LaunchPad and other Autodesk news

LaunchPad

Autodesk Labs presents LaunchPad. The LaunchPad Technology Preview accelerates design efforts by providing a single portal into Product Design Suite applications, project data, and workflows. The LaunchPad’s one-click workflows prepare your design data in the Suite environment that is most appropriate to your task so you can quickly start designing, engineering, simulating, and visualizing your design. The LaunchPad is intended for users who already have Product Design Suite installed.

Video showing LaunchPad:

Via Autodesk Labs Blog

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AutoCAD crashes while trying to locate the target for transparent orbit

Problem:

Your AutoCAD based product crashes when you try to orbit the model using the shift + Center mouse button.

Solution:

1. Use the orbit command in the navigation tools instead of shift + center mouse button to orbit the model.
2. Start the orbit command, right click and in the right click menu uncheck the item “Enable Orbit Auto Target”. Use the transparent orbit as normal.

Via GS17773959

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Cloud Computing and Your Autodesk Product Plug-ins

Overview

The world of computing is always changing:  corporate mainframe computers were replaced by desktops; desktops became laptops; phones became mobile and then became smart; mobile data streaming allowed smartphone, handheld and tablet device users to be connected anywhere in the world. These advances were ‘game changers’ – new technology that made older systems obsolete almost overnight. They were revolutions not evolutions, and those businesses that couldn’t adapt quickly enough were replaced by those that could.

A revolutionary change is happening now - the move to cloud computing (or Software as a Service (SaaS)). Cloud computing is essentially just renting processing power and storage space on a virtual server that is managed in a remote datacenter and which you access over the internet. The technology is now mature – it is reliable, low cost, and simple to use. Vendors such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google are competing with each other to make their cloud services more reliable, cheaper, and easier to use than their competitors. Autodesk is experimenting extensively with cloud services. See labs.autodesk.com for some of our technology previews, or visit www.autodesk.com to discover some of our mature solutions, such as Autodesk Homestyler® or Green Building Studio®, that are available now.

So why might your applications benefit from the cloud? The answer is simple - for the same reasons Autodesk applications do. Consider these simple example scenarios:

• Your application performs a processor intensive task, such as photo-realistic rendering, FEA analysis, or feature recognition. Instead of tying up your customer's computer for hours, why not send the raw data to a virtual machine on the cloud and then send the results back when they are finished. While your cloud service is grinding away at the data, your customer can carry on with their work.
• Your application, or the reference data it uses, frequently changes. Instead of shipping frequent updates for your customer to install, you can just update one application on your cloud server and your updated algorithm or data is immediately available to all your customers.
• Your customers are accessing a common dataset from geographically distributed locations. That data needs to be stored somewhere, so do you buy a set of servers, rent a room to house them in, and pay a server admin to maintain them; or do you just rent space in the cloud and let your cloud provider take care of all the maintenance and administration for you?

• Demand for your services varies significantly through the day. Perhaps you have thousands of customers accessing your services during peak hours, but only one or two during the night. Should you scale your server farm to cope with the peak demand and accept that most of the time your processors will be idle, should you plan for the average demand and accept that customers will be frustrated during peak demand; or should you use a cloud provider that can automatically bring additional servers online for you at the peak and remove them when they’re no longer needed – and you only pay for the additional servers when you’re using them?

Startup costs for cloud computing are so low that you can easily afford to experiment with the technology. And the learning curve is shallow, so it's an easy step from writing desktop applications to cloud applications.

Getting Started

To help you get started, the Autodesk® Developer Network team has put together the following informational DevTV videos:

• Up in the Cloud — An overview of the benefits of cloud computing by Jim Quanci, Director for the Autodesk Developer Network.
• Getting Started with Cloud Computing — An introduction to the basics of creating a cloud computing application with demonstrations of integrating a cloud service with an AutoCAD® plug-in application by Stephen Preston, Autodesk Developer Network.
• Cloud Computing Revit Demo — A demonstration of integrating a cloud service with an Autodesk® Revit® plug-in application by Jeremy Tammik, Autodesk Developer Network.
• Cloud Computing Inventor Demo — A demonstration of integrating a cloud service with an Autodesk® Inventor® plug-in application by Philippe Leefsma, Autodesk Developer Network.
• Cloud Computing Civil 3D Demo — A demonstration of integrating a cloud service with an Autodesk® Civil 3D® plug-in application by Augusto Gonçalves, Autodesk Developer Network.

The sample code used in the demonstration is available here.

Further Reading

For additional information and tutorial material, please visit the website of your favorite cloud computing provider. We can't list them all here, but here are three:

• Amazon Web Services™
• Google App Engine™
• Microsoft® Windows Azure™

Read more here

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General Licensing: Do I need IPv6 Network License Manager for Windows?

