All Autodesk® Users

• Autodesk University 2009
• Autodesk University Virtual 2009 - Free for Subscription Customers
• Autodesk University Extension 2009 - a Free Training Event
• Subscription Advantage Packs
• Training Schedule for December - January
• 12 Months of Unlimited Training for Only $2200
• AutoCAD LT & AutoCAD Promotions
• ALACAD Now Has a YouTube Channel: AlacadTV
• Tip: 2009 Tax Break

Architecture, Engineering and Construction

• For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Revit Training Webcast Series

Manufacturing/ Mechanical Engineering

• For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Inventor Training Webcast Series
• For Professional Engineers: Free Webcasts with Certificates of Attendance for Claiming PE Credits
• For Inventor Users: AutoCAD Inventor 2011 Beta Is Now Available and More
• Announcing the AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite Rebate Promotion

Plant and Process

• ALACAD Presents the Live "AutoCAD P&ID Demo" Monthly Webcasts
• AEC Plant Solutions Breakout Session at AU
• AU Virtual Online Plant Sessions

Civil Engineering and Geospatial

• For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Civil 3D Training Webcast Series
• For AutoCAD Map 3D Users: Subscription Advantage Packs
• For AutoCAD Civil 3D Users: Can You Really See Through Transparent Commands?

Autodesk University 2009

Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV, December 1- 3, 2009

Each year private companies and public agencies send their brightest employees to AU — and for good reason. From powerhouse classes and labs in the latest technologies to great networking, Autodesk University gives your organization the tools to get competitive and remain that way — fast.

No other user conference anywhere offers the depth of training and relationship-building opportunities that you find at AU — all neatly bundled into one event.

AU is your once-a-year opportunity to spend a short, concentrated week getting the training and making the business contacts you need to enhance your career and help your organization stay competitive in the global economy.

This three-day event offers many opportunities to learn, connect, and explore, including:

• The world’s largest curriculum of technical content taught by top instructors
• The world’s largest annual gathering of design professionals, industry experts, and Autodesk executives
• The latest technology in hardware, software, and services from the world’s largest gathering of Autodesk developers and strategic partners
• A mix of business and social activities where you can share ideas with peers, and meet industry leaders from around the world

To learn more about this premiere training event and to register online, click here.

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Autodesk University Virtual 2009 - Free for Subscription Customers

Online, December 1- 4, 2009

Nothing can compete with attending Autodesk University (AU) in person. But not everyone can travel to Las Vegas. With AU Virtual, technical professionals around the world can gain practical knowledge—without leaving the office. AU Virtual attendees experience the immediacy of AU via the Internet through real-time viewing of keynotes, Q&A with instructors, and online interaction with peers and experts. AU Virtual not only saves you time and money, it also helps reduce the environmental impacts associated with travel.

Two Ways to Experience AU Virtual:

• AU Virtual Premier Pass – Full access for only US$99

  Gives you everything included in the Free Pass plus access to 50+ select classes with Q&A streamed live from Las Vegas. And, after the event, learn at your own pace with 350+ on-demand classes from AU 2009—practical sessions with tips & tricks and useful downloads to help you upgrade your job skills and boost productivity.

• AU Virtual Free Pass – Available to any AU Online member

  This pass offers a wealth of content including live AU keynotes, product clinics and much more, plus access to the AU Online community. If you are an AU Online member, log in to your account to register for AU Virtual. If you do not have a free account, it’s easy to sign up and enjoy all the benefits of membership.

For more information or to register online, click here.

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Autodesk University Extension 2009 - a Free Training Event

ALACAD Corporate Office, Birmingham, AL, December 7- 11, 2009, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

The Autodesk University (AU) conference held each year in Las Vegas is the world’s largest learning and networking event for Autodesk product users. But not everyone can travel to Las Vegas. So this year, Autodesk is extending the benefits of AU by sharing classes and content from the event with Authorized Training Centers (ATC®). The result is a new worldwide initiative called Autodesk University Extension

The Autodesk University Extension event combines expert-led class content from AU in Las Vegas with face-to-face interaction with ALACAD instructors and other users. At this event, you will receive free training, utilizing classes recorded at AU in Las Vegas.

This 5 day event will be held at our corporate office in Birmingham, AL. Each day will be focused on a different discipline, each session during the day will run about an hour and all attendees will have an hour for lunch at any of the many restaurants surrounding our office.

