AutoCAD Tips Blog

April 27, 2008

April 2008 Resource of the Month - CADwire.net
CADwire.net is a daily collection of articles, reviews, and news on CAD. This important resource is an very thorough and up-to-date collection of CAD-related content. (A number of my tips end up here.) It's also nicely organized by discipline.

April 21, 2008

Text, also called single-line text, or Dtext, makes every line a separate object. It's great for short annotation in a drawing. On the other hand, Mtext, also called multiline text, has more formatting options, and is better for larger amounts of text. Mtext is especially important if you need to create left and right margins and wrap the text between those margins.

Sometimes, you have single-line text that should be multiline text, or vice versa. Here are two simple ways to convert between the two types of text.

From text to Mtext

To convert from text to Mtext, use the Express Tools command TXT2MTXT. Choose Express> Text> Convert Text to Mtext. (In AutoCAD 2009, click the Menu Browser first.)

At the Select objects: prompt, select the text objects that you want to convert. If you press Enter instead, you get the Text to MText Options dialog box. Set the options as you want and press OK. By default, the command sorts from the top object downward, and tries to word wrap the Mtext that it creates.

One nice feature of the command is that if you select text objects first, the command executes without further input -- very efficient! Another efficient feature is that the command does a true conversion; your old text objects are gone.

From Mtext to text

The easiest way that I found to convert Mtext to text is simply to copy and paste. Double-click the Mtext to open the Mtext editor. Select the text and copy to the clipboard. Then close the editor.

Start the DTEXT or TEXT command. Specify the start point, height and rotation angle as usual. You'll then see a small box and cursor. Paste from the clipboard and press Enter to end the command. You'll then need to delete your Mtext object.

Jimmy Bergmark reminded me that you can simply explode the Mtext. The difference is that you'll keep the line wrapping. It all depends on which result you want. A bonus is that you don't have to delete the original object.

April 18, 2008,

Record macros with the Action Recorder

In AutoCAD 2009, you can record macros for later use. This is a long-requested time saver. You can include requests for user input and messages to make the macro work interactively.

When you save a macro, it has an ACTM filename extension. You'll find it in your Support\Actions folder of your AutoCAD installation. You can share ACTM files with others.

Start by thinking about the conditions that you'll need when you run the macro. Will you be in model space or paper space? The macro doesn't keep track of all of the current settings. If a certain setting is necessary, use the system variable or the SETVAR command while recording the macro to make sure that you have the setup you'll need at playback time.

Action Recorder macros have some limitations:

• You can't open files
• You can't grip edit or use PRESSPULL
• You can't load VBA files
• Macros also don't record changes to a dialog box, which means that you may need to use the command line version of a command. If you've worked with scripts, you're familiar with this type of functioning.

You may find other limitations.

You'll find the Action Recorder on the Tools tab, in the Action Recorder panel. You can also choose Menu Browser (the A button)> Tools> Action Recorder.

Here's an example of how you would create a macro to change all objects to the default 0.25mm lineweight. You might get drawings from a company that adds lineweights to objects. Moreover, their default might be different. So this macro sets the default to 0.25, turns on the display of lineweights, and then uses the CHPROP command to change the lineweight of selected objects to the default. At the end, the macro turns off lineweight display.

Figuring out which commands to use often involves some research. For example, I knew that I could turn the lineweight display off and on using the button on the status bar, but I couldn't do that in the macro, since I didn't know which way the display would be when I played back the macro. If I wanted to turn the display on, and it was already on, clicking the button would turn it off! So I needed to find the system variable involved, which was LWDEFAULT. Then, it was easy to turn it on and off as needed.

When you've figured out the steps that you want to take, and tried them out a couple of times in different situations, you're ready to record.

Choose Tools tab> Action Recorder panel> Record. Your cursor now has a red dot, to show you that you're recording.

Go through the steps that you practiced. When you're done. click the Stop button that has replaced the Record button. You now have the opportunity to name and save the macro, as well as choose a few options.

Here is the command line that I created as I recorded:

Because I specified all at the Select objects: prompt, the macro will always select all objects. I tested that by adding more objects with a non-default lineweight; they were also changed.

Here's what the macro looks like in the Action Recorder drop-down window:

I might want to be able to select individual objects. Letting the user select objects makes the macro interactive, and it's a very helpful feature.

To do this, I reorganized the macro and used the SELECT command before the CHPROP command. While recording, I simply picked any objects. For the CHPROP command, I then used the p (Previous) option at the Select objects: prompt. When I was done, the macro looked like this:

Then I right-clicked the Select Objects item, and chose Request User Input, as shown below:

When I ran the macro, I got a dialog box asking if I wanted to provide user input. By accepting that option, I was able to either select objects, or enter all.

If you have a useful macro that you recorded, I'd like to hear about it. Contact me, and attach the ACTM file. If I can successfully use it and it might be useful for others, I'll publish it (giving credit to you, of course).