If you wonder if you need Autodesk Network License Manager update for IPv6 or if you can stay with IPv4 then read the post at Up and Ready

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Top Autodesk Sign in Questions & Answers

What is an Autodesk ID?
How do I create an Autodesk ID?
I can’t remember my Autodesk ID
I forgot my Autodesk ID and I don’t remember what e-mail address I used when I created my account
I forgot my password
I followed the steps to reset my password but haven’t received an e-mail
How do I change my password or e-mail address?
What are the minimum character requirements for my Autodesk ID account?
How can I get additional help if I can’t resolve my sign-in issues?
What is an Autodesk ID?

For answers visit GS17837889

Revit Architecture 2012 Update 2 + Revit Structure 2012 Update 2

Revit Architecture 2012 Update 2 and Revit Structure 2012 Update 2 is required to install the add-in for the new Cloud Rendering available for subscription customers.

Enhancement list will be updated within two days to include Update 2 improvements. See bottom with the updates on Update 2.

Revit MEP 2012 Update 2 is not ready yet.
UPDATE: Sept. 29 is Update 2 ready fro Revit MEP 2012 too.

Shouldn’t it be Service Pack instead of Update like the recent AutoCAD 2012 SP1?

Improvements made in Revit Architecture 2012 Update 2 build (20110916_2132):

• Regenerates Stair and Railing after making adjustments in Edit Baluster Placement or Edit Rail
• Placement dialogs and selecting the Apply button.
• Improves the regeneration of a detail number, within an elevation view on a sheet, when the detail number is updated within the properties palette.
• Improves stability when switching the visibility setting of linked file from By Linked View to By Host View.
• Corrects Ambient Shadow on objects which are contained within a mirrored linked file.
• Improves the import of IFC files which contain overlapping walls.
• Improves stability when exporting a project to DXF which contains a dimension style that is referenced more than 255 times within the project.
• Corrects the resolution of the background image when calculating offset and scale.
• Corrects duplicate column creation when using Create columns by Grid when some columns are already created on the grid.
• Improves stability when setting a view to Realistic display mode.
• Improves stability when navigating in 3D view after canceling a Print operation.
• Corrects silhouette display for perspective views in projects with linked files.
• Corrects the angle of Photometric Web based light sources when exported to FBX.
• Retains the original IES files when exporting to FBX.
• Reduces the scenarios where element IDs may become remapped or removed when
  Synchronizing to Central.
• Improves stability when removing layers from floors, roofs and walls.
• Corrects gbXML export of curtain walls where window openings were classified as air opening when using simple complexity mode.
• Improves stability when accessing Help.
• Corrects mapping of Cable Tray, Cable Tray Fittings, Conduit and Conduit Fittings when exported to IFC.
• Improves the consistency of beams being unique objects when exported to IFC.
• Improves the placement of slabs when exported to IFC.
• Improves the creation of beams, such as length, when imported from IFC.
• Disables switching to 3D view if current view only is set when exporting to IFC.
• Enables the export of filled regions to IFC.
• Enables mass based curtain panels and mullions to be individual elements when exported to IFC.
• Enables Structural Columns to be exported to IFC.
• Allows elements hidden by category to be ignored when project is exported to IFC.
• Enables Unicode support for both Import and Export of families.
• Changes setting for “Export views on sheets and links as external references” to be enabled when exporting to DGN.
• Allows exporting to DWFx if the view is blank.
• Improves stability when exporting to DWG.
• Improves the export of custom wall hatch patterns to DWG.
• Improves stability after displaying a warning message.
• Enables the use of Family Parameter when using the Material Browser Paint tool.
• Improves stability when modifying part assemblies.
• Improves stability when working within the Phases dialog.
• Improves placement of linked point clouds based upon their origin.
• Improves stability when printing to PDF in batch mode.
• Improves stability when saving a family into the same folder as the type catalog.
• Improves stability when upgrading projects.
• Improves stability when setting a workset from Editable to non-Editable.
• API: Corrects the sheet size calculation when exporting to one sheet to DWFx.
• API: Improves stability during Reload Latest/Sync to Central when the document is not allowed to be modified.
• API: Retains schemas during Sync to Central and allows central file to remain correct.
• API: Reduces file corruption introduced by extensible storage. 

