So let’s try to do some optimization. This article is the first part. Before we start to customize our CAD software, let’s start with optimizing our system.
Optimize Your Computer Settings For Performance
If you use Windows 7 or Windows 8, you will see it has fancy graphic effects. Slide effects, shadows, translucent selection, transparency, and many more that we don’t need. It looks fancy, but they consume many resources. Even if you use Windows XP, this will help to reduce Windows to consume too many resources.
Press Win key (the one Windows logo) and type on search ‘advanced system settings’ – without quote. Click the icon when it appears. Click here to keep reading.
Smoke 2013 is designed to meet the needs of professional editors working in video production, corporate video, online video and other competitive creative environments where productions require editing and effects. The new Smoke offers editing and effects within a single, efficient timeline-based workflow, a sleek user interface and runs on a wide variety of Apple MacBook Pro and Apple iMac computers. Extensive customer research and feedback received during the pre-release trial actively helped drive the product development. New features which grew directly out of user recommendations include: ability to drag and drop a clip from the source player into the timeline; ability to expand/collapse the timeline FX pipeline area; and redesign and streamlining of the UI and interface elements to speed up workflows. Click here to keep reading
One of the great benefits of using AutoCAD to create your technical drawings is the ability to adapt AutoCAD to suit your company’s processes. If you can establish a technical drawing process that you perform frequently – you can automate it with AutoCAD. If you’ve ever had to do the same thing with AutoCAD twice – think about how you could automate it so you never have to do it again.
One of the easiest ways to automate a process within AutoCAD is to write a script. In this post, I will demonstrate how to write and develop a script for AutoCAD. In this example we will write a script that will automate a typical plot routine.
What is a script?
In computer programming terms, a script is a programme that will run with no interaction from the user. To AutoCAD, a script file is an ASCII text file that contains a set of command line instructions for AutoCAD to follow – just like an actor reading from a script. AutoCAD script files always have a file extension of ‘.scr’.. Click here to keep reading
In AutoCAD® there’s a hidden treasure trove of options that many users do not realize exist. System variables are values that control command settings, interface behavior, and user options. Some system variables are stored with the DWG file, while others are stored to your computer’s registry.
Most system variables can be controlled through a user-friendly front-end, such as the Options dialog box. Others can be found in drawing-specific areas such as the Units dialog or the status bar. A few system variables are key-in only. No matter where the front end is, they can be controlled through command-line input.
The following is an alphabetical list of some that I consider to be the most useful.
FILEDIA
Most users who have worked with AutoCAD for any amount of time have needed to reset this registry-stored variable. When this variable is set to 0, or “off,” the dialog box display is suppressed for the Open and Save As commands. A script or LISP routine will frequently set this variable to the off position while it runs its course, but will reset it back to on at the end of the process. If AutoCAD happens to close unexpectedly during the running of the script, the variable does not get reset to the proper position.
GRIDSTYLE
Many people like to work with the AutoCAD grid on, but find the new engineering paper look makes the polar tracking guidelines difficult to see. The default value is 0, but changing the GRIDSTYLE to 1 will take the modelspace grid back to the pre-2011 dotted appearance. GRIDSTYLE can also be set to 2 through 7, which affects in which drawing environments the classic grid will appear. GRIDSTYLE set to 7 means that you will see dotted grid in model space, the block editor, and layout tabs. Whether the grid is on or not is saved with the drawing, but whether you are seeing the classic or new type of grid is saved in your computer’s registry.
GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL
AutoCAD 2012 has raised the bar for drafting productivity with multifunctional grips on everything from polylines to dimensions. However, if you are working with a large-scale drawing, the pop-up menus that appear as you move your cursor over grips can be distracting. GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL can be set to values between 0 and 3, defined below.
0 – will turn off multi-functional grips altogether.
1 – will allow you to access the grip-goodies by holding down the control key as you click.
2 – gives you hover-only grip menus.
3 – the default setting; gives you grip menus with or without using the CTRL key.Click here to keep reading
Here is a guest blog post from Paul Munford.
Did you know that you can set AutoCAD up to show you exactly how your plot will look, even before you Preview it? (You can click the Preview button in the Plot dialog box to preview your plot.)
It’s easy – when you know how. This technique applies when you use a color-dependent (CTB file) or named (STB file) plot style. Plot styles help you create and save plotting variations and are a great productivity tool. If you aren’t using plot styles, I highly recommend that you check them out. Here are two tutorials to get you started:
*Create a page setup for plotting
*Create a plot style (color-dependent)
Paper Space – It’s a virtual sheet of paper
By default, AutoCAD’s paper space is set up to look like a sheet of paper. The paper has a white background, a black drop shadow and a dotted line around it to indicate the plot area. When you create a viewport in paper space your model space geometry is revealed – in colour… This is not so hot when you are used to seeing your lines, arcs and circles against the dark background of model space.
. Click here to keep reading
If you have ever needed to create a spline between two selected lines or curves, AutoCAD 2012 has the answer, with the new blend command. Simply draw your geometry (Lines, curves, splines), then type blend at the command line, choose either Tangent or Smooth Continuity. Pick your first piece of geometry.Click here to keep reading
"This tip is about a new and controversial command called Nudge. This command is initiated by holding the Control key and using the arrow keys. In AutoCAD 2012 there are two types of Nudge: one with Snap Mode off, the other with it on (pressing F9 toggles between the two).
"With Snap Mode turned off, the Nudge tool is best suited to freestyle drawing, because it moves objects two pixels at a time (relative to the screen and current zoom). This is similar to the nudge movement used in Microsoft Office products for what we call 'WordCAD.'
"Since AutoCAD is mainly a technical drawing–based program, users want controlled movements in the model space. By turning Snap Mode on, the object(s) nudged is moved a set distance determined by the snap settings. By changing the snap and grid settings, you can adjust the nudge distance. Click her to keep reading
After an AutoCAD drawing is created, it is common to need a PDF version of the drawing. If the correct printer/plotter is not specified in the page setup for plotting, then solid hatching, or other parts of the drawing, could appear not solid in the PDF.
I run AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2012 in my drafting service business. I complete most of my projects with AutoCAD 2007. I’ve still been using 2007 instead of 2012, just because I’m a typical creature of habit. While using AutoCAD 2007 I’ve found that when I print an AutoCAD drawing file using a third party print driver, or the Adobe print driver, that’s when I get the solid hatch problem. .Click here to keep reading
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Requirements for 2D Drafting • Microsoft® Windows® 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional (SP3 or later) • For Windows 7: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ dual-core processor, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology • For Windows XP: Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual-core processor, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology • 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended) • 6 GB free disk space for installation • 1,024 x 768 display resolution with true color (1,600 x 1,050 with true color recommended) • Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later web browser.
Requirements for 3D Modeling • Pentium 4 or Athlon processor, 3 GHz or greater or Intel or AMD dual-core processor, 2 GHz or greater • 4 GB RAM or more • 1,280 x 1,024 true color video display adapter 256 MB or greater, Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater, OpenGL, Microsoft® Direct3D®-capable workstation-class graphics card.
Standard Rendering Requirements • 4 to 6 GB RAM
High-End Rendering Requirements • Depending on the size of drawing from 6 to 12 GB RAM may be needed.