Monday, Dec. 7th - General CAD

• Making VB.NET as Easy as VBA
  
• Customizing Entity Behavior in AutoCAD® .NET
  
• AutoCAD® .NET: Zero to 3D in 90 Minutes
  
• Parametric Design Modeling with Autodesk® 3ds Max®
  
• AutoCAD® Electrical 2010 Ribbons unWrapped

Tuesday, Dec 8th - Manufacturing/ Mechanical Engineering

• Engineer Marketing With Autodesk® Showcase®
  
• Digital Prototyping: Mechanical Simulation Overview
  
• Digital Prototyping: Validate and Optimize Your Designs with Autodesk® Algor®
  
• Cashing In on the Vault and Retrieving the Treasures
  
• AutoCAD® Mechanical: Something Old and Something New
  

Wednesday, Dec 9th - BIM

• Autodesk® Revit® Collaboration: Shared Coordinates for Projects Big and Small
  
• Leveraging BIM with Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff
  
• Introduction to a BIM Execution Plan
  
• BIM Means Business! Using Autodesk® Revit® and Navisworks® in the Project Construction Management Process<
  
• Modeling Complex Surfaces and Structures Using the New Modeling Tools for Autodesk® Revit® 2010

Thursday, Dec 10th - Civil 3D

• Wow! That Surface is Huge! Working with Large Surfaces
  
• The EXPRESSway for Hydraulic Analysis
  
• AutoCAD® Civil 3D®: Survey Exposed!
  
• Getting Started with AutoCAD® Civil 3D® Application Programming Using .NET

Friday, Dec 11th - Geospatial/ GIS

• Using AutoCAD® Map 3D and LIDAR Data to Enhance 3D Maps and Designs
  
• Integrating GIS and CAD Data with the FME FDO Provider
  
• Autodesk® Topobase Tips and Tricks
  
• Mapping Water Quality with RESTful Web Services for MapGuide®

For more information or to register online, click here. Please note that seating is limited to the first 20 registrants for each day.

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Subscription Advantage Packs

Autodesk Subscription customers get access to Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs that include the latest Autodesk software technology. Subscription Advantage Packs are now available for download and include new features, specialized functionality, and powerful tools that help extend the capabilities of your Autodesk 2010 software. If you haven’t installed your Autodesk 2010 software yet, now is the time to make the transition as Subscription Advantage Packs are compatible only with 2010 releases.

Two Ways to Download Your Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs:

From Subscription Center
Sign in to Subscription Center to access product downloads and the new Subscription Advantage Packs.

From Within Your Autodesk 2010 Software
Download Subscription Advantage Packs directly from the Information Center within certain Autodesk 2010 products.

For more information, click here.

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Training Schedule for December - January

All classes will be held at ALACAD's Corporate Office in Birmingham, AL, unless noted otherwise. Call us at 888-442-3100 to register today.

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12 Months of Unlimited Training for Only $2200

ALACAD is offering a very special all-you-can-study promotion: twelve months of unlimited training for $2200 per person. For example: take both the Fundamentals and Advanced classes for your current product AND re-take the classes AND take a class on a product you are thinking about purchasing, all for $2200!

See for yourself:
Revit Architecture Fundamentals $1400
+ Revit Architecture Intermediate $1050
Total $2450 (You have already saved $250!)

All regularly scheduled classes held in our Birmingham, AL, Authorized Training Center are eligible. For more information, call us at 888-442-3100.

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AutoCAD LT & AutoCAD Promotions

AutoCAD LT Crossgrade Promotion - Until October 16, 2009, Autodesk customers who own AutoCAD LT® version 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010 can trade up (crossgrade) to AutoCAD 2010 or any of a number of industry-specific products at a reduced promotional price. Products to which you can crossgrade include AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Revit Architecture, AutoCAD P&ID and Inventor.

AutoCAD LT Rebate Promotion - From October 1, 2009 through January 15, 2010, customers who purchase qualifying new commercial licenses of AutoCAD LT® software may be eligible for a rebate of up to $300 for each new license purchased after submitting an online request here and providing proof of license purchase documentation. This offer is limited to private sector (not government and education) customers and a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address.

AutoCAD Rebate Promotion - From November 2, 2009 through January 15, 2010, customers who purchase qualifying new commercial licenses of AutoCAD® software may be eligible for a rebate of up to $500 for each new license purchased after submitting an online request here and providing proof of license purchase documentation. This offer is limited to a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address. Upgrades, crossgrades, Legacy, competitive trade-ups, educational, and government purchases do not qualify.

