When saving out a RCP or RCS file from Autodesk's Recap, the default resolution is 5 mm between points. This can make for quite large files and raises questions on how to best store these massive files. When exporting entire scans, do you really need that tight resolution? Typically the scan is only for reference and only a few points are selected off of a wall to determine the line or plane. Point cloud file sizes can be drastically reduced by changing the spacing between the unified points. Specify this point spacing during the export to RCP\RCS process. Start the... Continue reading

While reading the forums at GrabCAD over lunch, I happened upon a question on how to model this type of spring. There is a method where points are created around a revolved surface torus. Planes are placed about the axis and points on the sectioned quadrants are placed for each rotation. However, for this example that would take hours. Because a spline is then creating by selecting each point. Every rotation is 4 points. That got me thinking of how I would do this if I had to. I started playing around with a better way and settled on this... Continue reading

There are times when a complete digital prototype is more work than it’s worth. This last while, I have been building quite a few things out of broken down pallet wood. Because the pieces are full of nails, I often can’t cut exactly where my Inventor plans call for a cut. So I end up deviating from the plan almost immediately. What I really need is just a simple layout with some rough dimensions to get the ball rolling. I have found AutoCAD is just the ticket for these project. After only a few minutes in the software I’m ready... Continue reading

I have been asked many times for the best way to check into Vault all the Inventor drawings for a large assembly where each part has its own drawing. The user is typically checking in each drawing one at a time. However, there is a way to check in all of these drawings at once. And no, I’m not talking about the Task Scheduler. This is a feature that has long been a part of Inventor’s Check In command. Here I have a small assembly where most of the parts have their own drawings. On Check In, only the assemblies... Continue reading

There are 5 predefined PLC styles provided with AutoCAD Electrical, numbered 1 through 5. If none of the 5 work for you they are not that difficult to modify. Default Style Modified Style There are about 3 dozen symbols associated with each style. They are located in the jic1 and jic125 folders. They carry the file name "HP?*.dwg" where "?" is the style number. · Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\\Autodesk\Acade{version}\libs\{library}\ · Windows Vista, Windows 7: \Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\Acade{version}\libs\{library}\ I started mapping out the naming convention but figured this image would just be easier. “Each Parametric PLC symbol is a building block... Continue reading

AutoCAD Electrical has a built in Drawing List Report that can report any of the drawing properties within the active project. It’s a little unusual in that its nowhere to be found in the reporting tools. Instead its on the active project’s right click menu. So first of all a project file is needed. Simply create a new project file. Save it in the same location as the drawing files. This will make it the active project automatically. In this example I’m assuming you are all ready using the Title Block Update utility. In that case the drawing properties are... Continue reading

There are three types of reports in AutoCAD Electrical. Schematic, Panel, and the Drawing List report. Schematic reports only pull values from schematic symbols on the drawings in the project. Panel reports only pull values from the panel footprints. However the Panel report has an option (Full) that will include all values from ALL components. The Drawing List report uses the data stored in the project descriptions and drawing properties. Of course a few other types could be added to the list if the audits and export options were included. Reports are broken down into the following categories. Each of... Continue reading

This is a follow up to the Aligning Components in AutoCAD Electrical post a few weeks ago. I ran across this script some time ago that aligns attributes. The comments show that it was written by Steve Kemp. I just tested this in Electrical 2017 and it still works great. Once the LISP is loaded the command is AATTR. It works pretty much the same as the Align Components command does. Select a master attribute and then select the attributes to align to it. There is a Horizontal/Vertical option available for selection before selecting the master as well. Here I... Continue reading

While AutoCAD’s attributes are extremely powerful, they can also be quite confusing. Here are a few tips when working with Attributes inside of AutoCAD blocks. Synchronize Attributes Because attributes can be modified per block instance, modifying attributes in existing blocks can be confusing. Even deleted attributes will still be in block instances that were placed before the unwanted attribute was removed. Attributes need to be synchronized to the block instance after changes have been made to the actual block definition. Do this using the ATTSYNC command. This command is on the Block panel after it’s expanded. Attribute Order When creating... Continue reading

I ran into a case last week where a user had parts that needed various decals depending on what Autodesk Inventor assembly the parts were used in. Placing the decals on the parts would mean many derived parts with different decals applied. This would create many parts for little benefit. As an alternative, each assembly could have a single decal part in it. The following steps show the workflow for creating a decal part inside of an assembly. Click somewhere in the assembly to place the newly created part. It may be better if you temporarily turn off the other... Continue reading

Many of you know that AutoCAD Electrical does a wonderful job assisting in the creation and modification of Electrical Controls schematics. But did you know it can also be used to produce Hydraulic, Pneumatic, and P&ID schematics, as well? It sure can. The Extra Libraries toolbar has been available since before it was even AutoCAD Electrical and those three Icon Menus continue to be available even now. There is a fairly substantial set of symbols already available for all three. For symbols not provided, you can still create your own using the same Symbol Builder tool you are familiar with... Continue reading

I have been asked countless times about hardware specifications and Autodesk software. The answer lies here… https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/system-requirements But then more questions typically follow… should I buy this workstation or this one? Which CPU will perform best with Inventor? How many processor cores are really needed for Revit? Should I go with the eight core or the four core CPU? Many times I have had to follow those questions up with questions of my own before answering. What software are you using? How large are your assemblies? Do you do a lot of rendering/FEA? Let’s break each component down and discuss... Continue reading

I posted this before, back in 2013, but it keeps coming up. The user wants a simplified, or empty, default_cat.mdb. The typical request goes something like this. “Stan is there a way to export all the parts currently in a drawing set into its own small database because we use the same parts over and over, and the AutoCAD Electrical database is just too big to be searching over our network.” This will create ALL of the family tables even if no catalog entries are needed for some of the tables. The default location is the active project file. However... Continue reading

I have been living in an Autodesk 2016 world most of this year. Most of the customers I have been sent to assist this year are still on 2016. So I have spent very little time in anything 2017. When it first came out I installed it and was only in it a few times. I had never registered it. The one time I opened it, long after my 30 trial had expired, I was presented with the following broad assortment of choices... I could press Quit, or the X to close the dialog. Of course both closed the dialog... Continue reading

I discovered today that the section view cutting plane is no longer tied to the face or plane selected at the time of placement. That and there is no parameter created when typing in an offset. Go back a few releases and you could place a half section view on an origin plane and then, using constraints, drive the cutting plane through the assembly. This could then be recorded, from the Drive Constraint dialog, creating a sweet animated section plane eating through the assembly. However the section plane now stays in place "relative to the sectioned parts" as things are... Continue reading

This tool is free and available on our Portal website. http://portal.imaginit.com/ It adds a number of features to the Vault Client that increases the functionality of the Vault Client. Each of the features are explained below. Batch Checkout (New for 2014) Using this tool, users can manually enter names of files, or reference an Excel list of files, that are to be checked out. It then verifies each file is actually there and then checked them all out at once. Folder Templates Many companies start their project off by creating a number of folders. Now an administrator can create folder... Continue reading

A common request I get is “how do I get my AutoCAD title block into Inventor?” First of all explode and clean up the original title block inside of AutoCAD. Put everything on a single layer as well.Scale it to actual paper size if needed. I made this one 2 ½” high. All you need is the title block. Inventor has its own border and revision blocks. Start the Text command… I’m starting with the Title field here. I started a new drawing so I have a clean sheet with a border. Now getting rid of the default title block... Continue reading