AutoCAD Insider

Behind the scenes in Farnborough

I managed to escape the Denver snow and catch a flight for London. I’ve been delivering AutoCAD 2010 training to some of our European employees and partners at the Autodesk office in Farnborough, England. This talented and dedicated cast includes Autodesk consultants (Martin, Luigi, Xavier, Helge, Chronis, and Charles) representing the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Greece as well as Autodesk product support members (Luciane, Silvia, Dan, Antonio, and Robert).

 
To take a break from AutoCAD training, we visited the AutoCAD Exchange. To take a break from the AutoCAD Exchange, we visited the Monkey Puzzle pub!

I rarely have time for sight-seeing. But when in Farnborough, I always seem to find time for a pint at the Monkey Puzzle. I can't invite you to meet us at the pub but I can invite you to join us online at the AutoCAD Exchange. If you haven’t already registered, there’s no time like the present! Membership is currently at 818 including 4 From Spain, 15 from the U.K., 4 from Italy, 5 from Germany, 3 from Greece, and 8 from Colorado.

The AutoCAD Exchange is a great way for you to learn more about AutoCAD and connect with fellow users in your area and around the world!

The AutoCAD Exchange.... and another Snow Day

The snow is still coming down in Colorado and the AutoCAD Exchange membership is still going up! 

The drift-factor makes the snowfall hard to measure, but I can see that we now have 585 members in the AutoCAD Exchange!

 
After you register for the AutoCAD Exchange, you can easily find other members. Search on relevant information (Name, State, Country, Products), filter on the first letter of their last name, or simply scroll through the long list of members. If I want to connect with other members in my area, for example, I can search on the snowy state of Colorado. What? I know there are more than 4 AutoCAD users in Colorado! I guess everyone’s too busy shoveling the driveway! C’mon Colorado, warm up in front of the computer and register for the AutoCAD Exchange!
After you register, check out the wealth of information available at your fingertips… for free! The CAD Manager page, for example, offers best practices with CAD Management expert and author, Robert Green. I see that Robert hasn’t yet registered for the AutoCAD Exchange… but I have no doubt he will!

 
Other authors (just to name a few) include Ellen Finkelstein, David Byrnes, and Lynn Allen. Many AutoCAD-related bloggers have also registered including Steve Johnson.

If you host a blog, feel free to add the AutoCAD Exchange widget to your site. Instructions are already provided! Select Widgets from the Blog Roundup menu. You can select from three different sizes and then copy and paste the code into your Web page.  The size you choose affects what information is displayed in the Widget (which you can preview in the Example window).

More snow and more AutoCAD Exchange members!

What’s growing faster… the snowfall in Colorado or membership in the AutoCAD Exchange?

My unofficial snowfall measurement is over 4.5” in 3 hours. 
 
 

The AutoCAD Exchange is steadily climbing but it needs to pick up the pace to keep up with The Colorado snowfall! Current membership is at 483 (up from 439 two hours ago!)

 

We can’t do anything to increase the snowfall (as much as 24” by tomorrow night!) But, you can help increase membership in the AutoCAD Exchange.. and help yourself at the same time!

In this tough economy, networking is more important than ever and the AutoCAD Exchange offers you the perfect opportunity to network with other AutoCAD users. After you register for the AutoCAD Exchange (don’t forget to upload a photo), check out my first two lessons on AutoCAD 2010. Click the Learning tab! Stay connected and stay up-to-date on the newest release of AutoCAD!

 

Snow Day and the AutoCAD Exchange

I have to share the excitement from my home this morning. I live just inside the foothills west of Denver. When I woke up this morning there was barely a trace of snow on the ground and it was no longer snowing. As I tried to motivate the kids out of bed to get ready for school, we got the call every Colorado schoolchild dreams of… “Snow day. School’s closed!” 

It’s starting off slow, but we’re expecting a big one! 

After realizing I didn’t have to rush to get the kids off to school, my morning continued to improve. I logged into the AutoCAD Exchange to find that membership is increasing like a March blizzard in Colorado! Membership was at 304 when I posted yesterday evening. This morning it’s at 439 and climbing.

 
This is a blizzard you don't want to miss! Join now... it's free!

The Dashboard, the Ribbon, and AutoCAD 2010

The Dashboard was introduced in AutoCAD 2007 to provide easy access to 3D design tools. Most users liked the concept but wanted to be able to customize it with their own tools. So, in AutoCAD 2008, customizable Dashboard Panels were included in the CUI (Customize User Interface) editor. Then, in AutoCAD 2009, we introduced the Ribbon as a more powerful and flexible replacement for the Dashboard. The DASHBOARD command was even redirected to launch the Ribbon! The Ribbon could do everything the Dashboard could do, and more! The one thing it couldn’t do was enable you to import your customized dashboard panels. 

I’m happy to report that in AutoCAD 2010 you can import your customized dashboard panels. Here’s the process!

