I received a question from a Between the Lines blog reader John Reid this week in response to a previous post “StarBacks BBQ Floor Space Planning with AutoCAD FIELDS”. I thought it would be a great lunchtime challenge to break free of all the other things I was doing, and have some CAD fun.

The question was about having a FIELD read a BLOCK quantity in the drawing.

I created this tutorial showing how I accomplished this challenge. There could be other ways, but this was the method I used and came natural to me.

I used BLOCK ATTRIBUTES in the BLOCK definitions, in this case an ATTRIBUTE named “PART”. This way I could get both the BLOCK name as well as the part name. With the BLOCK definitions I could then use the Data Extraction wizard to export the BLOCK ATTRIBUTES and block counts to an AutoCAD TABLE. I could then have the table as my BLOCK counts and reference the cell in the table in a field elsewhere in the drawing. Now if I deleted one of the instances of the BLOCKs, the counts would magically be updated to reflect the true count of BLOCKs,

Note in order for the TABLE count to update frequently when you save the file and in turn update the fields you need to have your system variable DXEVAL set to 32 so that the value updates when the drawing is saved.

OK lets step through this visually.

I have a drawing in AutoCAD 2010 with a HVAC design for a building. I setup 2 blocks one for a specific HVAC return and one for diffusers with a attribute of PART in the block editor. The blocks were inserted multiple times throughout the design.

Now I start the Data Extraction wizard and have it automatically select all content. After saving a extraction template, select the option to display blocks with attributes only.
Next

Filter in on the attribute in common I want, in this case “PART”.
Next

Select the option to create a table from the data. It will create the block properties I selected as well as a total count per block with the default option for count to display.
Next

 

Now that I have inserted the generated table, I can create a FIELD to reference the cells in the table that contain the block counts.
Next

I use insert FIELD and select formula and then select the option “cell” and then select the cell in the table I want to display in the FIELD.
Done

Now I have both a table with block count and attributes as well as a field referencing the table cells. The best of both worlds. I could place the field in a label elsewhere in the drawing instead of a table format.

I linked to the online AutoCAD Help (http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-help) documentation for certain terms and commands in this blog article.

Thanks to John Reid for giving me the fun challenge.

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Product Manager, author of blog what a Mesh!, and hard rockin’ bass guitarist Guillermo Melantoni has asked for people to send him screen captures of their AutoCAD desktop UI. He is looking for visual research data on how people setup their AutoCAD to look. Audience participation part 1 - MyUI .

Here is my AutoCAD desktop, pretty plain other than custom colors and perhaps a few things missing that I hid some things on purpose. I really do use the ribbon now with AutoCAD 2010 along with most users as evidenced by the CIP data we receive daily from thousands of AutoCAD users who choose to send the great data.

You can use Snagit to capture the screen image or the free Jing (for Mac or Windows) from the same awesome company Techsmith. So grab a screen capture of how you set your AutoCAD up and send it to Guillermo as he requested in his blog post.

OK now it is your turn to send your desktop image to Guillermo.

Cheers,
Shaan

I remember developing a web based beta program for Autodesk back in 1999. The reason for going to the web was simple as the CD media took too much time to create and get to the customers in addition to the shipping and manufacturing costs. Only a few back then wanted physical media like a CD-ROM but it became the default for beta testing all Autodesk products. Customers could get the software on their machine in a few minutes as opposed to possibly taking days, weeks, or months for some overseas. For several years I heard customers complain that they could receive the betas, updates, and ADN products by download, but not the shipping versions. When we shipped new releases I would get many complaining about having to wait for the delivery truck to arrive. Some were creative and realized we had been providing software download option for several years in many countries by downloading the trial versions of the software.

Today most customers around the world have access to the Internet so now the default Autodesk Subscription software delivery will be by download. For those that require the physical media they can request the media free of charge. This will reduce the time to get your software as well as save the materials and resources used to package and ship products. Be green, download your products.

Message from Autodesk PR:

“’Starting this month, software download will replace CDs and DVDs as the default method of delivering software upgrades to most Autodesk® Subscription customers worldwide.

• If a customer would prefer to receive their software upgrade via CD/DVD instead of via download, customers can set their delivery preference to “box” by signing in to Subscription Center and updating their profile prior to March 12, 2010. (Date does not apply to Media and Entertainment customers.)

• After March 12, 2010 customers in countries affected by this policy change can still request a CD/DVD by submitting a request in Subscription Center and Autodesk will ship a CD/DVD at no additional cost.

