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Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Is Paperless still a Myth?
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
By Darren Hartenstine
With the advent of electronic Data Management applications and digital formats, why are companies still printing on paper? I was reviewing some statistics around the printing industry and found the information alarming. Here’s just one blurb I feel is noteworthy.
The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities in OECD countries and is the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, after the chemical and steel industries (OECD Environmental Outlook, p. 218)
Green initiatives; sustainable design; these are great concepts, but is anyone actually making the effort to use less paper? I know that a company cannot go 100% paperless (yet), but I feel that the Engineering Design process is a perfect component for this evolution. The Autodesk Vault product family has some great tools to facilitate paperless design.
In the last week as a test, I have tried to cut my paper use out completely and have struggled with it. I am somewhat old school and use paper for note taking. It seems to be faster for me up front, but in the long run, I know that it is inefficient and it often becomes difficult to locate past information. I know it’s funny, but having that piece of paper is like comfort food.
I am interested in opinions, comments, experiences, etc. with companies/individuals that have attempted or successfully implemented a paperless design process. Feel free to contact me via email or through this blog posting. My email address is Darren.hartenstine@mastergraphics.com.
Virtual Autodesk Manufacturing Users Group of Northern Illinois
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
By, Dan Banach
Yesterday we had our first Virtual Autodesk Manufacturing Users Group of Northern Illinois where we shared tips and techniques about Autodesk Inventor. Thanks to all who attended. Our next virtual meeting is planned for April 13, 2010 from 10 am - noon.
To determine the topic we created an online survey. Please click on the following link to take the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22A94N5CYLM
Autodesk Inventor Publisher Technology Preview
Monday, December 14th, 2009
By, Dan Banach
If you or your company creates technical publication for parts book manuals, assembly instructions or operation instructions you will want to check out http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_publisher/ and download Autodesk® Inventor® Publisher Technology Preview (in the Manufacturing section).
Inventor Publisher allows you to fully leverage your Inventor data by importing 3D data from Inventor or a DWF file. The models cannot be edited in Inventor Publisher and no previous Autodesk Inventor experience is required. Once the data is imported you manipulate and annotate the design. Lastly you publish the data to programs such as Word, PowerPoint or create a movie file. Your documentation will always be up to date. If the original Inventor models change you can update the Inventor files in Inventor Publisher.
To learn more you can watch how to videos at: http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_publisher/getting_started/
Enjoy,
Dan
AutoCAD Skills for Civil 3D: Part 3
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
It’s that time again! Another installment of my who-know-how-many-part series. This time we’re talking about the use and wonders of the Properties palette in AutoCAD.
Have a great weekend!
-Lou “Hot Grips” Holland
AutoCAD Skills for Civil 3D: Part 2
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
I’ve been putting together a series for brand-new users of AutoCAD who are getting ready to learn Civil 3D. You don’t need to know AutoCAD inside out, but understanding the basics is huge. This originally was a ten-part series but it has grown a bit.
Part 2 is ready! AutoCAD skills for Civil 3D: Part-2 Selecting things!
Part 1 is still available: AutoCAD skills for Civil 3D: Part 1 Getting to know the interface.
Coming soon: Part 3: AutoCAD Properties
Have fun!
-Lou
ImageModeler and MatchMover
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
By Stephen Gabriel
The Autodesk subscription program has frequently been viewed as nothing but a way to get the latest version when it comes out, but for 3ds Max users, it is actually far more. In the last two years, we have seen significant software enhancements and additional tools available to subscription customers, such as CAT and the Connection Extension. Both of these added significant tools to our palettes.
This year, Autodesk subscription customers also gained access to ImageModeler and MatchMover. Each of these applications serves a specific function within the visualization process rather than adding a specific tool set into 3ds Max.
ImageModeler can best be thought of as a set creation tool. ImageModeler allows you to take a series of images of a location and build a 3D model be selecting common points within the images. The model accuracy is dependent upon the size of the images, the number of images and the number of points used to coordinate the images. This can help you create a 3D model that can be used as a setting for your visualization project, whether is it putting a building on the street or placing a product like a car in the environment. Because the model is 3D, you are no longer constrained to matching the camera position of the original image and can position it where it produces the most compelling shot.
MatchMover is a powerful utility that creates a camera from recorded video. MatchMover allows you to create tracking points that the software uses to determine the motion of the camera that was used to create video footage. The camera and it’s motion path can then be exported to 3ds Max to create the animation of your scene. The process is very quick and painless and you can even composite your model back into MatchMover to check the accuracy of the camera path. The result is a more precise camera match for animated shots.
Combined, these two tools represent a lot of value to visualization artists and they are free for download from the Autodesk subscription website for all subscription customers.
AutoCAD Architecture – Detail Component Manager
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
By: Dwane Lindsey
Here’s another one of those features in AutoCAD Architecture that gets overlooked at times…the Detail Component Manager. With all the talk of transitioning to 3D, the 2D details often get left behind. This is one of those areas (of many) that AutoCAD Architecture excels at, even if you go to full 3D with the other AEC Objects. I even know of a few companies that have moved from AutoCAD to AutoCAD Architecture just because of the Detail Component Manager.
