IMAGINiT Technologies Support Blog

Have your computers system ready to run AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013!

One of the main questions asked when a new release comes out is what are the system requirements to run thesoftware, it is always a good idea before installing any software on yourmachine to make sure that your computer meets at least meets the minimum system requirements, but you’ll have better results if you gowith what Autodesk recommends and not just the minimum requirements to run the product. If your system does not meet these requirements, problems canoccur or product will not function as designed. You’ll also want to verify you have a certified graphics card and the driver that Autodesk recommends to run the software. You can check to see if you do by using the link below.

http://www.autodesk.com/hardware

Below is a list of hardware and software requirements Autodesk is recommending to run AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013.

32-bit Hardware and Software Requirements
Operating systems

32-bit versions of the following:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition (SP3 or later)
Microsoft Windows Vista® including the following editions (SP2 or later):
• Enterprise
• Business
• Ultimate
Microsoft Windows 7 including the following editions:
• Enterprise
• Ultimate
• Professional
Microsoft Windows 7 is recommended.

Browser
Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later

CPU type
Windows XP: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ Dual Core processor, 1.6 GHZ or higher with SSE2 technology
Windows Vista or Windows 7: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon Dual Core, 3.0 GHz or Higher with SSE2 technology

Memory
2 GB minimum
4 GB recommended

Display resolution
1280 x 1024 with True Color (minimum)
1600 x 1200 with True Color (recommended)
Multiple monitors are supported

Hard disk
12 GB for installation
7 GB for extraction of the installer if you are using electronic download
2 GB available after installation

Pointing device
MS-Mouse compliant

.NET
.NET Framework Version 4.0

Additional Requirements for 3D Modeling
• Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor, 3.0 GHz or greater; or Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 2.0 GHz or higher
• 4 GB RAM (with 3GB switch enabled) recommended
• 2 GB free hard disk space available not including installation requirements
• 1280 x 1024 True Color video display adapter (1,600 x 1,200 recommended) 128 MB or greater
• Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater
• Direct 3D® - capable, workstation-class graphics card

64-bit Hardware and Software Requirements
Operating systems

64-bit versions of the following:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2
Microsoft Windows Vista® including the following editions (SP2 or later):
• Enterprise
• Business
• Ultimate
Microsoft Windows 7 including the following editions:
• Enterprise
• Ultimate
• Professional
Microsoft Windows 7 is recommended.

Browser
Internet Explorer 7.0 or later

CPU type
AMD Athlon ™ 64 with SSE2 technology
AMD Opteron™ with SSE2 technology
Intel Xeon® with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology
Intel Pentium® 4 with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology

Memory
4 GB minimum
8 GB recommended

Display resolution
1280 x 1024 with True Color (minimum)
1600 x 1200 with True Color (recommended)
Multiple monitors are supported

Hard disk
12 GB for installation
7 GB for extraction of the installer if you are using electronic download
2 GB available after installation

Pointing device
MS-Mouse compliant

.NET
.NET Framework Version 4.0

3D Modeling Additional Requirements
• 8 GB RAM or more
• 2 GB free hard disk space available not including installation requirements
• 1280 x 1024 True Color video display adapter (1,600 x 1,200 recommended) 128 MB or greater
• Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater
• Direct 3D® - capable, workstation-class graphics card

Also Adobe Flash Player is not installed by default. If you don’t have the newest version of Flash installed on your system, a message will display requesting that you install it. Flash

Player can be installed from the product media or Adobe’s website - http://www.adobe.com.

Digital Signature: Whose got the Write its not Valid

Turning off the Digital Validation Option for AutoCAD

This has been known to cause slow downs in AutoCAD so sometimes it is a good idea to turn this off

Ever want to turn off the Digital Signature. Here are a number of ways of doing this

Option 1

1.) Right click on a Autodesk Icon

2.) from the menu select Enable/Disable Digital Signature

3.) Once the Signature Validation Options dialog is opened uncheck Digital Signature and Display Special Icon

4.) Select OK

5.) restart your system



Option 2

1.) Find AcSignOpt.exe

2.) Double Click this EXE file

3.) opened uncheck Digital Signature and Display Special Icon

4.) Select OK

5.) restart your system

Option 3 (Ok do not try this at home)

What I am talking about next to Option 3 is that this involves editing the registry and if done incorrectly it can render your system unusable. see warning note at the bottom

1.) Go to the start button in Windows 7 and in the search field at the bottom type regedit and then hit <enter> button on the keyboard or in Windows XP go to the start button and select run. Type regedit in the dialog and select OK

2.) Your registry editor is now open. On the left go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Autodesk Digital Signatures\

3.) Highlight Autodesk Digital Signatures on the left and look to the right pane

4.) You will see an key called IconOverlayEnabled Double click on this key

5.) A dialog will open and you will see a vault or 1 or 0

IconOverlayEnabled = 1 = on

IconOverlayEnabled = 0 = off

6.) type in the value you want and close the registry editor. Your the Digital Validation Option is not set

Warning! Problems caused
by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.

