RobiNZ CAD Blog

Autodesk testing my sanity...

Thought was going mad for a while, but it was just Autodesk playing with my mind... At The Warehouse Group distributed Tool Palettes (in AutoCAD Architecture/MEP) using Content Browser. Tick ‘Link when added to workspace’ on the catalog, drop palettes to users, when they are changed/updated tell the users to refresh, sorted. That's worked seamlessly since the Content Browser/Palette system turned up in... 2004? Now I need to share Civil 3D palettes that will be dynamic as we develop new/updated content. Yay, C3D uses the same system but… Create a Catalog (1), set it to Link items…. (2) all good... Read more →

Can AutoCAD Architecture Projects live on BIM 360?*

A recent promotion announcing Civil 3D availability on BIM 360 Design had me wondering if AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) projects would work using BIM 360 Docs with the Autodesk Desktop Connector. If so it would be rather useful for legacy projects. ACA projects have some odd control files (xml but with different extensions) but creating a new project worked and sync'd perfectly. I could create content, model and views, add annotation and place views on sheets as normal. Not surprising given ACA was just operating in the local Desktop Connector folder and syncing up to BIM 360. Even the file access... Read more →

AutoCAD Architecture/MEP Project Standards back to normal in 2020.0.1

Way back in 2006 I blogged about AutoCAD Architecture/MEP’s (ACA/AMEP) Project Standards feature. It allows object and display styles to be updated in all or selected files within a Project. There is provision to automatically apply ACA/AMEP Object Styles, Display Settings, Materials and AutoCAD Standards ( like line, layer, font etc) from your reference library when you access the project. If you update content in a project it warns on project close, prompting you to optionally update the project standards for future use. In this respect ACA/AMEP toolset shames Revit’s crude (all or nothing and manual) Project Standards Transfer as... Read more →

Oh look, it is 2018 already

An Easter surprise ‘present’ from Autodesk! Read more →

Got a question about AutoCAD? Ask Autodesk Answer Day!

If you have an AutoCAD question check out the upcoming answer day (May 7th US Pacific). Post your question and get an answer direct from AutoCAD Platform team members. Their post below has all the details: From http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-answer-day/ We’ll be kicking off the Autodesk Answer Days series with the one and only AutoCAD®! Join us at our first AutoCAD Answer Day online event on Thursday, May 7th from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time. Have AutoCAD® or AutoCAD LT® questions that you’ve always wanted to ask? Come spend a minute, an hour, or the whole day in the Autodesk... Read more →

Autodesk Application Manager — One update to rule them all

I’ve been doing a few software installs recently; updates to Autodesk Building Design Suite 2015 at the previous workplace and a fresh install at the new one. As a result I’ve come to really appreciate Autodesk Application Manager; one of the best support applications Autodesk have ever made. Remember the pain? Install an app — or more like a dozen for the Design Suites — then spend hours finding which have been updated, downloading patches and installing (or updating deployments) on the machine. That is history as Autodesk Application Manager makes it a one click process, well nearly. You still... Read more →

Autodesk desktop applications to be ‘pay as you go’ subscription only from 2016

It was an early start for a call to learn about some big changes to Autodesk software purchases from 1 February 2016 onwards. New commercial seats of most stand-alone desktop software (not Design Suites) will only be available on ‘pay as you go’ Desktop Subscription, not as Perpetual Licenses or the current annual Maintenance Subscription. Purchases before 1 Feb 2016 will continue to receive existing benefits: Existing perpetual licenses will continue to work forever. Existing Maintenance Subscriptions (annual updates & bundled services etc.) will be honoured for as long as the subscription payment is maintained. If current Perpetual or Maintenance... Read more →

Free Autodesk Software for ALL Schools, Teachers, and Students Worldwide!

I arrived back from Tibet to find some very welcome news from Shaan Hurley. Autodesk now provides students, teachers and schools WORLDWIDE with free* access to Autodesk software: 3-year licenses of 80 titles of the exact same software that our commercial customers use. Free Software for ALL Schools, Teachers, and Students Worldwide! - No Catch or Fine Print! – Between The Lines Blog Hooray! I have been anxiously awaiting this for years. Effective today, Autodesk provides FREE access to our software to students, teachers and schools around the world. If you are an engineering school or teach CAD drafting or... Read more →

The curse of the mutant AutoCAD XCLIP, solved

It began with an old drawing that looked like this. In the middle of that birds nest is an electrical layout with lighting blocks (AutoCAD predating our use of AMEP) and circuits. The mess is the result of some blocks showing a massive, larger than building extents, outline. In the middle under that centre grip are the original lighting block graphics. The outline is actually a fully functional XCLIP frame which somehow is associated with the block insertion. Explode the block & it disappears, redefine the block and it survives but is not replicated on any new insertions! I tried... Read more →

The Autodesk 2012 Launch Aquatic with Salesoft CAD Solutions

It takes something special to lure you into an underground bunker filled with sharks. After a photo at the door (easier to ID the remains?) it was quite a trek, stopping to observe the Penguin Colony, to the Antarctic Hut and an auditorium lined tanks of huge stingray & fish. A welcoming drink & tasty finger food satisfied the appetite although you wondered if the seafood watching from the tanks realised some of what we were eating was seafood. No chance of a quick exit as it was guarded by sharks and, anyway, we were here to see design software:... Read more →