Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Florida Local Users Group (Flug)

It's still not to late to register for the Fall FLUG event in Tampa, Florida. We start classes Thursday and conclude Friday. For Information go to: FLUG Website

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 Service Pack 1


Here’s what Autodesk says about SP1 for Civil 3D 2013:

In a continuing effort to provide high quality products, Autodesk has released AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 Service Pack 1, which fixes or addresses a variety of issues discovered by customers and by Autodesk's internal testing team.

This Service Pack includes all previous hot fixes for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013. It also includes the fixes included in AutoCAD 2013 Service Pack 1.1 and AutoCAD Map 3D 2013 Service Pack 1.

Note: This update applies to all language versions and to versions of AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 with previous hotfixes applied. Before applying this update, make sure that any customizations made to the user profile (such as, customizations made to the support file search paths, print file customizations, printer support file paths, redirections, custom template settings, and so on) are exported to a secure location, then imported and reapplied after the update has been successfully installed. You cannot run an automatic uninstall to remove this update. To restore your version of AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 to its pre-update state, uninstall AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 and reinstall it.

The following issues have been resolved in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 Service Pack 1:
.NET API
·         The IsUsed property in StyleBase now reports whether a style is in use by an AutoCAD Civil 3D object.
Cogo
·         The COGO Editor now accepts Degrees/Minutes/Seconds in a spaced format.
·         The COGO Editor now retains the saved value in the description field.
Corridor Design
·         An issue with the Offset End Station value that prevented a drawing from opening has been resolved.
·         Switching between drawings while Station Tracker is enabled no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         An issue that caused errant feature lines to be generated between stations has been resolved.
Corridor Volumes
·         An issue where cut/fill volume shading was displaying incorrectly in some cross sections has been resolved.
Cross Section Views
·         The Update Section View Layout command no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         Opening a AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 drawing containing the OverlayAndMill subassembly no longer results in a display issue with the section views.
Cross Sections
·         Selecting multiple existing polylines when creating sample lines no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
Data Exchange
·         An imported structure will now use the expected dimension rather than the dimension of the first structure of the imported group.
Feature Lines
·         Creating feature lines from objects when the objects are overlapping closed polylines no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
General/Other
·         An issue that caused an error when closing a drawing has been resolved.
·         An issue that caused an error when starting AutoCAD Civil 3D after migrating settings from a previous release has been resolved.
·         The stability of the Audit command has been improved.
·         Using the Move/Copy/Rotate Express Tool after grip editing an object no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         In drawings with a custom UCS, switching from the model tab to the layout tab will no longer reset model tab to isometric.
·         Using your mouse wheel to pan while in a command no longer causes an unexpected error.
·         Deleting the last remaining layout while set to model viewin that layout no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         File sync of custom Tool Palettes has been disabled.
·         Opening a drawing by double-clicking on the file no longer causes an unexpected error.
·         The performance of tooltips has been improved.
·         North rotation is now calculated as expected between Coordinate Settings and Geolocation.
·         An issue that caused an error when saving a drawing has been resolved.
Grading
·         An error while using the Grade to Surface command has been resolved.
·         Deleting a PI from a feature line no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
Hydraflow Storm Sewers
·         Storm Sewer calculations have been clarified to follow methodologies according to HEC-22.
·         Storm Sewers using HDS-5 inlet control option now report expected results.
·         The following issues related to inlet calculations and reporting have been resolved:
o    Inlet section view displays spread correctly in 2D when depression is ignored.
o    Slotted drains in sag condition now calculate expected depth and spread values while transitioning between weir and orifice flow.
o    Open Area Design calculations are now less than or equal to the product of grate length and width.
o    A column in theInteractive Designer is now labeled "Local Depression" to be consistent with the data-entry field.
Hydraflow Express
·         The following issues related to Inlet calculations and reporting have been resolved:
