CAD Addict featured on CAD Digest

CAD Digest has linked to some of the articles published in this web site for the first time
After almost 6 months of serious blogging its good to start seeing other websites linking to the posts published here. CAD Digest, that compiles useful CAD posts from other websites has featured some of the posts.
Besides the satisfaction of knowing that more people are finding useful tips on this website, I'd just like to welcome the new readers and encourage all of them to come back often for new tips or to subscribe to the RSS feed using the big button on the upper right corner.
Again, welcome everybody and please comment if you feel like.

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Photoshop: Rotate Guides 90 degrees.

Do you want to turn one of the guides 90 degrees? Easy and simple.
Catala - Castellano
This is the kind of thing you come along by mistake. I was trying to copy the contents of a layer in one of my Photoshop files (Alt + drag) and by mistake I pressed Alt and clicked on one of the guides I was using to align my image.
Magic!! The guide turned 90 degrees with the rotation point were I clicked.
I don´t know how useful this can actually be, I just thought I'd share.

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AutoCAD: Relative coordinates

Remember some of the basics to make your drafting experience easier. The @ sign is your friend
Català - Castellano
Some of the basics of how AutoCAD works tend to be forgotten. One of this is the capacity to enter relative coordinates by using the @ sign before the coordinates. This will allow us to set a point, line end point, etc a certain distance from the point we clicked before.
This is specially useful when we draw rectangles using the RECTANGLE command. If we know the dimensions of the rectangle we want to draft, we can just click on the point we want one of its corners to be and enter @X,Y (being X=width and Y=height). By entering the @ sign the coordinates of the second corner will be relative to the first one, while if we didn't enter the @ sign, entering X,Y only, we would be entering coordinate points related to the UCS 0,0,0.
As a quick example, if we want to draw a rectangle 1 unit high by 2 units wide, we will do the following:

• Enter RECTANGLE command (or click rectangle icon if you use icons)
  
• click to select the point of the first corner
• enter @2,1
  

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AutoCAD: Creating a Tool Palette with multiple Blocks at Once

You don't need to manually add each Block to a tool palette, it can be done with just a few clicks.
Català - Castellano
Not so long ago, I wrote a post explaining how to transfer Tool Palettes from one computer to another. The following post also explained how to create a new group of palettes.
What I found out today is how to create a new Palette from a file. This is very useful if we want to generate a palette with a lot of Blocks that we have stored in a single file. With just a few blocks, or with blocks in different files, we would manually drag and drop the blocks into the new palette. That becomes tedious if we have to do it for a lot of blocks. The solution is quite simple:
We make sure first that we have active the group of palettes where we want to add the new one. We also need to have the drawing containing the Blocks open. From the design center ("Ctrl + 2" or ADCENTER command) we select the file with the blocks we want to add, right click it and select "create palette". See the image for a visual aid to do this.
The result will be a palette with the anme of the file, and ALL the Blocks that the file contained, organized alphabetically.
Thanks to Aarti for this tip.


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Photoshop: Zoom using the scroll wheel

Did you know that you can use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out in Photoshop?
Catala - Castellano
Changing from one software to another is sometimes annoying. There are certain things we give for granted that it is hard to get use to not have them in some software.
One of this things is the zooming feature using the Scroll Wheel. It is a very standard feature in most CAD programs. But it is not the default setting for Adobe software.
Luckily there is a work around. If we want to be able to use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out in Photoshop, we have two options. We can get used to press Alt (option in MAC) and then use the scroll wheel. This is the default setting in Photoshop. Or we can configure PS to zoom in and out automatically when we turn the scroll wheel.
To do that we simply need to go to Edit --> Preferences --> General. And check the box "Zoom with Scroll Wheel". Easy and simple, see the image below.

