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Archive for the ‘General’ Category

From Inventor Beginner to Certified Professsional

Friday, February 24th, 2012

By, Dan Banach

Over the last year there has been many discussions about the types of training courses and method that are available to learn Autodesk Inventor. Inventor Certification has also been a growing topic, what is certification and should I get certified. I wrote an article that covers these topics for the February 2012 edition of the AUGIWorld magazine. My article as well as other articles on the topic of learning other Autodesk softwares can be seen at: http://www.augi.com/augiworld/current-issue

Happy learning.

Dan

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Demand More from your designs (and save!)

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Autodesk is offering a 20% savings on upgrades from current eligible software to Autodesk Design or Creation Suites, now through April 13, 2012. You can also take advantage of 0% financing for one year, with qualifying orders over $10,000.

Learn more about the Autodesk Demand More Promotion here.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Rendered Image Formats

Monday, February 6th, 2012

I see a lot of questions on output formats for renderings and which one to use. The output format has a great impact on the quality of the image, not only in the resolution of detail but the amount of color and also the size of the output file. Before we can talk about the quality of the format, we need to first understand how images are stored by the computer.

 

Color Depth

A standard computer image is stored in 24 bits of color consisting of 8 bits of red, green and blue for each pixel and these images are referred to as having an 8 bit color depth. In addition to 8 bits per channel, some formats can also store 8 bits of alpha channel which holds transparency data. Most rendering engines can separate the alpha channel but not all formats can save it and it is essential when working with a compositing work flow where images will be stacked one upon another. An 8 bit image with alpha is what is commonly called a 32 bit image, 24 bits of RGB plus 8 bits of alpha.

 

Higher format levels include 16 bits per channel and 32 bits per channel, with or without alpha channel. When 3ds Max renders, it actually renders to a greater bit depth of 16 bits of color per channel. This is far beyond the ability of current monitors to display but it is very useful when working in post operations such as compositing in Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Composite or Autodesk Smoke. The extra bits of color data allow you to adjust things like gamma and gain to improve appearance without re-rendering the image.

 

Formats

I’ll look at three separate groupings of formats, each with their own pros and cons.

The first groups are the loss based compression formats like .jpg and .gif. These formats are convenient because they are small in size and can be readily opened. The downside is that they lose image resolution during their compression which introduces noise and loss of detail. The use of these formats is really limited to preview images and they should never be used for final rendered output.

 

The second group are the main stay formats that are well established and include .tif, .tga and .png. The TIFF (.tif) format was developed for the printing industry and this format will allow you to set and embed the dpi(printed dots per inch) of the image. TIFF supports 8, 16 and 32 bits per channel and you can automatically save the alpha channel as a separate file but it suffers from very large file sizes. The Targa format can store in 16, 24 and 32 bit color, not color depth. The 16 bit color is a holdover from the old days when computer monitors could only display thousands of colors, not the millions in a 24 bit color, which is 8 bit color depth. The 32 bit color is 8 bit color depth with alpha. Targa is an older but still used format that has some compression so doesn’t suffer from the extremely large files size of the TIFF while still not losing any resolution as the compression is loss less. The Portable Network Graphics (.png) format can store in 8 bit or 16 bit color with or without the alpha channel embedded in the file. This is one of the most commonly used formats in visualization as it is easily opened, has a loss less compression to keep the file size down and can carry the alpha channel all in one file. While many programs can easily open and view .png files, you need to be careful with the color depth as only graphics specialized programs can properly open a 16 bit color depth image. Opening a 16 bit color depth image in Microsoft Outlook or PowerPoint will result in a washed out image while it will appear perfectly fine in Adobe Photoshop.

 

The last category of formats are the radiance image formats(.hdr and .exr). Radiance image formats contain 16 bits or more of data per color. Radiance formats are typically large and require specific software to open properly but they allow you to select the range of color brightness data to be viewed and are frequently used in design visualization to actually light a scene. Of the two formats, the OpenEXR is receiving quite a bit of attention as it supports the use of layers, allowing you to save all passes from the Render Elements settings to individual layers within the same file so that they can be used downstream in post processing. These formats are very useful if your pipeline already integrates high bit depth post processing but they are not the ones you’d want to use to send your output to your client.

