Novedge Pulse™ of Todd M. Shackelford

So I started getting this error one day.Here is how i fixed it.In Options, select the System tab.Turn off Degradation. (because you are there)Click the Manual Tune button.Un-check Enable Hardware Acceleration. (required)For fun turn off Dynamic Tessellation.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Excerpt from email with super secret Autodesk person.From: Secret Autodesk InformantSent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 2:07 PMTo: Agent XSubject: Autodesk's New BrandHi agent X!What do you think of Autodesk's new branding? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --From: Todd ShackelfordSent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 2:09 PMTo:Secret Autodesk InformantSubject: RE: Autodesk's New BrandOh no you dinit!Todd ShackelfordBIM Managertshackelford@alvine.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---From:Secret Autodesk InformantSent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 2:12 PMTo:Agent XSubject: RE: Autodesk's New BrandYou no likey?? It’s been quite an evolution, don’t you think? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --From: Todd ShackelfordSent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 2:14 PMTo:Secret Autodesk InformantSubject: RE: Autodesk's New BrandUnexpected, but I like it!White back ground is clean, the logo is elegant and progressive, and the name is in your face.I better Blog about this.Todd ShackelfordBIM Managertshackelford@alvine.comNow that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

If you are old enough to remember when AutoCAD didn't have a Properties, window, pallet, dialog, or anything... when a properties anything pops up on your screen you more than likely go full on grumpy geezer.Well, here are the most common ways a properties something injects itself into your workflow grandpa. First if you see this....Try setting your Rollovertips = 0If you see this....That is Quick Properties. Click the button circled in red in the image to turn it off.If you see this one...Selection Cycling is turned on. Turn it off by clicking the circled icon in the image above.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

I got asked how to Xclip a referenced file in the shape of a circle today. When you Xclip a reference file with any curves in the border, you get something that looks like this.Use the Express tool "Clipit" and get something more appropriate.Clipit asks you to select the border, then the reference then what faceted length to use. I just accept the default and boom, I have something I can use.Fact: with clipit, you can even use a straight-up circle.I know. Merry Christmas.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Every once in a while I come across a crazy command or in this a case a command with a crazy name. So back in the 1980 there was a great video game called Space Invaders. Oddly enough there is an AutoCAD command (Express Tools) called tspaceinvaders.The command will ask you to select objects then show you every where a text object has an object on top of it invading its space. it will allow you to step through each instance and fix them along the way. It a classic game and a classic problem.Who knew there was also a command to handle it.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

You might not need this tricks everyday, but when you do.... boo ya!Grey out a command....Explode a block on insert....?Insert a Block Over and Over Again...?Invoke a command but surpress the dialog...Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Brian Curran compiled a list of the Top CAD Blogs of 2012. He used theAlexaGlobal Traffic Rank to compile the list. This year The Lazy Drafter nailed the #53 position on the list. I felt awesome finding this out today, but then felt a little sad when I found out I was #24 in the Top CAD Blogs of 2011.My CAD Shack Blog did a little better at #47.That is pretty darn good if you ask me.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

You might have to down load this image for yourself to see it in all it's glory.All the same, Happy Birthday AutoCAD!Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

When you have been drafting a while, your hands just start to take care of business out of habit without any real thought. Its a reflex. The hard part of drafting by reflex is when you have to switch from one software to the other on a daily basis. In my case it's AutoCAD for a bit, then Revit, some more AutoCAD, more Revit. I find myself doing things in AutoCAD that only work in Revit.I use WT in Revit to tile the Revit windows. I find I want to do that in AutoCAD now. So I wrote a little lisp to make it do the same thing.Making things the same in both programs, let's me draft by reflex, which is super productive/Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Creating special characters in AutoCAD can make you feel like you are in a secret club that knows all the codes like %%D for diameter and %%P for plus or minus. The Mtext dialog has some real strange symbols hiding under the @ button like Monument line and Not equal. Squared and cubed are included but what if you get into a situation like 1st where you want super script the letters st?There is a little trick with the stacking function that can really be useful.In the Mtext dialog add the ^ symbol found above the number 6 on your keyboard ahead of text that you want to be a sub script. Select the text and the ^ then click the stack button and boom, there you go.Do the same for a super script but in this case put the ^ after the required text.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

It doesn't happen often that I need this LISP, but when I have, it has been a life saver. In today's situation, we are linking a CAD file into a Revit project and the text would not come through. Looking at the CAD file we received, the text is all attributes that have been exploded.This little gem saved the day. One other thing we end up doing is changing the font for the text in AutoCAD to Zurich LT BT. It looks like Simplex, but plots way better out of Revit.I don't remember where this lisp came from and it isn't documented, but thank you so much stranger.;;;;;; Convert Attribute definitions to text;;;(defun c:A2T (/ eset1 blkcnt en enlist vl space) (setqeset1 (ssget (list (cons 0 "ATTDEF")))blkcnt 0 ) (if eset1 (while ( (setq en (ssname eset1 blkcnt) enlist (entget en) space (cdr (assoc 67 enlist)) ) (setq vl (list (cons 0 "TEXT") (cons 100 "AcDbEntity") (cons 100 "AcDbText") (assoc 7 enlist) (assoc 8 enlist) (assoc 10 enlist) (assoc 40 enlist) (cond ((assoc 62 enlist)) ((cons 62 256)) ) (cons 1 (cdr (assoc 2 enlist))) (if (= space nil) (cons 67 0) (cons 67 space) ) ) ) (entdel en) (entmake vl) (setq blkcnt (1+ blkcnt)) ) ))Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Autodesk is hosting the first AppHack at Autodesk University Las Vegas this year. There are great prizes for the top 13 AutoCAD compatible apps including a $5000 first prize. To be considered, makea 5-min (or less) video that demonstrates the capabilities of the new app/plugin, the work needs to be submitted to this Buzzsaw repository, complete the Competition Participation Agreement, and if selected as a finalist – perform a live demo of the app at AU! The contest has officially started and they are accepting submissions until November 14, 2012 @ 11:59 pm (PST). Please reference this site for more information.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Autodesk just announced that it acquired the Qontext Social Collaboration Platform. You can plan on seeing it used to expand the social capabilities of its products and of Autodesk's cloud-based service, Autodesk 360 and enable new social functionalities. Add to this the recently announced new features in AutoCAD WS; 8M+ downloads A real-time activity feed Comment organization within a design The ability to add and tag new stakeholders in a conversation Photos pinning to specific locations within drawingsIt is becoming clear that the way we communicate is evolving, probably quicker than some traditional design firms may be prepared for. For some reason that made me think of the old typing exercise....The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]

Two things;1) When writing out the title to this article I noticed that "Thingy" is some how a word, and "Checky" is not.B) When you are typing, that's a good time to notice that words are misspelled. AutoCAD has been providing this feedback for a while in the form of a red squiggly line under misspelled words.Some how, this function can get turned off, and no matter how appropriate soooo Aweesome! is, it would be nice to know that it is not proper English.Right click in the text editor and select "Editor Settings" to put a check mark by "Check Spelling". Or turn it off and be the free spirit you deserve to be.Now that's some mighty fine feed, indeed [more...]