MasterGraphics Weblog
Archive for March, 2008
Play It, Sam
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Many of you already know (and love?) FLEXLM utilities that are needed for network licensing of Autodesk products. Did you also know that there is a utility that comes free with most Autodesk products and can be used for more in-depth license reporting? The utility I’m talking about is SamReport-Lite, by Macrovision.
With this tool you can get a very clear picture of how many licenses are being used and by whom throughout the day. It can help you make decisions as to whether or not you need more licences.
The only trouble is that the documentation that comes on the DVD is not Autodesk-specific and is confusing. People commonly get Java error messages installing off the DVD and just give up.
The following instructions will get you past all the confusion. As long as you know how to install FlexLM, you can get through the document.
Good luck and happy reporting!
Autodesk Inventor 2009 - What is New
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
It’s that time of year and Autodesk is launching their new 2009 products. With Inventor 2009 there are many enhancements that users have been asking for. Here is a list of my favorite enhancements.
- 64 bit support - When you install Inventor 2009 it will automatically install the 64 bit version if you are running a 64 bit version of Windows XP or Vista.
- When sketching a slot the last point of the arc and line can now have a tangent constraint automatically applied.
- When displaying sketch constraints all of the coincident constraints are now displayed as glyphs at the point that they touch - greatly cleaning up the screen clutter.
- For complex sketches that you are struggling with to constrain you can now display degree of freedom for sketch which will show arrows direct you to where the sketch is under constrained
- A View Cube has been added that allows you to easily change to different views and to rotate the viewpoint
- You can now import and export the following file formats. The parts will not have features:
- SolidWorks part (*.prt, *.sldprt) and assembly (*.asm, *.sldasm) files
- Pro/ENGINEER part (*.prt*), assembly (*.asm*), Granite (*.g), and Neutral (*.neu*) files
- UGS NX part (*.prt) and assembly (*.prt) files
- Parasolid text (*.x_t) and binary (*.x_b) files - You can now substitute assemblies with a derived part or a part that you model
- You can now easily publish your own profiles to use in the Frame Generator
- Inventor now supports sub and super script text
- A new Crop view has been added that can crop a view to a rectangle or circle
- Sheet metal styles have been changed to use the Style and Standard Editor and you can easily push out style changes.
- In sheet metal the contour and flange tool now support Auto Mitering for internal corners
- The assembly angle constraint has a new option that allows you to select a vector - think of the right-hand rule. This solves the issue of guessing what direction the angle will go.
- You can dimension to the center of gravity in a drawing view
- In an assembly you can measure to the center of gravity (point or planes)
WisDOT Announces to Consultants
Friday, March 14th, 2008
ACEC Wisconsin and WisDot hold a join conference every year to disseminate information to the consulting firms it works with. Hundreds of representatives of the consultant community were in Elkhart Lake, WI at the lovely Osthoff Resort.
Eric Arneson represented the DOT to discuss the decision to implement Civil 3D and how it will impact the consultant community.
Eric is member of WisDOT’s Methods development team. This is a unique team of WisDOT employees who’s responsibility is support of all computer aided engineering software within DOT. The software they support includes Microstation, CAiCE, AutoTurn and CAE Plot.
Some additional highlights:
- WisDOT will implement Civil 3D, Vault and replace their current plotting software by using the sheetset manager.
- WisDOT will decide in May 2008 if a deployment of Civil 3D will go forward for Fall of 2008. They may decide to push back full implementation if they feel the DOT is not ready.
- They will be rolling out Civil 3D to regional offices after finding people who would serve as good early adopters. They will also look for suitable projects to start in or convert to Civil 3D.
- The Methods team will continue to support CAiCE indefinably.
- WisDOT does not now, nor does it plan to require consultants to use Civil 3D. Consultants will still be able to submit plans in several formats including PDF.
- WisDOT may soon require consultants to submit surfaces in a 3D surface model form. This could mean LandXML, TIN or other format that could be used with machine controlled grading.
- All levels of project approval in WisDOT has been obtained.
- Methods development will soon complete Autodesk training curriculum for Civil 3D.
- Project kickoff meeting with IT and AutoDesk was conducted February 20, 2008.
And super-super coolness: There is talk of a WisDOT specific package that can be installed with Civil 3D - not unlike the country design packs that exist.
WisDOT PDF of the full slide show presentation.
I’m excited to see what happens in May. The Methods team is a sharp group.