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Content from our amazing technical team will continue! We hope you’ll join us: https://resources.ascented.com/ascent-blog

What’s New in the AutoCAD® 2021 Fundamentals Learning Guide

by Renu Muthoo

I am excited to tell you about the AutoCAD® 2021 Fundamentals learning guide that is now available from ASCENT. This year, we focused on making the content more precise and effective while incorporating the new features and enhancements for the 2021 version of the AutoCAD software. I also gave a webcast about the new features in AutoCAD 2021; thank you to those of you who attended it. We have posted the recording on the ASCENT YouTube channel on the following link: New in AutoCAD 2021 webcast

This year’s changes include:

• The Quick Measure tool has been enhanced to include the area and perimeter.
• The Trim and Extend commands have been completely revamped.
• The Blocks Palette has been modified.
• A new Xref Compare command has been introduced.

The Quick Measure tool provides you with multiple measurements in real-time. In addition to displaying the dimensions, distances, and angles within a single command, the command now reports the area and perimeter of a closed area. As you hover the cursor around a group of objects, all the appropriate measurements are displayed. When you click inside a closed area, it is highlighted in green with the area and perimeter displayed near the cursor. You can also hold the Shift key and click in multiple closed areas to display the cumulative area and perimeter. This tool has been added to the learning guide along with the rest of the measuring commands in Chapter 9: Analyzing Model and Object Properties.

The process of trimming and extending objects has been changed in the AutoCAD 2021 software. Both the Trim and Extend commands have become intelligent commands. Once you invoke either command and hover your cursor over objects, the software automatically detects potential cutting edges or boundary edges. By default, the commands provide three different options for trimming or extending:

• Individual selection: The objects can be trimmed or extended by selecting them individually.

• Freehand selection: Holding down the left-mouse button and then dragging over multiple objects or portions of objects trims or extends those objects in a single step.

• Two-point fence selection: Clicking two points to create a segment that passes through the multiple objects that are to be trimmed/extended.

The Blocks Palette provides a convenient location from where you can locate and insert blocks and drawings into the current drawing. The Blocks Palette can be accessed through the View tab>Palettes panel or by clicking Recent Blocks/Blocks from Libraries from the Insert Blocks gallery. The Blocks Palette has three tabs that provide you with all the blocks that are in the current drawing, all the blocks that were inserted recently, and the drawings that were inserted as blocks. Through the Libraries tab, you can now get a number of drawings as blocks into your Blocks Palette at once by selecting a folder that contains all of the drawings. The content and practices of Chapter 12: Blocks have been updated to incorporate the working of the new Blocks Palette.

A new Xref Compare tool has been introduced in AutoCAD 2021. When a drawing that is referenced in another drawing is modified, you can see the differences between the two versions of the drawing using the Xref Compare command. If the host drawing is open and the externally referenced drawing is changed, you are alerted by a balloon. You can click on the link in this balloon to compare the drawings or you can start the comparison from the right-click menu.

• Once you start the Xref Compare command, the host drawing is in Compare mode indicated by being enclosed in a blue border and the Xref Compare toolbar is displayed. The differences are enclosed in a revision cloud.
  
• The Xref Compare toolbar allows you to toggle various display options, change the shape and color of the revision cloud, and zoom to the previous and next comparison.

These are some of the changes in the AutoCAD 2021 software that are incorporated in the AutoCAD 2021 Fundamentals learning guide. The learning guide is sure to keep your teaching/learning experience up to date and relevant to the current software.

Celebrating World Book Day

World Book Day, also known at World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, is a global celebration of books and the difference that reading makes to people’s lives, young and old. This annual event was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.

First celebrated on April 23, 1995, this salute to reading and books has become an annual celebration in countries around the globe. The date of April 23 was chosen because in the year 1616 the famous authors, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. April 23 is also the date of birth or death for a number of other notable authors. 

This year, as most schools around the world are closed and people are staying indoors and social distancing, the significance of books for learning, stimulating our minds and bringing people together while still keeping them safely apart is especially meaningful.