Use the Microsoft®
Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and in the related solution, TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor

AutoCAD Map 3D 2013 is here is your computer ready!?

AutoCAD Map 3D 2013 was released this week is your computer ready? If you’re not sure or just want to verify this is how you can check.

See what Autodesk is recommending for system requirements to run Map 3D 2013 on either a 32bit system or a 64bit system and what operating system to use.

While your checking your computer specs. you might as well verify your computer is also running a certified and recommended graphics card with the driver that Autodesk recommends to run product by using the link below.

http://www.autodesk.com/hardware

By verifying your system specs. and your graphics card will help insure you have the best chances of Map 3D running smoothly and not run into any issue.

Vault 2013 Upgrade Alert - ASP Status Check

The Autodesk Vault Server 2013 uses .Net Framework 4.0 instead of 2.5. If you are updating an existing ADMS installation, you will probably be surprised that you get an ADMS system check error concerning the state of ASP.net.

Along with updates to the Microsoft SQL version which is probably required as detailed the Vault System Requirements sheet, you will need to switch versions by running the command line shown in the WikiHelp file below to re-register the new version of .Net Framework.

 

 

_{Ed. Note: Thanks to John Hackney for pointing this out.}

What's New in Autodesk Vault 2013

Collaboration and Data Management Software

Autodesk® Vault data management software helps organize, manage, and track data creation, simulation, and documentation processes for design and engineering workgroups. Get more control over design data with revision management capabilities and quickly find and reuse design data, for easier management of your design and engineering information.

Here is a summary of the new features for Autodesk Vault 2013

Greater Collaboration

Autodesk Vault steps toward a more complete single source of truth for the design team and beyond. Vault's connectivity with other Autodesk collaboration tools such as Autodesk Buzzsaw, third party and enterprise level information systems, and numerous integrations with design applications enables trusted collaboration across disciplines, company divisions and third party suppliers and contractors.

Streamlined Workflows

The standardization of the Vault interface and improvement of CAD integration mean the 2013 release has once again advanced the end user experience. Improved support for Inventor workflows involving drawing management, iParts, iAssemblies, levels of detail, and open and place from Vault as well as the introduction of Project workflows also advances the ability to manage project milestones and security.

Extensibility and the Enterprise

The 2013 release extends its flexibility and enterprise level functionality with the addition of Custom Objects and BOM properties, as well continuing a commitment to improving server side performance, and enhancing ease of maintenance, replication, compatibility, and data transfer.

Vault 2013 Features Summary

From the Technical What’s New PDF, here are the three top new features that are regarded as key with this new release.

1.  Forward Compatibility:  Connect to a 2013 ADMS server from 2012 client.  This will help in staging in large upgrades especially those with multiple sites requiring orchestrated training.                                                                                                                                                         
2.  Replication File Ownership Improvements:  This should simplify user workflows in database replicated environments.                                                                                                               
   
3. Reduction of Redundant Files:  In prior versions of Vault, every file version created a copy of the file in the Vault regardless of if the file changed or not.  With 2013, that is no longer the case - no longer will sending a file to the Review state create an unnecessary copy of your 10Mb Inventor Drawing file in the Vault.  This should significantly reduce bloat in Vault filestores.

For more information please see the WikiHelp Article and the Autodesk Vault Products landing page at imaginit.com.

 

Collaboration and Data Management Software

Autodesk® Vault data management software helps organize, manage, and track data creation, simulation, and documentation processes for design and engineering workgroups. Get more control over design data with revision management capabilities and quickly find and reuse design data, for easier management of your design and engineering information.

Revit 2013 Miscellaneous Improvements

Dimensions:

Split Linear Dimension Chains:   You can now tab and select a dimension that is part of a chain of dimension and delete a dimension, the remaining dimensions become an independent chain.

Dimension Diameter:  The diameter symbol can be before, after or not displayed in the dimension text.

Dimension Equality Text:  There is now the ability to apply an equality formula; this is a type parameter setting under the Other category, so you will need to have dimension styles for types without formulas, and with varying formulas.  You have access to the following parameter types in the dimension equality formula dialog box.  You do not have the ability to add a custom parameter.  In the instance parameters you can display the segment values, equality text, or the equality formula string.

 Project Browser

You can now perform a search of the Project Browser for a specific text string by right clicking in the project browser, select Search and enter the search criteria in the dialog box.  Select Next or Previous to navigate between matching items.  The current match is highlighted and will scroll and expand if necessary to display a match.  The search is not specific to views or sheets; it is a search of the browser as a whole.  You can select Match Case if needed, otherwise it will ignore case.

