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Showing posts from 2014

Fence File or FF=

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This is the first in a series of posts on basic Microstation V8i tips. The Fence File command is a quick Microstation key-in that will Copy the contents of a fence to a new or existing file. For example, if you wanted a file that only contained existing utilities from your survey file, then you could turn everything else off in your survey file, except for the existing utilities, and place a fence around them and key-in FF=, hit Enter and you will be prompted to save the new .dgn file.

Technology in a Consistent System

Technology changes almost daily.  It changes so much that if you don't keep up with it, then you end up behind the curve.  Business runs better with a system that is consistent.  If you can plan every aspect of the project, then you know what you need to complete it.  The big question is "How do you advance your technology without killing a consistent system that works?"  The answer is not the same for everyone, because what works perfectly for one company does not work for all companies. So lets take some time to look at different types of technology and how to implement them into a consistent system. 1. Trusted Technology. Trusted Technology is a technology that has been tested for years and already stands on a consistent system.  You can almost always find this type of technology in the hands of teenagers and youth.  Texting, IM, and yes even twitter is good examples of trusted technology.  If your teenager can keep in touch with there friends 24/7,  what is keeping yo

AutoCAD One Key Shortcut Guide

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Keyboard shortcuts is a quick way to find tools that you use everyday, but most of the time we can never remember or find what to type.  That is why Autodesk has created a key shortcut guide.  Very useful tool! AutoCAD One Key Shortcut Guide

App Review: Able2Extract 8 ( Extract CAD Drawings from PDF)

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I don't know what it is, but this PDF thing is here to stay.  I know we send and receive PDF files of drawings all day almost everyday.  The big pain with PDF files and designing in CAD software is fact that they never play well with each other.  You would think the best way to get the information that you need from a PDF you receive is to just convert it, well that is what the people at Able2Extract does best.  Enjoy a great application tutorial on just how simple it is to convert a PDF file to a DWG or DXF file. We often use PDF as a secure way to send and share drawings created in AutoCAD. Some of the main reasons for this are: ●         PDF is platform-independent, which means that anyone can open and view the shared files from any device (personal computer, tablet or smartphone), running on any operating system (Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, iOS). ●         PDF locks the formatting, layout and contents of the drawing (vector images and text), and thus ensures that t

Autodesk is getting into hardware!

Today Autodesk announced that they will offer a 3D printer and 3D printing software called Spark! "Spark will be open and freely licensable to hardware manufacturers and others who are interested. Same for our 3D printer – the design of the printer will be made publicly available to allow for further development and experimentation. The printer will be able to use a broad range of materials, made by us and by others, and we look forward to lots of exploration into new materials." For more information go to Spark

Projecting Objects to Multiple Section Views

If you have ever wanted to display an easement line or right-of-way line in multiple section views, here is a quick and easy way of doing that. First, I am going to assume that if you are reading this article that you have multiple sections views, and right-of-way or easement lines that you would like projected to them. There are several different ways you can project objects to your sections views, but for this example I will use the 3D polyline method. You can NCOPY  a nested object into your corridor file (if it is being referenced in) and it is most likely a polyline so all we have to do is convert it from a 2D polyline to a 3D polyline. So in your ribbon go to the Modify tab. Then select Convert 2D to 3D Polylines . Simple enough, now just click on any section view and in the ribbon choose Project Objects To Multiple Section Views . You should see the dialog box below. Now just check the box for 3D polylines , set your Style, Elevation Options, and Label

Quick Tip: Blank Fields

Here is a quick tip on working with fields. If you leave fields blank you see this "----" in your print out, and if you just delete the text then you lose your field. So what you end up having to do is put some character in there to keep your fields visible (like a period) but if you want a truly blank field that is still selectable just put "%%" in your field!