April 6, 2008

Tutorial: Create a simple sheet set

Architects use sheet sets all of the time to pull together the many required drawings into one package. Other disciplines use them less often, but if you need to deliver a number of drawings together, they can help you organize and maintain them.

Sheet sets have a reputation for being complicated and they are, if you use all of the features. But you can create a simple sheet set easily and you may find that they help you out a lot. For example, you can do the following with a sheet set:

• Number them
• Plot and publish them
• Open them
• eTransmit them
• ZIP them

A sheet set is a DST file that contains the properties of the sheet set. You start with drawings that have model space content; these are your resource drawings. One layout for each drawing becomes the sheet in the sheet set. Therefore, a sheet set is a collection of layouts, one for each drawing.

Follow these steps to create a simple sheet set:

1. In a folder where you normally save drawings, create a new subfolder and name it so that you'll recognize the drawings that will be in the sheet set.
2. Create your drawings as normal and save them in the new folder. For easiest workflow, don't put any other drawings in that folder.
3. Start a new drawing, because you need an open drawing to create a sheet set.
4. Choose Tools> Palettes> Sheet Set Manager. (In AutoCAD 2009, choose View tab> Palettes panel> Sheet Set Manager.) Or press Ctrl+4.

5. From the drop-down list at the top of the Sheet Set Manager (SSM), choose New Sheet Set to open the Create Sheet Set wizard.
6. Choose the Existing Drawings option and click Next.
7. Enter a name for the sheet set and a description. Notice that there's a default location for the sheet set, which is a DST file. This will probably be in My Documents\AutoCAD Sheet Sets or Users\[username]\Documents\AutoCAD Sheet Sets, depending on your operating system. Use the default, or click the Ellipsis button to browse to another location that you want to use, and click Open. Click Next.
8. On the Choose Layouts page, click Browse, navigate to the folder where you saved the drawings for the sheet set, and click OK. You see the folder listed with a checked check mark. Click Next.
9. You now see a preview of the sheet set's properties, including its name and location. Click Finish. You should see your new sheet set listed in the SSM on the Sheet List tab.
10. Click the Model Views tab of the SSM. Double-click the Add New Location text.
11. In the Browse for Folder dialog box, navigate to the folder containing the subfolder that has your drawings. Chose the folder and click Open. You are designating a folder location for the drawings that the sheet set will use.
12. If you haven't already done so, you should create a layout that displays what you want to plot. To do so, on the Model Views tab, expand the folder if necessary. Then double-click the first drawing to open it. Opening multiple, related drawings is one task that the sheet set feature facilitates.
13. Each drawing needs to have a saved layout. Click the Layout button on the status bar, or click the layout tab. (The SSM works best when you have only one layout per drawing.) Create the viewport(s) and views that you want, and save the drawing.
14. Do the same for all of the drawings.
15. Click the Sheet List. Now, you can add layouts as sheets in your sheet set. Right-click the name of the sheet set and choose Import Layout as Sheet. In the Import Layouts as Sheets dialog box, click Browse for Drawings. Choose the drawings you saved in the subfolder (click the first, press Shift, and click the last) and click Open. Click Import Checked to return to the SSM. Congratulations! You now have a sheet set.

• To give the sheets numbers, right-click any sheet, and choose Rename & Renumber. You can then drag them on the Sheet List tab to reorder them.
• To plot the sheets, select them on the Sheet List tab, click the Publish button's down arrow, and choose Publish to Plotter.
• To eTransmit them, right-click the name of the sheet set and choose eTransmit. For more information, see Tutorial: eTransmit a Drawing.
• To ZIP them, right-click the name of the sheet set and choose Archive.

Throughout these steps, you'll see various settings that I didn't mention. Investigate them to get the exact results that you want. To specify properties for the entire sheet set, right-click its name on the Sheet List tab and choose Properties.

The advanced features of sheet sets help you to automatically number and annotate text in title blocks, callout blocks, and label blocks.

March 26, 2008

March 2008 Resource of the Month - CAD-Manager.com

CAD-Manager.com is the Web site of Robert Green, the well-known writer of the CAD Manager column in Cadalyst magazine. He's also a consultant and an author. His site has easy links to his excellent articles, code examples, CUI (customize user interface) tutorials, and more.

March 24, 2008

Another Break Objects Quickly AutoLISP routine

In my earlier "Break objects quickly" tip, I have 4 routines that help you break objects more quickly than the standard AutoCAD command.

Febien Mosen sent me another routine, SCISSORS, that has 3 features:

• You don't need to preselect the object; you just click the point where you want to break
• Only if there are more than 1 object under the break point (that is, if you click on the intersection of objects), does the command as you to select which object you want to break

I tested it, and it worked fine for me.

You can download the AutoLISP file here.