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SketchUp: VRAY plugin works also on version 7

ASGVIS has announced that their VRAY plugin for SketchUp is ready to work on SketchUp 7 too.
Castellano - Català - Deutsch
ASGVIS released some time ago a plugin to be able to use VRAY render inside SketchUp. Recently they announced that the plugin itself is ready to be used in the recently released new version 7 of SketchUp.
The only tricky part is that you can not have the plugin running for both versions 6 and 7 at the same time. So, if you are just planning to try version 7 but keep version 6 maybe you want to hold on before switching Vray t thenew version.
I tried it with version 6 some time ago and I sincerely didnñt manage to get good results. But the gallery that ASGVIS has only proofs that it is proably just due tome not putting enough time into it.
You can download a free 30 day trial here and give it a shot. The license is nearly $800 so you better be sure it is what you want before investing that money, specially considering that competing NextLimit sells its software Maxwell Render with far more functionality plus all availale Plugins for $995.

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AutoCAD 2009: Disabling the annoying information pane

Turn off that white information pane that shows when you hover over an XREF, Block, etc
Català - Castellano
Sometimes new features are more an annoyance than a real benefit for the user. AutoCAD 2009 has some of these. One of them is that white box or pane with information that shows when you keep the cursor over an XREF, Block or almost any type of object.
AutoCAD 2009 has awesome new features and although this one might be useful in some way, I find it extremely annoying. Well finally someone told me how to disable it. It is simple.
Go to Tools --> Options --> User Preferences. There, uncheck the box that says "Display hyperlink cursor, tooltip, and shortcut menu.
I haven't found any system variable for this (i think there is none so far) so it will have to be disabled by accessing the OPTIONS dialog box. Click on the image to get a view of the Tab and box you need to uncheck to disable this feature.
Update: There´s been a couple of comments saying this trick is wrong. It is not, everything I post here is verified by myself, I repeat, I only post stuff that I checked that works. I think the confusion of some folks is to what d0 I mean by "annoying white infomation pane" See the picture please on the right to understand what I meant.


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AutoCAD Architecture: Hiding 2D objects (actually obscuring them)

Trying to find a way to hide single objects I came across a way to obscure them.
Català - Castellano
Someone told me today at work that Microstation has an option where you can hide objects regardless of their layer. I really don't know if that is true (haven't used Microstation for almost two years) but I was asked to find a similar command in AutoCAD. Be aware, I wasn´t successful.
But every failure has a part of learning, in the process, I discovered the AEC Tool: Obscure. You can access it by selecting geometry -- Right click -- AEC Tools -- Obscure. Or you can directly type the LINEWORKOBSCURE command.
See the two pictures below to appreciate what this command does.
On the image above we want to hide the withe and red geometry behind te white geometry. The process is simple. We select the geometry we want to show as hidden (in this case the white and red rectangles), right click -- AEC Modify Tools -- Obscure. Then we will be asked to select the geometry that is going to create the obscuring boundary. We select the two blue rectangles. Done, see the result below.
See how all the "hidden" geometry becomes dotted lines, and how even the solid hatch filing the central rectangle is "hidden" behind the blue rectangle. I say "hidden" because there is nothing actually hidden here, what ACA does is break the original geomtrey using the boundaries we gave it, and change the geometry inside those boundaries to a layer with hidden line properties.
It ia a useful command, but don't forget that this is pure 2D. I am still tring to figure out a way to configure the properties of this hidden geometry layer. By default the layer is called Aec-Detail-Hidden, but I know that this can be modified (as wellas the layer properties) because in my company when using this command the hidden geometry comes in one of our standard hidden layers. Will investigate a bit more and post the solution if I find it. Or do you knowhow to do it?!?

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SketchUp 7: New Features and Download Link

See the new features of the latest SketchUp version.
Català - Castellano
Thanks to Jim and his SketchUp Plugins blog I got the link to the video below that explains the new and very cool features added to the new SketchUp 7.

I have to confess that I didn't even know that version 7 was already out (I only know that I know nothing). So if you feel like trying all these new features (and dynamic components look like the most awesome addition so far) here is the link to the download page.
Update: today mornig (Nov 17th) google has oficially released SketchUp 7 on the official sketchup blog.

