SubscribeIt was a long week in Vegas and I am delighted to be back on the home front! It was great spending time with my colleagues and coworkers from around the world but the long days definitely took a toll on me. I'm in town for an entire week before I venture off to Down Under for two weeks of presentations on AutoCAD 2008 and Inventor.
I just had to share a picture with you from last week of the Autodesk Training Center (ATC) dinner (they kindly let me crash their dinner!). Rolando Aguilera, on the Americas ATC team, is often "missing in action" and consequently we are wearing T-shirts to drive that point home. Rolando is in the very front (but then you probably figured that out!). If you can't read the T-shirts they say "Where's Rolando?"...I am pretty sure he got the point! He was a great sport and we all love him for it!
I am a big fan of the Autodesk Training Center team and all the hard work they do on behalf of the ATCs. When you need to take training - definitely make sure you are going somewhere that is a sanctioned member of the ATC network! That will ensure you are in the best possible hands...
On to everyone's favorite topic nowadays...the next release of AutoCAD!
Annotative Scaling in AutoCAD 2008:
While much has been written about the new Annotative Scaling - it's really going to be one of those things you'll need to get your hands on before you truly figure it out. I've provided a very high level view of the topic with more to come after the product ships (let's face it - it's hard to follow along if you don't have the product!).
If you’ve found getting the proper scale factors per viewport to be frustrating and confusing, then you’ll love the new annotative scaling! No longer will you need to create multiple sets of text and dimensions on multiple layers. Now you create one set of annotative objects (such as text, dimensions, balloons, blocks, attributes and hatches), indicate the desired actual plotted size, and it will magically display at the correct size (and we all love Magic now don't we?).
Controlling Annotation Scale
A new annotative property can be assigned to objects such as text, dimensions, blocks and hatches. You create the object at the actual size you want it to plot and indicate the intended scale factor(s). Any object with an annotative property can have one or more scales assigned to it (such as ¼”=1’ or 1:50). This makes it easy to display the same object in different viewports with varying scale factors. For example, the same text object could appear in one viewport that is scaled 1/8” = 1’, and another viewport at 1”=1’.
You can change an existing object to annotative using the Properties command.
Tip: Redefining a style or definition to be annotative does not affect existing objects. You'll want to use the new ANNOUPDATE command to update selected objects to match their style or definition (oh and by the way...ANNOUPDATE only works in model space).
How can you tell if an object is annotative just by looking at it? Drag your cursor over the object to see the new annotative indicator.
Tip: Set the annotative scale factor in model space to reflect the most prevalent scale factor in the drawing.
For those objects that need to display at multiple scale factors, use Properties to add any additional scale factors. You can also use the OBJECTSCALE command.
Tip: It’s faster to use the OBJECTSCALE command when dealing with different object types.
Like I said - you'll need to see it and try it to "get it"...
Over and out - off to get some pizza and catch up on American Idol from last week (God Bless Tivo!)