o    Inlet Section View display shows spread correctly in 2D when depression is ignored.
o    Slotted drains in sag condition now calculate expected depth and spread values while transitioning between weir and orifice flow.
o    Open Area Design calculations are now less than or equal to the product of grate length and width.
·         The following issues related to culvert calculations and reporting have been resolved:
o    Circular culverts now report consistent tailwater results as expected across a flow range.
o    Elliptical culvert calculations now report expected headwater values above the crown of the pipe.
Hydraflow Hydrographs
·         Hydrograph plots are now displayed correctly on computers running Windows XP 32-bit.
Inquiry
·         Switching between drawings while the Profile View Elevation and Grade Between Points inquiry command is active no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
Labels
·         An issue where referenced pipe spanning labels list the incorrect distance after reopening a drawing has been resolved.
·         An issue where referenced pipe network labels in section view disappear after reopening a drawing has been resolved.
·         Wipeout frames used in styles now display as expected.
LandXML
·         When importing LandXML data, alignments are now imported to the specified drawing layer.
Object Enabler
·         Importing a drawing using Navisworks Manage 2013 no longer results in the application becoming unresponsive or closing unexpectedly.
Parcels
·         Deleting a PI of a perimeter parcel no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
Pipe Networks
·         Solid hatching now displays as expected in profile views.
·         Issues recognizing the correct Manning roughness n-value for parts has been resolved.
·         Pipe length data is now available in structure tables displaying connected pipes.
·         Synchronizing a pipe network with a part swapped in the source drawing now updates the style as expected.
Points
·         Creating a point no longer fails if a survey point with the same number already exists in the drawing.
·         Assigning user-defined properties to a point group from the Summary tab no longer results in the application closing unexpectedly.
·         The next point number is now assigned correctly when creating points from objects.
Pressure Networks
·         Deleting pressure networks while the Pressure Network panorama is open no longer causes the program to close unexpectedly.
·         Minimum radius values for curved pipes are now updated when changing pipe sizes during layout.
·         Quantity takeoff reports now list lengths of pressure pipe when linear pay items are assigned.
Profiles
·         Grip editing a PVI marker with OSNAP enabled no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         Linetypes used for profiles that are referenced now appear as expected.
Project Management
·         Drawings with circular dependencies now generate a prompt when being checked in.
·         An error is no longer generated when checking in a drawing with a reference, when the reference drawing is checked out by another user.
Quantity Takeoff
·         The Pay Item and Pay Item Categorization files now default to the previously browsed path.
Reports
·         The PVI Station and Curve report is now generated correctly when the ambient setting for Grade/Slope format is set to Per Mille.
Shortcuts
·         An issue that allows the same profile object to be mapped to two different parent alignments has been resolved.
·         Performance when opening a drawing containing references has been improved.
Superelevation
·         The diagram in the Create Superelevation View dialog box is now displayed as expected when the alignment is referenced.
Surface
·         Watershed analysis performance on DEM surfaces has been improved.
·         The Drape Image command no longer results in a reversed image when hardware acceleration is enabled.
·         The stability of the Level of Detail command has been improved.
·         The stability of the Resolve Crossing Breaklines command has been improved.
Survey
·         The lower pane of Figure Properties dialog box now displays the Import Events as expected.
·         Modifying figure data in Figure Properties dialog box no longer causes the application to close unexpectedly.
·         Editing Chain Type Figure Properties no longer causes the layer to reset to 0.


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

AutoCAD WS now supports Civil 3D Drawings


Great news. At least for the mobile AutoCAD WS users.
AutoCAD WS, for the iPad at least, now supports Civil 3D drawings, and it works great.
When you open an AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing in the AutoCAD WS app you will see the drawing in one of the 3 available Views: 2D, 3D Wireframe and 3D Solid. You can easily switch to either one of those Views.
If you have a Surface in the drawing, the 3D Solid View will show you the solids of the triangulation of the surface. Just like you would see when you make use of the Object Viewer by selecting the Surface within AutoCAD Civil 3D.
Switching to 2D View will show you the drawing in Plan View.
Switching to 3D Wireframe View will show you the drawing in 3D View showing Civil 3D objects like Feature Lines and more.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Save Table Cell Formatting as Style


