Tag: autocad

Ideas for AutoCAD – Vote if you care

Luke Johnson

The AutoCAD Design team is experimenting with new ways to get feedback from our users.

Your suggestions help make AutoCAD (Mac & Windows) better, so let us know what would make AutoCAD easier to use, more enjoyable and help you be more productive.

The Design team might drop in from time to time to get inspired, and we may use the data submitted to help drive customer activities such as focus groups at our offices, AUGI CAD Camps,and events at Autodesk University.

Ideas for AutoCAD – Google Moderator

via email.

Now we just need a similar mechanism for Revit!

Add non printing layers when exporting from Revit to DWG

Luke Johnson

You can make certain layers export as non printable layers when exporting from Revit 2012 to AutoCAD DWG or DXF files.

First, you need to set the following checkbox in the Modify DWG/DXF Export Setup dialog box:

Make layers containing the following text non plottable NPLT

Then, make a line style and map its layer to a layer name containing the text ‘NPLT’:

After the file has been exported, you will see that the layer has been set to non printable in the AutoCAD Layer Manager:

Installing the Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD-based products – It is Alive in the Lab

Luke Johnson

Here is a good guide on how to install the Google Earth Extension in AutoCAD.

There is a workflow which allows the topography from Google to be placed into Revit. You could try:
AutoCAD with Google Earth Extension – Export DWG – Import/Link into Revit
OR
Sketchup – Save SKP – Import/Link into Revit

Installing the Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD-based products – It is Alive in the Lab

Updating AutoCAD and Revit

Luke Johnson

Updating AutoCAD and Revit can be difficult for a few reasons.  If you are not on subscription, there can be tension between the users and the purchasers of the software – when do we outlay $$$ to do the upgrade?

In that situation, there is often lengthy discussion related to the cost vs benefits of any particular upgrade.

After that discussion is resolved, the next question is – can our current hardware run this new software?

The following comic from Architexts draws on these themes…

http://architexts.us/2011/01/14/updating-autocad/

Support for non-Microsoft networks (Autodesk Support)

Luke Johnson

Issue

You want to know if Autodesk products are supported on non-Microsoft networks.

Solution

Autodesk products are designed to conform to Microsoft Network API standards. All other networks that are not Microsoft networks are considered third-party network connectivity products.For the Autodesk software to function properly, your network must provide functionality and performance consistent with the Microsoft network environment. This means that behavior not reproducible between a Microsoft® Windows® server and a Microsoft Windows client is considered a network product deviation, not an abnormality in the Autodesk software.
This is reposted from this support page.

The Best of AutoCAD 2010: Meshes (AutoCAD Exchange)

Luke Johnson

Interesting video on AutoCAD Exchange over at this link.

The main point of the video is – if you want to work with Solids in AutoCAD effectively, you should correctly set the DELOBJ system variable. What does this variable mean?

From Autodesk online help:

As Revit users, if we ever use AutoCAD for 3D modeling, we want to try and create a form that is a true ‘solid’, something that Revit can understand properly (as opposed to messy meshes).

It seems that this workflow is becoming easier. Of course, Revit itself is becoming a more powerful 3D modeling tool. Check out my post on Bending the Rules with Adaptive Points.

Reduce Precision of AutoCAD file for insertion into Revit (too many decimals!)

Luke Johnson

Let’s say you have AutoCAD file of unknown origin, and it has some wacky or imprecise units (like the distance between two walls is 8250.092234897). What you need to do is reduce the precision, such that all the decimal points get ‘chopped off’.

To do this:

  • Open the offending DWG in AutoCAD.
  • ‘Save As’ and choose a DXF format.
  • Go to Tools menu – Options (see below)

  • Choose DXF Options, ASCII Format and set the ‘Decimal Places of Accuracy’ to the desired value (choosing 0 will remove all decimal places):

  • Hit Save.

I recommend that you now open the DXF file you saved, and then resave it as a DWG file.Now you can insert your file into Revit, and you won’t have to deal with imprecise units.Please note that this process may result in some ’rounding off’ of values – you may want to double check the resulting file.

I found this process at the following link:
Forum Link

Autodesk Certification Exam Guides

Luke Johnson

Some dead links below… here is a current one.

You may be interested in becoming either an ‘Autodesk Certified Associate’ or an ‘Autodesk Certified Professional’. If you are interested, check out the Revit Architecture Exam Guides. Direct link to the Revit Architecture 2010 Certification Exam Guide here.

Other links that you may find useful:
Revit Architecture 2009 Certification Exam Guide
Exam Preparation
AutoCAD Certification Exam Guides