We hope you are enjoying a good book - or more - this season!

 

Looking to learn Inventor CAM 2D Milling?

By Jennifer MacMillan

ASCENT is excited to announce the release of a brand new learning guide: Autodesk Inventor 2020 Introduction to 2D Milling. This guide provides students, trainers, and industry professionals with learning content for Inventor CAM.

This guide focuses on how to use Inventor CAM to create 2D milling toolpaths. The 2D Milling toolpaths that are covered include Facing, 2D Adaptive, 2D Pocket, 2D Contour, and Drilling. Despite this learning guide covering only 2D Milling toolpaths, it will provide an excellent foundation on using the entire interface which remains consistent with the more advanced milling and turning operations.

Autodesk Inventor 2020 Introduction to 2D Milling begins with an introduction to the overall Inventor interface and explains how to manipulate your 3D model to change its orientation and view display. This introductory content was important to include for those users that may not have experience with Inventor but that will need to work with existing models in the CAM environment. Through a hands-on, practice-intensive curriculum, students will quickly advance to learning the key skills required to take a 3D model set it up in the CAM environment and assign the toolpaths needed to generate the CNC code required by 2D milling machines.

Topics Covered

• Navigate the Inventor software interface to locate and execute commands.
• Use the model orientation commands to pan, zoom, rotate, and look at a model.
• Assign visual styles to your models.
• Locate, modify, and create tools in the Tool Library.
• Set up machining operations using Inventor CAM.
• Create a Facing, 2D Adaptive, 2D Pocket, 2D Contour, and Drilling toolpath using the Inventor CAM interface.
• Use the Simulation option to visualize toolpaths.
• Import a tool library.
• Create a toolpath template.
• Post-process an Inventor CAM setup to output the CNC machine code required to machine a model. (not edit it)

As an introductory guide, Autodesk® Inventor® CAM 2020: Introduction to 2D Milling does not assume prior knowledge of Autodesk Inventor CAM, but an understanding of the CNC milling process is recommended. It is aimed for those using Inventor Professional with Inventor CAM Express (free add-in) or the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection that have implemented Autodesk Inventor CAM Ultimate (previously called Inventor HSM Ultimate). This guide will not provide instructional content on how to create 3D models using the Inventor modeling tools. Its focus is solely on generating 2D milling toolpaths once models are created. 

This new learning guide is now available for purchase on the ASCENT website and through Amazon.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Jennifer

What's new in the Advance Steel 2020 Fundamentals book

The Autodesk® Advance Steel Learning Guide received some necessary TLC for its latest 2020 release. This Fundamentals Learning Guide was meant to be an overview of basic Advance Steel tasks, but in order to give the user the experience of creating a project from start to finish, I needed to dive deeper by expanding on existing topics and adding new ones.

The overall goal was to give trainers more in-depth topics to stem as to how or why a project is setup. Here is a quick overview of what's been added to the Advance Steel 2020 Fundamentals Learning Guide:

Cage Ladders

Although there was already information on how to create a cage ladder I wanted to make sure the practice gave users more in-depth knowledge on how a ladder or cage is created. I expanded on adjusting a ladder's height, the distances and dimensions of braces and bands by showing the user how to add two ladders and adjust their properties to create two different cage ladders.

Stairs

Stairs were a part of the Learning Guide, but they always seem to be a nightmare to create correctly (no matter which Autodesk software you are working in), so I elaborated on creating stairs by adding more in the practice for stringers, tread type and landings, as well as adding how to add stairs from another project. 

Special Parts

Special Parts is a new addition to chapter 4. Adding special parts was a necessity as a lot of designers need to use parts created by other software or firms to keep optimal design communication. 

Model Verification

Model verification is an intricate part of designing in Advance Steel so a section covering all of the verification tools necessary to add to the book. 

Prototypes

Understanding and editing a prototype drawing is crucial for setup, so I created a new chapter in the Advance Steel book covering the creation of prototypes and how to define the  necessary settings and configuration.

