In Autodesk Design Review 2011, how to print transparent text isn’t very, well, transparent. A known issue in 2D drawings, transparent text may print to PDF, XPS, and paper as solid text. For example, this drawing has a textual markup... Volker Joseph

In the UK we have just launched a public competition to find a Design Visualisation Star on our 3d Design Visualisation Blog. The competition is aimed at designers, recent graduates or any other talented individuals from any industry. Top prize is a high end graphics card from ATI, worth over £1000 and great runners-up prizes of ATI graphics cards for second and third places

To enter, simply post a link to your 3D visualisation or design visualisation showreel in any format (i.e. YouTube video, Flickr slideshow, blog link, etc.) as a comment reply to this blog post, along with a description under 140 characters as to why you think your entry is great. Each entry must have used at least one Autodesk product (with/without a 3rd party product.).

Make sure you spread the word amongst colleagues and friends as the number of likes is one of the judging criteria!

More information is available on this blog post. Full Terms and conditions available here

On day one of the Farnborough Airshow we hosted a number of manufacturers from various industry sectors at the Autodesk office to show them how our Digital Prototyping solutions are helping manufacturers be more productive and more competitive.

Today (Wednesday) we hosted a number of companies from within the built environment and media & entertainment industries. The day was similar to Monday's event with manufacturers but there was more of a focus on how Autodesk can help those who are developing (or re-developing) airports.

We were able to show how Autodesk solutions help all industries who are working on the development of an airport, right from the Geospatial ground work, through Civil Design & Engineering, Architectural design, Building services, Structural design, Manufacturing and then visualising the design using our Media & Entertainment tools.

The key part of all this is that we were able to show how all of the industry specific solutions can be used together to help reduce errors, reduce the amount of re-work and increase communication. For example, a fabricated glass staircase that has been designed using Autodesk Inventor with all of the drawings, bill of materials, cut lists etc is required in the main airport terminal. We showed how the manufacturer could output a 3D BIM ready version of the staircase that could be used in Revit Architecture.

We also showed how we could aggregate all of the industry specific data together to give us an overall view of the project, where it was up to, any problems with things like clashes but also introduce the element of time to see how the project would be delivered.

Many of those in attendance knew about Autodesk, they knew about AutoCAD and the tools that they were using but they didn't know they could be used in this way to enable successful collaboration between different industry teams.

The presentation that we gave is based around Millennium Airport, an airport development that the Northern Europe Technical Sales Team put together, and allows the user to select the industry sectors that are important to them to see how the Autodesk solutions will help:

http://aec-area.co.uk/MillenniumAirport

Just hover your mouse over the interactive airport to select the industry sector(s) you want to learn more about. There's plenty of content, videos and documents that show you exactly how the Autodesk solutions can help:


The afternoon was spent out on the lawn outside of the Autodesk office in Farnborough discussing with the delegates what we had presented that morning but also enjoying the fabulous air display being put on at the show:


We were treated to the A380, F16 and The Blades again but added to the program was a fly-by by a B52 and a display by an RAF Vulcan

Check out this video which covers the new features and enhancements of Autodesk Navisworks 2011. Feedback is welcome. Thank you. Volker Joseph

Check out this video which covers the new features and enhancements of Autodesk Navisworks 2011.

Feedback is welcome.

Thank you.

In Autodesk Design Review 2011, how to print transparent text isn’t very, well, transparent. A known issue in 2D drawings, transparent text may print to PDF, XPS, and paper as solid text.

For example, this drawing has a textual markup with 70% transparency. 

  
 
On output, the 70% transparency is ignored and the text prints as solid, obscuring the drawing.

Here’s the workaround to retaining the text’s transparency on output.

1. Apply the ADR_2011_Hotfix to Design Review 2011.
2. Start Design Review and open the 2D file with the transparent text.
3. Open the Print dialog box and click Advanced. The Advanced Print Options dialog box opens.
4. Under Pre-process Bitmaps, select Turn Data into a Bitmap Before Printing.
5. Click OK to apply the setting.
6. Click OK again to print the file.

The drawing’s transparent text will be retained.

Thank you.

Autodesk Design Review 2011 offers a familiar way to interact with your 2D and 3D DWF files. In this video, we'll tour the Design Review window. Video Link Thank you. Volker Joseph

Autodesk Design Review 2011 offers a familiar way to interact with your 2D and 3D DWF files. In this video, we'll tour the Design Review window.

Video Link

Thank you.

Day two of the Farnborough Airshow continued as day one finished - very warm, lots of visitors and a great air display!