Software download gives Subscription customers immediate access to the latest Autodesk software. It’s more convenient than installing upgrades from a CD or DVD. And, it’s a more sustainable choice. Autodesk will continue to ship CDs/DVDs to Subscription customers in some countries as the default delivery method; however, these customers will also have the option to download their Autodesk software upgrades.
Questions, Additional information, and a Customer FAQ can be found on the Subscription Software Download page. Or email subscription-team@autodesk.com.

In which countries will software download be the default method for delivering software upgrades to Subscription customers?
Software download will be the default method of delivering software upgrades to Autodesk Subscription customers in the 37 countries listed below. Autodesk Subscription Software Coordinators in these countries will be notified by email when their software upgrade is
available to download. They will not automatically receive a box."

Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, France, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Germany, Korea, Brazil, Ireland, Macau, Canada, Italy, Malaysia, Chile, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Colombia, Portugal, Singapore, Costa Rica, Spain, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Ecuador, United Kingdom, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States.“

I get most of my software I purchase even the large software packages by download and have for several years. I love the immediate delivery.

Cheers,
Shaan

I am finally back in my office after a few weeks in training and meetings…

I usually get the request to break or jog a dimension line from customers from the mechanical disciplines. They want to show a broken dimension or to shorten one of those long radius dimensions.

Let’s take the example of a heat exchanger that may be too long to show length to scale so you use the AutoCAD Express Tool Break-Line Symbol.

How would I dimension this? In AutoCAD 2008 we added the DIMJOGLINE Command.

Two quick notes:

• Ged Trias is the AutoCAD Expert of the Week on the AutoCAD Exchange this week. Volunteer AutoCAD Expert Matt Murphy was great last week and seriously bombarded by questions, but did not quit and run away.
• Check out CAD Notes AutoCAD Tip contest which is running until March 15th 2010. CAD Notes ‘Batik Giveaway’ Contest

Cheers,
Shaan

This week we will have another AutoCAD Rock Star answering questions on the AutoCAD Exchange.

If you have ever been to Autodesk University, AUGI CAD Camps, CADLearning.com, or had him as a expert trainer, you know Matt Murphy and his wicked cool AutoCAD skills. Matt is from Boston and is constantly saying the phrase “Wicked Cool”. Matt is also the person that an Autodesk University attendee a few years ago modeled his head with clay in a contest. I then took it to the extreme by carrying and photographing the infamous Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture on my travels around the world for a year.

Go ask Matt your questions on AutoCAD, AutoCAD Certification, Tool Palette, and training related questions to Matt “Wicked Cool” Murphy. Who knows, he might even find a creative way to work in some Boston Red Sox and New England Patriot related comments.

AutoCAD Exchange Expert of the Week Matt “Wicked Cool” Murphy

For me it is another week sequestered in meetings and training without being able to open my computer. This week I am in San Rafael California. Look for me to be getting back into my blog posting rhythm after this week.

Cheers,
Shaan

Have an AutoCAD, AutoCAD MEP, AutoLISP, or CUI Question? Ask AutoCAD Expert of the Week Robert Bell February 22 to February 26 on the AutoCAD Exchange HERE

About Bob Bell

“Robert is the Design Technology Manager for Sparling, the largest specialty electrical engineering and technology consulting firm in the United States, headquartered in Seattle Washington. He provides strategic direction, technical oversight, and high-level support for Sparling’s enterprise design and production technology systems. He is instrumental in positioning Sparling as an industry and client leader in leveraging technology in virtual building and design.

Robert has been writing code for customizing AutoCAD since the release of AutoCAD v2.5. For most of those years he worked at an MEP firm. He developed a series of applications for use with AutoCAD similar to AutoCAD MEP years before Autodesk released that product. These in-house applications gave that firm a distinct competitive advantage over other firms in that market.

He also is one of the more popular speakers at Autodesk University, and, since 2002, has spoken annually on topics such as AutoLISP/Visual LISP, VBA, the CUI, and customizing AutoCAD from the perspective of CAD Management.

In addition, Robert has taught ATP classes for Autodesk User Group International (AUGI), and has been a speaker at AUGI's CAD Camps. He has had many articles published in AUGI's magazines, AUGIWorld and AECEDGE. Robert served on AUGI's Board of Directors for three years.”

Do you want to be the Expert of the Week? Become an Expert

Cheers,
Shaan

I have previously mentioned Project Cooper on this blog, but now we have given it a more formal name. We asked you to name Project Cooper (Project Cooper - Give it a New Name - Between the Lines) and so after feedback it has now been named AutoCAD Freestyle.