Call us at 888-442-3100 for more information.

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ALACAD Now Has a YouTube Channel: AlacadTV

View our YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/AlacadTV

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Tip: 2009 Tax Break

"The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward."
John Maynard Keynes

The Section 179 Federal Income Tax Deduction allows a sole proprietor, partnership or corporation to deduct up to $250,000 of equipment (including Autodesk software) purchases from their taxable income as long as the equipment purchased is placed in service prior to Dec. 31, 2009. This is a great way to offset the cost of that Autodesk software package you've been eyeing all year long. Check with your tax advisor to make sure you qualify for this deduction, then gives us a call at 888-442-3100 to take advantage of this opportunity*.

*ALACAD does not provide tax advice. Consult with your tax advisor to determine if the transaction is appropriate for your circumstances.

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For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Revit Training Webcast Series

Starting in January, these classes will be held the second Monday of each month and are free to ALACAD Subscription customers, and $25 (per class) to all others. When registering, you will be required to enter your Subcsription Contract number if you have one. If you do not have one, you will be contacted by an ALACAD Sales Representative for your preferred method of payment.

Revit Design Options and Phasing Monday, January 11, 2010 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CST

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For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Inventor Training Webcast Series

Tips, tricks and things you didn’t know Inventor® could do! Not even the manuals tell you this stuff. Attend these webcasts for some tips and tricks from our Solution Engineers and take a peek inside their bag of Tricks. These classes are free to ALACAD Subscription customers, and $25 (per class) to all others. When registering, you will be required to enter your Subscription Contract number if you have one. If you do not have one, you will be contacted by an ALACAD Sales Representative for your preferred method of payment.

How Can I Use Positional Representations and Design Views? (Pre-recorded) Tuesday, December 8, 2010
Inventor Projects Primer (Pre-recorded) Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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For Professional Engineers: Free Webcasts with Certificates of Attendance for Claiming PE Credits

PE’s - come get those last minute credit hours that you need or just join these webcasts to learn more about the products.

"Embracing 3D Modeling to Make Better Design Decisions in Autodesk Inventor" In this webcast you will see how creating and utilizing 3D functional models can reduce you design time, improve drawing accuracy and information. Watch how a 3D model can be digitally prototyped to improve your bottom line and speed your products to production. Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CST
"Exploring Autocad Electrical" This webcast will demonstrate how Autocad Electrical 2010 can easily and accurately create electrical drawings. Topics to be covered include: wire creation and Auto numbering, ladder diagram creation, Bill of Material automation, terminal strip editing and creation, single line wire diagrams, point to point wire diagrams and charts, and power/motor control circuit creation. Tuesday, November 24, 2010 2:30 - 3:30 a.m. CST

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For Inventor Users: Thoughts from Our VP of Mechanical Design Solutions

AutoCAD Inventor 2011 Beta Is Now Available
For those wondering when this would be made available, it is now available for downloading. If you already have a beta account or need to create one, go to:

http://beta.autodesk.com

If you are new, then you will need to fill out an online form and get approval.This is an excellent opportunity to review the software, see what’s new and try to break it in before it is released. Please keep in mind that Beta software is not for production use and any information created in a beta software has no guarantee of working in the final version.You will also need to check your internet connection, because you will be downloading several DVD’s worth of information.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing your comments on the Beta Forum’s website.

Drivers
We get a lot of questions and support calls concerning drivers, particularly video drivers. There is a lot of published information about video drivers and their compatibility with the Autodesk products. Here’s a very good one:

http://www.inventor-certified.com/graphics/index.php

It has past and present information on drivers, where to find them, if they are compatible with the current product and which version of the drivers are available.

Training
Spending money in a down economy sounds counter-intuitive, however, that is exactly what your business may need. While attending the Southern Automotive Conference last month, most of the automotive manufacturers in the southeast were present. Many of them discussed how they were making and acting on plans for recovery. One of them discussed that instead of laying off hundreds of employees, they trained their workers on improving quality (over thousands of hours) and developed over 3,000 kaizens! Now is a great time to train or retrain your employees on their CAD software. If you can make your engineers more productive and more accurate, it will pay off several fold through your entire production facility. Invest in your workers by training them on the software and improve your bottom line.  ALACAD has many regular classes.  We can also customize classes to your work/workflow to make your engineering departments more efficient. 

