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Greetings!
Welcome to the second year of CADzette!
Can you believe it has been a year since we launched
this free zine? Since it's launch, our number of readers
continue to grow.
I do appreciate hearing what you have to say...your
feedback guides me on the type of content I include in
the zine. I try to provide a mix of tips, tutorials, and
industry news. All content is a reflection of my
personal style and opinion and definitely does not
reflect the corporate message of Autodesk or any CAD
company. So, drop me an email and tell me what you
would like to see in future issues of CADzette.
I will be speaking at the next Marin AutoCAD User's
Group Meeting on Thursday, June 3 at Autodesk HQ in
San Rafael at 6 PM. They will be raffling off a seat of
Inventor R8. You must be present to win!
On a Personal Note
If I have seemed distracted in my newsletters over the
last few weeks, I apologize. It is always a disservice
when you fail to do your best.
As most of my loyal readers know, I am fairly active
with horses and I compete in dog agility events. I have
spent the past three years training my horse, Laertes,
using Natural Horsemanship methods. These methods
rely on developing a communication with your horse.
Learning to read the horse in the manner of a Horse
Whisperer. It is a remarkable thing to be able to talk to
a horse. My sister, Shelah, who works with autistic
children, asked me if she could bring one of her
students to meet my horse.
Over a month, the little girl and my horse developed a
great friendship and the little girl blossomed. I can't tell
you how heart-warming and wonderful it was to see
this miracle. But, people at the stables where I board
objected to me bringing autistic children onto the
premises "for the protection of the children". Their
fears were based on concerns about insurance liability,
and also the "differentness" of autistic individuals. I
have been threatened physically, verbally abused; the
stable owners even threatened to take my horses away
from me and sell them. It is amazing what fear can
cause people to do...and to be afraid of a six year old
little girl is even more incomprehensible to me.
Because of the level of harassment, I filed a complaint
in federal court, citing violations to the ADA (Americans
with Disabilities Act). Several civil rights attorneys
have stepped forward and offered their services to me
pro bono. While I was representing myself in court,
these legal angels help me with preparing my legal
briefs, coach me on how to argue in court, and provide
moral support at no charge. The fact that more than
one attorney has offered to help me says a lot about
the strength of my case.
The little girl no longer comes to the stables
because I don't want to put her in the middle of all the
hostility. Of course, she is the real loser as this battle
continues in the court. The folks at the stable have
engaged in the typical mud-slinging (attacking
character is the last resort of scoundrels).
On Friday, May 14th the judge ruled that I had
proven that I had been discriminated against, but ruled
against me anyway. Basically, the other side showed
that I was not qualified to be working with autistic
children and therefore was endangering them. So, I
won the legal argument, but lost the case. To say that
I am heartbroken would be a small understatement.
I would be remiss, if I didn't admit that it has not
affected the
quality of my work in the past month. So, I apologize
to you, dear reader, and ask your indulgence while I
work through this.
To view a video of the little girl with my horse (almost 100 MB!) ...
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ADT Users Can Now Get Certified |
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"Gain a competitive edge in the architectural industry
with the Autodesk Architectural Desktop Certified
Expert Program. With official certification of your
expertise in Autodesk Architectural Desktop you can
demonstrate your skills to prospective employers and
advance your career opportunities. Program highlights
include a certification exam with diagnostic feedback
that assesses your strengths and identifies areas for
improvement so you can extend your design skills.
Other professional tools include an official certification
logo for use on business cards and documents, plus
listing in the Certified Expert database publicly
accessible on the Autodesk website."
For more information... »
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R. Paul Waddington Ups His Offer |
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Long-time readers of CADzette may recall Mr.
Waddington's offer from an earlier issue (Volume I,
Issue 19 - October 10, 2003). Mr. Waddington is a die-
hard MDT user and fan. He firmly believes that
Inventor, while a fine product, is NOT superior to MDT
for many types of components. So, he now issues a
new and bold challenge.
Paul states: "There has been a renewed interest in my
comments relating to MDT vs
Inventor and as a result I have just published and
indicated to a number of
people my willingness to pay $150.00 to the FIRST
person who can model the
shape you published, using Inventor, faster than me
using AutoCAD/MDT."
"I will widen this offer to your newsletter readers as
well, providing there
is provided considerable proof that the times a
participant states can be
verified."
