I received both Tricks and Treats for AutoCAD and Civil 3D after posting for readers to send Autodesk product tips and tricks as Tricks and Treats. There are 8 tricks for AutoCAD based products and 3 treats for Civil 3D for you to try. For the 6 people submitting these tricks and treats I will send them something fun. If they are attending Autodesk University 2013, I will give it to them there and of course buy them a beverage of their choice as a small token of thanks for participating and sharing in the fun. Enjoy the Tricks and Treats! Read more →

If you program AutoCAD using the AutoLISP programming language, then this news should provide a valuable resource for you. Lee Ambrosius let me know that the AutoLISP documentation has been updated for the recent AutoCAD 2014 for Mac but it is also applicable to the Windows version of AutoCAD. Read more →

An important warning about scam phone calls going around. I have been receiving unsolicited phone calls (859 547-4475) from people telling me "they are from the helpdesk of esupport.com and sometimes say they are a contractor of Microsoft and that they need to help me fix my computer" but they cant provide me any details on my computer or account information. It sounded really fishy or "phishy" like a scam. Within 5 seconds of searching online I found this is common where they direct you to a website and the site installs malicious software on your machine which phishes personal login data or causes your machine to crash and provide a solution to fix it for a fixed fee. Don't fall for this scam that has been going on since 2010 and recently picked up in activity again. I reported this with the FCC, FTC and my local States Attorneys General and they were all very aware of the scam and frustrated at inability to stop the callers from overseas. I would have hoped that since the scammers are using the same phone number that the phone companies could just block that number to customers but apparently not. Make sure to warn your friends, family, and colleagues. Read more →

Kean Walmsley a friend and colleague of mine here at Autodesk wrote a nice blog post on his Through the Interface blog about something near and dear to my digital heart - capturing 3D geometry with textures using a aerial drones. Checkout Kean's blog article on the latest cool drone 3D capture involving the Matterhorn located in beautiful Switzerland as well as processing drone captured imagery in Autodesk ReCap Photo. Running drone-captured data through ReCap Photo Read more →

There are only 24 hours remaining to submit a trick or treat tip and I am missing some of the other Autodesk products other than AutoCAD. Go ahead and submit your tip now and then on October 31st Halloween, the Trick and treats will be published on this blog. Read more →

There is a term "dog fooding" which essentially means using your own software or products to have your internal team better understand them and find problems with the product or usability. This internal testing is in addition to having your customers testing your software or product in alpha and beta testing and you end up with a much better product as well as your team better understand what they built and the customer workflows. Currently there is an internal Autodesk Design and Make contest where 14 teams comprised of over 60 employees are using a future cloud based collaboration competing by designing and building projects using Autodesk software. This new collaboration software allows the team to share ideas and resources during the entire process. Read more →

For many years Autodesk has been holding a blogger reception the night prior to Autodesk University.The event will be a social meetup for 200 people made up of invited bloggers, social media, Autodesk discussion groups Expert Elite, some top Autodesk Beta and Autodesk Labs participants as well as some Autodesk employees. The main goal is to network and make connections to use throughout Autodesk University. As popular as the event had been we always had to limit the amount of attendees due to space and of course costs. This year we want to expand and allow more to socialize and network before AU begins. This meetup will be on Monday December 2nd at 8pm. We will have a larger space in the Venetian conference center area for a meetup to accommodate 200 people to network and meet others in real life before AU begins. It is also a small token of thanks from us for all you do year around in blogs, social media, Autodesk discussion forums, Autodesk Beta programs and Autodesk Labs. So how do I sign up for an invite? I was thinking of placing golden tickets in chocolate bars like Willy Wonka but that is just too much work and I don't have a chocolate factory, so I built an online survey. Sign up on this tasty chocolate flavored survey from now until November 15th. During the week of November 21st we will email everyone who signed up and let them know if they pulled one of the 200 golden tickets. AU Blogger, Social & Forums Meetup Survey http://svy.mk/HfczTv Looking forward to seeing you at AU2013! -Shaan Read more →