Call your ALACAD account representative and let us come in and show you how we can help.

View all of Jon Selzer’s articles at:
http://missioninventor.blogspot.com/

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Announcing the AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite Rebate Promotion

Autodesk is offering a $400 rebate to end users who purchase new seats of AutoCAD® Inventor LT™ Suite 2010 software from September 1, 2009, through January 15, 2010. This rebate enables AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite users to get industry-leading 3D part modeling and popular 2D drafting and design in one box at a reduced price. Call us at 888-442-3100 to learn more.

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ALACAD Presents the Live "AutoCAD P&ID Demo" Monthly Webcasts

Create, modify, and manage piping and instrumentation diagrams with AutoCAD® P&ID software. Built on the popular AutoCAD® platform, AutoCAD P&ID is easy to use and familiar to designers and engineers, so design teams can get started immediately with little or no training. Common tasks performed every day are streamlined to boost productivity, while component and line information is brought straight to drafters as they work. Join ALACAD at this FREE online seminar to learn how AutoCAD P&ID 2010, with simple reporting, editing, sharing, and tracking of design information, can help make your projects start easier, run better, and finish sooner.

December 10, 2009, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CST
January 26, 2009, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CST

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AEC Plant Solutions Breakout Session at AU

Thursday, December 3, 2009, 10:00am-11:30am, South Pacific F, Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV

The launch of AutoCAD Plant 3D marks a major milestone for Autodesk’s Plant Solutions business.  As positive feedback continues to stream-in, it is clear that AutoCAD Plant 3D gives Autodesk a world-class solution for the very heart of the 3D modeling and design workflow.  Our hope is that once you see AutoCAD Plant 3D you will want it; but this is just the first step.  How will you influence others in your organization and convince them on the value of the Autodesk solution in the face of top-down pressure to use complicated database-driven design systems and ISO 15926 noise?  Join us in a panel discussion that explores the challenges of getting buy-in for Autodesk solutions within your organization.  Following our session, attendees will be instructed on how to join a Special Interest Group on AutoCAD Exchange that will provide an ongoing forum to discuss strategies and share experiences throughout the year.

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AU Virtual Online Plant Sessions

Tuesday, December 1

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm            PD114   Introduction to AutoCAD P&ID

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm            PD118   Intro to Plant 3D - Process Piping, Structural & Equipment

Wednesday, December 2            

8:00 am - 9:30 am             PD204   Managing the Change in P&IDs

10:00 am - 11:30 am        PD208   AutoCAD P&ID Customization: Everything from Tags and Annotations to Symbols

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm            PD214   Executing a First Project in AutoCAD Plant 3D

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm            PD222   Successful Projects using AutoCAD P&ID

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For Subscription Customers: ALACAD Online Civil 3D Training Webcast Series

Starting in January, these classes will be held the third Monday of each month and are free to ALACAD Subscription customers, and $25 (per class) to all others. When registering, you will be required to enter your Subcsription Contract number if you have one. If you do not have one, you will be contacted by an ALACAD Sales Representative for your preferred method of payment.

Modifying Part Sizes in Civil 3D 2010 Pipes and Structures, AutoCAD Civil 3D is full of them.  But what happens when you need that odd size structure to fit a large pipe at a skewed angle, or you need to use a different class of concrete pipe in a particular application where clearances are crucial?  Did you know that you can modify the sizes of the structures and pipes in Civil 3D?  This webcast is going to introduce you to using the “infamous” Part Builder in Civil 3D to modify some of the part sizes and add a couple of new ones. Monday, January 18, 2010 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CST

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For AutoCAD Map 3D Users: Subscription Advantage Packs

If you are a subscription member there is a new extension you can download. The subscription extensions now called Subscription Advantage Packs (SAP) are available on the subscription site.  The SAP for AutoCAD Map3D 2010 contains tools to use LIDAR or point clouds data. If anyone ever wanted to use large LIDAR files or point clouds you now can with the SAP. So what can you do with this data? Well depending on the data, a lot.  First, here is how you can start using it.

First, on the Display Manager, click on the Tools Icon, select Create Point Cloud Index. The “Index” needs to be created for all new LIDAR (las) files.

When you select to create the point cloud index the Point Cloud Manager palette opens. Here is where you browse to the LIDAR files and add them to a list or you can even group multiple files together.