Here's the code:

(defun C:SCISSORS( / pt1 bpt1 bpt2 ss1 dist1 ent1 centrecercle)
;;make it quiet
(setvar "cmdecho" 0)

;;first, get the breaking point
(setq pt1 (getpoint "Give me the break point... ")) ;;point where to break

;;now, check if there's more than one object under that point
(setq ss1 (selectfrompoint pt1))

;;if there's more than 1 object under point, ask to select, else use existing point
(if (> (sslength ss1) 1)
(progn ;;then
(princ "DISAMBIGUATION : pick the object to break...")
(setq ent1 (entsel))
(setq ent1n (car ent1)) ;; e-name of ent1
(setq bpt1 (cadr ent1)) ;; point on ent to break
)
(progn ;;else
(setq ent1n (ssname ss1 0));;store into an entity (can be useful further)
(setq bpt1 pt1) ;; point on ent to break
)
)

;;but if it's a circle (thus usually unbreakable)...
(if
(= (cdr (assoc 0 (entget ent1n))) "CIRCLE")
;;then replace the circle by 2 arcs joining at the break point
(progn
(princ "It's a circle !")
(setq centrecercle (cdr (assoc 10 (entget ent1n))))
(command "_arc" "_c" centrecercle pt1 "_a" "180")
(command "_arc" "_c" centrecercle pt1 "_a" "-180")
(entdel ent1n)
)
;;else perform a normal break
(progn
(command "_break" bpt1 "_f" pt1 pt1)
)
)

;;restore cmdecho
(setvar "cmdecho" 1)
;;end quietly
(princ)
)

;;--- this function makes a selection set of entities beneath a point
(defun selectfrompoint (bpt1 / dist1 ss1)
(setq dist1 (/ (getvar "viewsize") 200)) ;; set a distance equal to 1/200-th of view height
(setq ss1 ;;select by fence around point
(ssget "_F"
(list
(list (+ (car bpt1) dist1) (+ (cadr bpt1) dist1) 0)
(list (- (car bpt1) dist1) (- (cadr bpt1) dist1) 0)
)
)
);; setq ss1
ss1
)

March 16, 2008

You can put an AutoCAD drawing -- in DWF format -- directly into PowerPoint. Not just a JPEG or other image of the drawing, but the actual drawing. More incredible, with Autodesk® Design Review (which was previously Autodesk DWF Viewer -- they change the name almost every year), you can zoom in and out and pan around the drawing to show all of the drawing in detail, all from within your PowerPoint presentation. To get the latest version, go to www.autodesk.com/designreview.

These instructions are updated for AutoCAD 2008 and PowerPoint 2007. The instructions are quite different, because PowerPoint 2007 requires a different procedure.

Here are the steps:

1. Make sure you have Autodesk Design Review on the computers you use to create and deliver your presentation. In PowerPoint, display the slide where you want to put the drawing.
2. In PowerPoint 2007 only, make sure that the Developer tab is displayed. (It's not displayed by default.) Choose Office button>PowerPoint Options>Popular, and check the Show Developer Tab in the Ribbon check box.
3. PowerPoint 2007 may block ActiveX content. In PowerPoint 2007 only, choose Office button>PowerPoint Options>Trust Center>Trust Center Settings button>ActiveX Settings, and make sure that the Disable All Controls without Notification option is not selected. Instead, choose the third option, Prompt Me before Enabling All Controls with Minimal Restrictions.
4. In PowerPoint 2003, right-click any toolbar and choose Control Toolbox to display that toolbar. Then click the More Controls button. In PowerPoint 2007, choose Developer tab>Controls group>More Controls.
5. From the list that appears, choose Autodesk DWF Viewer Control. (In PowerPoint 2007 only, click OK.) Drag diagonally on the slide to specify a bounding box for the AutoCAD drawing. You now see the Autodesk Design Review logo on the slide.

6. Right-click the rectangle and choose Properties to open the Properties window.

7. Click the Custom item and then click the Ellipsis button that appears to display the Property Pages dialog box.

8. On the Source Path tab, click Browse and browse to the DWF file. Double-click the file. To embed the DWF in the PowerPoint presentation (a good idea if you'll be viewing it on another computer or want to send it to someone), check the Do You Want to Embed a Copy... check box. You can also use the Color tab to change the color of the background. (Below you see a custom teal color.) Click OK to return to your presentation. Close the Properties window. You now see the drawing on the slide.
9. In PowerPoint, go into Slide Show view to view the slide. After a brief pause/adjustment (perhaps embarrassing in a presentation environment), you see the drawing, along with the Autodesk Design Review toolbar. Here you see the Zoom cursor.

From the toolbar, you can zoom, pan, print, mark up, and measure. Click the Show/Hide Navigator button on the toolbar to display the Navigator, where you can turn layers on and off (if this feature has been enabled), display named views, and more. You can also right-click to use the shortcut menu for many tasks .Other options may be available depending on how the drawing was saved.

This makes for a very nice presentation, zooming in and panning to show the drawing in detail. It's certainly more than you can do with a JPEG. Remember that you can create multi-page DWF files, so that you can actually show multiple drawings from one slide. You can also create 3D DWFs.

For instructions on creating a DWF file, see "Tutorial: Create a DWF file."

March 10, 2008

AutoCAD 2009 new features!