The AutoCAD for Mac Team would like to get your feedback in a quick survey to better understand your initial feedback and opinion for the product. Provide your feedback: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K7Q7YW6 In case you were not aware and missed yesterdays news, a new release of AutoCAD for Mac 2014 including free trial download was released. AutoCAD for Mac and AutoCAD 360 even made a cameo appearances during the Apple live announcement event for their new hardware and Operating System OS X Mavericks. AutoCAD 2014 for Mac is Released Read more →

Autodesk's AutoCAD 360 is the FIRST professional application that has been optimized for the iPad Air "Autodesk is excited to report that Autodesk AutoCAD 360 is the first professional software app that is optimized for the iPad Air & iPad mini with Retina Display. The new Apple-designed A7 chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture provides designers and engineers a much improved experience out of the gate when working with AutoCAD 360. “We are thrilled to be the first professional application to be ready for prime time iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display. From a user’s perspective, navigating and editing large models will be snappier and much more fun,” said Jonathan Seroussi, director of AutoCAD web and mobile. “Users will see an immediate improvement in a number of functions such as rendering – render time is twice as fast in both navigation and editing.” In addition to faster rendering, opening drawings is much faster, and selection is also twice as fast. AutoCAD 360 is one of the most popular and widely used Autodesk mobile apps, with more than 5.5 million downloads on the App Store, more than 40 million uploaded drawings, and there are more than 1 million active monthly users on iOS alone. AutoCAD 360, optimized for iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display, will be available on the App Store." AutoCAD 360 was shown in the Apple iPad Air video unveiled at todays Apple Keynote event. Read more →

AutoCAD for Mac no longer follows the AutoCAD Windows release cycle but is now aligned with the Apple schedule to take advantage and be able to support major Apple OS updates. Today October 22nd, 2013 Apple expected to announce the release of the next version of OSX Mavericks as well as some new iPad announcements. Now there is a new AutoCAD 2014 for Mac and AutoCAD LT 2014 for Mac available for trial and purchase. AutoCAD for Mac 2014 and AutoCAD LT 2014 for Mac support the new Apple Mac OSX Mavericks OS which is the release after Mountain Lion. Retina Display Support: If you are using an Apple laptop or desktop that supports Retina Display you are in for a treat that will make your eyes happy. The drawing lines in-canvas, icons, UCS, ViewCube on a retina display will increase the pixel density by four times. It is amazing in clarity compared to standard pixel density. Read more →

Many bloggers who attend AU know of the many years of tradition of holding a blogger reception the night prior to AU actually starting. I have received many questions if we were doing it again this year, the simple answer is yes. The event will be a social meetup for 200 bloggers, social media, and our Autodesk discussion groups Expert Elite. As popular as the event had been we always had to limit the amount of attendees due to space and of course costs. This year we want to expand and allow more to socialize and network before AU begins, and thank you for all you do. This meetup will be on Monday December 2nd and start around 8pm. We will have a larger space for a meetup to accommodate 200 people to network and meet others in real life before AU begins. We will setup a signup page as I am sure we will exceed the 200 number the room can accommodate and will have to review invites before they are sent out. We want to invite those active Autodesk related bloggers, social media on Twitter and Google+ and Expert Elites that post about Autodesk products or assist the Autodesk user community. Currently we only have a big conference room to hold the meetup and are looking for creative way to provide beverages and snacks and perhaps some room ambience entertainment. I am considering seeing if there is interest in a sponsor/s of the event and if you are interested email me. With the bloggers, social media, and discussion forum Expert Elites attending this event I am struggling to find a fitting name for this meetup and so far have only come up with Blogger Social Meetup. If you have a better suggestion please post a comment to this blog post. Stay tuned for more information and spread the word as I expect the sign up page to go live next week. Read more →

