I just read an excellent tutorial by David Watson at CADTutor.net. David writes, “AutoCAD can be used to create a simple “walk through” of any 3D model. For example, if you have designed a new pedestrianisation scheme for a town centre, you could use AutoCAD to give a slide presentation to show how the scheme would look from a pedestrian eye view as the person moved through the space. This is an extremely useful technique for presenting schemes to clients or the general public who may not necessarily have a good understanding of plans.” Read more »

I am trying to understand why companies use the “unitless” insertion scale (UNITS, INSUNITS) in their drawings as a standard. I’m sure there are uses for it, but I am having a hard time understanding. If you set your drawings to “unitless”, leave a comment here and tell me your reasoning. Read more »

I was one of those guys carrying around a MacBook at Autodesk University. The main reasons I took it was to blog and check email, but throughout the week I found myself wishing that Autodesk would make AutoCAD run natively on Mac OSX. Read more »

Matt Murphy showed this tip in a class at Autodesk University. He explained that AutoCAD attaches XData to objects in drawings and this data allows information to be associated with specific objects. The problem is that when objects that contained XData are deleted from the drawing, the registered application becomes unreferenced. If you get a large amount of unreferenced registered applications in a file, it can increase the file size and cause sluggish performance. Read more »

Erhan Toker from the DailyAutoCAD.com website posted an excellent tutorial on using the command LENGTHEN. He said, “Most of the time; we use TRIM and EXTEND for editing the lengths of objects. However, we may wish to define the length of an object to a certain value. This is when the LENGTHEN command comes in handy.” Check it out…

The party that took place the evening of day 3 was incredible. There was a lot of entertainment, good food, and beer. I really enjoyed watching people do bungee jumping on a trampoline. Good times! Read more »

Today is the last full day at AU. Tomorrow morning I have a couple of classes, and then it’s all over.

What a day it has been! I took classes that gave in-depth instructions on developing pipe structures in Civil 3D, utilizing Map 3D to make drafting easier, editing pipe networks in LandXML, and setting up an multi-user project in Civil 3D without Vault. Read more »

Today was another full day at Autodesk University. Last night I went to bed early so I missed the Exhibit Hall Opening Reception. But after lunch I did get a chance to take a walk around it and look at some really neat displays. Read more »

Autodesk University is in full swing here in Las Vegas. This is my second time attending this event and I have to say, it’s worth every penny. Not only are the classes good, but you get to network and meet innovative, smart people. Read more »

I am on my way to the airport to fly to Las Vegas for Autodesk University. This morning I thought I would share a simple command that can save you from a lot of embarrassment.

There is nothing worse than having someone else point out a spelling mistake on your drawing. That is why I am thankful for AutoCAD’s built-in spell checker. Read more »