The new features of AutoCAD 2009 have now been made public and I've reviewed them in detail, with screen shots and a couple of movies. Read all about it!

March 8, 2008

Extend lines to make corners with chamfer

The CHAMFER command makes mitered (angled) corners, like the one below.

However, you can also use the CHAMFER command to extend lines to meet and make right-angled corners. In other words, you can use the command to turn the situation on the left to the situation on the right.

You do this by setting the Distance and Angle options to zero.

When you start the command, it lists the current settings:

Command: chamfer
(TRIM mode) Current chamfer Length = 1.0000, Angle = 45
Select first line or [Undo/Polyline/Distance/Angle/Trim/mEthod/Multiple]:

In this example the Distance option (which shows as Length) is 1 unit, and the angle is 45°. To create a square corner, use the Distance option and set both distances to 0 (you can specify a chamfer with two distances, rather than with a distance and an angle). Then use the Angle option and set its value to 0. Then select both lines near their endpoints to get a square corner.

But that's a lot of setting. Instead, you can quickly and temporarily override any non-zero settings by selecting the first line, and then pressing Shift as you select the second line. Presto! Instant square corners.

You could also use the EXTEND command (or the TRIM command with the Shift key), but the CHAMFER command is faster.

February 29, 2008

February 2008 Resource of the month - Rockmaster's CAD Resources
Jason Foster's blog, Rockmaster's CAD Resources, emphasizes good CAD practices and offers easy-to-understand tips. He makes available VBA routines that he writes to speed up common tasks. I especially like the Best Practices tab at the top where you can quickly find all his posts on that topic.

February 28, 2008

Write blocks to save them as separate files

When you create a block in a drawing, you should think if it will be useful in other drawings.

You can access that block from other drawings using the DesignCenter, but you'll probably need to remember where the block was, in order to find it.

Instead, many people create block libraries, putting several blocks in a special block library drawing, or putting each block in a separate drawing. Because you name and store these drawings specially to make them easy to find and identify, the blocks they contain are easier to find.

For example, you may have a folder named Blocks. And you could name a drawing with a double-hung window block in it Double-Hung Window. That certainly helps you to find it!

To save a block in your drawing as a separate file, you use the WBLOCK command. This is called writing (saving) the block. Follow these steps:

February 28, 2008

AutoCAD Tutorial: Display a lost custom toolbar

When you create a custom toolbar that you use regularly, you may accidentally close it and then not be sure how to open it again. Jay had this experience after using my tip "Create a custom toolbar in AutoCAD 2006 or later."

He wrote, "Thanks for the "Create a custom toolbar in ACAD 2006" article... It was very easy to follow and I created a very helpful toolbar with my favorite commands. I have come to depend on it after about a week. I accidentally closed the toolbar and now I can't figure how to reload it..."

There are two methods. The first is to...

February 28, 2008

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can make your work go much faster. You can use the default keyboard shortcuts and create your own.

Here are the defaults that come with AutoCAD...

January 31, 2008

January 2008 Resource of the Month - AutoCAD Advice
AutoCAD Advice offers 3D tutorials and a nice selection of tips. Use the links at the top of the page, and then use the sitemap to navigate, if necessary.

January 27, 2008

Copy objects between drawings

Copying objects from one drawing to another is a common task. You can use the Windows Clipboard and the drag-and-drop methods.

When working with 2 drawings open, choose Window> Tile Vertically (or Horizontally) to view both drawings at the same time.

Use the Windows Clipboard to copy objects between drawings

Most people know that they can copy objects in a drawing to the Windows Clipboard and then paste those objects in another drawing. But there are a couple of tricks to this process that can make your work go more quickly and provide more accurate results.

Of course, you can use the common Windows keyboard shortcuts:

• Ctrl+C to copy
• Ctrl+V to paste

When you use the simple copy-and-paste procedure, you don't have much control over the placement of your object in the second drawing. That's because this process uses the lower-left corner of the extents of the object as the base point, which may not be useful. For example, here you see this process with a circle.

As you can see, the base point isn't on the circle, making it difficult to place the circle accurately.

Therefore, AutoCAD provides you with 2 special tools for copying and pasting.

The first is Copy with Basepoint. Follow these steps:

1. Hover the cursor over the object and right-click to display the shortcut menu. For multiple objects, select them first, and then right-click.

2. Choose Copy with Base Point. This is the COPYBASE command. As you can see in the figure, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+C.
3. At the Specify base point: prompt, use an object snap to specify the base point.
4. Click in the other drawing.
5. Paste, using Ctrl+V, or by clicking Paste on the Standard toolbar. You can also right-click and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.
6. Your cursor is now at the base point you specified, so you can accurately place the object. Specify the insertion point you want.

Here, the base point was set to the center of the circle.

The 2nd tool is Paste to Original Coordinates. If you have two drawings that are very similar, you can use this feature to place the object at the same coordinates as in the original drawing.

Just copy the object(s) to the Clipboard, and activate the 2nd drawing. Then right-click and choose Paste to Original Coordinates.