(Blog post from the Autodesk Labs Blog Project Cooper: New release and now called Autodesk Freestyle Technology Preview)

Why is it named AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview, that is pretty simple answer from my perspective. AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview is a precision drawing tool based on the well known AutoCAD code and Freestyle was a name that people liked and described some of the new concepts added into the product. AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview is for the consumer and hobbyist not needing all of the power of full AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT products, but still requiring the precision drawing abilities as well as being easy to pick up and use.

This is a very easy and simple 2D design product allowing you to setup and get to drawing fast. Some of the concepts like the sketching which smoothes the sketched curves is great for sketching out ideas. There is also what you would expect such as standard geometry like lines arcs and circles, as well as layers, dimensions, object snaps, hatching (fills) and symbols (blocks). This is a Technology Preview not a shipping product. The goal is to get your feedback to shape the future of AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview.

Based on the Project Cooper feedback received at Autodesk Labs we have also added DWG import to the product and the native format of AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview is the DWG format.

There is an easy wizard setup for a drawing as well as some sample drawings to check out.

AutoCAD Freestyle Video Create Precise Drawings

I hope you enjoy AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview as much as I do. I am working on a quick floor layout so that I can install wood flooring myself in my home.

 

AutoCAD Freestyle Technology Preview aka Autodesk Project Cooper is now live on the Autodesk Labs HERE and there should be a new Technology Preview build posted soon for you to download, enjoy and hopefully you will provide the team with some feedback on what you liked or what could be better.

I am “Freestyling” at 35,000 feet above Chicago currently while returning from a visit to Ford in Dearborn Michigan with Lynn Allen. The Ford employees were so very nice and showed us what they do, all I can say is amazing people, amazing technology, amazing engineering and amazing products. We visited the design and research studios as well as the Livonia Transmission plant. The transmission plant is where all Ford 4 speed and 6 speed rear wheel drive transmissions are manufactured and assembled in a 5.2 million square foot building. If you own a Ford 4 or 6 speed chances are I saw where your transmission was manufactured.

In the evening we had dinner with Betsy and Jeremy from Techsmith and discussed Camtasia and Snagit, as well as an assortment of fun topics, Betsy even gave us cool Techsmith titanium sporks! This was the first trip I decided to leave my “LaptopZilla” Lenovo W700 weighing in with adapter about 20 pounds at home. I brought only my sleek and sexy MacBook Pro running both Mac OSX and Windows 7 via Parallels 5. My shoulder is not cramping from carrying all that extra hardware, and I felt slightly more hip and cool.

Cheers,
Shaan

This is an oldie, but popular goodie and question from this blog.
StarBacks BBQ Floor Space Planning with AutoCAD FIELDS So I love barbeque. People that know me can attest to this fact and I have cooked barbeque baby back ribs all over the world, even in Germany where I was paid in fine beer and compliments. Anyways I wanted to quickly demonstrate a valuable method to show the area of a Hatch object automatically as well as include the areas in a table, then with a total and when the hatched areas are changed so are the area values in the table.

So in my faux dream barbeque restaurant “StarBacks” I wanted to show the areas of the customer dining and bar area, prep and pit area this is where the pit smoking of the meats is done with fine oak wood smoke, and then the kitchen area.

I use the FIELD command and select Object from Field Category and then select the Hatch.

Now after selecting the Hatch select the Area Property and then format the value to the decimal and precision you want and insert it.

After doing this for the three areas I now have three Field text objects linked to the areas of the Hatch objects.

I can create an AutoCAD Table with the TABLE command and then set my titles for the areas.

Then in the cell I want the areas shown I use the Object from Field Category and select the Field text and Object property of Contents. Now the cell is linked to the Field text that is linked to the area of the Hatch. Got it, good.

Of course I would like a total of the entire square footage (or meters for those lucky enough to make metric their standard). In the cell I right-click and select Insert > Formula > Equation.

Now it is just like in Excel and I enter A3+B3+C3 and I get the total of those three cells. I could also use the SUM option.

And there we go after some formatting of the precision to eliminate the trailing zeros I have a nice table all dynamically updating when the hatched areas update. So when I stretch the dining or bar area to increase space for more people (inevitable) the areas all update.

Showing the final floor plan and table. You could use this in so many ways such as material planning, retail space allocation, and more. Fields are powerful and you can link them to attributes like lights in a plan and have a table update with the quantity and type of light including cost from the attributed light block. Fields are powerful.