Drawing Style Manager

Content about the Drawing Style Manager was added to give users a better understanding of what is being generated behind the scenes and how to take advantage of the various styles, like object presentation, view direction, advance options and much more.

BOM Template Editor User Interface

The Advance Steel Bill of Materials Template Editor section, which is a new addition to the appendix, teaches the users how to customize existing BOM template elements, including graphics, fonts, colors, token attributes, and list structure.

Management Tools

I've added a section in the appendix for an explanation on the Advance Steel Management Tools Defaults and how to navigate, filter, and save profiles.   

The changes and additions in this Learning Guide required new datasets to go with it. The changes and additions were made to enrich the book and learning experience. I welcome any suggestions or comments you may have regarding the new Advance Steel Learning Guide.

If you are interested in learning more about ASCENT’s offerings for the 2020 release, please watch our recent Webcast - https://youtu.be/yVEcM8ah-U8

 

 

Hands-on Copy Design Functionality in Vault 2020! Webcast Follow-up

by Barb Nash

Thank you again to those of you who joined our webinar, Hands-on Copy Design functionality in Vault 2020! We have posted the recording on the ASCENT YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/kwcrj4QZCno. The hands-on software simulation shown in the webcast can be accessed here.

The webcast and software simulation were prepared for: 

• Anyone interested in learning about Copy Design in Vault Professional 2020 from an Inventor or AutoCAD user’s perspective
• Anyone interested in hearing more about the interactive eLearning option of software simulations, or trying out the Copy Design software simulation hands-on

Topics covered in the webcast:

• Created new designs using Copy Design in Vault Professional 2020 (examples used Inventor files and AutoCAD files)
• Differentiated between Copy Design operations
• Identified the new Copy Design functionality in Autodesk Vault Professional 2020

Below are some questions that came up during the webcast:

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Q: ­2019 Copy Design was able to be "rolled back" to the original interface by modifying a config file for Vault.  This 2020 version looks better but do you know if we'll still have the ability to choose to use the original CD interface?­

Yes, the ability to choose is still available, as shown at: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-can-the-old-Copy-Design-be-enabled.html

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Q: ­Can the Vise2.idw now be also chosen to be moved to the new folder?­

If Vise2.idw is set to Auto, it will automatically be moved to the same folder as Vise2.iam.

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Q: ­­­Does the AutoCAD xref need to be in vault already for the replace or can a user navigate to an external location....that would then bring that xref to vault?­

The Replace action requires the replacement file to be in Vault.

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Q: If you copy something that already has a suffix (so like copying vise2) could you change that to vise3? does vault know that all the selected parts share a common suffix? ­

No, Vault does not know that the selected parts share a common suffix. Therefore, a manual change to the suffix is required. Find and Replace could be used to speed up the process.

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Q: ­­­­Does copy design checkout a separate network license?­

Copy Design requires a license of Vault. If it is launched within Vault Client it uses the license that Vault Client uses.

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Q: ­­­­I wish there was a CD for the ECO process! :)

Great idea for a Vault IdeaStation submission!! 

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Q: ­­­­On Licensing related: Is Vault 2020 tokenized?

Vault 2020 manages licenses in the same way that the previous versions have (2017 and newer). The tokenized system is not publicly available at this time.

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Q: ­­­­Apart from the UI, is the functionality same in Vault Basic ? I mean functionality of Copy Design of course.

The Copy Design functionality is reduced in Vault Basic as compared with the version that is included in Vault Professional 2020. However, the actions such as Copy, Reuse, Exclude, and Replace are available, as well as the ability to set the Prefix and Suffix, and the destination folder, for the new design. The differences can also be seen in these two links from Help: Copy Design in Vault Basic 2020 and Copy Design in Vault (Workgroup and Professional 2020).

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Q: ­­­­Does replacing a component resolve constraints?

If the replacement component is derived from the original, then constraints should be resolved, except where a constraint is based on a feature that no longer exists in the replacement.  If the components are similar but not derived, it will likely not resolve.

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Q: ­­­­Will this work on Creo files as well?

