Okay...I admit it...I'm hooked on American Idol. My TIVO knows of my addiction, as do my dog and cat, and now all of you do (acknowledgement is the first step to recovery). I'm certainly going to be glued to my television tonight as Kat and Taylor go head to head in their last chance at the American Idol crown. Will it be the sweet, doe-eyed brunette with the beautiful melodic voice or the Soulful silver haired Taylor who is always so much fun to watch. I like them both (but I predict Taylor, who has never been in the bottom 2, will win). Of course I predicted Chris Daughtry was going to win all along and clearly that's not going to happen (were you as shocked as I was when he was voted off?). All I know is that tonight I will thoroughly enjoy my American Idol IV drip...
So I think us AutoCAD junkies should have our own American Idol survey! So if you'd like to vote for who you who think is going to win American Idol...Select the link below:
Let's just see how accurate we techies are at predicting a winner...
Now on to the AutoCAD Tip...
An AutoCAD Hip Tip for Easier 3D Drawing:
There is a new tab in the OPTIONS dialog called 3D Modeling. This tab contains several options that can truly make a difference to a newbie 3D user (in fact you veterans might find them useful as well). I've modified my OPTIONS to include two extra boosts of help while drawing in 3D. Here they are:
Show Z axis in crosshairs is a must for working in 3D. This makes it so much easier to tell which direction you are drawing in as seen below.
Red is X, Green is Y and Z is blue (remember this as it comes in very handy!). The shorter axes indicate a negative direction (also very helpful). Need help with the color association - how about 'Red X" marks the spot, "Y aren't there more Green M & M's in every bag?" and "The deep blue "Z'. Okay - these are painful at best but if it helps - who cares!
While you're getting used to the color designations you might find it useful to label these axes (another option above). Personally, this is a little too much information for me (and with those great color/axis hints above who needs more!) : )
Last but not least is the Show labels for Dynamic UCS. Since AutoCAD 2007 makes it easy to move from one UCS to another just by selecting the face of an existing object (love, love that!) - you might find the additional X,Y,Z labels come in handy to ensure you have your direction lined up properly. Just one more tool you can choose to use.
I'm off to get ready to watch American Idol - I wish both contestants the best of luck!
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