IMAGINiT Building Solutions Blog

It’s March – That Must Mean New Software!

Yes, it’s that time of year again - time to see what sort of goodies we’ve got waiting for us in our latest release of Autodesk software! Let me set something clear from the onset of this blog post, that this is not intended to be a comprehensive list of “what’s new” in the software. We will have plenty of time through this and other venues to review the technical aspects of the new software releases. Instead, the purpose of this post is to keep a broad view of things. As you pour through all of the various software offerings (especially if you have one of the Suites) and look to see what it means to you, here are some thoughts to keep in mind as you work through the evaluation process:

• Cloud services are growing, but not at the cost of reduced desktop solutions. The foreseeable future of the Autodesk Solution consists of a blend of desktop solutions (especially Suites) AND cloud services. Autodesk 360 is intended to extend the desktop, not replace it.
• There is a stronger push behind interoperability and workflow between individual pieces of software in the Suites. If you have the Building Design Suite, you’ll have better integration between Revit and AutoCAD, between Revit and Inventor… if we have access to all of these tools, why shouldn’t we take better advantage of their capabilities?
• Windows 8 support. ‘Nuff said.
• IMAGINiT had a webcast a few months ago that was all about “Evaluating the Upgrade” It’s available in our webcast archive and is worth a view. If you haven’t been there before, you’ll need to fill out a quick form to get access, but access is free. http://imaginit.com/knowledge-resources/webcast-archive Look for the one a little less than a quarter of the way down in the list called, “[Building] Evaluating the Upgrade”.

At this point, let’s go ahead and violate the statement I made earlier and mention a couple of features that I think stand out in some of the new releases – and even though this list is only a tiny fraction of everything that was put into the software, take a look at them within the context of the statements above – how do they help bridge the gap between individual pieces of software, how do they utilize both desktop and cloud technology, and perhaps most importantly – how do they matter to you and your firm when evaluating the upgrade process?

AutoCAD 2014

• Live map and geolocation in all suites
• Enhanced point cloud tools and features

Revit 2014

• Non-rectangular crop regions View this photo
• Alternate dimensions View this photo
• Building element energy analysis View this photo
• Enhanced point cloud tools and features View this photo

Autodesk ReCap (new software)

• Create 3D models from laser scans and captured photos – built into all 2014 suites

There are a few things for you to chew on – we’ll keep this blog going along with other webcasts to help your investigation and analysis of what is new and what it means to you and your firm.

As always, post any questions below or reach out to your local IMAGINiT office for assistance in this migration process!

Have fun!

joe

Windows 8 and Autodesk 2013 software

How many of you have already downloaded the Windows 8 Release Preview and made your computer screen look something like this?

Well, over the weekend I decided to spin up a virtual machine and see what would happen if I got the Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview installed with (hopefully) some Autodesk software. I have to say that the installation of Windows 8 went quite smoothly (I just had to avoid some auto-installer features of my VM system) and the installation of Revit 2013 and AutoCAD MEP 2013 along with some supporting applications (Sketchbook Designer, Inventor Fusion, etc) went without a hiccup as well.

I have my VM running with 2 processors / cores and only 2 Gig of memory, so I'm not going to test anything for speed, but from a general usability standpoint, it all looks positive so far. It takes a little to get used to the new Start screen, but that part went reasonably quick for me after a short perusal of the Microsoft Windows 8 FAQ.

I'll keep poking around at this from time to time, but if you have anything in particular that you'd like me to review, leave a comment and we'll see what we can do to help out!

Have fun!

joe

A rare occurrence of a virus for AutoCAD

Our IT staff passed this one along - hopefully it has no affect on you and your business (it seems to have been mostly infecting Latin America):

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/21/autocad_worm/

As stated in the article,
"The worm, dubbed ACAD/Medre.A, steals files and sends them to email accounts located in China. ESET said it had worked with Chinese ISP Tencent, the Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and Autodesk – the creator of AutoCAD – to stop the harvesting of drawings by blocking email accounts associated with relaying stolen data... ESET has released a free stand-alone cleaner utility to aid in the clean-up of infected systems.

AutoCAD malware strains are rare but not unprecedented. For example an AutoCAD virus surfaced in 2009.

More details on the AutoCAD worm attack can be found in a blog post by Eset"

Here is that more detailed blog post:
http://blog.eset.com/2012/06/21/acadmedre-10000s-of-autocad-files-leaked-in-suspected-industrial-espionage

-joe

2013 Subscription Software Download

Can all of you stop downloading so I can get my stuff? :) When I go to my Autodesk Subscription site to download the new Building Design Suite software, I see the following notice:

Back in reality now, it's nice to see that there are a lot of people eager to get to their new 2013 software from Autodesk. Come on around to meet with us virtually at our Know It.All. event on May 2nd for some good information on these new products!

In the meantime, make sure you have some fun!

joe

Exporting to 32 bit Microsoft Access from 64 bit Software

by Joe Eichenseer

How many of you have run into this and found a dead end? You are using a 64-bit workstation (Windows 7, probably) with 64-bit version of some Autodesk software (Revit or Navisworks, perhaps) and want to try out this supposedly nifty neato cool wow export/link to Microsoft Access. You might have run into a problem in that as you work through any export/link wizard, you don't see any way to export to MS Access.

This is probably because:

1. Your Autodesk software is 64-bit, so it needs a 64-bit ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) driver.
2. Your Microsoft Office is 32-bit and has 32-bit drivers available (although tricky to find), but as mentioned above, these won’t work with 64-bit applications.
3. If you have 32-bit MS Office, it will not let you install a 64-bit ODBC driver.