If those coordinates are not in the current display, do a Zoom Extents to see the pasted object.

Use drag-and-drop to copy objects between drawings

Drag-and-drop doesn't give you the same control over placement, but it's a quick way to copy objects. Note that AutoCAD automatically copies objects from drawing to drawing, so that you don't need to press Ctrl as you drag.

To copy, select the object or objects. Then click the object and hold down the mouse button until you see the drag-and-drop cursor. The only gotcha is that you need to make sure that you don't click on a grip, because that will just make the grip hot.

Then drag the cursor to the other drawing and release the mouse button to place the object. You'll probably need to adjust the placement, using the MOVE command, or by using grip-editing.

January 14, 2008

Tutorial: Create a DWF file

A DWF file is a vector image format that you can use to share your designs with others, without sending the actual drawing. You might do this to share your designs without revealing the details, or to send them to people without AutoCAD. The recipients use Autodesk Design Review to view the DWF file. Autodesk Design Review is a free download, available from www.autodesk.com/designreview.

Follow these steps to create a DWF file:

1. Open the drawing or drawings that you want to use. You can include more than one drawing and layout in the DWF file.
2. Choose File> Publish to open the Publish dialog box.
3. Use the Add Sheet and Remove Sheets buttons to add or remove drawings and layouts. Other buttons lets you change the order, choose a Page Setup, change the page name, and save the list of drawings for future use.

4. From the Publish To section, choose the DWF File option.
5. Click the Publish Options button to open the Publish Options dialog box.

6. In this dialog box, you can specify the location, a single- or multi-page file, file name, and password. You can also choose to provide layer, block, and sheet set information. For example, if you provide layer information, viewers can turn layers on or off. Click OK.
7. In the Publish dialog box, click the Publish button.
8. At the message asking if you want to save the list of sheets, answer Yes if you may want to create the DWF again for those drawings and layouts. Otherwise, click No.
9. You may see a message saying that the publishing is going on in the background. Click OK to create the file.

To view the file, you should be able to double-click it. Autodesk Design Review is installed with AutoCAD automatically. If not, you can find it in your Program Files\Autodesk folder.

December 22, 2007

December 2007 Resource of the Month - CCNtv
CCNtv is your CAD TV fix, complete with commercials. But it's fun to watch CAD news in video format. Watch the home page video, then click Broadcast Archives for more.

December 16, 2007

Quickly select objects with Quick Select

If picking objects and using window selections doesn't always work for you, you may need a more sophisticated option. Quick Select is the next step up. It lets you quickly set up criteria for selecting objects, such as the type of object or object properties.

You can get to Quick Select in 4 days:

• Choose Tools> Quick Select.
• With no command active, right-click in the drawing area and choose Quick Select from the shortcut menu.
• Click the Quick Select button in the Properties palette.
• Enter qselect on the command line.

The Quick Select dialog box appears.

Here's how you use this dialog box:

In the Apply To drop-down list, you can apply the selection to the entire drawing (the default) or to a set of selected objects. If you use selected objects, the filter will apply only to those objects. For example, you could use a window to select the upper-left corner of a drawing and then apply a filter to that area. To select objects, click the Select Objects button to the right.

In the Object Type drop-down list, choose the type of object that you want to select. You can choose only one type of object. This list contains only objects that exist in the drawing.

In the Properties box, choose the properties that you want to find. Again, you can choose only one property.

In the Operator box, choose an operator, such as equals, not equals, greater than, etc. The options available depend on the property you chose. For example, if you choose Layer, you don't see the greater than option. But if you choose a circle for the object, and radius for the property, you'll see greater than and less than options.

In the Value box, you choose the property's value. For example, if your property is layer, you can choose the layer from the list of layers that exist in your drawing. If your property is radius, for example, you can type a value.

See my tip about using Quick Select for selecting blocks.

In the How to Apply section, you choose to include the filter in the new selection set (the default, and most common choice), or to exclude the filter, which selects everything except objects that fit the filter.

At the bottom, you can also check the Append to Current Selection Set check box. If you already have selected objects and want to add the objects that fit the filter to that selection, check the check box.

When you're done, click OK and your objects are selected. If you realize that you need to start a command first (some commands require that you do this), start the command and use the Previous selection option to re-select the objects.

Don't forget two Express Tools commands:

• FASTSELECT creates a selection set of objects that touch an object that you specify.
• GETSEL creates a selection of objects from object type and layer properties.

Finally, if you need more power, use the FILTER command. It lets you choose more than one object and property type, combine multiple filters, and save filters.

December 12, 2007

Autodesk University 2007

AU is Autodesk's annual conference and it's huge. There were over 600 classes and labs, so there was something for everyone. More than 10,000 participants, instructors, and Autodesk employees came to the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. I had never been to the Venetian; it's an amazing place, complete with an indoor Venetian town, covered with a sky-dome.

You can even take a ride in a gondola.