I have not mentioned my friends over at Instructables for awhile, but Halloween is a really busy time of the year and a perfect time to mention them. Autodesk acquired this super creative community back on August 1, 2011. Instructables is a wealth of knowledge and community of Makers and do it yourself types sharing ideas and techniques to make your ideas a reality. There are tens of thousands of instructions created by the community from how to make robots, 3D printing projects, some woodworking projects by Autodesk Chief maker and CEO Carl Bass, my 3D printed cabbage moth decoy to baking a cake or a nice drink or even learning to play the bass guitar. I am always surprised at what I find on Instructables. For Halloween there are crazy fun things like the broken glass cupcakes, a crazy smoking pumpkin or creating your own Plants vs. Zombies costume. Read more →

A free online guide to CNC is available free from Autodesk's HSMWorks group who develop CAM solutions for both Autodesk Inventor and SolidWorks. If you ever wanted to better understand the process machining and milling using CNC this would be a great resource. Read more →

Last week on this Between the lines blog fun competition was announced to share Autodesk product tips and tricks in the spirit of Halloween. Autodesk Product Trick or Treats 2013 Request for Submissions A couple great submissions have already been received. Both submitted were tricks and we need some treats to share and more products covered. Send in your trick or treats for Autodesk products lie AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Fusion 360, Civil 3D, InfraWorks, 3ds Max, and many more. We have thousands of daily readers of this blog and many are Autodesk product ninjas with great tricks and treats to share. Read more →

So you mostly work in mostly 2D in AutoCAD, and you are asking "How can I set AutoCAD so that the 3D ViewCube is off when I start a new drawing"? Even in 2D drawing the ViewCube can be helpful in orienting the drawing, but if you really want to disable the ViewCube when you start a new drawing, read further for the solution. When you start a new drawing, AutoCAD uses a template (DWT). To change the ViewCube setting for new drawings, you only need to edit your template(s). Word of warning it is always a good thing to make a backup of existing files before overwriting them, just in case. Read more →

Autodesk University will kick off on December 3rd 2013 although there are pre-conferences like CAVE and I3D. If you have not registered already you have until October 20th to take advantage of the $500 early registration discount. I hope to see you at AU 2013! -Shaan Read more →

The Smithsonian X 3D Conference with limited free registration so if you intend to be there you had better hurry and register. There will be amazing agenda of presenters and presentations on how 3D will transform museums and research institutions around the world. The Smithsonian X 3D Conference will be held on November 13th and 14th, 2013 in Washington DC of as well as a possible webcast. Autodesk is a very proud sponsoring partner for this special event. I will be attending and also hold a meetup on the 15th for those that wish to join me for discussing 3D, Autodesk products and technologies as well as exploring the Smithsonian and some DC landmarks. Having visited several of the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC, I can tell you it is truly amazing to see in person and free admission. Perhaps I can encourage some of the members of the Smithsonian's laser cowboys and Autodesk Reality Capture Team to join us for a great discussion. Read more →

My super creative Autodesk colleague Chris Cheung is organizing a special event the day prior to Autodesk University starting. Chris wanted to encourage you to attend this event as well as explain what the CAVE Conference is. What is this CAVE Conference about at AU, and 'should I go?' The CAVE Conference is a 1 day, intense program and celebration of creativity and will be bringing together artists, designers and storytellers from virtually every industry. The keynotes and session presenters, all expert creators in their respective fields, will share a blend of inspiration, thought-leadership, practical knowledge, tips on problem solving, personal insight on their and behind-the-scenes of their work & industries. Read more →