Improvements made in Revit Structure 2012 Update 2 build (20110916_2132):

• Sets the level Underlay to NONE, instead of below level, when creating a new level.
• Maintains graphical display of Rebar when upgrading a project to Revit Structure 2012.  Rebar which was displayed using Medium level of detail in Revit Structure 2011 will updates to use Coarse level of detail with the project is upgraded.
• Improves stability when adjusting rebar settings which cause the number of rebars in a set to exceed 1000.
• Restores display cutting of Slanted Columns in plan view when Course level of detail is used.
• Removes ½” cutback on wood framing members when using medium or fine level of detail.
• Maintains the alignment method parameter on manually adjusted walls when a Revit Structure 2011 project is upgraded to a Revit Structure 2012 project.
• Hides analytical nodes that are connected to hidden elements when in Analytical Model edit mode.
• Improves analytical node display when isolating by either Element or Category.
• Improves use of analytical model Rigid Link when overlapping beam and column are moved away from each other.
• Adds Analytical Reset to the right-click menu for an analytical model.
• Improves stability when setting Alignment Method on an analytical model element, such as a structural wall.
• Maintains the visibility of analytical models in linked files when upgrading a Revit Structure 2011 project to Revit Structure 2012.
• Improves floor analytical model shape when boundary line references a curved beam.

Improvements made in Revit MEP 2012 Update 2 build (20110916_2132):

• Improves stability when routing ducts which utilize an elbow or takeoff to complete the run.
• Improves stability when dragging a Panel Schedule into a sheet.
• Corrects the classification of embedded windows within a curtain wall contained within a linked file which is used as the boundary to create spaces.
• Improves the regeneration time of Ducts after applying a Visibility/Graphics Override.
• Improves stability when creating a new zone in the zone editor and specifying an already existing name in the properties palette.
• Improves performance when adding an air terminal to a system.
• Retains System Type when coping elements from one project to another.
• Retains pipe and fitting connections when moving piping layout to another level.
• Improves the display of duct with insulation and lining for hidden line views when contained within a linked file.
• Improves display of insulation on segments when viewed in ceiling plans.
• Maintains the type parameter values for panel schedules viewed on a sheet.
• Maintains circuits when upgrading Revit MEP 2011 projects in Revit MEP 2012

SSMPropEditor 4.4.1

SSMPropEditor version 4.4.1 is now available. If you use AutoCAD’s Sheet Set Manager you will have a hard time to not justify using SSMPropEditor. Give it a try for free and see for yourself.

Fixed problems in 4.4.1.

• Fixed path issue with export.
• Fixed problem to remove some of the paths.
• Fixed browsing for sheet path.

Would you like also to have access to Sheet View information? If so, what would you like to do in SSMPropEditor?

Sheet Views View by sheet.

Sheet Views View by category.

JTB FlexReport LT on Autodesk Exchange Apps

JTB FlexReport LT is now available on Autodesk Exchange Apps that you can access from within AutoCAD 2012. JTB FlexReport LT is a freeware product from JTB World to create HTML reports on current usage of FlexNet/FLEXlm licenses.

Autodesk Exchange Apps introduced in AutoCAD 2012

Guide to install an app from Autodesk Exchange Apps

See also JTB FlexReport for the full license reports software.

Autodesk Cloud documents and more for the cloud introduced

Today Autodesk is introducing Autodesk Cloud, a collection of more than a dozen web-based capabilities, products and services that enable customers to extend their desktops with greater mobility, new viewing and sharing capabilities, and more computing power, helping them better design, visualize and simulate their ideas. In addition, Autodesk Subscription customers will now have exclusive access to cloud-based, high-performance rendering and design optimization, and enhanced collaboration capabilities. Autodesk Subscription now provides 3 GB of online storage for each seat of software on Subscription for greater access to design and engineering documents, anywhere, anytime.

Autodesk Cloud documents offers 1GB of storage for free for anyone without Autodesk Subscription and 3GB for subscribers.

If a company has 10 seats they have all access to up to 30GB as a company.

Question is how many companies that will block Autodesk Cloud due to security or privacy requirements/policies.

After a document like a DWG is added it’s possible to act on it like editing, sharing, adding comments and much more.

Autodesk Cloud Services & Support is new support center for Autodesk Cloud.

Autodesk Cloud Documents Tutorial Videos

Additional storage for Autodesk Cloud Documents?

Issue

You would like to know if it is possible to get more storage for your Autodesk Cloud Documents account.

Solution

Currently, it is not possible to get more storage for your Autodesk Cloud Storage account.  The current limits of 3 GB for Subscription customers and 1 GB for non-Subscription customers is set.

However, if you require more storage and/or additional file controls, you should consider Autodesk Buzzsaw or Autodesk Vault.