Translation: you’re in a sticky situation. But fortunately, there is a resolution to this one.

It all boils down to just a few steps, but you’ll need to make sure that you have all of the resources you’ll need prior to starting the process. For starters, you’ll need to download the 64-bit MS Access ODBC drivers from Microsoft here:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255

Be sure to grab the 64-bit (AccessDatabaseEngine_x64.exe) version! :)

You will also need to have your MS Office media available – or have some way available for you to reinstall MS Office. Once you have these pieces in place, you have a 3 or 4 step process in front of you:

1. Uninstall Microsoft Office and any other versions of 32-bit Office products that are installed.
2. Uninstall "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable 32-bit" if you installed it at some point in the past.
3. Install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable 64-bit that you downloaded from the link above. Because all of your 32-bit office products were uninstalled, you should not receive any error messages during the install of the 64-bit drivers.
4. Reinstall Microsoft Office (and any other 32-bit Office products).

After this, you should be able to export from your 64-bit Autodesk application to MS Access and get rolling with figuring out what you might want to do with SQL strings or whatever destination your journey into databases takes you!

Enjoy.

Design Review for iOS

So I’ve had this post hanging around in draft form for a while and for some reason never clicked the “post it” button. While I’m going to go ahead and blame it on a life that was all sorts of crazy lately, the information below is still pretty relevant. Essentially, in late September Autodesk came out with a lightweight version of Design Review for iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), and while I’m sure there are a lot of people out there waiting for the Android version, for those with a foot in the Apple World, it’s still pretty cool! :)

If you or a friend has an iOS device, I highly recommend downloading and trying out this free app here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/design-review-mobile/id459112753?ls=1&mt=8

When you open the app, you’ll be welcomed by a screen that looks like this (all screen caps from an iPad):


Do you remember all of the press recently about the Autodesk Cloud services? Well, those same cloud services are the only real way to get a file into Design Review. Try as I might, there was no integration with DropBox and Design Review was not listed in the “File Sharing” apps in iTunes when I connected the iPad to my computer. To get a DWFx to the iPad, I uploaded a DWFx file to my Autodesk cloud storage account and then browsed to that same account from within Design Review on the iPad. Once the file was open, navigating through the DWF was very nimble, and changing from one sheet to another in the multi-page DWF went very smoothly. Design Review can open both 2D and 3D DWF files.
If you published your DWF with object data – in this case, a Revit sample project file, that object data can be seen in a property page on the side:


But I have to put in a plug here – if you have IMAGINiT’s Utilites for Revit (http://imaginit.com/software-solutions/imaginit-products/imaginit-utilities-for-revit), there is a tool that we added in our 2012 release called “DWF Plus” that adds in all sorts of additional data to a DWF file that regular out-of-the-box Revit exporting just doesn’t pass through. (If you renew your Autodesk subscription contracts through IMAGINiT, you can download the utilities for free, if not… well… they are available for purchase…) Below is a screen shot of the properties of the same bed, but exported with DWF Plus. Each of the property headings with a + to the side can be expanded to show additional details about the selected entity - quite a difference in availabie data!


If you are opening a 2D file that has layers embedded in it (files from AutoCAD), you have access to turning layers on and off, but no color control.  If you are opening a 3D DWF, you cannot currently turn off any geometry – you are just going to be viewing the model as it was exported. Navigating is through typical iOS multi-touch: drag with one finger to pan in 2D files or orbit in 3D files, pinch to zoom in, drag with 2 fingers to pan in a 3D file, and leave one finder in place and drag with a second finger to orbit around a fixed point.

There is room to improve the markup capabilities of Design Review for iOS - right now it’s really limited to text notes and callouts (text inside a box). No measurement tools, cloud outlines, stamps, or other utilities you find in the desktop version of Design Review.


Even with these limitations, Design Review for a mobile device is a welcome addition to the Autodesk apps that exist for iOS devices. (Other apps include AutoCAD WS, IPM Viewer, Buzzsaw, Sketchbook, and Tinkerbox.) Take it for a spin – and let’s look forward to what the future releases will provide!

joe

P&ID Tool Palettes

Can you tell what I have been working on lately? J   

Plant 3D tool palettes are created and controlled through the project specifications. They are relatively easy to modify and maintain...not so for P&ID palettes.   

P&ID workspaces and tool palettes for all standards P&ID PIP, P&ID ISO, P&ID ISA, P&ID DIN, and P&ID JIS/ISO are available within all projects. The tools located on each palette in these workspaces are defined in the P&ID Class Definitions of the Project Properties.   

While many of the tools on these tool palettes can be used in any project, the P&ID Class Definitions for each standard are slightly different. This will result in the error "symbol could not be found in the current project" when trying to add these P&ID objects to a project drawing.   

To add this content to the project you are working on, create a new project using the P&ID standard containing the Class Definition. Create a P&ID resource drawing in this project and add any of the tool palette objects that generate this error into the drawing. Save and close this project.

Open the desired target project for these P&ID class objects and use Link to Drawing to add the reference drawing to this project. Open the drawing you just added and use copy to clipboard CTL+C to copy the objects into a P&ID drawing created within the project you are now working in.

Note: Copying the file into the project does not update the P&ID Class Definitions, but copying the objects from one drawing to another does. Adding the drawing to the project allows you to have both drawings open simultaneously and simplifies the copy/paste process when you are dealing with multiple items.

Although the P&ID Class Definition is created for us in our target project it is not complete. The Symbol information is incomplete and we cannot use it to add the tool to another palette. You can however copy palette tools from one P&ID workspace to another.

Create a project template in this manner to use when starting new projects to automate and standardize this configuration in the future!