The Autodesk stand in Hall 1 was also very busy and was visited by manufacturers from the UK, France, Russia, Singapore (amongst others) all eager to see how our Digital Prototyping solutions could help them. We were able to tell them the story of one of our partners on the stand Envisage Group, who have designed a new concept of a first class seat using Autodesk Alias Design and Autodesk Inventor:

A visual of the chair was being displayed on a powerwall on the stand where visitors can visualise the new concept in a fully immersive 3D environment using Autodesk Showcase. With the aid of a pair of 3D glasses, visitors to the stand were wowed at the level of detail and realism they were able to experience.


The afternoon air display didn't fail to impress with the highlights being the F-22 Raptor and the fly past of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner accompanied by two Spitfires.

When installing Autodesk Design Review 2011 and/or DWG TrueView 2011, customers report seeing this .NET Framework warning message which blocks installation. That’s because the 2011 versions of both products, Design Review and DWG TrueView, do require Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5... Volker Joseph

When installing Autodesk Design Review 2011 and/or DWG TrueView 2011, customers report seeing this .NET Framework warning message which blocks installation.

 
That’s because the 2011 versions of both products, Design Review and DWG TrueView, do require Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 be installed on the computer before they can be installed. Even if a more recent version of the Framework is installed, such as .NET Framework 4.0, the warning message will be displayed until the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is installed first.

The solution is to download and install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 from Microsoft website (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=AB99342F-5D1A-413D-8319-81DA479AB0D7&displaylang=en). Once that’s installed, you can install Autodesk Design Review 2011 and DWG TrueView 2011. (Note that .NET Framework 4 can be installed side by side with older Framework versions.)

Thank you.

It was hot........very hot!!

You'd be forgiven for thinking that you were in the South of France or the Mediterranean rather than Farnborough today, especially if you caught the early morning weather forecast. It certainly didn't forecast the superb sunshine and clear blue skies, but too be honest I didn't mind (and I'm sure thousands of others didn't either) as it meant todays air display at the Farnborough Air show was even more spectacular!

For me the day started early, 6.30am into the Autodesk office which is situated right next door to Farnborough Airport. We were taking advantage of the airshow and had invited a number of manufacturing companies to come and see what Autodesk have to offer.

We spent 90 minutes showing how the Autodesk Digital Prototyping solutions can help manufacturers increase productivity, decrease the number of physical prototypes and help to increase innovation. We also have them an insight into how other industries such as Architecture, Structural Engineering, Civil Design and Visualisation can help.

After a packed agenda we boarded a coach over for the afternoon at the air show where we enjoyed the delights of a superb air display in the sunshine. Here are some of my pictures from this afternoons display:

The Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cross paths


The Airbus A380 takes to the skies:




The Blades aerobatic display team give the audience a spectacular show:


If you're visiting the airshow come over and see us in Hall 1 on Stand 4.

You might have noticed I've been a little quiet on here and on my @AutodeskMFG Twitter feed recently, there has been a good reason........honest!

As well as having a week of holiday\vacation\rest I have been working closely with my colleagues at Autodesk on a presentation for the Farnborough Airshow which is taking place next week.

The Autodesk UK office is situated right next door to the Farnborough Airport, we can see the full airport, runways, hangers etc from the office window. This means that every couple of years when the Farnborough Airshow takes up residency for the week you have to keep a tight hold of your coffee or tea as the jets fly over the office! It also means that we can uproot from the office to the exhibition halls on the airport to show manufacturers, design engineers and others interested in design excatly what Autodesk can do for those in aerospace.

This year, we have decided to go a little further than just concentrating on our Digital Prototyping solutions for manufacturers and we have put together a presentation that shows how the complete set of Autodesk solutions can benefit every aspect of aerospace and airport design. The presentation is split into a number of industry focussed sections so that visitors can see exactly what is important to them, they include:

• Aircraft Interior Design
• Manufacturing
• Architecture
• Civil & Structural Engineering
• Geospatial Solutions
• Design Visualisation
• Design Collaboration
• Sustainable Design

Each of the industry focussed sections aims to show exactly how tools such as Autodesk Inventor, Revit, Alias Surface and 3ds Max Design allow design engineers to engineer and collaborate during their design process.

You can find out more about the presentation if you're visiting the Farnborough Airshow next week, we'll be in Hall 1 on Stand 4. Just look for the big Autodesk stand and come say Hello.

Here's a few of the images we've created to wet your appetite....



I'll be blogging directly from our stand at the airshow next week and I'll have my camera with me so will upload some pictures of the event.

See you there.....

While in Copenhagen I delivered a keynote which included a section on Sustainability within Design.  I was also interviewed on the same topic - I thought you might enjoy watching the finished video:

Autodesk is becoming more and more involved in creating products that make it easier for designers to test for sustainability.  Visit http://usa.autodesk.com/company/sustainable-design for more information and insight into Autodesk's ventures into all things green!