Via TS17829724

System Requirements for Autodesk Cloud Documents

Minimum Browser Requirements

To be able to use web based Autodesk Cloud Documents, you must have, at a minimum, one of the following web browsers:

Firefox 3.0 and Higher 
Google Chrome 
Internet Explorer 7 and Higher 
Safari 3.0 and Higher

Recommended Browser Requirements

To be able to use the in-browser viewer (View Tab) you must have one of the following web browsers:

Firefox 4.0 and Higher 
Google Chrome 
Internet Explorer 9 and Higher (2D viewing only) 
Safari 5 and Higher (2D viewing only)

Via TS17829819

More from the press release:

Autodesk Cloud Enables Access to Design Capability from Anywhere, at Anytime

“For more than a decade, Autodesk has embraced the power of the cloud to extend the functionality of our design solutions and help our customers work more effectively,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Platform Solutions and Emerging Business at Autodesk. “With Autodesk Cloud, we are demonstrating an even greater commitment to helping our customers solve the world’s toughest design and engineering challenges.”

Autodesk has been a pioneer in cloud-based applications for the design industry — starting more than a decade ago with Autodesk Buzzsaw — and more than a dozen cloud-based offerings currently available to customers are now encompassed as part of Autodesk Cloud. Autodesk Cloud provides a powerful foundation to enable all Autodesk customers to begin using the cloud to access and store their work from anywhere; to view their work through web browsers or mobile devices; and to share their work with other users, even users without Autodesk software. Cloud applications such Autodesk Cloud documents, AutoCAD WS and the Autodesk Design Review mobile app provide users with the freedom to work where they can be most effective, and to view, edit and share designs anywhere and with almost anyone. AutoCAD WS and the Autodesk Design Review mobile app are available today on the iOS App Store.

Additional cloud services exclusive to Autodesk Subscription customers give designers, engineers and digital artists sophisticated new capabilities, such as high-performance 3D visual communication, simulation and collaboration that were once limited to organizations with privileged access to expensive, high-end supercomputing centers.

These exclusive services include:

• Autodesk Cloud rendering ― Customers with an Autodesk Subscription to the Premium or Ultimate editions of Autodesk Design Suite or Autodesk Building Design Suite will have access to powerful rendering capabilities, helping them better visualize designs, increase the number of renderings they can create and reduce hardware investments.
• Autodesk Inventor optimization ― Customers with Subscription to the Premium or Ultimate editions of Autodesk Product Design Suites will gain an intuitive cloud-based simulation tool, enabling them to test multiple design options in the cloud, and to create more sustainable designs and higher-quality products while reducing material, transportation and energy costs.
• Autodesk Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis ― Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Revit Architecture or Autodesk Revit MEP software, or select suites containing these products, can extend design beyond the desktop with powerful cloud-based energy analysis capabilities, helping them to quickly gain insight into the energy consumption and building energy costs of early design concepts from within the design application.
• Autodesk Green Building Studio web-based energy analysis software ― Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Building Design Suite and other select products have access to this cloud-based service that can help designers, architects, engineers and building energy analysts perform faster, more accurate energy analysis of multiple building design iterations, optimize energy efficiency and work toward carbon neutrality earlier in the design process.
• Autodesk Buzzsaw software as a service (SaaS) ― Customers with Subscription to Autodesk Vault Collaboration AEC software now have access to cloud-based document, data and design management solutions for architecture, engineering and construction firms and owner-operators, helping them centralize and securely exchange project information and enhance team collaboration.

Autodesk works with multiple partners, including Amazon and Citrix, to provide a scalable cloud computing infrastructure to meet customer needs. Autodesk has been working with Amazon Web Services for more than three years in order to securely host high-demand, scalable applications such as Autodesk Homestyler software and Autodesk Seek web service. Amazon Web Services provides Autodesk with the flexibility to scale computing around the world with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and resilient storage capacity with Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Block Store (EBS), as well as the ability to more efficiently deliver applications and content to customers. Autodesk also teams with Citrix to provide customers with greater efficiency in their use of Autodesk applications. Delivering solutions to end users with Citrix XenApp can help customers reduce workstation costs while still providing the software performance they need.

“Our relationship with Autodesk demonstrates how innovative and forward-thinking software companies can leverage the power of AWS to provide greater value to their customers,” said Terry Wise, Director of Business Development at Amazon Web Services. “We are pleased to work with Autodesk to provide secure, on-demand, pay as you go cloud services, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the design and engineering market.”

In addition to the new Autodesk Cloud services, Autodesk Subscription continues to provide the most up-to-date software, online technical support and flexible licensing privileges for customers looking to maximize their competitive advantage.

Availability

Autodesk Cloud services are available worldwide starting today in English, and will be available soon in other languages including Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish and Traditional Chinese. Some Autodesk Cloud services are available to all customers, such as Autodesk Cloud documents and the Autodesk Design Review mobile app, while other services are exclusive to Autodesk Subscription customers. All customers should contact their local reseller or visit www.autodesk.com/cloud to learn more.