So what is the Detail Component Manager? Glad you asked! 
The Detail Component Manager (as shown below) is a database of 2D detail components.
The database is broken up into the 2004 CSI Divisions…except not all divisions are utilized out of the box. (Note: The 2009 version included two databases, one for the 2004 format and one for the 95 format. Versions 2008 and earlier included one database for the 95 format.) As you expand each division, you’ll narrow the search to the sub-divisions, and then the types of components. Once you select the component you’d like to use, you can then choose the “size” of the component.
Once you select the size, the fun begins. As in the following example for Roof Deck, all you have to do is pick 2 points and you now you have single polyline of roof deck! This is not individual blocks arrayed, so you can select the entire run and do what you want with it…and it’s not even a single “width” line, it has actual thickness!
As with all Detail Components (and AEC Objects), they insert on a layer automatically (and yes, this can be customized). And some components will have multiple layers if they are required. For example, a CMU block will come in on the A-Detl-Wide layer, but it will contain A-Detl-Medm and A-Detl-Patt for some of the lines and hatching inside the block.
Since I could go on and on and on and on about the Detail Components, I’ll wrap this one up. I’ve barely scratched the surface on using the Details within the database. There is so much more I could go into, like how the CMU will array blocks until you pick a second point, or how many different steel shapes are available…including steel joists (which can be inserted as a top view, side view or section view), but I’ll save that for a later time (maybe a demonstration??). As you can see, the Detail Component Manager in itself could make the initial move into AutoCAD Architecture quite easy…and all without ever going into the 3D realm.
AutoCAD Skills for Civil 3D: Part 1
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
This is the first of a 10-part series designed to help AutoCAD newbies get comfortable with AutoCAD in preparation for using Civil 3D.
Each section discusses an AutoCAD skill that will make learning and using Civil 3D much easier.
AutoCAD Skills for Civil 3D: Part 1
Happy Holidays!
Lou
Interesting Business Strategies
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
By Mark Hechel
Those of you who know me on a personal level know that I’m a motorcycle enthusiast. As such, I usually look forward to reading Motorcycle Daily on a, well, daily basis.
Today’s MD post was about the new electric motorcycle from Brammo. It wasn’t so much the bike that interested me, but rather the supply chain and distribution processes. Brammo is doing the sort of innovative things that may help them become successful where so many others have failed.
When sourcing parts for their product, Brammo chose to use as many from the USA as possible. Not because American parts are superior, but because the American suppliers are closer and easier to work with. They wanted “a flexible and agile supply chain” instead of lowest price. Maybe the pendulum is starting to swing?
A manufacturer needs a place to sell its products, and Brammo chose to sell their bikes through Best Buy! While doing market research, Brammo discovered that many of their customers are not traditional motorcycle buyers and viewed the bike more like an appliance than a vehicle. Best Buy is adept at brining new electronics to consumers and has a large service staff, so they were a natural fit for Brammo. Interesting “out of the box” thinking in my opinion.
I hope that Brammo is successful and that they help inspire many more American manufacturers to explore such innovative strategies. You can read the original Motorcycle Daily article here: http://www.motorcycledaily.com/24november09_brammocutsprice.htm
AutoCAD Architecture - Display Configurations
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
By: Dwane Lindsey
One of the (sometimes) overlooked features in AutoCAD Architecture is Display Configurations. Many people see these down in the lower right corner and say “We don’t need to use those, we’re just using basic AutoCAD lines, arcs, circles….along with DesignCenter Content and a few Walls, Doors, Windows in some projects.” Even using just Walls, Doors, Windows, etc…you can still utilize Display Configurations.
This list above is what you typically see out of the box in AutoCAD Architecture. There’s quite a bit there and since these can be some-what complicated, people shy away from using them. Here’s a little tip though…just because that many are there doesn’t mean you have to use all of them! What if I said all you (potentially) need to use at a base level are the Medium Detail (or Plan Only), Presentation and Reflected, would that feel a little better?
When you get started with AutoCAD Architecture, these are really the base Display Configurations you can start with. Medium Detail for your plans, Reflected for ceiling plans, and Presentation for colored presentation plans. Let’s take a look at a wall, door and window with all three Display Configurations applied…
All of these Display Configurations were used out of the box…nothing was changed to the settings. You can see, just using 3 simple configurations can make your objects change how they look. Imagine no longer having to turn off a bunch of layers (maybe just a couple) to get a Reflected Ceiling plan. Or, even better…not having to create Polylines to hatch in walls (or even rooms if you utilize Spaces)! One thing to note; Display Configurations only work on AEC objects (like Walls, Doors, Windows, Multi-View Blocks, etc.). They cannot turn layers off/on or freeze/thaw.
To wrap up, yes….you can modify the list that you would see. You can go to Format->Display Manager to delete configurations you don’t want to use. You could also start to get into customizing how your objects appear at each configuration. Maybe you want your door or window jambs lines to show up in a Reflected display, or you want to change the color of the solid hatch in the walls….it can all be done.
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