions are the following Top Tip winners: Grab-Bar Detailer by Jay Thomas and Dynamic Grid Drawing by Ron Perez. Congratulations to both!   Brand new, Cadalyst and Hot Tip Harry also introduce his new Programming Concepts Discussion Forum. Keep tabs and chime in to exchange AutoCAD programming expertise and advice.

Congratulations January Drawing Winner!
Andria Lynch won the January drawing for a $100 gift card. Andria's tip, Hiding Xref Layers, was published in the January 5 Tips & Tools Weekly. Submit your tip (see guidelines below) for your favorite CAD software. If we publish your tip, we'll send you a Cadalyst T-shirt, and each month Cadalyst editors will randomly select one published tip and send a $100 gift card to its author.

Layer Macros
Allan Erickson sent us several macros that he uses when working with xref layers and one he uses to find lost objects that were just created. "Unloading the xrefs or freezing the layers they are on constantly ate up a lot of time, so I created an AutoLISP shortcut to toggle them off and on." View the complete tip

Minimize Clicks by Applying Osnaps
Brian Marsh sent this tip, which saves us picks and clicks drawing a line with osnaps. "Most users, when faced with the need to draw a line on the centerline between two circles that are at a nonperpendicular, will draw a line from centre to centre and then trim it to the edges of a circle. A quick and easy way is to draw a line using the perpendicular command." View the complete tip

Working With Blocks
Frequent tipster Leonid Nemirovsky provided two short tips for working with blocks. The tips tell us how to copy entities nested inside regular blocks and how to quickly edit an attribute in place without using the dialog box. View the complete tip.

Temporary Ortho
Edward E. Boesenberg III sent a tip that saves time with a temporary application of the Ortho command. "One day I was using AutoCAD 2008, and while I was holding down the shift key I noticed a little icon next to my cursor. It turns out that while you are holding down the shift key, AutoCAD goes into a temporary ortho mode." View the complete tip

Viewport Visual Styles and Performance
Craig Montgomery uses AutoCAD Mechanical and sent us a performance tip for modeling. "Depending on the size and complexity of the 3D drawing and your computer's performance, the visual style of each of the viewports can be set to wireframe." View the complete tip

Submit Your Tip for your favorite CAD software. If we publish your tip, we'll send you a Cadalyst T-shirt, and each month Cadalyst editors will randomly select one published tip and send a $100 gift card to its author. Please remember:

• Submit only code and other tips that are your original work (or provide the original source so we can include proper credit).
• Tell us which software version you use.

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. To share feedback about one of today's tips, locate the tip using the link provided, then click Comment. The Comment tool is available to registered users of Cadalyst'sCAD Tips site. 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.

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Resources

Video Tutorial Teaches Basics of Gaia Geospatial Viewer
The Carbon Project has released a multipart video tutorial providing basic geospatial training on the free Gaia application. The tutorial demonstrates how to use the Gaia 3.3 geospatial viewer, including how to access and visualize Open Geospatial Consortium Spatial Data Infrastructures. To follow along with the lessons, download the free Gaia 3.3 application.

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Deals & Freebies

Free Financing on Synergis' Adept Software
Through April 30, 2009, Synergis Software and Key Equipment Finance are offering 0% financing and no payments for 60 days on Synergis Software's Adept document management software, services, and maintenance. Adept is designed to help companies find, manage, share, and secure business and design content across the enterprise. Read more

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Opportunities & Honors

Autodesk 3ds Max Exposure Technology Scientifically Validated
Autodesk’s Exposure lighting simulation and analysis technology, which is included in 3ds Max Design software, has been validated in a collaborative effort of the National Research Council Canada, Harvard University, and Autodesk. The validation reportedly recognizes that the software's quantitative daylight simulation results are as accurate and reliable as the existing "gold standard" for simulated test cases. Download the report.

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Books & Training

University of Ulster Offering Online Architecture Courses
The University of Ulster has announced the launch of its online series of courses. The three new courses are "3D Solid Modelling for Architecture"; "3D Max Design for Architecture"; and "Photoshop for Architecture." Participants are taught through the university's Virtual Learning Environment, WebCT, and have access to a full range of course materials as well as a course tutor.

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The Week's New CAD and Related Products

General Software: Data-Exchange Plug-ins for Bricscad
SYCODE plug-ins reportedly will give Bricscad users the power to effectively exchange their CAD data with users of other CAD software. Read more

General Software: progeTABLE
Module from iCADsales.com allows designers to import a spreadsheet into progeCAD as a table within the drawing. Read more

AEC: Styles Template for AutoCAD Civil 3D
U.S. CAD software includes more than 300 object and label styles. Read more

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Mark Your Calendar

CPDA Workshop: Meeting the Challenges of the Downturn without Sacrificing the Future
March 31 and April 1, 2009
Troy, Michigan
This workshop will show participants how they can apply Toyota's competitive advantage to develop immediate cost reduction approaches that can be used for any product and in any industry. Read more

VisMasters Design Modeling and Visualization Conference
April 28, 2009
San Francisco, California
Now in its fourth year, the DMVC has expanded the program offerings to include comprehensive coverage for architectural design professionals and architectural visualization artists as well as architectural firm principals. Read more

GeoDATA 2009
Various Dates May-July
Various U.K. Cities
This one-day seminar series promises a unique chance to hear thought-provoking presentations on a wide range of issues facing users of geographic information. This year's program content focuses on the business applications and return on investment issues affecting spatial data users. Read more

For a complete list of CAD meetings, conferences, training sessions, and more, check out our calendar of events on Cadalyst.com.