It is that spooky time of the year where people dress up in costumes and you guess if they are in costume, or if that is how they really look. Not many things in the office more awkward than commenting "Nice Halloween costume Kurt" and Kurt responding "what, I am not wearing a costume." To avoid the awkward situations, why not have some fun and also help your fellow Autodesk product users such as 123D products, 360 products, 3ds Max, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, InfraWorks, Inventor, Fusion 360, Maya, Navisworks, Recap Pro and Recap Photo, Revit, Smoke, or one of the many other Autodesk products with a tip or trick? Provide your best Autodesk product trick to fool or torture someone or a treat to help their productivity with a helpful tip or show something really cool that you created. I will with my very own personal wealth (small sandwich bag partially full of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters hidden in my closet) purchase some fun yet inexpensive gifts to gift to some of the submitters with the best tip and the funniest and most creative submissions. Guidelines are simple to follow as this is just for fun and not a contest or official competition. Submit a Trick Show how to prank someone like setting their mouse wheel zoomspeed to warp factor increments. More examples were in a past blog post AutoCAD Pranks. But please make sure the tricks are non-destructive and in the spirit of fun. NO setting their UNDO command to UNDO 3 times and save the file thus making them lose work. How about code to make their computer beep when they do something like use UNDO. Submit a Treat Show how to do something ninja like in an Autodesk product saving time and creating nice things. Or how about a pixel treat showing something really amazing you created using an Autodesk product. Make sure you try to keep the Trick or Treat short and simple but yet detailed enough that people will understand it. Screen captures, sample files, scripts and LISP are welcome. Deadline: October 29th,2013 Submit Your Entry or Entries Now Spread the word so we gets lots of tricks and treats to share in a series of blog posts on October 31st! Cheers, Shaan Read more →

I realized this week that that when I joined Autodesk almost 16 years ago there was no Google in existence. Google was incorporated in September 1998 and I joined Autodesk in January 1998. It is hard to remember a time before being able to ask a question of search engine as most search engines in the 90 were very simple. I used Altavista and Dogpile to search back then. Back in the 90s most barely had email let alone their employer allowing the Internet's web into their office. Things sure have changed and now Google is literally everywhere from the most used search engine that generally operates as many users second brain to Google's smartphone and operating system Android, self-driving cars, Google Maps and Earth, Gmail, and now experimenting with delivering goods in the Bay Area and transplanting computerized brains into wild seals and tuna populations to map the ocean and monitor shipping traffic. OK so I made up the last part about the seal and tuna but honestly at this point I would not blink if told that. I am excited and a little frightened to see where technology will be in another 16 years. Perhaps my cyborg replacement will leave a comment for me on this post in the distant future. Cheers, Shaan Read more →

Fresh out of a customer beta at the Autodesk Feedback Community is Autodesk Inventor HSM Express, a free 2.5 axis Computer Aided Manufacturing "CAM" software for Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor LT. Inventor HSM Express is Now Live! http://cam.autodesk.com The recorded product launch video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/mT7mf-vrqAg Autodesk Inventor HSM Express video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/h_xLy47uWuE Articles from around the interwebs about Inventor HSM Express Launch: IT’S OFFICIAL, THE FREE CAM SOLUTION FOR AUTODESK INVENTOR IS HERE http://bit.ly/1dYq7NM Autodesk introduces integrated CAM for Inventor with HSM Express by metalworkingcanada http://bit.ly/1g8kKxF For those who participated in the beta testing using the pre-release product to provide feedback and improve the quality, I give you a big THANK YOU and shower you in sparkling CNC metal shavings of gratitude for your participation. Please ensure to install the final released version. An issue was identified in the beta versions which causes Inventor to crash on start-up. Installing the release version will automatically will resolve this. This goes for any beta, always uninstall and start fresh with the final release of a product to avoid conflicts or time out of the beta software. For those that use HSMWorks CAM solutions for SolidWorks fear not we are continuing to support and develop that product. Cheers, Shaan Read more →

If you use custom color palettes or colorbooks with AutoCAD you can now use the new web based AutoCAD Colorbook Editor also known as the "ACB Editor." The original web based Colorbook Editor app was released ten years ago with the support of true color in AutoCAD. Paint manufactures such as Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams and Dunn Edwards have also used the ACB files of their color palettes their customers using AutoCAD could download. Once you have added these custom color palettes to your colorbook path in the AutoCAD support paths, you can then select colors from these colorbooks using the AutoCAD color picker and include the color names in bill of material tables or specifications. You could also create your own custom color palettes as ACB files and share with others. Read more →