Multi-segmented Grid Lines:  To create a multi-segmented grid, select the Multi-segment tool in the Draw panel of the Modify|Place Grid context tab.  This will enable sketch mode for you to draw the grid line.  This will work on linear and radial grids or a combination of lines and arcs in the sketch, but must be a continuous segment.

Misc.

Double Click Zoom to Fit:  Double click on the wheel to zoom to fit.

Type Duplication in Edit Group Mode:  This limitation has been removed, the type dialog now allows duplication in Group edit mode.

Graphic Override Dialog Changes:  Ghost and Transparent are no longer toggles on the top of the View Specific Element Graphics dialog box, instead they are part of the new Transparency category which allows you to set the level of transparency from 0 to 100.

 
 

On the Fly Pattern Definition:   you can now create a new fill or line pattern on the fly when overriding an object.

 

Grid Guide Dialog Enhancement:  You can now create a new grid guide, or assign an existing grid guide to a sheet. 

 

When you create a new one, you will have to select it once it is placed on the sheet to change the grid spacing.

Also, you cannot select one that is on the sheet and swap it out for a different one from either the type selector or the properties of the sheet.  If you need to change it to a different type you will need to delete it and add another one.

Ribbon Changes:

View Tab:  Render Gallery and Render in Cloud tools are now on the Graphics panel on the View Tab

 

Annotate Tab:  The Tag and Symbol panels now have new annotation options for the stair path and riser count

 

AutoCAD 2013 System Requirements

Compliments of Shaan Hurley Between the Lines

"The system requirements for AutoCAD 2013 are pretty much the same as the last two releases with the exception of no longer officially supporting Windows Vista (not blocked on install just not supported.) Remember system requirements are not a one size fits all as there are a number of factors that affect how much resources your system may require. The factors can be from the complexity of your drawings, 2D or 3D, visual styles. These requirements are also the lowest suggested system optimal requirements, so use it as a suggested baseline."

Our take is that you have to be more specific on the graphics cards. For low end 2d drafting you are ok to use NVidia GeForce or ATI Radeon cards but for 3D we recommend NVidia Quadro FX or ATI FirePro series.

Here is the link to Autodesk listing of certified cards that we want you to review before getting a new machine on order! Autodesk Certified Graphics Cards

Todd

2013 No more Exporting from Inventor, import files directly into AutoCAD

Now we can import Inventor files directly into the AutoCAD model.  No more translations (.sat, .acis, etc) needed!

Use the IMPORT command and change the "FIles of Type" to the Inventor extension ( *.ipt, *.iam).

(Figure 1) 

 Stay tuned for other new or updated features.

 

2012: Help, Communication center and other tools (inforcenter bar) are missing.

You run AutoCAD (or a vertical based on AutoCAD) and you notice in the upper right corner that things like Help, Communication Center and other tools are missing.

(Fig. 1:  AutoCAD 2012)

but you know it should look something like this:

(Fig. 2: AutoCAD 2011)

There are a couple ways to resolve this issue.

You can edit the registry or reset the profile.

1)  Edit the registry:

WARNING:  Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support..

To edit the registry:

1. In Windows go to Start and enter REGEDIT in either the search or Run fields and hit Enter.
2. Navigate to and select the following key : HHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A001:409\InfoCenter
3. Double click the "InfoCenterOn" key on the right side.
4. Change the value to a 1.
   
   
   
   (Fig. 3 Registry)
5. Click Ok
6. Click the X to close the registry editor.

Run the program.

2)  Reset the Autodesk profile.

Autodesk has created a new little utility for some of the 2012 programs.  You can see my blog at: http://blogs.rand.com/support/2011/03/autocad-2012-new-feature-reset-settings-to-default-is-better-than-sliced-bread.html

The end result should look something like this:

(Fig. 5 AutoCAD 2012)

If neither of those helps, you can either manually get rid of the profile or try a Repair reinstall (from "Add/Remove programs" or "Programs and Features").

More cascading problems? Serious?

You find that your AutoCAD MEP is obtaining a license from your Revit Architecture Suite instead of the Revit MEP Suite.

Well, although it seems incorrect, that is how it's designed to cascade per the Autodesk Technical Solution.  http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS16981643

 

Which shows the Revit Architecture Suite BEFORE the Revit MEP Suite:

AutoCAD MEP 2012
Autodesk Building Design Suite Standard 2012
AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2012
AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2012
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2012
Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate 2012
Autodesk Building Design Suite for Education 2012
Autodesk Education Master Suite 2012

If this is a problem, and it just may be, then log a case in your Autodesk subscription account at www.autodesk.com/subscription and see what Autodesk can do to help you out.