in this issue
AUGI CAD Camp Redux
On March 7, I attended the AUGI CAD Camp held in
Mountain View, CA. The venue was the Computer
History Museum on Shoreline Road and it was an
inspired choice of location. Easy parking, right off the
freeway and the ambience lent itself to the techie
theme of the day.
My only complaint was the lack of wireless networking
(in a Tech Museum!)....I ended up ducking out of the
conference for an hour, so I could go to the local
Kinko's to check my email. I swear I know the location
of every Kinko's in the Bay Area and also could name
wireless Internet locales in several other states as well.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing, I wonder?
Matt Murphy was wicked wonderful. He gave three
different presentations and wowed the audience on
every one. I overheard one attendee comment to his
buddy that Matt's enthusiastic delivery helped hold his
attention...even better than Lynn Allen, who seemed
uncharacteristically distracted...maybe the traffic -
which was awful due to the rain - threw her timing.
What a bargain! For less than $200, a full day of
training by some of the best, plus the opportunity to
network with other CAD geeks. If you haven't
attended a CAD camp and one is happening in your
area, GO!!!
Check it out...
Quick Links...
|
|
Greetings!
|
Heidi Hewitt Presents - AutoCAD 2007
For the die-hard attendees at the CAD Camp, Heidi
Hewitt, an Autodesk marketing rep, presented AutoCAD
2007 at the end of the day. By that hour (after 5 pm),
the crowd had thinned considerably. One wonders if
Autodesk is hiding this release...if they thought it was
really wonderful, wouldn't they lead the day with it?
The crowd oohed and aahed appreciatively over the
new 3D effects - the ability to stretch\extrude solid
primitives using grips and subtract\intersect with no
mouse clicks were especially applauded.
Meanwhile, in the back of the room, I was having flash-
backs of Architectural Studio demos. Sitting next to
me, a dedicated user from the City of San Jose Public
Works was shaking his head in disapproval.
I had hoped that Autodesk was going to be able to
show some non-3D related features, but the demo was
almost entirely 3D-based tools. Will this release echo
the failure of AutoCAD 2000i? I think so. In 2000i,
Autodesk miscalculated the number of users who really
want to interact with the Internet in CAD. In 2007,
Autodesk appears to have missed the boat again.
Several Autodesk reps told me that users aren't
moving over to the 3D vertical apps fast enough for
Autodesk. The profit margin on ADT, Revit, and
Inventor is considerably more than what Autodesk
makes on a basic seat of AutoCAD. I am not sure what
Autodesk is hoping for in this release. Are they thinking
that if they show how bad 3D modeling can be in
AutoCAD, users will leap over to the 3D apps? Or,
maybe users will start working in 3D in AutoCAD, get
addicted, and want more and better tools, so then
move over?
80% of the drawings my company produces are 2D.
They are wiring diagrams. There is no possible way a
wiring diagram would be readable in a 3D format.
Pushing an agenda that pisses off your customer base
(offering tools that folks don't need while ignoring the
tools they do need) will not improve Autodesk's already
record profits. There is absolutely nothing inferior
about a 2D drawing. The purpose of any drawing is to
convey an idea...CAD users understand that the
bottom line is the fastest and easiest form to
communicate the idea. 3D is great when you need to
worry about space, interference, DFA, DFM, or FEA, or
convey a design idea to a customer. But, 2D will never
disappear....sometimes simple is elegant.
|
|
Find and Replace Across Multiple Files
Once again, my IT guy decided to move to a new
server. Once again, I was faced with dozens of lisp
routines where I had hard-coded the locations of
blocks/templates where the hard code needed to be
updated.
Rather than tediously opening and modifying each file, I
decided there had to be a better way to run a 'find and
replace' across files and I didn't want to pay an arm
and a leg for the solution.
There are a lot of products out there, but some won't
work with lisp files and others are too expensive.
I finally found a software that would work with lisp files
and was low cost (under $30). It worked just fine and
processed all of my files in seconds.
Check it out.... »
|
|
New Matrox TripleHead2Go external upgrade Available
Matrox Graphics Inc. announces
TripleHead2Go(TM), an external upgrade that adds
support for using 3
monitors at a time. The easy-to-install unit simply
connects to the
monitor output of a computer. The operating system
treats TripleHead2Go
like a monitor supporting resolutions 3 times as wide as
standard
resolutions and TripleHead2Go uses Matrox patent-
pending technology to
divide the monitor output from the computer into 3
separate displays.
The displays respectively show the left, center, and
right portions of
this "monitor". This announcement follows the recent
introduction of
DualHead2Go(TM), the world's first multi-display
upgrade of this type.
"TripleHead2Go brings the advantages of using 3
monitors at a time to
systems using the latest non-Matrox graphics hardware
and to closed,
already validated, mission-critical systems," says Sam
Recine, Product
Manager, Matrox Graphics Inc. "Users of certain Matrox
graphics cards
already benefit from Matrox TripleHead technology in
areas like CAD,
GIS, 3D simulation, computer-aided dispatch, security
monitoring, and
process control. For many professionals in such areas,
using less than 3
displays at a time just doesn't cut it."
Unlike installing a new graphics card, the TripleHead2Go
setup doesn't
require opening a computer, inserting parts into it, or
replacing any
hardware or software. TripleHead2Go maximizes the
capabilities of a
system by using its existing graphics hardware and
software for 2D, 3D,
and video acceleration. By helping to manage more
information, Matrox
multi-display technology can improve productivity and
reduce errors.
I have tried out the DualHead2Go and found it
incredibly painless to install and use. If there is a level
higher/better than Plug and Play, the DualHead2Go
would fall in that category.
Find out more... »
|
|