 

Video Formats

The first question people ask is what format should I render my video to. The answer is DON’T. It is never a good idea to output renders to a video format and for a number of reasons. Video output is always compressed out of 3ds Max which means you are always losing image quality without any control. Video can only be output from a single machine which means your render farm is useless except for the one node rendering the video stream. And if you crash, well, you lose everything because the video file will not be complete and you won’t be able to open it up. So, always render everything to a still image format. Still images can be compressed into video through RAM Player or Video Post, both are in the Rendering top menu and there are instructions in the Help files. You can also use outside apps such as Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro, Autodesk Smoke or a whole host of other commercial, shareware or free applications.

 

Stephen Gabriel

Senior Application Engineer

MasterGraphics Inc.

 

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View an e-Training demo webinar! Feb. 7, 2012

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Our innovative e-Training solution provides a viable and important complement to the traditional MasterGraphics classroom training. In addition to the comprehensive and accurate content consistently offered through MasterGraphics, e-Training students can also enjoy the following benefits:

  • Flexible scheduling to ensure work schedules remain the priority
  • Interactive and engaging methodology for increased retention
  • All learning methods are accommodated: visual, auditory and hands-on
  • Competency-based progress to ensure understanding of topics
  • Cost-effective, as courses are not limited to class sizes or start dates
  • Enterprise and Individual Pricing Available!

Attend our upcoming webinar to learn more!

  • Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 12pm Central

Contact your MasterGraphics Account Manager at (800) 873.7238, who will then send you the webinar information via Outlook appointment.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Is Virtualization Viable for Vault?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Autodesk Vault and Virtualization
By Darren Hartenstine
1-19-2012

In nearly every discussion with IT professionals, we are being asked if Autodesk Vault runs (or is supported) in a Virtual Environment.

The Short answers is Yes - with a slight SQL disclaimer.

Here’s a page I found from the support team at Autodesk on this topic. It describes the limitation with a particular feature available with SQL called Snapshots . It seems that Microsoft is providing the disclaimer, not Autodesk.

http://crackingthevault.typepad.com/crackingthevault/2011/04/autodesk-vault-and-vmware.html

Now, let’s talk about our experiences (MasterGraphics and DataWorks).

Is this supported - yes. Have we installed this in a production environment - yes? If you want to run your Autodesk Vault within a Virtual Server, go for it. Understand this; if you have any kind of database glitches, errors, system crashes, or something catastrophic - and Autodesk needs to get involved - the first reply will be this:

Can you replicate the issue on an actual piece of hardware and not a virtual environment?

From a support stand-point, if you removed the virtual environment from the equation; it becomes easier to diagnose and potentially fix the issue. However, if the issue remains, then you have provided enough proof to Autodesk to take the next steps - sending and evaluating your Vault Backup. And honestly, I can’t recall any clients that are using a Virtual Server that have needed to escalate issues to this level.

So, you can do it…now, what can you expect from performance and stability?

Before I go on, I have to state some obvious assumptions about Virtualization. If you have 10 Virtual Guests running on an old Pentium 4 Server with 1 GB of RAM - this is not the best scenario. We assume that your Virtual Environment is setup properly and your Host Server has enough resources to support another Virtual Guest.

My personal experience is that there is a threshold of users and data that will cause performance issues within a virtual environment. If you have more than 15 users (+/- 5) and less then 30K (+/-20K) CAD files stored in your Vault, then I would not be pursuing a Virtual Server setup. You will be creating a performance bottleneck and the end user experience will be poor and potentially unstable.

For those smaller user environments, Virtualization seems to be a perfect fit for supporting the Vault Server. We do hear of issues here and there, but the overall performance and user experience seems to be favorable.

Some basics settings with Virtualization are RAM and Processors. At a bare minimum, I would give the VM as much RAM as you can spare - like 4-8GB. SQL likes RAM and it will help with performance of the Server.

Processors - again, give the Virtual Server as much as you can spare on your Host Server. Vault is not just one application, and the more resources you can provide, the faster the experience will be for your users. I would recommend 2 Cores with 2 Processors - for a total of 4 Processors. You can always adjust the settings during the life of the VM.

If at all possible, do not let the CAD Files, or Filestore as it is called within the Vault Admin console, live within the Virtual Server environment. Attach a drive to the Virtual Server from a SAN or NAS device. This will drastically increase performance for your environment.