Autodesk Design Review Mobile on iTunes

Design Review Mobile is now available on iTunes Store making it possible to work with DWF files on iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. And it’s free.

Expedite the design review process by viewing and redlining design files in the field. Autodesk® Design Review mobile app enables you to review Autodesk 2D and 3D design files directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. View, mark-up, and annotate drawings on the spot, reduce the need to carry around over-sized paper drawings, and enjoy an all-digital design review workflow.
✓View
• Open and view 2D and 3D DWF files from your Autodesk Cloud account
• Use multi-touch to zoom, pan, and rotate drawings
• View meta data and other details about elements within your drawings
✓Markup & Annotate
• Use simple and intuitive redline and markup tools to communicate changes
• Add text or comments using familiar callouts and drawing tools

Here’s current apps Autodesk have available for iPad.

Let’s see when the first app for Windows mobile will come.

See also AutoCAD WS Mobile in Apple App store for free.

AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Service Pack 1

AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Update 1 or SP1? I think it should be SP1 and that this is just a typo as for the 2011 products it was Updates instead of service packs.

No matter what, this is good news for AutoCAD Architecture users.

Get the AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Service Pack 1 download here: DL17813020. AutoCAD 2012 SP1 is included.

AutoCAD Mechanical 2012 Service Pack 1: DL17809346
AutoCAD MEP 2012 Service Pack 1: DL17813065

The following defects have been fixed for ACA 2012:

Drawing Manager

• Selecting a sheet with a long name may cause unexpected behavior in AutoCAD Architecture.
• Opening a project with a large number of files in a 64-bit machine may cause AutoCAD Architecture to crash.

IFC

• Space containment does not work on a 64-bit operating system.

Multi-View Block

• Exporting multi-view blocks to AutoCAD may result in an incorrect size.

Profile

• Some AEC ARX files are loaded when running AutoCAD Architecture with an AutoCAD profile.

Renovation

• Renovation function fails when you add a door or window object during renovation mode.
• Sometimes the renovation toggle remains enabled even after exiting the renovation mode.

Section

• Building geometry may change after you activate and then disable the live section.
• Roof or roof cap solid hatch might be displayed in section incompletely.

Space/Zone

• Some merged space area are calculated incorrectly.
• When the unit area is inconsistent with its unit length, the calculated space area might be inaccurate.

Structural Member

• Adjusting column grid can cause beams to lose connection with the columns.

Tag

• Adding tags for doors on multiple reference copies may cause unexpected behavior in AutoCAD Architecture.

Wall

• REPOSITIONALONG command does not work for doors and windows.
• Running the JOIN command on two connected walls may cause unexpected behavior in AutoCAD Architecture.
• When you offset a wall using another wall with the same direction as the reference, the offset wall may be created in the opposite direction.
• The Below Cut Plan display component of doors or window may not display.

The Service Pack brings back the Array dialog functionality by introducing a new ARRAYCLASSIC command.  It also introduces the option to restore legacy Snap behavior by controlling it through the new SNAPGRIDLEGACY system variable:
ARRAYCLASSIC
Creates copies of objects in a regularly spaced rectangular or polar array.
SNAPGRIDLEGACY
1 – Always snap the cursor to the grid
0 – Only snap the cursor to the grid when AutoCAD prompts to specify a point

Some useful Autodesk news

Kate Morrical, Autodesk has AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager resources available like the Introduction to the Sheet Set Manager video aimed for AutoCAD LT users.

Kate also says: The AutoCAD LT team would like to talk to people who are interested in or have thoughts on web-hosted CAD programs, where you run the program over the internet instead of on your desktop. If interested visit Need some more opinions and email her.

Aurodesk have made available the Autodesk 2012 Content Explorer Service Hot Fix as a .msp that will accept flags when executed from the command line: msiexec /p contentservicehotfix.msp /qn
See Autodesk 2012 Content Explorer Service Hot Fix – Silent Install?

If you ever get this error below the solution might be to re-apply the Windows 7 Service Pack 1.
Unable to run AutoCAD. This may be due to one of the following reasons:
1) This version of AutoCAD was not installed properly.
2) You do not have sufficient rights to run AutoCAD.

Up and Ready has this tip. When extracting the installers for Autodesk products, keep the destination folder name as the default. i.e. C:\Autodesk. If not the paths might be too long and you get the error: Some files could not be created. Please close all applications, reboot Windows and restart this installation.

Also found on Up and Ready. Do not stop or disable the LanmanServer service. If you do AutoCAD 2012 will lockup or freeze and it will probably affect other programs as well.

The Server service supports file, print, and named-pipe sharing over the network for this computer. If this service is stopped, these functions will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.

