Lynn Allen's Blog

Free Download of the new Inventor LT (and free training!)

If you are in the manufacturing design Biz and you haven't downloaded the free preview version of Autodesk Inventor LT then drop everything, put your coffee down (you'll need two hands), and go directly to Autodesk Labs.  Do not pass Go...Do not collect $200...(you know the drill!).  Here you'll have a chance to see for yourself how easy Autodesk Inventor is without spending a single penny!  It's free (and we all love free...right?...or is it just me).

Autodesk Inventor LT is to Inventor as AutoCAD LT is to AutoCAD.  Not quite all the functionality but a great step in the right direction.  Here you can create 3D parts, the 2D drawing files that go with those parts (actual DWG files) and even render the fabulous parts you design with the built-in photorealistic rendered Inventor Studio.  If you'd like to see a video that talks about the Inventor LT preview check this out:  Inventor LT video   

If you are completely new to Inventor - you might want to attend a free hands-on seminar (mini-training session) on the product so you can get off on the right foot.  The Autodesk Training Centers are offering up these cool seminars as part of their ATC Open Doors program. 

So there you have it - free, free, free!  I hereby officially deem today as Free Day!  Hoorah!  Everyone should get off work early to celebrate.  : )

Working on Autodesk University this week (and a Moth story!)

Over the weekend I discovered this gigantic moth hanging onto my garage door.  To be honest - I thought it was a bird at first it was so big!  It's legs looked like tarantula legs (picture fuzzy pipe-cleaners) and the wingspan was enormous.  Being fascinated I googled "gigantic moth" and amazingly I was immediately sent to Polyphemus Moth - or Giant Silk Moth.  (I swear you can find anything on the web!) These moths are the second largest in North America (I hesitate to imagine the moth that takes first place!) with a wingspan up to 6 inches.  Sadly they live for a very short time - less than a week and have no mouth to eat with (since they don't live long anyway I suppose there was no point).  Later I went back out to visit my furry friend only to find him on the ground - not looking so well - so I must have discovered him towards the end of his short stint as a moth. 

Being the coward I am I couldn't convince myself to touch it - but my husband was kind enough to hold it while I took a couple of pictures for all of you (knowing you couldn't go another day without a picture of a moth!).  So realize that Craig's hands are very large as you view this picture - this moth is nearly 6 inches across in size!  He (she?) is actually very beautiful with two eye-like spots that look as though they were painted on.  Rumor has it this is to throw off birds who may attack the poor critter.

and another picture on the rock we placed him on to enjoy his time left on Earth.

I was absolutely fascinated with this guy - it's kind of sad actually when you think about it.

On a happier note - this is a short week for most of us in the U.S. as we had a holiday on Monday.  Long weekends are such a treat aren't they?  I'm back in the office now working on the slate of classes for Autodesk University 2007 - if you haven't started saving your pennies to go - now is the time!!! Have a car wash, bake sale - whatever - but start saving today as you don't want to miss this great event.  I had a conference call with our best presenter at Autodesk University - dave espinosa-aguilar (yes - all lower case).  He's helping us out with our AutoCAD Advanced Power Track - something new to Autodesk University 2007.

Hi dave!  :-)

American Idol Finale and an AutoCAD Hip Tip!

Who will win?  Jordin or Blake...as I write I realize that those of you on the East Coast are so much closer to knowing the winner than I am out here in California...I must admit I am still rooting for Jordin and I called in several times last night to cast my vote (oh the shame of it all!).  Regardless of who wins I am convinced they will both be very successful - they are both so talented!

On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Right Click Customizing:

So what does the right button on your mouse do?  Does it display a shortcut menu when pressed?  Does it perform an Enter (like the old days?).  How would you like to set up it up so it does both???  AutoCAD gurus maximize the power of the mouse by assigning both options to the right mouse button - a short click does an enter while a longer click displays the appropriate shortcut menu.  How do you do that you say?  It's super easy - and yet so powerful!

Go to the User Preferences tab in the OPTIONS command as seen below.  Here you will find the secret passageway to Right Click Customization!

Here a simple check mark turns on this great feature as seen in the figure below:

You also get to determine just how long you'd like that click to be before it displays the shortcut menu (in Milliseconds).

Now be aware that this will take a little getting used to - but in the long run you'll be so much better off!  Give it the good old college try and maybe you'll just save a little extra time in your every day drawing life!

I'm off to get ready for Idol!  Go Jordin!

The Last Leg of the ETP Tour

I finished my part of the ETP Tour last week with the three cities of San Jose, Anaheim and Seattle.  I was definitely sad to do my last show in Seattle (I wish I could do all of the shows on the tour!)  It was great being in my old stomping grounds of Orange County and seeing some good friends of mine.  Tom Conti (Disney) spoiled me by showing up with an adorable ceramic Mickey Mouse for me - pictured below.  And yes Tom - Mickey made it home in one piece (which is a miracle considering how clutsy I am).   Thank you so much!!!  I will miss the rest of the tour because I'll be doing some shows in Asia.