DataWorksMGI Lab - Yep, we have a lab containing a Vault Server living in the Microsoft Cloud. Besides letting our clients have all the fun, we have been testing Virtual Environments and utilizing the Microsoft Azure Server Cloud environment. Our intent is to beat this technology up as much as we can, since we feel it is definitely the next-step after Virtualization becomes mainstream (which it basically has).

I have tested both VMWare and Micrsoft’s HyperV and both seem to be equal in their setup and configuration. As to their performance versus each other, I can’t (at this moment) give any feedback as to which we prefer.

I plan to write more blogs on our tests and results coming out of the Lab on this topic, so come back for more.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Using Simulation in 2D

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Eric Schubert
Application Engineer
MasterGraphics Inc.

When most people think about simulation tools, the first thoughts typically jump straight into 3D models and fancy analyses.  However, that doesn’t need to be the case for every scenario.  In many cases, a much-simpler 2-dimensional simulation can be run to feel things out before jumping headlong into a full simulation of a part of assembly.  Below, we’ll take a brief look at some of the things we can do with 2D simulations.  And hopefully you’ll be able to see how even these simple cases can speed up your initial design stage and save both time and money.

First, let’s talk about some limitations of 2D in simulation.  The largest drawback to 2D is that it doesn’t describe anything with a sense of depth.  So, when we run a 2D simulation, we need to understand the assumption that the cross-section we’re viewing has to represent something constant.  If your cross-section changes as you move through the part, these types of simulations may not provide any really meaningful results for you.  However, Autodesk Simulation products can still use these simulations for items that may be round, using axisymmetrical constraints or information.

So, what types of simulations can be done in 2d?  Well, we can certainly do simple static stress analyses.  But we can also perform dynamic simulations, which solve for motion, large/permanent deformation of components, and heat transfer.  Each of these analyses can assist with your choice of materials and basic cross-sectional design of components.  Even friction can be taken into account with these types of analyses.

Click the link below for a simple example that demonstrates how simulation can assist with checking a seal on an o-ring.  As the flange pushes the o-ring into the groove, we can see how the o-ring compresses against the sides of the groove to seal it.

O-Ring Compression in a Groove


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Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation: News from the Frontline – Who Needs Training?!

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

by Dave Webster, BIM/CAD Specialist for the AECOO Industry

Now I want to take a moment to talk to you all about the importance of training. I am going to take my consulting hat off for a moment and simply talk to you as a fellow architect. For many generations, our industry has not understood the value of properly training our staff because we are too concerned about the “Bottom Line”. “We simply don’t have the time or the money to train our staff and incur all the downtime”. OK…let’s think about this a bit. I think we can all agree that our investment into software is one of our biggest expenses in the process of design and documentation. Why would we not consider taking the time to learn how to absolutely maximize the software to its fullest potential! This has a larger effect on your bottom line!

Look at it this way…a good colleague of mine introduced a great analogy on this for me…picture this…you come home one day and find a formula 1 car sitting in your driveway!

How cool is that!! Your neighbors are all staring at you now! You take a long stroll around this machine to admire its power and then wiggle your way into the cockpit, struggle to figure out the seatbelts and grab the keys. Hopefully at some point, someone hands you a helmet as well! You might even put this baby into first gear and take it slowly around the block. But some of us, (myself included), won’t even figure out how to get it out of the driveway! “What’s the motto here Dave? Where in the world are you going here?”…you ask. Simply this; you have been given a very powerful vehicle for design and documentation and it might be fairly easy for you to get it started and use some of the fundamental tools…but we have not even talked about getting into a race yet! You can’t! You can’t enter a formula one race without the proper training in driving this vehicle let alone some practice before you get on the road with the rest of the pros!

I can’t encourage you enough to take the time to hire a trusted partner to train your staff in Revit and give your team ample practice laps before you put them on that high profile project that has design complexity and a pretty demanding project schedule. When we all dove into AutoCAD, it was pretty much dumped on our laps and we figured out what we needed to know on our own. This was possible because it was built on our familiar standards of drafting and we could understand the correlation of the two processes. Revit is not about drafting; it is about information modeling. It is not a process we are used to. It is not simply 3D CAD. We need to understand the theory and intent of information modeling in order to get the most out of our software investment and leverage the power of BIM. Don’t make the mistake of reducing Revit to simply another drafting and visualization tool!