Windows system requirements for the Autodesk Network License Manager for Autodesk’s 2012 products. You want to know the current system requirements for the Autodesk Network License Manager on the Windows platform. See TS17796070

AutoCAD 2013 sneak peeks

AutoCAD 2013 might or might not include news and/or improvements in these areas:

Web & Mobile - This sneak peek highlights features for people who work on AutoCAD from multiple computers or different locations -- such as using different workstations, or switching between the office, home, or working out in the field. CAD Managers and day-to-day AutoCAD users of all levels are welcome to attend.

Model Documentation - This sneak peek is geared toward people in the Mechanical/Manufacturing industry who use AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, or/and Inventor, and who create and annotate model views (such as section, detail, and projected views) of 3D models (mechanical parts, components).

The AutoCAD User Experience Team is hosting its annual AutoCAD Sneak Peek events in late September and early October.

Find dates and details on how to sign up at Between the Lines post AutoCAD Users - Shape the Future Versions at Sneak Peek Events.

AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 1 and the return of the Array dialog

AutoCAD 2012 SP1 as well as AutoCAD LT 2012 SP1 are available. Note that this is also the return of Service Packs. AutoCAD 2011 only had updates.

AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 1 downloads: DL17692441
When installed _VERNUM is F.107.0.0 (UNICODE)

AutoCAD LT 2012 Service Pack 1 downloads: DL17692311

The Service Pack brings back the Array dialog functionality by introducing a new ARRAYCLASSIC command. It also introduces the option to restore legacy Snap behavior by controlling it through the new SNAPGRIDLEGACY system variable:

ARRAYCLASSIC
Creates copies of objects in a regularly spaced rectangular or polar array.

SNAPGRIDLEGACY
1 – Always snap the cursor to the grid
0 – Only snap the cursor to the grid when AutoCAD prompts to specify a point

The following defects have been fixed:

3D Navigation Tools

• 3DConnexion settings are not being remembered after changes are made.
• 3Dconnexion device will not cancel the current command.

3D Surface Modeling

• With dynamic input off dragging the height handle of an extruded line will not always stretch by the value and direction of the drag.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when rebuilding a helix to a spline where the selection was not dropped.

Annotation Scaling

• AutoCAD may become unstable while attempting to load a DCL file with errors from a long file name.
• Tooltip does not appear when Additional tool tip string is set in “AcEdInputPointMonitor::monitorInput”.
• API fix: This fix will respect the custom color, line pattern and line weight when selecting the entities including external reference.

Autoloader

• Autoloader fails when SeriesMax parameter set to linked.
• Autoloader loads partial CUI but may not display it when the bundle is removed and reinstalled.
• When platform="AutoCAD*", bundles will be load on ACAD and Vertical.
• Using Autoloader to add custom CUI files that contain WPF Custom Controls will not work as it needs a registry entry.

Blocks

• AutoCAD may become unstable while snapping to blocks containing OLE objects.
• Editing attribute text in EATTEDIT dialog sometimes results in a fatal error.
• When a drawing is saved from within the Block Editor, the entire content of the drawing is sometimes lost and replaced with the content of the block being edited.
• Sometimes there is a delay while trying to modify blocks containing a Block Table Parameter.
• AutoCAD becomes unstable when entering the block editor, attempting to edit a dynamic block which has geometry on a locked layer.
• Sometimes the BEDIT toolbar does not get hidden after exiting block editor.

Digitizer

• You may receive an error at the command line after enabling a WinTab driver and the tablet will not function.

Display Drivers

• Integrated chipsets are unable to return available video memory correctly.

DWF

• Arcs and circles viewed on edge appear as a single line. This changes 2D DWF/DWFx drivers to plot them as a single line, rather than a polyline.

DWG

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the "UNDO" command on drawings that are 2 gigabyte or larger.

Dimensions

• Ordinate dimensions in paper space are not correctly reflecting the distance from paper space UCS.

ETRANSMIT

• AutoCAD may become unstable while closing a drawing after etransmitting it using the COM API.

Exchange

• Autodesk Exchange may display a non-subscription link after updating to a subscription serial number.
• User login IDs that contained special characters like “@” could not log in to online services.

Express Tools

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the NCOPY command.
• Overkill may delete polylines incorrectly when working with reversed polylines.
• Overkill may not work well when there is an arc segment in between 2 line segments.

Hatch

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the “separate hatch” option.

Image

• Multi frame QuickBird Tiff image files may not display expected colors.
• When trying to insert an Adobe Photoshop PSD file it was not visible in the file filter list.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when inserting an AdobePhotoshop PSD file.