The audiences were fabulous last week - below is the crowd at my AutoCAD 2008 presentation in Anaheim (I like the adorable woman in the front row holding up my Tips and Tricks booklet!).

 

I spent all day today sorting out all the info I need to get visas for my trip to Asia...tomorrow morning I get to drive to the Indonesian embassy in San Francisco to try and convince them to grant me a rush visa - oh Boy!  Otherwise it takes 10 days to get it (I should have planned further ahead I guess).  After that I need to get a visa for Vietnam...the list goes on and on...all I want to do is show up to do an AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks presentation - why does it have to be so complicated?

Who is going to win American Idol???  I can hardly wait to find out!  Blake or Jordan?  Hmmm...my bet is on Jordan - although I think it will be close.  I really liked sweet Melinda and must admit I'm sad to see her go.

I'm off to make dinner...

The Tour Continues!

We're on round 4 of the Experience the Possibilities tour...Yesterday was San Jose (very enthusiastic audience when they saw the new features in AutoCAD 2008).  Today I am back in my old stomping grounds of Southern California (the "O.C." more specifically).  I am looking forward to seeing some of my favorite CAD buddies today like Shane Bartley (Disney), Bob Kellerman, Jim Balding (WATG), Perry Burch...the list goes on and on!  The event takes place at the Anaheim Marriott - right across from Disneyland - I wish we had a little more time so I could visit there!  But alas...we run to our next flight to Seattle right after our presentations.  : (

As I've been running from town to town I have been throwing in some pretty obscure (yet powerful) tips and tricks on AutoCAD...let's quickly hit one that I've had very few know about.

AutoCAD Hip Tip for Changing the Sample Text String in MTEXT:

Come on...it defaults to "Abc"...how dull is that?  It's your AutoCAD system - why not customize it to something that makes your everyday drawing life just a little more exciting?  You can change that sample string that displays every time you enter the popular MTEXT command so easily by using the MTJIGSTRING system variable (don't ask me what that stands for - I have no idea!).  Set it to your favorite sports team, pet, or anything that makes you happy to see because let's face it - you see this sample string all the time!

Command:  MTJIGSTRING
Enter new value for MTJIGSTRING, or . for none:  Go Colts

And Voila!  You have a new sample text string custom made for you!  Note that you can only choose a string up to 8 characters...

All I know is that everyone writes this down when I mention it so it must be a pretty popular tip! I'm off to my Inventor Prezo!

Search and Replace Attribute Values

I've had three emails and two people at conferences ask me how to globally replace attribute text this past week (it's an epidemic!).  There are a few ways you can go about doing this chore so let's quickly look at the possibilities.

1.  FIND command
Use this low stress command to do a search and replace on attribute values.

2.  GATTE Express Tool

This oldie but goodie will also globablly change attribute values for all insertions of a specific block.

And if you need to change the color (or text height, angle, style, etc) of specific attributes (as someone asked me yesterday) try using the -ATTEDIT command.  You have to put a dash in front of it to get it to work - otherwise it just gives you the DDATTE command (don't ask me why!).  This command works globally as well which is really nice.

A big thank you to the very nice woman who brought me a great magazine to read on the plane!  What a sweetheart (sorry I can't remember your name for the life of me here).  And an extra big thank you to all of you who hung around yesterday in Toronto asking me to autograph my booklet - you definitely made my head swell (I barely fit through the plane door last night!).

On to Boston tomorrow!

The ETP tour goes to Montreal!

I am now in beautiful Montreal on the third week of the Experience the Possibilities tour (link to the left if you want to see if we're coming to visit your town!).  I'm in between my Inventor session and my AutoCAD 2008 session and thought I'd drop a quick note to my blog.

Calling all ye AutoCAD LT users!  I also have an AutoCAD LT 2008 tips and tricks booklet that you can download.  This booklet is filled with all kinds of tips and insider information on the latest release of LT.  And the best part...it's free...and we all love free!(well at least I do!)

Download Lynn Allen's AutoCAD LT 2008 Booklet here

I'm off to my afternoon presentation...Bon Jour!

AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks Booklet

I've been promising everyone I would post the PDF for my latest AutoCAD Tips and Tricks booklet so here you go!!!

Link to Lynn Allen's AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks Booklet!

We've had so many attending my AutoCAD sessions on the ETP tour that we keep running out of booklets - so please help yourself to the PDF file.

I am back home - and oh so happy about that!  Thankfully my dog remembered who I was and didn't bite me (I've been gone for such a long time).  While I was gone promoting AutoCAD 2008 and Inventor 2008 she learned how to jump!  And I was convinced that "White dogs can't jump"...I was so wrong...

Download the booklet and take it one tip-filled page at a time...it will help you get up to speed in no time.  And for those of you who are still on AutoCAD 2007 - you'll find lots of 2007 tips in there as well.

I'm off to unpack!