The General Session
AU always starts with a General Session, and it's always quite a show. They outdid themselves this year. Carl Bass, Autodesk CEO, hosted the event, complete with screens at the center and completely encircling the audience.

(Thanks for Melanie Perry for the 2 photos from the General Session.)

Carl Bass discussed four trends:

• Digital Life: More and more, people rely on digital data for amusement, commerce, communication, education, and socialization. There's a global digital infrastructure supporting this digital life.
• Globalization: Globalization is providing cheap labor, outsourcing, and a global supply chain. Intense worldwide competition is the result.
• Infrastructure Boom: The physical world needs to catch up with the digital one, requiring infrastructure construction, repair, and development. Emerging economies must build networks and support industrialization. Industrialized countries must invest heavily in their deteriorating roads and networks. The answer is to develop technology for building and sustaining the infrastructure.
• Rising Energy Costs: The building boom, among other things, has led to rising energy costs. In addition, industrial activities have contributed to global climate change. Therefore, "green," that is, sustainable growth and develop is key.

How Autodesk Software Fits In
Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski used the 360-degree surrounding screens to provide a glimpse into the new technologies that Autodesk is developing that could provide a solution to the needs arising from the four trends. The show portrayed the development of a new library for a civic center in a city.

Maya (3D modeling, animation, effects, and rendering software) was used to design a textured sculpture. The sculpture and other source designers were brought into Revit (architectural design software) to create a model of the building. Robot Millennium (structural engineering software) was used for structural support analysis. The data would be used by the MEP and civil engineering teams to see their design in context.

Then they dumped the data into Navisworks (3D design review software) for collision detection. Navisworks was also used to visualize the final project. Then, they used forthcoming software called Newport for design visualization of the building in context. The concept of building in context was key to the entire project

Then, they poured everything into another software product that showed everyone a real-time fly-through, from outer space down to the building site. A new product called Metropolis was mentioned for building digital 3D cities. The show flew through a detailed model of what seemed to be Washington, D.C., including going underground to look at utility lines (to highlight another new product, Autodesk Utility Design).

Another new product called Mudbox, manipulates models like clay. They showed some new freeform-design features of Revit, and new 3D features in Autodesk Impression, which creates advanced visual styles for architectural models.

The Real Stuff
Then the real point of it all, the classes, began. There were tracks for General Drafting and Design; Civil Engineering; Architecture and Building Design; Education and Training; Facilities Management; Geospatial; MEP Design and Engineering; Manufacturing; Structural Design and Engineering, and more. Classes were 1.5 or 3 hours long; labs, with computers for everyone, were 1.5 hours long.

I was a lab assistant in a lab on Customizing the User Interface. This photo shows half the lab.

I also taught my own class on visual styles in the AutoCAD 3D PowerTrack series. The official name of the class was “Looking Good with Visual Styles: Creating the Look You Want for Your 3D Models.” The 3D PowerTrack series included classes on 3D visualization and solid primitive conceptual design, sophisticated solid model design, editing 3D solids, creating 2D drawings from 3D solids, rendering, and more.

Time to Network
Networking is an important part of AU, and this one was no exception. There were discipline-specific luncheons, parties, and the times between classes. Often the only time when people in the CAD world who live far apart see each other is at AU. People came from 67 countries, according to Autodesk.

I'm the Senior Editor of Inside AutoCAD, a newsletter published by EliResearch. I had lunch with Mike Partenheimer (who writes the Civil Engineering column) and Darren Young (who writes the first AutoCAD article each issue) at Wolfgang Puck's Postrio restaurant at The Venetian.

Later, I met with the architecture writer for Inside AutoCAD, architect Lu Chin.

I also met with two AutoCAD notables that I've been corresponding with for years. Leonid Nemirovsky runs the well-known Better Than Nothing AutoLISP web site and has written and contributed AutoLISP routines for the DVD of my book, AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Bible. I was very glad to meet him for the first time at AU.

Another AutoCAD notable that I met was Melanie Perry. Melanie is active in AUGI, and writes the Mistress of the Dorkness blog, which focuses on AutoCAD and facilities management. Melanie has helped me update chapters of my book, and so I was glad to get to see her in person.

I also met Shaan Hurley at AU. Shaan is Technical Marketing Manager for the Platform Technologies Division which includes AutoCAD. He's also the Worldwide MyFeedback Program Manager for all Autodesk products and betas. Therefore, he's the master of the AutoCAD beta scene. Shaan and I have known each other, mostly through e-mail, but also at various AUs, for several years.

He always has a camera in his hand!

Time to Trade
The trade fair had over 130 booths of companies who exhibited or sponsored, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell, Microsoft, Océ, Intel, ATI, AUGI (Autodesk User Groups International), and many more. There was a lot to see and many new products — both software and hardware — to learn about. I'm hoping to win the HP workstation that HP was giving away!

Well Worth the Time
AU is always chock-full of useful knowledge and people. I met so many AutoCAD gurus. If you're looking to further your career in CAD, it's a great place to be. Next year's dates are December 2-5, 2008. By next summer, you'll be able to register at Autodesk's Web site.