Layer

• Changing layer colors of layers beginning with non-alphanumeric characters may result in other layers changing colors.
• The layer state Ribbon control does not honor the apply properties viewport overrides.

MLeader

• AutoCAD may become unstable when drawings with multileaders are saved to older versions.

Modify

• AutoCAD may become unstable when editing polylines.
• NCOPY may fail to copy objects contained in blocks that were inserted into paper space.

Mtext

• Mtext Paragraph spacing value cannot be edited once a value is set.
• True Type (TTF) font text or mtext is blurry, bold, and distorted when the viewport is non-orthogonal because XY values are not exactly zero.

OLE (Object Linking & Embedding)

• AutoCAD may become unstable when copying from an Excel file back to AutoCAD.

Open/Save

• Cannot open drawing files from file Explorer if the drawing contains a "'%'" in the file name.

Other

• AutoCAD may stop responding when saving and or opening drawings with Symantec Norton 360 Version 5 installed on your system.
• You will be unable to open drawings created using a non-Autodesk product when using the Open() API.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when selecting the grid in some drawings.

• AutoCAD may become unstable after editing MTEXT in a viewport and when exiting the program.

Parametric Drawing

• Area is wrong when coincident constraints are applied to entities.

PDF Export

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using PDF Export on files that contain MS Mincho font.

PDF Underlay

• AutoCAD may become unstable when unloading a PDF underlay.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when an undefined PDF underlay is unloaded.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when plotting drawings that include “MS Mincho” to PDF.

Performance

• Drawings containing many layers may become slower with each pan and zoom operation when the ribbon is active.
• Performance improvement in 64bit COM APIs.

Plot

• You may experience data loss when sending multiple plots to Xerox printers.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when selecting plot preview.

Purge

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the purge command.

Ribbon

• The linetype preview may be missing from the linetype dropdown in Ribbon Properties panel when opening drawings from the Application Menu.
• Ribbon Combo Box text eight may be empty when using "TEXTEDIT" on multiple dimensions.

Snaps

• With Snap enabled, the cursor does not move to snap intervals.
• Turning SNAPGRIDLEGACY ON will restore the old Snap behavior of the cursor when no command is active.
• Restores legacy SNAP behavior during certain LISP-based selection commands.

Sheet Set Manager

• Sheet List Table Context menu in Sheet Set Manager (SSM) is missing some menu items.

Tables

• Cell style is grayed out when picking inside any cell.
• The data link menu is grayed out after inserting a data link in a table.

UI Enhancements

• AutoCAD may become unstable attempting to edit a polyline vertices Pedit tangent.
• AutoCAD may become unstable in group selection where the group contains a box.
• When objects are on locked layers you are able to nudge them.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when interacting with the ViewCube while grip editing.
• When right click menus are disabled, selection or crossing right click actions are incorrect.

Visual Basic for Application

• AcFocusCtrl cannot be inserted in a VBA form.

Visual Lisp

• Attribute dialog will be displayed when inserting a block with attributes based on the setvar ATTDIA value.

Visual Styles

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using osnap in a 2d hide view.

External Reference

• AutoCAD may become unstable when interacting between the open dialog and the XREF manager.

Zoom/Pan

• AutoCAD may become unstable when zooming over the XY indicator in Layout.

AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 1 downloads: DL17692441 

AutoCAD LT 2012 Service Pack 1 downloads: DL17692311

New type of rebars

How circles and holes can make a difference with more than half the amount of steel compared to traditional rebars.

Cellreinforcement from the Swedish company Cellfab is a according to their website a new, unique reinforcement that can be used within a range of different application areas such as, concrete, asphalt and other materials.

Image and news via Byggvärlden

The geometric patent applied designed structure of Cellreinforcement creates unique technical advantages compared to the reinforcement that is applied today.

Thanks to its three-dimensional structure the Cellreinforcement can absorb the pressure from surrounding areas. The compact formation of Cellreinforcement increases the thermodynamic features in the concrete. The tough construction spread the fractions equally on the surface of the concrete.

AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012 and AutoCAD P&ID 2012 released

Autodesk Adds Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Revit Structure to Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012

Users of Plant Design Suite Ultimate 2012 will have access to the combination of Autodesk Inventor 2012 software for plant equipment and skid design, and Autodesk Revit Structure 2012 software for structural design and detailing for the first time. The company also announced the 2012 versions of AutoCAD P&ID and AutoCAD Plant 3D.

A few of the larger new things in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012 and AutoCAD P&ID 2012:

Items with a * are for both P&ID and Plant 3D

• *MS SQL Server and SQL Server Express support
• *New Report Creator
• AutoCAD Isometrics
• Piping performance improvements – particularly with orthos.
• Cadworx and Autoplant spec conversion

Via AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012 & Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012 Released and press release. See also the earlier post Autodesk Design Suits bundles and Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2012 Products.