1. In AutoCAD 2010, open the CUI editor (CUI command).

2. Select the Transfer tab.

3. On the right side of the Transfer tab (Customizations in New File), choose Open Customization File.
   

4. Change the Files of type to CUI. The default file type is CUIx…  So, if you forget this step you’ll find yourself searching everywhere and wondering why you can’t find your CUI file!
   

5. Select the CUI file that contains your customized dashboard. As soon as you open a CUI file in the CUI editor, AutoCAD 2010 automatically copies it to a new CUIx format file.

6. In the CUI editor, expand the Dashboard Panels node on the right side of the Transfer tab.

7. Select the panels you want to import. You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to select multiple panels.

8. Right-click and choose Copy to Ribbon Panels.
   

9. In the confirmation dialog box, select Yes.
   
   AutoCAD 2010 creates an equivalent copy of the selected dashboard panels under the Ribbon node of the SAME file.

10. Select the ribbon panels under the Ribbon node on the right side of the Transfer tab and drag them to the Ribbon node on the left side of the Transfer tab.
     

AutoCAD Exchange… 304 and counting!

In this economy, free is a great thing! And free is just what you’ll get when you join the AutoCAD Exchange… Free tutorials, free tips and tricks, free expert advice. Free, free, free!

Membership is steadily growing (up to 304 from 188 this morning) and I’m see lots of familiar names. If you haven’t already joined, sign up now and help meet my previous challenge of 1000 members by the end of the week. If you’ve already signed up but haven’t posted a picture, don’t be shy! It’s great to have a face to go with the name!

To add your picture (after you’ve registered) select My Profile from the Networking menu and then choose Edit Bio. Okay, I admit, I look nothing like that picture anymore but it’s better than nothing.

Join the AutoCAD Exchange... it's FREE!

The AutoCAD Exchange is off to a great start after yesterday’s launch. If you haven’t yet visited the AutoCAD Exchange, what are you waiting for? It’s a great place to learn more about AutoCAD and to network. It’s free to join!

Just select the Register link in the upper right corner.

 
Then fill out some basic registration information.

 
Once you register, you’ll be in the Network and in the KNOW!
You can update/edit your member profile, locate other members and invite them to join your contact list! 

 
There have already been 188 new members (from around the world) since the AutoCAD Exchange launched yesterday. How many do you think we can have by the end of the week? How about 1000? The more members, the more AutoCAD networking opportunities for you! Join today!

Join the AutoCAD Exchange!

The new AutoCAD Exchange is an interactive portal where you can find fresh, relevant information for AutoCAD. It offers tips and tricks, eLearning courses, blog posts, and more!

AutoCAD 2010… The wait is over!

Today is officially the first day of shipping for AutoCAD 2010. I’ve seen many releases of AutoCAD during my 17+ years with Autodesk, but this is the most exciting release ever!

• 2D parametrics
• 3D modeling
• PDF support

And that’s just the beginning!

If you haven’t yet seen, heard, or read about the powerful new functionality check out some of these resources:

The AutoCAD Exchange
The AutoCAD 2010 Preview Guide
The AutoCAD 2010 Demo Videos

AutoCAD Design Challenge… AutoCAD 2010 Geometric Constraints

In one of my previous posts, I challenged you to use AutoCAD 2009 (or older) to modify a drawing in as few picks, clicks, and keystrokes as possible. The only change was the width (red dimensions) of the part.

 
You offered many great solutions including one that required only 18 picks, clicks, and keystrokes.

Solution 1 (36 picks)

Solution 2 (25 picks)

Solution 3 (26 picks)

Solution 4 (18 picks) 

If you’ve seen any info on AutoCAD 2010, you’ve probably already guessed where I’m headed with this... Parametric constraints! AutoCAD 2010 enables you to apply geometric and dimensional constraints to your AutoCAD geometry. Let’s see how many picks, clicks, and keystrokes this design problem requires in AutoCAD 2010 if you apply geometric constraints. View video.
 
Pick (Select the new Parametric tab – 1)
Pick pick pick (Select all the objects and choose Autoconstrain – 3)

Pick pick pick (Select the Equal geometric constraint and each circle – 3)
Pick pick pick (Select the Equal geometric constraint and each arc – 3)

Pick (Turn off DYN. If you leave dynamic input on, when you enter a value in the next step, it applies to highlighted value, which is the length of the part – 1)
Pick pick 4 <enter> (pick the polyline and grip edit the horizontal line up – 4)

It looks like that took 15 clicks, picks, and keystrokes in AutoCAD 2010. That’s great, but it’s only 3 clicks faster than AutoCAD 2009, right? Well, what if I changed my mind about the design (that never happens). Now it needs to be 10 units wide? Since you’ve already constrained the part, it only takes 3 clicks to make the change. And, tomorrow, when I decide the width should be 4 units after all, you’re just 3 picks, clicks, and keyboard strokes away! And, yes, you can hide the constraint bars… choose Hide All on the Parametric tab.

How did we ever live without geometric constraints???