You can use this same technique for attaching fields to other objects such as showing the length of a polyline.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk has extended hours the Autodesk Gallery at One Market Street in San Francisco is open free to the public. See the Gallery and the exhibits every Wednesday. http://www.autodesk.com/thegallery

This architectural space and the exhibits it has on display are very fascinating. Just two weeks ago in the gallery I saw a cutting edge technology display of a new 3D television. As another free bonus you will see one of the most beautiful views in the San Francisco Bay Area looking out over the San Francisco Bay, the Embarcadero, and of the the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

 

Autodesk Gallery at One Market
One Market, Floor 2
San Francisco, CA 94105

More Gallery News:
Artists, Designers, Engineers, and Architects check out the IDEA Studio, Autodesk's new residency program which Includes grant and temporary relocation. Submit a proposal: http://www.autodesk.com/ideastudio

You can follow the Autodesk Gallery on Twitter http://twitter.com/autodeskgallery

Cheers,
Shaan

Have an AutoCAD Question? Ask AutoCAD Expert of the Week Felicia Provencal Feb. 8 - Feb. 12 on the AutoCAD Exchange HERE

“About Felicia Provencal

Felicia is the Western Region Sales Director for Carlson Software based in Hawai'i. She has over 18 years of experience with Autodesk products in the civil engineering, GIS, and construction industries throughout the U.S. and the Pacific Basin. She has assisted in the development of the AOTC training products for AutoCAD(R) Raster Design, and has taught various classes at Autodesk University on topics involving raster images.”

Do you want to be the Expert of the Week? Become an Expert

Due to an increasing amount of spam comments being posted to old blog posts, I have set the blog service to automatically lock comments to blog posts older than 3 weeks months. I felt 3 weeks months was about right to at least allow for conversations, if not let me know in email or comments to this post.

Spammers and comment bots ruin it for everyone unfortunately.

Sincerely,
Shaan

Update 02/11/10  I have updated the script for auto closing out comments after 3 months.

Since I know most of those within the Autodesk hive responsible for many Autodesk products, I thought it might be a good idea for a blog post.

So what would you ask an AutoCAD Team member? It could be a question to a product manager, developer, QA tester, marketing, or other hive resident. Ask your question in the comments and I will chase down an answer. Please understand that some questions cannot be answered such as confidential details, future products, pricing or delivery timing of products or we would end up in trouble as a publicly traded company.

So go ahead ask bee the first to ask a question for me to get an answer from the hive. Post the question in the comments to this post.

Cheers,
Shaan

Have a burning AutoCAD or CAD Management Question? Ask AutoCAD Expert of the Week Robert Green HERE on the AutoCAD Exchange community.

Robert is a wealth of knowledge on AutoCAD, CAD, design, CAD management, and more. He is a well respected CAD consultant and contributing editor for CADALYST Magazine and a top speaker at many events, and the power behind http://www.cad-manager.com.

So go get your AutoCAD questions answered by Robert this week from February 1 - February 5 2010.

Do you want to be the Expert of the Week? Become an Expert

Get your stylus pens fired up and ready to freehand sketch in AutoCAD! As I mentioned awhile back “Glimpse at Alias Sketch for AutoCAD 2010” a new product was coming. Alias Sketch for AutoCAD is a marriage of the awesome Autodesk SketchBook technology and AutoCAD products. This is an AutoCAD add-on application for sketching and image editing for experimentation with creative concepts all without exiting AutoCAD.

Yes this is AutoCAD!

 

• Draw Freehand Illustrations
• Create Concept Variations
• Create Compositions with 3D Models
• Trace 3D Models
• Create Concept Walls
• Annotate

From the Autodesk Labs webpage http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/alias_sketch_for_autocad/
”Technology Preview

Take advantage of Alias® and SketchBook technology directly in AutoCAD® software. Autodesk® Alias® Sketch for AutoCAD® Technology Preview adds fully integrated painting, illustration and image manipulation capabilities to enhance the AutoCAD design workflow, making AutoCAD a much broader creative tool. With Alias Sketch for AutoCAD users will be able to:

• Leverage freehand drawing techniques with pen based interaction
• Create blank screen illustrations
• Create artwork or import images to graphically express the context of designs, something previously requiring multiple applications to achieve
• Manipulate and composite images to quickly create variations for design exploration
• Free-hand markup (annotate) directly on top of AutoCAD geometry “

Videos

 

  

If you have a need for sketching or image manipulation within AutoCAD 2010 then give this free 30 day technology preview a try. I know some could get fancy with the AutoCAD SKETCH command, but that series of polylines segments was not as fluid as what you can do now with this Autodesk Labs Technology Preview of Autodesk Alias Sketch for AutoCAD.