My understanding is that it is not supported at this time. Two references from Autodesk are shown below:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/vault-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/When-will-Autodesk-make-the-Vault-Professional-2020-Integration-for-PTC-Creo-available.html?v=2020&st=creo

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/vault-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Autodesk-Vault-Professional-Add-in-for-Pro-ENGINEER-Creo-Using-Copy-Design.html?st=Do%20not%20use%20%22Copy%20Design%22%20for%20Creo%20files%E2%80%A6

---

As mentioned in the webcast, the software simulations can be used to capture any standard or custom workflow/process (e.g. Engineering Change Management, New Product Development, CAD Design, etc.) not just Copy Design. The simulation shown uses full guidance prompt callouts but can also be edited to show less guidance using hints, for example, or a callout after a defined number of attempts.

Thank you again! If you have ideas or requests for future webcasts, please let us know.

ASCENT Courseware Update - Follow up to the Webcast

By: Jennifer MacMillan

Thanks to everyone for joining our most recent Webcast where Ronda and I discussed what’s new and coming in the ASCENT curriculum for the Autodesk 2020 software release. Click Here to view the recording.

Here are a few highlights and take away’s from our session:

• The main goal of this webcast was to explain the changes that are coming in the ASCENT curriculum and to introduce the courseware roadmap. I focused on explaining what is changing in the learning guides, not on what is new in the software. As books are released our Content Developers will post blogs if there are significant changes in the guides that warrant explanation.
• Our Roadmap is updated frequently and changes in priority will often require updates to our projected release dates. Please be sure to review this Roadmap as you prepare your schedules.
• And finally…. ASCENT can create custom learning guides that combine content from our existing books. Customers love this solution as it provides students with exactly the content they need in one professionally bound guide, instead of having to flip back and forth through multiple books. If you’re interested in this offering, please reach out!

 

We hope that you enjoyed the webcast. We host webcasts regularly (about once a month), so be sure to keep an eye out on our Events Page for other topics that may interest you.

Thanks,

Jennifer

Inventor Read-only Mode

By Jennifer MacMillan

With the installation of Inventor 2020 you now have access to a Read-only version of Inventor. This eliminates the need to install Inventor View as part of the installation. Once installed you can simply run it as Inventor Read-only Mode 2020. It does not require a license of Inventor to be used.

The interface looks much like Inventor, just with fewer tabs and options. It enables you to load projects and open parts, assemblies, drawings, and presentation files. Once a file is opened, you will have a limited number of tabs available that focus your experience on reviewing the model. You can review the following:

• Use the Model Browser to review the features that were used in the model. You can additionally control the visibility of sketches and work features used to create the geometry using the right-click menu.
• Use the Model Browser to review the component names and view the constraints used to assemble them.
• Use the Inspect tab to measure, analyze interference, and use the analysis tools (parts only).
• Use the View tab to control appearances and visibility as is available in the full version of Inventor.
• Use the View Cube and Navigation pane to control the view orientation of the model.
• For assemblies, you can also review the Bill of Materials for the model using the Assemble tab.

I am guessing the next question you are going to ask is … “ Where do I get it?”. Autodesk is recommending that for those that do not have access to Inventor 2020, simply download the full trial version and run it as read-only. I hope that this is great new way for you to view your models.

Jennifer

Using Two-Point Perspectives Through Cameras

By default, camera and perspective viewports show three-point perspective views. You can display a two-point perspective by adding a Camera Correction modifier to the camera object. To do so, select Camera Correction in Modifiers > Cameras. Two-point perspective causes vertical lines to remain vertical rather than converge over distance.

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This is a short excerpt from the learning guide Autodesk 3ds Max 2019: Fundamentals.

 

Extruding Nested Splines

When linked or imported geometry is merged together (such as by layer with the weld option) or, when 2D objects become attached to form complex splines, these objects are called nested splines. When extruding a nested spline, the enclosed areas form solid masses and can be used for modeling wall systems and similar geometry.

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This is a short excerpt from the ASCENT Autodesk 3ds Max 2019: Fundamentals learning guide.