Once the files are listed in the Point Group Manager, highlight the file or group and click on Generate Index. This creates a file with an ISD extension. You have the option prior to generating the index as to the file location and name by selecting in the output column and browsing to a folder and renaming the file. The default is the same folder and file name as the las file. Generating the index takes a few minutes depending on the file size and number of points in the file. A process indicator is displayed in the Point Cloud Manager as it is generated.  Once the index is created you can click the Add to Map button to add the point cloud to your map.  Note that you only need to create the index for the las file once - you can use the isd file to load the point cloud in any drawing. Once you have created an index of a las file you can reload the point cloud by using the Data icon and selecting Add Point Cloud Date.

Once the point cloud is loaded into the map it is listed as a map layer in the Display Manager.

Once you have a point cloud loaded you can highlight it and the context sensitive tab on the ribbon will display for the point cloud.

The ribbon tab allows you to control how the point cloud is displayed along with a few other tools to work with the point cloud. The Point Display control will allow you to control the number of points (density) displayed. Move the slider to increase/decease the amount of points. The Filter Point Cloud control allows you to filter the point cloud based on the data assigned to the points or by spatial (location on your map). Note: Not all LIDAR files will have data assigned to it. The Style panel of the tab will allow you to set the style of the point cloud based on the classification, elevation, intensity or RGB assigned to the points. The create panel will allow you to create a surface from the point cloud. You have two formats for the surface file, GeoTiff or ESRI ASC. The Export panel will allow you to export the point cloud to SDF format to be used later in the map or as an ASCII (text) format or even to a LAS format. Exporting it to ASCII will only export the XYZ of the points it will not export any other data and exporting to SDF will create a LARGE SDF file, so beware.

Along with the advantage pack there are some sample files (las) and tutorials on the subscription site that you can also download that provide some assistance on using the new feature.

View all of Murph’s articles at:
http://map3d.wordpress.com

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For AutoCAD Civil 3D Users: Can You Really See Through Transparent Commands?

While working on a support call today, I derived a solution for a customer that included using a Transparent Command. That got me to wondering how many people actually use the Transparent Commands in Civil 3D. I know that I did not use them very often in past employment engagements. It was not until I started teaching classes on Civil 3D that I fully understood the power of these commands and how they could help me work smarter and not harder.

For example, at one of my past jobs I worked with an older gentleman who was very close to retirement. He was fairly proficient with vanilla AutoCAD, but almost completely illiterate when it came to Civil 3D. I am not knocking the guy, because he was good at what he did. He just did not see the need to learn new software while being on the verge of retirement. A typical scenario for one of his projects was that I would take the survey data and create the surface and then hand the drawing off to him. He would complete the geometric design and give it back to me to produce profile drawings. When I created the profile drawings, I would have to plot them at an exaggerated scale and he would break out his old HP Calculator, complete with card reader, and design the profile on paper.

Then he would hand the paper copies back to me and I would input the data into Civil 3D and finalize most of the design before handing it back for his review. At the time, I did not use the Transparent Commands very much because I did not understand what they were. So to input his design data, I would create a layout profile and get the PVI's close to their desired locations and elevations. Then I would open up the profile editor and hand correct the stations and elevations.

Does this sound familiar to you? Well, after a while I learned that there were commands in Civil 3D that run "inside" of other commands and allow us to input specific data in that command. Instead of having to get the PVI's close, I could have used the Profile Station Elevation transparent command to specifically enter the station and elevation of the PVI without having to go back and edit.

Which brings me back to today's case. The customer was working on a paving project. A contractor had constructed a leveling course and the customer had sent his crew out to collect profile elevations at an offset left and right of the center line. He then wanted to show those offsets in his profile view. I didn't want to have to try and create another surface and extract the data from the surface when we already had the point information in the drawing.

I began looking for a Transparent Command that would let me harness that point information and apply it in the profile view. To both the customer's satisfaction and mine I found the transparent command that would allow us to do just that. The command was Profile Station and Elevation from a Cogo Point, or 'SPE.

To use the command we went to the Ribbon and selected Profile Creation Tools from the Create Design panel. Once we entered the profile name in the dialog box and set our styles we invoked the Create Tangents command and then invoked the 'SPE transparent command. We selected the profile view in which to draw the profile and began to pick the point objects we wanted to see in the profile view. Then the steps were repeated for the opposite offset.

If you have not looked into using Transparent Commands, I encourage you to look into them. They can definitely help us work smarter and not harder!

View all of Whit McCormack’s articles at:
http://gettingtothedirt.blogspot.com

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