December 8, 2007

AutoCAD Tutorial: Save and use layer states

Layer states let you save configurations of layer properties and states. For example, you might want a layer to be red sometimes, and blue at other times. You may need certain layers to be locked, off, or frozen when you're editing one part of the drawing, but unlocked, on, or thawed when you're editing another part.

You could spend lots of time adjusting layer properties, but instead, you can use layer states -- they're much easier and quicker.

At Autodesk University, I taught a session on visual styles, which are used in 3D modeling. One problem that comes up with visual styles is that they don't play well with plot styles. That's because they both control how objects look and would interfere with each other. Therefore, when you're using any 3D visual style (anything except 2D Wireframe), plot styles don't work. I realized that layer states would be helpful because people often use plot styles to control colors. (Another useful feature would be layer overrides. For a description of this feature go to the Layers heading in my coverage of AutoCAD 2008 new features.)

Create and restore a layer state

Follow these steps to create a layer state:

1. Set all of the layer states and properties the way you want them. A good idea is to first save the default, "normal" situation before saving variations.
2. Open the Layer States Manager dialog box in 2 ways: Either open the Layer Properties Manager and click the Layer States Manager button, or, in AutoCAD 2008, you can open it directly in the Layers control panel of the Dashboard.

3. Click New and type a name and description for the layer state. Click OK.
4. Click the More Restore Options button to expand the dialog box. (In earlier releases, the options are at the bottom of the dialog box.)

5. Uncheck any states or properties that you don't want to save. For example, if you don't save the Color property, the color won't be affected when you restore the layer state. Therefore, if you change a layer's color and restore the layer state, the layer will remain the new color.
6. If you want your drawing to exactly match the way it looks now, check the Turn Off Layers Not Found in Layer State check box in the main section of the dialog box. When you check this box, any new layers that you create afterwards are turned off when you restore the layer state.
7. Click Close to save the layer state.

You can continue to display desired states and save them until you have all the layer states that you need.

To restore a layer state, open the Layer States Manager, choose the layer state and click Restore.

Share layer states

Layer states are saved in the drawing. To share them among drawings, you need to export them. Each layer state has its own LAS file. To export a layer state, select it in the Layer States Manager, and choose Export. In the Export Layer State dialog box, enter a name, choose a location, and click Save.

To import a saved layer state, open the Layer States Manager, and click the Import button. (In AutoCAD 2008, choose Layer States (*.las) from the Files of Type drop-down list.) Choose the LAS file that you want, and click Open.

Note: In AutoCAD 2008, you can import layer states from drawings, templates, and standards (DWG) files. Choose the type of file that you want from the Files of Type drop-down list, choose the file that you want, and click Open. The Select Layer States dialog box opens, where you can deselect any states that you don't want to import. Then click OK.

You can save layer states in your templates for maximum ease and to maintain CAD standards. Layer states can be an important method for controlling how your drawings look and speeding up the drawing and editing process.

December 2, 2007

Control hatch origin

When you place a hatch inside a closed area, by default, the pattern starts at the origin of the drawing, which is usually 0,0 of the current User Coordinate System (UCS). Since your closed area probably doesn't start at 0,0, the hatched area starts somewhere in the middle of the pattern.

For simple hatches, such as diagonal lines, that doesn't make any difference. But for some hatch patterns, such as bricks, the result may not look very good.

You can specify the origin of the hatch pattern to get a better-looking result. Follow these steps:

1. Create the enclosed area and start the BHATCH command to open the Hatch and Gradient dialog box.
2. In the Type and Pattern section, choose the hatch pattern you want.
3. You can refine the hatch in the Angle and Scale section.
4. In the Hatch Origin section, choose the Specified Origin option.

• If you want the hatch to start at one of the corners of the enclosed area (bottom-left, top-left, etc) or the center, check the Default to Boundary Extents check box and choose one of the options from the drop-down list.
• If you want to pick a specific location, click the Click to Set New Origin button to return to the drawing, where you can pick any point that you want.

5. To store your selections as the default, check the Store as Default Origin check box.
6. Click Add Pick Points or Add Select Objects to specify where to place the hatch.

Here's the new result, using the Default to Boundary Extents check box with the Bottom-Left option:

November 30, 2007

November 30, 2007

November Resource of the Month - CADALOT

CADALOT is a British site that covers a wide range of CAD-related information. There's a draft document on "How to Draw" that I think is unique, a number of downloads, a good FAQ page, a "Tips 'n' Tricks" page, and more. Some of the AutoCAD content is old, but there is a very new Revit Structure section. You can get a good education here.

November 24, 2007

Create a circle with a width

There are various reasons that you might need to create a circular object with a specific width, such as matching cable widths, or showing cross sections. I've come up with 3 ways to go about this. The right one for you will depend on your needs.

Fit a polygon

An excellent method uses the POLYGON command and fits it using the PEDIT command:

Create a 4-sided polygon, using the POLYGON command.You can circumscribe or inscribe it. At the prompt for the radius, enter the radius of the circle that you want. I used a radius of 4. Of course, this creates a square.

