ASCENT Blog

AutoCAD - Mac and Cheese

By Elvis R. Sverko

For those who have been waiting to learn what Autodesk has been promoting as AutoCAD Design816, it’s finally here. So much hype went into Design816, but also so much secrecy. Everyone thought it was going to be groundbreaking, earth-shattering, cutting-edge-technology news. But it turns out it’s just an AutoCAD release. It’s their official serving of AutoCAD 2012 for Mac. Well, actually it’s three servings:

AutoCAD 2012 for Mac

AutoCAD LT 2012 for Mac

AutoCAD WS for Mac

It might as well have been a serving of mac-and-cheese. Don’t get me wrong, for those people who are Mac users (or power users), it’s a huge release. It’s just that everyone thought it was going to be something more, something for everyone, not just Mac users, especially after the way they promoted it. I don’t remember the Windows roll-out of AutoCAD 2012 getting this much hype. Even with all its great new features! But I digress.

So, why is it cool (and important) that AutoCAD 2012 is now available for the Mac? Well, for one thing, there are plenty of Mac users who want it. Who need it. Who got to have it!

And for another thing, everyone now has access to some of the new great AutoCAD 2012 features!

Even though there’s always the great Windows vs Mac debate, Autodesk offers the same program for each one. The operating systems may be different, and you may even need a different install version of AutoCAD for each, but in either case, it still is the same old familiar AutoCAD. They can even share DWG files. That’s right, save it in Windows, open it on a Mac, or vice-versa (you can even throw in a step for WS, it all works seamlessly together).

And what about training? Well, it’s still the same great AutoCAD interface, commands, features, capabilities, etc. etc. So for the most part, it’s the same training of concepts. Sure, there’s going to be a few deviations, but isn’t there always some deviation? I’ve taught a class of ten individuals using the latest version of AutoCAD on the same Windows operating system on identical hardware. All ten modified the interface to their own liking. Each one completely different from the next. However, they all learned the same new features at the same time, the same way.

It’s good to share, and it’s good to have the familiar, but it’s also good to shake things up. I might even try some mac-and-cheese again to see if I might like it now.

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”  - Albert Einstein

 

 

Wipeout

By Elvis Sverko

After running in the Warrior Dash last weekend I’ve seen my share of people wiping out in the mud. No, I didn’t wipeout, but I did have a great time with my friends and fellow warriors. And it got me thinking, that I’d like to participate in an event that has no running, but instead just some obstacles. Then last night I was watching Wipeout on TV. All it is, is obstacles, and it looks fun.

But all this talk about wipeout, got me thinking about the AutoCAD wipeout command, the one which creates areas that hide underlying objects.

It’s a simple command that’s been around for ages, but seems to have taken a backseat to the rest of AutoCAD. What I mean is that many of the commands in AutoCAD have been updated through the years, making AutoCAD very versatile or customizable, and thus in the process, almost making the wipeout command obsolete. Some quick examples that come to mind include Hatch, the use of layers, text background masking, dimension settings, etc. (It all depends on what you’re doing, and what you’re trying to accomplish, so I’m sure there are some uses of the wipeout command that cannot be substituted by anything else. But I’ll let those go for now. Maybe it’s just a workflow thing.)

Sometimes having stray wipeouts in a drawing is no big deal. In other cases, it can be a big deal. And it’s these big deals that I’m talking about.

Sure, you can turn on all wipeout frames to see the stragglers, and then delete them, but that takes time, and if you have a big drawing with lots of layers, it can be difficult and time-consuming. And if you leave wipeouts in the drawing, you may eventually send another object to the back, and in the process inadvertently be sending it behind the straggling wipeout, thus blocking out part of your drawing that you don’t want blocked, and you may not notice it until it’s too late.

I’ve also heard many people complain about the difficulty of printing with wipeouts in a drawing, either not blocking what it’s supposed to, or printing as a black “smudge” on certain printers. Obviously there are ways to get around this, but should we really have to?

And wipeouts can only be made from polylines. So you can only have a wipeout shape using straight lines, not curves. It kind of limits how you can use it. Unless you get creative of course.

Sometimes a wipeout can hide a mistake. Sometimes, the wipeout is the mistake.

Some people flat out refuse to use wipeouts. Others overuse them. And then there are those in between. If you are going to use them, I suggest you put them on their own dedicated layer.

So, with the possible issues caused by wipeouts, should we continue to use them? It’s a simple tool, but should we “hide” it from training sessions? Or should we just use it responsibly?

I don’t know. But aren’t drawings meant to show something, not hide it?

 “Hide nothing, for time, which sees all and hears all, exposes all.”  - Sophocles

 

 

Out of the Box

By Martha Hollowell

Following up on Elvis’ post “Preparation with Hotfixes” I started thinking about what you can and can’t do with software out of the box. You can do tons of incredible things. Today’s CAD/BIM software is amazing. From the Revit side you can draw walls and put doors in them, add HVAC systems down to the smallest detail and coordinate structural columns with architectural ones – all out of the box. But…

When it comes to which walls, which windows, which HVAC equipment, which structural columns that is where out of the box breaks down. While Revit comes with tons of choices they probably aren’t the ones you want to use (of course). So, you need to acquire the right ones. Some manufacturers have their elements posted on Autodesk Seek. That is a good place to go first. When you get manufacturer information you get all of their expertise and time wrapped into a nice package, downloadable and ready to use.

You can also create your own types and families (Revit speak for blocks). That is of course more time consuming but it does get you what you want.  Plus, it is a lot of fun to figure out. If you start with a family that has already been created and modify it; then you save time as well.

I’m a big fan of creating templates to solve the issues when outside families can’t be used. In Revit Architecture, for example, a window is a separate family while a wall is a system family that needs to be created in the project/template.

So, while our fundamentals courseware focuses on using “out of the box” software so everyone is on the same page it is always good to get beyond the fundamentals and start thinking out of the box.