Did you know you can know store cell level formatting for quick use later. Simply format a cell in a Table the way you want it, right-click the cell and select “Cell Style --> Save As New Cell Style …” 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Change Grip Mode With Spacebar


When simply clicking on a grip when an object is highlighted you automatically go into the stretch command. Press the space bar and you go into the move command. Press it again and you go into rotate, again for scale, and again for mirror. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Changing the visual effects of selection and rollover highlighting


Want to change the visual effects of selection and rollover highlighting? Advanced settings can be found in "Options->Selection->Selection Preview group->Visual Effect Settings…"

Monday, September 10, 2012

Copy with a base point


Copy with a base point the simple way; 'Ctrl+Alt+C' then select your base point, 'Ctrl+V' to paste. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Restricting rollover highlighting to improve performance


Try setting the SELECTIONPREVIEW system variable to 2 if the rollover highlighting functionality degrades performance in large drawings. This will restrict rollover highlighting to only be active when prompted for object selection from within a command. This can also be set from "Options->Selection->Selection Preview group".

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Use Profiles to Transfer Settings Between Computers


Once your AutoCAD environment (file paths, drafting settings, colors, etc.) is just the way you want it use Tools/Options/Profiles/Add to List and then Export it as .ARG file anywhere on your network. Later when moved to a different computer simply go to Tools/Options/Profiles/Import to Apply your settings. Read more on Workspaces and Profiles from AutoCAD Help/User's guide/The user interface/Customize the Drawing Environment 

Friday, September 7, 2012

Split Tables Into Columns


Did you know that Tables can now be broken into multiple parts but still be part of the same table. At the bottom of every table object is a triangular grip. Click and drag this grip to set the breaking height for the table. 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Full Un-install of Civil 3D 2012 Instructions


Issue:
There are instances when you may experience problems or issues with the original
installation of AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2012. In these cases, it is strongly recommended
that you completely remove AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 from the system and then perform
a new installation on the system.

Solution:
To uninstall AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2012 and remove any remnants of this product from
the system, follow these steps:
·         Backup any customizations if needed
·         Remove programs in this specific order using Add/Remove programs from Control Panel
o    Autodesk Material Base Resolution Image Library 2012
o    Autodesk Material Library 2012
o    AutoCAD Civil3D 2012
o    Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis 2012
·         Restart Computer
·         Delete: C:\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012
·         Delete: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\C3D2012 (for each user that has used C3D on machine)
·         Delete: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\C3D2012 (for each user that has used C3D on machine)
·         Delete: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\C3D 2012
·         Delete: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A000:409
·         Delete: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A000:409
·         Restart Computer



Monday, July 30, 2012

Broken Data References

If you are experiencing broken data references in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012. It is due to a known issue in service pack 2. If you haven't yet upgraded to service pack 2 yet hold off. A fix is in the works.

Friday, July 27, 2012

AutoCAD WS Update



AutoCAD WS
AutoCAD WS: web and mobile CAD for iPad and more

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Increasing space on a SSD

The capacity of fast SSD disks is usually limited (for technology- and price reasons) and so an additional 4 GB or 8 GB disk space can be quite useful. In most cases you can save several gigabytes of a precious disk space by deleting the system hibernation file.


Windows 7 create a hidden file hiberfil.sys in the root folder of disk C: - and the contents of RAM is stored into this file when your system gets hibernated. The hibernation makes your system start faster as the applications are not launched individually, but the system status is restored from the hibernation file image.

If you do not use hibernation to shutdown your system, or if the speed of the standard system start from a fast SSD disk is enough for you, you can delete (remove) the hibernation file. Depending on the size of RAM in your computer you can save several GB of free space on your SSD disk.

To disable hibernation and automatically delete the hiberfil.sys file, run the Windows command line (cmd.exe) as Administrator and enter the command:
powercfg.exe -h off
(to restore this function use the "on" option)