Start the PEDIT command, select the polygon, and use the Fit option. Presto! You have a circle. Then use the Width option and specify the width that you want. (I used 0.25.) The result looks bigger, in this case, but still has a the same radius of 4.

Use a donut

The DONUT command is very old, but can give you the result you want, especially if you know (or want to calculate) the inner and outer diameter. (Try typing doughnut on the command line. It works!)

Start the command, and specify the inner and outer diameters. Because I wanted the same result as for the previous method, I used 8 and 8.50. Then specify the center. Press Enter to end the command, because you'll be prompted to place other donuts, and you don't want too much sugar at once.

Use a lineweight

You can use the CIRCLE command and give it a lineweight. This method has a few problems:

• The object only looks thick; if you change the circle's properties, it no longer has that lineweight.
• Lineweights are listed in millimeters by default. (This is because lineweights were originally designed for use with carousel pen plotters, and the width of plotter pens is generally measured in millimeters.) If you're working in inches, this may make calculations difficult. However, you can change that default, using the LINEWEIGHT command. In the Lineweight Settings dialog box that opens, change the setting to inches.
• If you turn off the display of lineweights (the LWT button on the status bar), you lose the thickness.
• If you want all of your properties to be defined in your layers, you need to create a special layer for your circle.

On the other hand, this may be simple for you. Just draw a circle, select it, and enter the lineweight in the Properties palette (Ctrl+1).

November 17, 2007

AutoCAD tutorial: Replace one block with another block

I received a question about how to replace one block with another block. Replacing blocks is useful for 3 reasons:

• To create multiple versions of a drawing, each with a different block. For example, you could try out a floor plan with different desks.
• When your company replaces one part with another part
• If your drawing is very complex, to reduce regeneration time, by replacing a complex block with a simpler one. Of course, before plotting, you would reverse the replacement.

There are two methods to replace one block with another.

Use Express Tools BLOCKREPLACE

This Express Tool lets you replace one block with another globally in a drawing. Follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the new block you want to insert is defined in the drawing. (If necessary, insert it to check.)
2. Choose Express> Blocks> Replace Block with Another Block or enter blockreplace on the command line.
3. In the BLOCKREPLACE dialog box, choose the block that you want to replace from the list of blocks in the drawing.

4. Click OK.
5. Still in the dialog box, choose the block that you want to use to replace the original block.

6. Click OK.
7. At the Purge unreferenced items when finished? <Y>: prompt, enter y or n.
8. You see a message, n blocks replaced. Results may not be apparent until next regen. If necessary, do a regen. (In my test, I didn't need to regenerate the drawing to see the new block.)

Use the -INSERT command

This older method allows you to replace a block in your drawing with a file. If necessary, first use the WBLOCK command to export the new block to a file. Follow these steps:

1. Type -insert on the command line.
2. At the Enter block name or [?] <square plate>: prompt, enter blockname=filename, where blockname is the name of the block in your drawing and filename is the name of the file containing the block you want to use. If the file is not in the support file search path, type the entire path. (You don't need to add .dwg.) Press Enter. For example:

square plate=c:\drawings\plate

3. At the Block "square plate" already exists. Redefine it? [Yes/No] <N>: prompt, enter y and press Enter. You see the message: Block "square plate" redefined (with your block name inserted).
4. At the Specify insertion point or [Basepoint/Scale/X/Y/Z/Rotate]: prompt, press Esc to not insert a copy of the new file; all you want to do is redefine the old block.

Here, I replaced the square plate block with the plate block, which was in plate.dwg.

Before the replacement:

After the replacement:

November 3, 2007

Use the Dashboard to display a related tool palette

The Dashboard was introduced in AutoCAD 2007 for 2D tools and expanded in 2008 for 3D tools. Starting with 2008, it is also customizable.

The Dashboard has a little-known feature that lets you quickly display an associated tool palette. This tip works in both AutoCAD 2007 and 2008.

Each control panel (section) in the Dashboard has an icon at its upper-left corner. One feature of the icon is that it expands and collapses those control panels that are expandable. When you expand a control panel, you see additional tools. When you pass the cursor over the control panel, you also see a double-down arrow at the lower-left corner, which accomplishes the same task.

However, clicking the icon does something else; if the Tool Palette window is open, it displays a related tool palette (a tab of the window), if there is one.

For example, if you click the Annotation Scaling icon , AutoCAD displays the Annotation tab of the Tool Palette window.

In cases where there is a tool palette group defined, you'll get the last-used tab of that group. For example, there is a 3D Make group that has Modeling, Draw, and Modify tabs. When you click the 3D Make control panel, you see the last of those 3 tabs that you displayed.

Remember that the Tool Palette window must be open for this technique to work.

Here's a list of the control panels and which tool palette or group they open:

2D Workspace

3D Workspace

Thanks to Shekhar Khedekar and Alex Bicalho of Autodesk for some of the information in this tip.

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