Free Tooltips Translator for AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, 3ds Max

Autodesk Labs has released TransTips.

TransTips uses the Bing Translator web service to translate tooltips into one of 36 languages on-the-fly, as they are displayed by AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, 3ds Max and the products based upon them.

Via September’s Plugin of the Month live on Autodesk Labs: TransTips

Free AutoCAD .NET training online

Free online AutoCAD .NET training starting September 8th

This is good news if you would like to learn to program in .NET for AutoCAD.

Starting next week – and for 8 weeks – Wayne Brill, from DevTech Americas, will be delivering free online AutoCAD .NET training live so Wayne will be able to interact with the audience and answer any questions you might have.

To register – yes, for free – go to our API Training page and select “Schedule”, then scroll down to “AutoCAD .NET”, “English”, “Webcast”, “Sep 08 2011” and click “Register” at the far right of the item.

Via Through the Interface

More details that probably will apply for this training:

Description

Want to get under the hood of the .NET API for AutoCAD®? If you wish to customize AutoCAD or develop applications on top of it—without having to learn C++ programming first—then this class is for you.

Audience

This course is designed for developers, distributors, resellers, and experienced users of AutoCAD software who would like to develop applications using the AutoCAD .NET API.

Prerequisites

Prior experience customizing AutoCAD is not required, but familiarity with the Visual Basic .NET or C# programming languages is expected. A basic understanding of the "end-user" functionality of AutoCAD is required.

Objectives

This class provides a detailed outline of the features associated with the AutoCAD .NET API. In addition to technical overviews presented by Autodesk experts, this course offers sample Visual Basic .NET/C# code and hands-on labs, as well as examples to get you started.

After attending this course, you will be able to

• Understand the concepts and functions of the AutoCAD .NET API.
• Understand the scope of the .NET API, and its relationship to the other AutoCAD APIs
• Create applications using the AutoCAD .NET API

Contents

• Overview of required .NET concepts.
• AutoCAD .NET Visual Studio project settings.
• User Interaction - custom commands, keywords, and selection sets.
• Database fundamentals – Symbol tables, Transactions, Dictionaries etc .
• Event handling – implementing and registering event handlers in AutoCAD .NET.
• User Interface design - WinForms dialogs and AutoCAD palettes.
• Application deployment and installation.

Training will be presented using Visual Basic .NET. Sample code will be provided in both Visual Basic .NET and C#.

Materials

Electronic tutorial materials, sample code and hands-on labs.

Note: Due to ongoing updates, content delivered during the class may differ from that described here.

Better description for Google+ links

When adding a link on Google+ (My Google+ profile) I found that the description was not from the actual blog post but from some text I have in a column to the left of my blog. At least it is possible to remove the description within Google+.

It’s right now not possible when the +1 button is used, hopefully it will be eventually.

As I have a Google Blogger Blogspot blog I tried to find a better solution for this.

On the API page for the +1 button I found a bit of information using Schema.org microdata, Open Graph protocol or Meta "title" and "description" tags.

I edited the blog template after taking a backup of it.

<body itemscope itemtype='http://schema.org/Blog'>

I got this error editing the template: Attribute name "itemscope" associated with an element type "body" must be followed by the ' = ' character.

So I changed it to:
<body itemscope='' itemtype='http://schema.org/Blog'>

<h3 class='post-title' itemprop='name'>

<p itemprop='description'><data:post.body/></p>

Adding itemprop='description' to <p> did not work so I instead added it to

<div class='post-body' itemprop='description'>

What finally worked for me was:

<body itemscope='' itemtype='http://schema.org/Blog'>

<h3 class='post-title' itemprop='name'>

<div class='post-body' itemprop='description'>

Now trying to share a link the description is taken from the blog post instead.

Note that above it says “Project Sparkis” instead of “Project Spark is”.

I found that another trick improved it (Warning! See update at the bottom). Here is how to make the meta description dynamic taking the content from the post body.

Edit the HTML Template and look for <data:post.body/>

Right above the tag, add:

      <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
         <meta expr:content='data:post.body' name='description'/>
      </b:if>
      <p><data:post.body/></p>

And look the link is even retained now.

Now if there is a lot of text the meta description will be quite large but from what I understand Google and other search engines just takes the first 250 or so characters anyway. If you use snippets on the blog this might be a way:
<meta expr:content='data:post.snippet' name='description'/>

But if you know of a way to trim 'data:post.body' let me know.

Update: I found that the description using 'data:post.body' for this blog post did not work. Probably because of the code snippets used in the post. It also messed up the actual blog post as seen on the blog so I had to remove that.