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Learning to Use Adobe Products

Adobe has a grat video Library to learn to use their products
Català - Castellano
I started updating my portfolio this weekend (with the current state of the Architecture Industry you never know when you will need to have it ready) and I wanted to use Adobe InDesign because I had read is the best software for composing great looking professional layouts.
My knowledge on this software is so far very limited so I wanted to learn from tutorials or whatever resources are available. Looking through the help files, I found a link to video tutorials.
The best thing of this finding is that the video tutorials are not limited to InDesign, but to all the products Adobe has in its Portfolio. I followed 8 of the videos about InDesign and I can say they are very easy to follow and each one concentrates on one topic. I think it is a great resource to learn some basics and some advanced tricks so I´ll be using this on the next months. Anything that I find worth mentioning will of course be posted here.
Hopefully if I get good enough on using InDesign, I might even start a new category dedicated to this program. Architects don´t generally use InDesign (at least no company where I've been ever had it installed) but I believe it is a great tool.

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AutoCAD: Editing Aliases "on the fly"

With this command, you don't need to acces acad.pgp to edit your aliases
Català - Castellano
There is an Express Tool Command, ALIASEDIT, that allows us to edit the Aliases we use in the current session of AutoCAD. Previously, we had to acces acad.pgp, change the Aliases there and restart AutoCAD.
With the command ALIASEDIT you can change any Alias while working, making the process much simpler (and also reducing the chances of screwing up the acad.pgp file).
Changing and adding Aliases is to me the number 1 step to do to improve your wirk speed. Some people prefer to use icons or access commands throught the menu bar, but to trully speed up your workflow you should alwas have a hand on your keyboard and another on the mouse.
ALIASEDIT can also be accessed through the Menu Bar.
Express - Tools - Command Alias Editor
I am going to post soon a list of the ALIAS modifications that I use that make me work more efficiently. And remember that not so long ago i published a List of Express Tools.

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How far could you go with Architectural Software?

You learn AutoCAD, then Photoshop, then SketchUp, then Revit, then 3DMax...See how far others have gone...
Català - Castellano
If you followed similar steps as I did, probably you started in School learning som CAD software. I was actually taught Microstation SE back in 1998. Together with this you probably learned some image editing program like Photoshop or Corel Draw to improve your presentations (I actually love the discussions between people with vector shaped brains because they learned Corel first and those with Raster shaped ones because they stated with Photoshop).
Soon after that comes the attempt to go 3D, not only for presentation purposes, but also from the design point of view.
Before @last software released SketchUp (yes, Google didn't create SketchUp, they bought it in 2006) crossing the 3D threshold was too much for many. Many of my friends back in School would say "I can't do 3D", nowadays it seems to me impossible to imagine an architecture school without almost all the students using SketchUp or something similar to design their buildings.
The use of 3D modeling programs is vital as I see it in the design process. Some old school guys say that real models are better, but I respectfully disagree. While a real model is a great tool to show to clients and to get a sense of scale of what you are doing, it rarely allows you to understand the real effect of the buildings and spaces you are creating. Modeling in the computer allows you to get that view from the human position as if you were in the project.
The hard step to do next is to have the ability to use 3D not only for design purposes but for presentation. Reaching and acceptable level of Image realism (enough to look professional with a client or to not let your professor make fun of you) takes some time. The most challenging part is to be able to stick to one rendering program/plugin and develop your skills fully.
In many years I've got into 3D MAX, V-Ray, Maxwell, Cinema 4D, Rhino... I have to say that for the easy of use so far Maxwell Render has proven to be the easiest to use (although render times sometimes skyrocket when using Multilight).
Many have followed this road before, and some have been extremely successful in getting the most of the process, reaching levels of excellence with Computer Graphics Software that allowed them to jump to other fields thanks to that.
I was reading in CGArchitect an Interview with Tino Schädler, who starting with an Architect background made it to the Film industry after becoming truly proficient with Maya.
Thanks to Tino, i got to discover some CG Artists who have done great jobs lately. Like Joseph Kosinski. For most of us involved in Architecture Software and struggling to work smarter, it seems a very long shot to ever reach similar levels, but as the end of this post I thought it would be nice to dream a bit.
Those levels of imagery require of course full time dedication, super powerful computers and time, but as read in Tino's Interview, improving those skills (even if it doesn't mean that you will turn into a CG Artist) can only help you on your daily struggle for better designs, better buildings (and better pay).
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