The software applications we use for building information modeling require a much more thorough understanding and proficiency in the tools; I hope the analogy helped you understand this. Now that I have hopefully convinced you to consider training; here are a few tips for you…

  • First: identify a typical and simple Pilot Project as the first project for Revit.
  • Target your training 2 weeks before the project. Figure about 30 hours for fundamentals training.
  • Be sure the pilot project has a reasonable schedule.
  • Find an Authorized Training Center (ATC) for hands-on, instructor led classes.
  • Find an ATC who can customize the content, delivery and location of your training to best meet your schedule and business needs.
  • Look for process teachers not software instructors. Seek out industry experts who can truly help you get competitive.
  • Look for trainers who can apply the tools and training to your active projects and continue to support you on billable projects.
  • Be sure that your partner in training can also provide ongoing support through advanced technology connections.
  • Did I mention we do all of this here at MasterGraphics?…
  • Remember: the shorter your path to proficiency; the less frustration and sooner arrival at profit.
  • Bottom Line: Take the time to train!

So…who needs training? If you ask me…Everyone! Simply to get started on the right foot and then ongoing training to evolve, stay ahead of your competition and maximize your services and improve your profitability! Only then will you be ready for the races!

Happy New Year to you all!

Posted in Building / AEC, General | No Comments »

Autodesk’s FEA Verification for Inventor Simulation

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Eric Schubert
Application Engineer
MasterGraphics Inc.

I recently had someone ask about information regarding Autodesk’s Inventor Simulation package, and, in particular, for documentation showing that the results obtained from this system were accurate enough for real-world use.  Before I just give out the link, I want to mention a couple of things about this topic.  (If you want to skip straight to the link, it’s at the end of the post.)

First, how an I ensure that my models are going to provide accurate results?  Using an appropriate mesh size and element type are a great start to any simulation.  But another way to get good results is by using the most-appropriate types of constraints to simulate how the model would be mounted, welded, or bolted down in a real-life scenario.  If necessary, certain higher-end programs (like Autodesk Simulation Mechanical) can even involve sliding components that take into account friction, variable loading conditions, and even different coordinate systems (like cylindrical or spherical X, Y, and Z components) to provide the correct loading for your models.  Make sure you enable gravity, if desired.  And make sure you double-check everything before solving!

Second, how accurate is “accurate enough”?  You don’t need to have a super-tiny mesh size to get accuracy.  Once you get down to a certain size, there’s little advantage to going any smaller, and huge disadvantages to going smaller:  solve time and adequate rendering power.  A small mesh size means longer solve time.  If you’ve tested the model for results comparisons, and your simulation gets you within 5% of your expected results, is that good enough?  You need to ask yourself this question.  It’s best to start with larger mesh and work smaller, than to start tiny and find out it’s going to take three days to solve, cancel, remesh, and start solving again.

So, in short, how accurate your results are will depend largely on how you’ve set up your simulation.  But, using judgment and common sense, you can avoid time-wasting mistakes and get pretty darned close on the first try.

So, here’s the link to Autodesk’s whitepaper comparing some simple scenarios in both accepted real-world values and Inventor Simulation’s results.  I hope it provides some great information to satisfy any curiosity as to exactly how accurate simulations can really be.

Autodesk’s FEA Verification Whitepaper

Enjoy!

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MasterGraphics Specialists to Present at Upcoming Autodesk University

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Three technical specialists from MasterGraphics have been invited to present at Autodesk University, the nation’s largest gathering of software design professionals in the design, engineering and entertainment industries, November 29 through December 1 in Las Vegas.

“Our technical experts are among the most talented in the country,” said Michael Wilkes, MasterGraphics president. “Not only do they possess a keen understanding of the latest industry solutions, but they are dedicated to educating themselves and others on practical applications of those solutions. Autodesk University is an ideal venue for them to continue this commitment.”

The presenters include:

Dan Banach, 3D Mechanical CAD Consultant

Dan Banach is a nationally recognized author and educator in the Mechanical CAD field and co-author of 15 books on Autodesk Inventor software. Banach is also an Autodesk Inventor 2012 Certified Professional and Autodesk Certified Instructor. He has presented at every Autodesk University since 1997 and this year will be leading a hands-on lab titled Inventor Publisher: Some Assembly Required.

Louisa Holland, E.I.T., LEED AP, Application Engineer - Civil Industry

Holland is an accredited professional of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as well as an AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Professional.  She has been training customers on CAD-based products since 1997, and this will be her 2nd year presenting at Autodesk University with a session titled AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 for Beginners.

