Move, Rotate, and Scale Faces on 3D Solids Modify the location, rotation, and size of faces on 3D solids. Use the LD Assistant MOVE, ROTATE, and SCALE commands to modify faces just as you would with any other object. Press Ctrl+click to select a face on a solid. If you move, rotate, or scale a face on a 3D solid primitive, the solid primitive’s history is removed. The solid is no longer a true primitive and cannot be manipulated using grips or the Properties palette. Face Modification Options As you drag a face, press Ctrl to cycle through modification options. *Maintain shape of face, modify adjacent faces. When you move or rotate a face without pressing Ctrl, the shape and size of the face is maintained. However, the planes of adjacent faces might change. *Modify shape of face, retain edges. When you move or rotate a face and press and release Ctrl once while dragging, the size of the face is modified within the boundary, or footprint, of the adjacent faces. *Modify face, triangulate adjacent faces. When you move or rotate a face and press and release Ctrl twice while dragging, the size and shape of the face is maintained. (This behavior is the same as if you had not pressed Ctrl). However, the adjacent planar faces are triangulated (divided into two or more planar triangular faces), if necessary. If you press and release Ctrl a third time, the modification returns to the first option, as if you had not pressed Ctrl.   Featured Rendering - by Rufus W. Warren III   CAD Articles How to pass Autodesk Professional certification by Edwin Prakoso I finally get a chance to have Autodesk certification test. I tried my luck with AutoCAD. There is a big difference with the last time I got my Revit certified professional title. Now there is no associate certification. You now can get professional certification without having to pass the associate exam first. This is a simplified model, which require you to take less exam and spend less money for certification. Professional certification is much easier to pass than associate exam. At least that was my experience for Revit and AutoCAD. Some friends said the same for Inventor. Why associate exam is more difficult? Associate exam doesn’t allow you to access the software. So you have to memorize and understand the tools and concepts. Our problem is we don’t use all tools during our daily task. Especially if you have specific task at work. So this can be difficult for many people. In professional exam, you have access to the software. So you can try and test each question to find the right answer. The questions are not difficult. Mostly basic. You can check in Autodesk certification page for materials that are covered. Click here to keep reading   Do you miss the classics (Dialog Boxes)? By Sherry Pittman, IMAGINiT Technologies For those of you upgrading to the newer releases of AutoCAD based products, you may be missing some of the dialog boxes you are used to seeing in older releases. Since Autocad has switched to the ribbon format, the tools look different than they did previously. You can switch your workspace to Classic AutoCAD, but even then, some things just don't look the same using the same commands you have in the past. Click here to keep reading   Making hatch pattern transparent in your drawing by Lynn Allen Casalyst. Click here to view   Three Macros to Align Your UCS by Perry Medina These macros will rotate your UCS along an object. Tipster Perry Medina shares three macros that will help you to quickly adjust your UCS (user coordinate system) in AutoCAD. These three menu macros align the UCS to a line the user draws. Perry frequently works on aviation projects, and often uses these to ensure the runway is horizontal with the screen or the viewport. All the macros turn the UCS icon on so you can be aware that you are in a user coordinate system. It is critical to know if your x,y,z readings no longer relate to the standard world coordinate system. 1. This first one creates a UCS parallel to a line that you pick. Then the plan view is made current so that the selected line is now horizontal on your screen. It matters which end of the line you select, because the opposite end of the line will yield different results. Click here to keep reading   Optimizing AutoCAD Performance by Aaron Goldberg AutoCAD is the most popular CAD tool in use today. And despite the high level of performance of many workstations, the creative nature of CAD professionals and enhancements to this key product continue to demand ever higher performance levels. Poor AutoCAD performance levels actually can be quantified in real dollar terms based on the waiting time a CAD professional endures. Before we get into some of the tips and tricks that can be used, it’s worth considering if the existing hardware should be replaced. With new workstations with very high performance starting around $1400, they are not hard to cost justify. The fully loaded cost of a CAD professional is $1000-$1400 per day. And if that professional is waiting just 20 extra minutes per day, that’s almost 7 days of wasted time per year, a very compelling ROI for a new workstation. Click here to keep reading   How to: download certified graphic card driver by Edwin Prakoso You can check whether your hardware are certified to run Autodesk products or not. You probably already know that. You can check certified hardware here: autodesk.com/hardware. However, you may still have problem with graphic performance. So what could be wrong? First, you should realize that the certification are released for workstation grade hardware. It’s clearly stated in the hardware certification page. I really don’t think this would be an issue. Certainly non-workstation grade will work slower, but shouldn’t be any serious issue. Second, the certifications are released for specific driver version. If your graphic card is listed but you don’t use the same driver version, it could be trouble. Latest driver doesn’t mean it would be better. So if you already use certified graphic card but still having problem, you should try to download the driver from Autodesk website. Replace your driver with it. Click here to keep reading   Mobile Champion - Lenovo ThinkPad W530 mobile workstation delivers incredible price and performance. by David Cohn Over the past few years, we've reviewed numerous Lenovo ThinkStation workstations. We've consistently been impressed with the company's ability to deliver performance at an affordable price. But it's been more than four years since we last looked at one of the company's mobile workstations. We were, therefore, excited when the Lenovo ThinkPad W530 arrived. Click here to keep reading   Windows 8: Is It the Right Call for CAD? by Joe Dysart Microsoft’s new OS, with its radically redesigned touchscreen interface, could face an uphill climb toward professional adoption. Sporting a radical redesign that’s expected to charm some and disappoint others, Microsoft’s new Windows 8 faces a tough slog ahead, including a slow adoption rate, analysts say. “The challenges of a new user interface, a complex set of processor choices, and a long ramp to a compelling set of app offerings in the Microsoft Store will translate to a slower-than-usual Windows upgrade cycle,” says Frank E. Gillett, an analyst with Forrester. Gillett is lead author of the Forrester report, Windows: The Next Five Years. The study predicts a grim forecast for Windows 8 in 2013, but concluded that with the right moves, Microsoft could stabilize long-term market acceptance of the product line. Microsoft is betting big on its OS, which for the first time is driven by touchscreen controls. The change makes Windows much easier to use on smartphones and tablets, but on traditional desktops, the new interface comes across as clunky and inefficient, say many early adopters. Click here to keep reading   Fix problems with the way AutoCAD looks (the user interface) by Ellen Finkelstein Recently, a reader of my book, AutoCAD 2013 Bible, was reading something I wrote about the ribbon. He undocked it. (You can do that by right-clicking at the very end, in the blank gray space and choosing Undock.) Then, he clicked the X on the ribbon, which closed it. (Of course, I never recommended doing that.) Uh-oh! He finally guessed that he could type ribbon on the command line, but he was angry at me for not explaining how to get it back. So I thought I would provide some information about how to fix problems that occur when you inadvertently mess up how AutoCAD’s user interface looks.   Fix the ribbon Type ribbon on the command line to display the ribbon. The RIBBONCLOSE command closes the ribbon. If the ribbon gets undocked, drag it upwards until it snaps into place. You can collapse the ribbon so that it doesn’t take up as much space. Click the down arrow at the right end of the ribbon tab names and choose one of the options: Minimize to Tabs, Minimize to Panel Titles, or Minimize to Panel Buttons. Try them out and see which option works best for you. Click here to keep reading   Thank You! Design & Drafting appreciates your interest in our products. Please forward this newsletter to your friends and associates, however, NO part of this newsletter may be used without permission. © Copyright 2013 by Chicago Stage Equipment Company Inc. D.B.A. Design & Drafting. Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, DWF, DWG, DXF, ObjectARX are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.© 2012 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Rufus W Warren III Editor