Currently the product supports only the base AutoCAD and not the vertical industry versions of AutoCAD such as AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Map 3D, etc. If you are sketching a tablet would be a great tool but not mandatory especially for the image manipulation.

Go exercise your artistic or industrial design side in AutoCAD.
http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/alias_sketch_for_autocad/

Cheers,
Shaan

In the recent AutoCAD release we have made the default for the Drawing Tools buttons in the status bar display as icons instead of the text.

Are you a visual or semantic person, pictures or text preference? You do have the choice to select your preference.

 

You have the choice of the new default icons,

Or the text.

All you need to do is simply right-click the Drawing Tools buttons and then select the option to use icons or not.

 

While I am on the Status Bar topic, another tip. You can also right-click on the blank space on the status bar and get more options for other items to show or not show on the status bar..

Cheers,
Shaan

I will be in San Francisco California from Tuesday January 19th, 2010 until the following Saturday late morning. I have limited time but wanted to see if anyone Autodesk employees or customers are interested in a coffee and chat sometime during next week in the San Francisco Bay Area. Email Me.

C'mon lets pick each others brains over a coffee!
 

Cheers,
Shaan

FM:Systems Named Autodesk Preferred Industry Partner for Facilities Management and Will Provide an Extended Support Program for Autodesk FMDesktop Software Products.

A website has been created at http://www.fmsystems.com/fmdesktop and  provides information for FMDesktop users.

The Press Release: Autodesk Selects FM:Systems to Partner on Building Information Modeling and Facility Management

If you use AutoCAD Civil 3D, want to, or looking to network with others in the Civil engineering field consider attending tonight and joining The Wasatch Area User Group for AutoCAD Civil 3D and related products “WAUG”.

Date:    Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Time:    6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: CLC Associates 420 East South Temple,Suite 550, SLC
Latitude: 40.769293  /  Longitude: -111.879151

Topics:  We will have a presentation about Civil 3D and a general discussion where you can discuss Civil 3D with your peers.   We will also plan our next year.

Cost: Still free!

A light meal will be provided.  Registration is not required but will let us get an idea about how many will be attending.

http://waugblog.blogspot.com/

I am planning on attending the meeting tonight, not just for the free snacks.

Cheers,
Shaan

At Autodesk University “AU 2009” this year I was filling in for a presenter that was unable to attend Autodesk University 2009. I wrote up the course materials and then I myself ended up in a Las Vegas emergency care facility the day of my class. (A valuable tip for those that may get sick in Las Vegas, get as far away from the Las Vegas strip as possible for better medical attention for many reasons.) I thought I was having an aneurism as I had blood from my nose, mouth, ears, and my head was in pain. I even got to bed the night before early and drank nothing stronger than a decaffeinated sprite soda or water. Luckily my coworker Heidi Hewett stepped in and took the class I was filling in for, Must have been karma in action as I remember a sick instructor back in AU 2000 where I taught a 4 hour class with 15 minutes warning.

I wanted to provide my AU 2009 course handout for AU222-3 The Best of AutoCAD® 2007–2010 which highlights the top ten features of each release from AutoCAD 2007 to AutoCAD 2010 in my opinion.

 
Download AU222-3 The Best of AutoCAD® 2007–2010

I was a good boy all week of AU, except the night after AU then I shaved my head for charity and apparently really cut loose before heading out for a photography trek in the desert on Friday. I wonder if shaving your head has something to do with losing all self control, that combined with hanging out with many good friends and coworkers early in the evening at the AU Party, then more friends at a bar made completely from frozen ice, and finally ending up with some good Australian friends sealed the all-night blur into reality. Here are a few snapshots of that night.

 

 

I still have many stories from AU I need to write about as there were so many great people, questions, sessions, and activities.

Only 323 days until Autodesk University 2010 #AU2010!
7,742 hours, 52minutes, and 10 seconds but who’s counting.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk will be conducting focus group research in January and February 2010 in Boston, Portland and Toronto. Please complete the form if you are interested in giving us feedback to help improve AutoCAD and Communities.  Selected participants will receive an iPod Nano (with built in FM Radio and video camera).

Autodesk Focus Group on AutoCAD & Communities

Cheers,
Shaan