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Archive for May, 2010

Roundabout Layouts: A True Story

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Not too long ago I was working with a municipal engineer on moving over to the 2011 release of Civil 3D.  Part of that process was a quick demonstration of some of the new tools.  I mentioned the Roundabout Layout tool.  He stopped and looked at me.  It turned out just three weeks previous he had to layout a roundabout to evaluate if there was enough room for one at a reconstructed intersection in their downtown area.  Mind you, he didn’t necessarily need to do the whole design.  In fact, he had to evaluate the roundabout knowing that there more than likely would not be enough room for it to fit this particular intersection.  This tool would have been exactly what he needed to get through this process quickly, and provide the data that they needed.  Not only that but we started discussing the ability of this tool to adjust the roundabout layout to see if a slightly different configuration would work.  He asked if it had the ability to do slip lanes.  Yes - it does.  The good news was a little painful, but at least for the future he’ll know what can be done.

Evaluation of Roundabout Near Cemetery

Actually, the roundabout layout tool is not completely new.  It did make an appearance in the 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack.  The tool really didn’t have to change much from that original version, so if you have tried it in 2010 there won’t be many surprises in the 2011 version.

I guess this also gives me a chance to (once again) tout the benefits of the Subscription Advantage Packs (SAP).  Of course, you have to be on subscription to access these packs.  But they are worth watching for during a normal year’s release.  They usually have some very useful tools that are being developed.  You can get in early and start using them now, rather than waiting and hoping for a tool.  There is an SAP of sorts already out for 2011, in the form of the Sanitary and Storm Analysis Extension, that I have mentioned in past posts.  They are worth the look!

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Import AutoCAD Blocks into Inventor DWG Drawing

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

By, Dan Banach

With Inventor 2011 you can now reuse all of your AutoCAD blocks in an Inventor drawing by using the new Import AutoCAD Block command. You scale and rotate the block while placing it or after it is placed. One item to note is that this command ONLY works while in an Inventor DWG file. This command is grayed out in a IDW file.

Posted in Manufacturing | 1 Comment »

What’s New in Inventor 2011 Article and Video

Friday, May 21st, 2010

By, Dan Banach

In the AUGIWorld May/June 2010 issue John Evan’s wrote an article with some editing from myself, that gives a very good overview of What’s New in Autodesk Inventor 2011. Click the following URL http://www.augi.com/publications/default.asp?page=63 to download AUGIWorld, which is AUGI’s official online magazine that is published every two months and is available free of charge to all AUGI members.

If you prefer to watch a video, I recorded the What’s New Autodesk Inventor 2011and the family of Autodesk 2011 MFG products webinar that we did in April. Click the following link to Register to view our On-demand Webinar: See the Autodesk 2011 Manufacturing Solutions (2 parts)

Enjoy these new solutions from Autodesk.

 

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Having Revit Temporary Dimension Amnesia? Forget About It…

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

By: Kim Eicher

It’s always been nice to have these temporary dimensions around.  Let’s be honest, though…  They’ve been a VERY temporary tool; a frustratingly temporary, live in the moment, no turning back sort of tool.  Until now…

With Revit 2011, FINALLY these dimensions know their place in the project. Set them once and don’t worry about them getting lost.

This tool has definitely come out of its state of amnesia, once and for all!

Temporary Dimensions

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AutoCAD MEP 2010 Service Pack 2

Monday, May 17th, 2010

By: Dwane Lindsey

On May 13, 2010, Autodesk released an update for AutoCAD MEP 2010.  This service pack/update 2 can be installed even if you don’t have service pack 1 installed as it includes the SP1’s updates.

You can apply Update 2 to AutoCAD MEP 2010 running on all supported operating systems and languages. Be sure to install the correct update for your operating system (32bit or 64bit).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15135406&linkID=9240938

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AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Service Pack 2

Monday, May 17th, 2010

By: Dwane Lindsey

On May 13, 2010, Autodesk released an update for AutoCAD Architecture 2010.  This service pack/update 2 can be installed even if you don’t have service pack 1 installed as it includes the SP1’s updates.

You can apply Update 2 to AutoCAD Architecture 2010 running on all supported operating systems and languages. Be sure to install the correct update for your operating system (32bit or 64bit).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15135553&linkID=9240658

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Three Extensions For Civil 3D

Monday, May 10th, 2010

There are some great tools that have recently become available for Civil 3D (the 2011 version).  I may have mentioned some of this already, but this post will give them all a link-central home of their own.

First, the newest release is Trimble Link.  This is important because this newest release of Trimble Link works for 64-bit.  C3D 2011 is 64-bit, and a lot of newly purchased machines are as well.  If you’ve made the jump to 64-bit then this will get your survey data back in line with your workflow.  This link is to Trimble’s website where you can start the short download.  Thanks to Jason Hickey of Autodesk and the Being Civil blog for posting its availablity.

If you ever wanted to take your civil design tothe next logical step - production quality graphics (AKA visualization) there is an extension that will take it there.  The artist formerly known as Dynamite VSP is now Autodesk’s Civil Visualization Extension.  For this one you will need to be on subscription to get in and download.  At the link you will notice an “exporter” tool and a 3DS Max “plug-in” tool.  To get the best visualizations this will be taking a trip to 3DS Max.  If you haven’t seen what THAT program can do, give us a call.  You’re in for a TREAT!  By the way, this link also features a whitepaper on the export/import tools which I found very useful.

The last tool I’ll add today is for the Storm and Sanitary Analysis tools.  I did just post about this release about a week ago, but I’ve finally gotten a chance to break these open.  I’m loving what I’m seeing.  This also is a subscription download.  If you aren’t on subscription, give us a call and we can fix that too!

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