Since Paul is conducting this "contest", interested
readers must email him directly contest details. You
should have a copy of Inventor in order to meet his
challenge. Email him at paulw@ozemail.com.au.
Take the challenge.... »
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Introduction to ANSYS Course Offered |
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Ozen Engineering, Inc. will be holding
an "INTRODUCTION
TO ANSYS" course on June 1 through 3 in Mountain
View. The cost is $1,350. Ozen Engineering, Inc. will be
giving a free copy of ANSYS-ED product ($320 value)
to the ASME members who sign up for this course.
In addition, they will be giving a 26% discount to the
unemployed ASME members (unemployment subject to
verification) plus the ANSYS-ED product ($320 value).
Unemployed ASME members will be paying $999 for this
three day course and they will be receiving a free copy
of the ANSYS-ED product. The fee includes breakfast,
lunch, and refreshments, and training material. Seating
is limited. Interested?
Please contact Metin @ (408) 732-4665 or
metin@ozeninc.com
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From Architectural Studio to ADT |
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There is a small bug that occurs when you try to import
data from Autodesk's Architectural Studio into ADT.
You will receive the following error message.
To export a model to Architectural Desktop,
Architectural Desktop must be running with the target
drawing open.
However, the error is non-existent. You can download
a free fix from Autodesk's website using the link below.
Download the fix »
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Software draws and prices 2 1/2D parts |
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If you outsource the fabrication of machined parts you
might want to check out this website.
Automated price quoting is an idea just catching on.
The most recent
site is from eMachineShop.com and comes with a twist-
a 2D-CAD program
and guidelines for reducing part costs.
Even if you already have a machine shop you like and
use, you can use this site to compare pricing - and
design options to see where you can save some bucks.
Check it out »
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UnDocumented Express Tools |
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There are several Express Tools that can only be
invoked by the command line. You can find
them listed in the Express Tools help menu. Bcount is
one of those tools, and I have used it for
the last 5 years (AutoCAd 2000). It will count all, or
the one(s) selected. You can then copy the
count in the text editor to the clipboard, and paste it
into any program, e.g. Excel. Since I work
in the Electrical Construction industry, I have been able
to use it for accurate take-offs for
estimating purposes. (Fixtures, receptacles, lighing
system components, etc.)
I look forward to your newsletter every week. Keep up
the excellent work.
- Semyon Solomon
To find out what hidden commands you have available
in your Express Tools, go to the Express Tools Help and
look under the Command Line Only section.
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Metric SpaceTag Routine for ADT2005 |
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I wrote a spacetag routine back in November of 2001
for ADT 3.3. A reader recently asked me to revamp the
routine and make it work in metric for 2005. The
routine has the user select a space, enter in the name
for the space, and then places the space tag at the
center of the space automatically with the correct data.
So, you can download the routine and use it below.
The zipped file includes a metric space tag block and
lisp routine to run to add the tag. The metric space
tag block should be placed in one of your support paths
or it won't insert properly.
When I was writing the routine, my biggest headache
was getting the decimal values to come up so they
looked proper...I didn't want any trailing zeros. For
some reason the rtos function didn't work properly
anymore. I have no idea why. Luckily, I found a work-
around - fix. FIX is a lisp command that basically takes
a real number and makes it into an integer. Phew,
problem averted.
As always, I have kept the code open, so LISPers can
look at it and modify it to suit their own needs.
Download the files »
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Creating Custom Viewport Scales |
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In ADT 2005 Viewport & drawing scale can be selected
via the drawing status bar. There is a good selection
and also custom but if that's not enough Chris Yanchar
mentioned in a newsgroup post:
"The list of scales is much more extensive, and if we
happened to miss one, it can be added through the
Registry."
NOTE: As always, be very careful when editing registry.
Incorrect editing may severe damage to the operating
system or software operation. Backup before making
any changes. See Regedit Help for "Best practices
when editing the Registry".
- Go to Start->Run.
- Type 'regedit' and press OK.
- Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\ObjectDBX\R1
6.1\AEC\4.5\AecBase40\Scales
- Highlight Feet\Inches\Metric to add the desired
scale.
- Right click and select New->String Value.
- Type the desired scale value.
- Close the registry.
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