AutoCAD Home Use

Another benefit of being on subscription…

Autodesk Subscription allows Home Use of software programs that you have under Subscription, subject to the terms and conditions outlined on your subscription site.

So you need to log on to your subscription site at http://pointa.autodesk.com or call your reseller to find out how to get the software.

Home Use is not currently available for all software programs or in all locations. Please contact your Autodesk authorized reseller or Autodesk representative for details on whether Home Use is available for your software program or in your region.

Explanation of Benefit

Home Use means that you, as the licensee of the software program, may install a second copy of the software program at a second location away from your office location under the following conditions:

o Such second location may include installation on a computer located at the home of your employees or on your employees

Maybe you like the NEW look of the xref pallette below…

Or maybe you are more comfortable with the classic look…
You can type in CLASSICXREF for the old Xref Manager

This tip from Cadforum – Tip 5011

I have had so many users who have had troubles with projects and delivering files because they used Hard Coded Paths (Full Path) for Xrefs.

Full Path stores the location of the file that you have attached starting from the drive letter and moving down the tree to where the file is located.

Example:
C:\Documents and Settings\mkiker\My Documents\Acad2007\XREF\Wall Base.dwg

So it starts from the “C” drive – or wherever and travels down the tree to find the DWG file.

If the drive letter changes because you move the project or you send the files to someone else and they do not put the files in the exact locations (including drive letter) that you did – the file does not load in AutoCAD.

Enter Relative Paths…

Relative Paths start from the location of the host file and moves to where the XREF file is located.

Example:
..\XREF\Wall Base.dwg

So it starts looking by backing out of the folder of the host (the two dots) and moves into subfolders to find the XREF.

Both ways will find the file when you first load it. Relative Paths will ensure that the file is found in the future in more cases that Full Path.

Here is where you set it in AutoCAD 2007. Open the XREF palette or Dialog box and look for the Path type option. This only appears when you are actually loading the file the first time. The default is Full Path.

Here is how to change it once it is set in 2007.

Select the XREF you need to change and highlight the area of the path that you need to change.

Now – just type in two dots “..” in place of that full path and hit Enter. Be sure to leave the backslash after the two dots. If you have to back up two folders before going into a subfolder the use two sets of dots “..\..”

It sure would be nice to have a tool inside AutoCAD (not on the Start Menu) that would do this quickly. Do you know of one?

What a CAD Manager does – Moving from the principles to the practicals.

When I start thinking or talking about CAD Management, I move from the principles of the subject to the practical. I like to put things into perspective because I think that it is better to work from the standpoint of the principles that drive management of CAD to the practical guidelines, processes and procedures that you have to develop. By starting in these areas of principle we can move to practical in a more organized manner.

Here would be a few items and how you could move from the principle to the practical.

According to Rasmussen Reports a survey of 1800+ US workers…

92% of Managers rate themselves as “Good” or “Excellent”

BUT…

only 67% of employees say they work for a manager that is “Good” or “Excellent”.

That gap is what I call the “perception is reality” gap. You are (in general) what others think you are. For a CAD Manager that means that you need to keep in mind the way people perceive your talents. You may want to start asking around.

Reseller Roll Call!

The connection to your reseller is vital to the success of your firm.

How often have you contacted your Autodesk Reseller in the last 3 months?
How often have they contacted you?

Let us all know, so we can gauge how they are doing.

Take the Survey

Final Day…

I presented on Standardization today. A class from 8:00 am till 11:30 am. We dug into standards in depth. Here is a portion…

Develop the Standard

Concepts

BIG DAY – Long Day…

By this time most attendees cannot even remember what classes they took on the first day. More exhibits. More classes. More networking.

I taught 2 classes… CAD Leadership and then Destination CAD… Here is a taste…

Destination CAD has up-to-date software. Most folks do not want to work in a location that is 3 or 4 releases behind the industry. This does not mean that you can’t be on 2004 or 2005 software, but you sure should not still be on release 14.

Do you need to be moving faster or moving slower on upgrades or are you just right? There are times when you need to be doing any one of these or maybe all three. Sometimes progress is moving too slowly and you need to speed things up. Other times things are going too fast and you need to slow them down. What we hope for is that we are moving at exactly the right pace.

Users and Management will either follow your lead or derail things. They either are on board of they are pushing too fast or dragging their heels.

More to come…

The day ended with the Blue Man Group – what a show!

Last night was a BLAST! – the AUGI Beer Bust. The AUGI Beer Bust was an overwhelming success. So many people wandering the show floor and coming to the AUGI Booth. AUGI had several giveaways, like T-Shirts, Beer Mugs, Highlighters, Hats and more.

So many people were swamping the booth.

And taking the Top DAUG challenge.

Wednesday – more classes and more events. Tonight it is the AUGI International Reception for those who have come from outside the US. Then on to the Industry Receptions.