While in Copenhagen I delivered a keynote which included a section on Sustainability within Design. I was also interviewed on the same topic - I thought you might enjoy watching the finished video: Autodesk is becoming more and more involved... Lynn Allen

I am really enjoying the summer here in Northern California - I'm hoping you are having great weather as well wherever you are in the world.  The weather has been so great I spent last weekend looking for some goats to put in my very grassy sidelot.  Let me just say - it isn't easy finding two young small goats around here!   Who knew? 

But you probably don't really care about goats - let's talk some AutoCAD shop!  Cadalyst just posted my latest video on linking AutoCAD tables to Excel and vice versa.

It's easier than you think to bring in an Excel spreadsheet as an AutoCAD table and maintain links so that as you update the Excel spreadsheet, the AutoCAD table updates as well!  The tricks to doing so lie in "Paste Special" and making sure sure you select Paste Link and AutoCAD Entities as seen below:

After inserting the table - you'll want to use the Datalink Manager to make sure you've enabled the ability to write to source file if you want the ability to modify the AutoCAD table and have it write out to the Excel spread sheet (if in fact that is what you want).

Take a look at the video - it's so much easier to understand when you can actually watch someone going through the steps!  But be sure to give it a try because it is much easier than most people think!

I"m off to continue the hunt for small goats!  We're looking for Nigerian Dwarfs now - wish me luck!

  
 
 

 

I am really enjoying the summer here in Northern California - I'm hoping you are having great weather as well wherever you are in the world. The weather has been so great I spent last weekend looking for some goats... Lynn Allen

From a browser perspective, for the longest time you were only able to view DWF/DWFx files in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Last year, we provided version 1.0 of the Firefox Add-on for Autodesk Design Review to enable this functionality in Mozilla... Volker Joseph

From a browser perspective, for the longest time you were only able to view DWF/DWFx files in Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Last year, we provided version 1.0 of the Firefox Add-on for Autodesk Design Review to enable this functionality in Mozilla Firefox.

Time marches on. The latest update to the Firefox add-on, version 1.1, and a minor Windows registry modification can enable Google Chrome to view DWF/DWFx files too.

First things first.

• With recent versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Design Review (2009, 2010, or 2011) on your computer, download and install the Firefox Add-on for Autodesk Design Review version 1.1. (If you previously installed version 1.0 of the add-on, version 1.1 will update it automatically.)

Now for the registry tweak.

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dwf.
3. In the Registry Editor's right pane, double-click Content Type. The Edit String dialog box opens and Model/vnd.dwf is shown in the Value Data text box.
4. Change the capital letter “M” in Model/vnd.dwf to a lowercase “m” so it looks like this model/vnd.dwf
5. Click OK to update the value.
6. Exit the Registry Editor.

 
You can now open DWF/DWFx files in Chrome either by dragging and dropping them into the browser or by opening HTML files with embedded DWF/DWFx files.

Let us know how it works for you!

Warning!
Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft has provided a wealth of critical information 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 in ARTICLE-ID: Q132332 "How to Back Up the Registry" in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.

A word of "Thanks" to Chris Blocher, who wrote the artcile for us.

The AutoCAD PROPERTIES command can be driven by a filtered selection set created by the QSELECT (Quick Select) command or sub-dialog.

Working on a potential customer’s sample drawing, I converted a complex collection of dumb graphics into an AutoCAD Electrical “smart” symbol. Works fine but the wire connection attributes ended up being very tiny because the graphics was scaled in metric units and the default wire connection attribute definition text size was coming in assuming imperial units. 

Normally would have just moved on… the converted symbol works great. But the wire connection points are hidden behind connection dots that are part of the symbol. I’d rather these wire connection attributes be big enough to at least extend a bit beyond the dot so that it is obvious that they’re there.

So, how to quickly adjust the text size of these 60+ wire connection attribute definitions? Could write a little AutoLISP utility… but how about using something already built into AutoCAD?

QSELECT and PROPERTIES command

The PROPERTIES command seemed like the right tool to make the actual text height change. But how to carefully select the 60-plus attribute definitions, almost all of which are hidden behind other graphics?

With a little tinkering, the “Quick Select” mode with filtering did the trick. Here’s the sequence:

This should bring up the “Quick Select” sub-dialog. If it does not, just type QSELECT [Enter] at the AutoCAD ‘Command:’ prompt. Select Attribute Definition as shown below.

And we want to filter on the attribute definition Tag names. The wire connection attributes expected by AutoCAD Electrical follow the naming convention X?TERM?? where the first “?” is a 1, 2, 4, or 8 and the last two form an incrementing number value (starting at “01″). So we’ll just enter in X?TERM?? where the “?” wild-card represents any single character.

That’s it. We hit OK and the “Quick Select” finds 62 attribute definitions that have a “Tag” value that wild-card matches string ‘X?TERM??’.

Now, the fun part. Adjust the text size in the PROPERTIES dialog and all 62 tiny attribute definitions resize and now reveal themselves!