Russell Nicloy, E.I.T., LEED AP, Application Engineer - Civil Industry

Nicloy is an AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Professional with more than ten years of experience in the civil design industry and eight years of experience in consulting and instruction. This will be his 1styear presenting at Autodesk University with a session titled Importing the Most Useful Data Into Survey in AutoCAD Civil 3D

About MasterGraphics Inc.

MasterGraphics is an Autodesk Gold Partner for the manufacturing, architecture and education communities and is headquartered in Madison, Wis., with offices in Milwaukee, Appleton, Chicago and Minneapolis. Serving as a trusted advisor to its clients, MasterGraphics helps to streamline the design process and utilization of CAD data through an integrated mix of software, hardware, professional services and digital imaging and distribution offerings.  For more information, please visit www.mastergraphics.com.

Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD and Civil 3D are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation: BIM vs. CAD: Really…What’s the difference?

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

by Dave Webster, BIM/CAD Consultant for the AEC Industry

So…you began reading my blog and you are thinking to yourself…”I’ll get into Revit and BIM if a client or project demands that I do.”…please let me assure you; it is not a matter of “if”..it is a matter of “when”! The whole purpose of this blog is to prepare you. We would like to see you get out ahead of this coming issue and plan wisely for it. Many of our customers call us in “reaction mode”; “We just landed several BIM projects and we really don’t understand the software and the process…help!”. Of course we can help you then, but with some careful and insightful planning, we can help you avoid this panic mode.

Throughout the upcoming blog entries, I will do my best to dispel any rumors or doubts you have about building information modeling and give you some great tips on how to get prepared…even if it is still a year down the road for you.

So onto Lesson #2…Make sure you truly understand what BIM is and the fundamental difference from your present CAD process so you can plan and revamp your workflow appropriately!

AutoCAD is and always will be a great tool for drafting. I truly miss my drafting table, parallel rule, triangles and pencil holders but unfortunately, I was taught on a dying practice of hand drawing construction documents. AutoCAD came and swept the drafting tables out from beneath us and we have been holding a mouse instead of a pencil ever since. It is a powerful drafting tool but you need to understand…it is simply still drafting. If you truly look at what “drafting” is to the architectural community, you will understand that it is a graphic depiction, (most of which are orthogonal 2D views), of the design and construction intent at best. You can show what you want and manipulate the mere lines to make things look correct; precision, unfortunately, is not necessary. The result is construction documents; a set of instructions for the intended means of constructing the building. Exact means in this method are hashed out during shop drawings, coordination meetings and often in the field after construction has begun. All of which cause the client time and money.

In summary, CAD…

  • is drafting a depiction of construction intent.
  • is a fragmented process of multiple files.
  • is a tool for creating construction documentation.
  • requires manual coordination of a project set.
  • requires manual coordination of engineered building systems and architecture.
  • is a powerful and reliable drafting tool and will always be around.
  • is compatible with a Revit workflow! (We will talk about this in posts to come!)

Building Information Modeling is best described as “Virtual Construction”; a precise replica of the intended built environment, fully resolved for means of construction. It is exact; you can’t fudge dimensions! For those of you who just groaned…think about all of the coordination time you have spent over the years at construction sites. Aside from being a tool that was designed for creating construction documentation, BIM provides a process of designing, analyzing, validating and optimizing your design. A building information model is one file containing a virtually constructed building but understand that it is a database of information; not just a 3D model similar to a Sketchup model. Each component and material understands its physical properties as well as how it will perform as a building system so we can get rich data out of the model regarding heating and cooling, most efficient building orientation, solar gains, etc.; we can test our building before it’s built!

In summary, BIM…

  • is a database of information about a building for design, validation, construction and lifecycle maintenance; not just CD’s.
  • is virtual construction.
  • is exact.
  • is analytical and quantifiable.
  • requires a change to your workflow.
  • requires internal and external education to maximize it’s efficiency and use.

So from these past 2 paragraphs…can you see there must be a different workflow between CAD and BIM? You can’t simply replace AutoCAD with Revit and plan to be profitable. BIM requires a different workflow, a different allocation of project budgets and a different approach as to how you sell your services!

Stay tuned and I will help you understand considerations to help you get a quicker ROI on your BIM adoption plan…

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