LT Unlimited

Vote for me! (Or at least for your favorite AU classes.)

Once again, the AU team is asking for feedback on the 1400+ class proposals received for AU 2009.

To vote, just go here and log in with your AU Online account (it's free to create if you don't have one). You don't need an access code.

You can vote for up to 20 classes...of course I'd like you to vote for mine, but there are lots of other worthy classes to choose from too.

Don't procrastinate too long -- voting closes this Friday, May 8th.

Even if you don't think you'll attend AU this year, it's a good chance to weigh in on what you would like to see, because the content gets posted to the site after the fact.

Hope to see you all there!

New AU Online Now Live

AU Online, the year-round home for Autodesk University content recently received a makeover, and launched on Tuesday with a brand-new look.

It's a great place to find class materials, keynote recordings, and all the news and announcements you could possibly want. Maybe it's not quite as good as being there, but it's the next best thing!

The login procedure has changed with the new site, so you may need to re-create your profile (a fairly painless process).

Back to the real world..

Well, I'm back home again, after 6 days in the alternate reality that is AU in Vegas. When you combine a 3-hour time change, the super-busy schedule of classes and events, and the fact that the casinos don't want you to know what time it is, your time-sense gets a little warped. If I hadn't put my schedule into a color-coded Excel spreadsheet (I know, I'm a nerd), I never would have been able to keep up.

I had intended to post more to the blog while I was away, but time just got away from me. (Hmm, wonder how that happened?) Now everything's back to normal, though, so we're back to the regular schedule of tips, tricks, and announcements. Speaking of which...

You've probably seen plenty of messages in LT pop up with a check box for "Don't show me this again". After a few times of seeing them (or maybe just once), you probably got tired of it and checked the box. But what if you need to get it back, either to change the setting you accepted or to see what the message actually was?

LT 2009 includes a setting to access these very messages, cleverly called "hidden messages". It's in the Options dialog, under System.

Once there, you can expand a tree of messages, grouped by category, to re-activate the ones you want to see. In the image below, I'm turning on the messages about Drawing Recovery, but leaving Annotation Scaling messages off.

After you get tired of your re-activated messages, of course, the "Do not show this again" option will still be there.

Live from AU!

First of all, I hope my American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, and that you don't read this until Monday because you took the whole long weekend off. (For my international readers, happy Friday...or happy Saturday, depending on where you are when this hits the feed readers.)

Second, if it's after Thanksgiving, that must mean it's time for AU! That's right, Autodesk University 2008 kicks off next week in Vegas. If you're there, I hope you'll come find me at the AutoCAD booth to say hello--I'd love to meet blog readers.

If you can't make it this year, remember that session materials will be posted on AU Online after the conference. Many of the sessions are being recorded, so you'll be able to listen to the presentations and watch the demos. But you don't even have to wait that long to see an actual AU session!

Several classes are being broadcast LIVE from AU -- and there are a couple LT-friendly ones in there too. Specifically, Matt Murphy's Blockbusters: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Blocks in AutoCAD®—Revealed! and AutoCAD® 2009 Tips and Techniques, taught by the unequaled Lynn Allen. Just click on the link in this paragraph and join the action.

Finally, the usual tips will be taking a break next week as I try to make sure that I see everyone I need to see and get everything done that I said I would at AU. Instead, I'll be experimenting with mobile posting (my Blackberry says it can post to TypePad, so now's the time to try it out) to give updates on the happenings at AU. Although if I run across a tip or two -- and it's AU, if you can't find tips you're not paying attention -- I'll put them up too.

Hope to see you in Vegas!

Did you need one more reason to go to AU? Okay, here it is!

AU is launching an "Economic Stimulus" program to help more people get to AU.

Starting on November 5th, anyone with a non-discounted AU pass can request a Buddy Pass, which provides full access to all AU events, but without hotel (so maybe pick a “buddy” who you wouldn't mind sharing a room with) or pre-registration of classes. It might be a bit tough to get into labs without pre-registering (although you can always try), but there's almost always extra seats in the lecture classes.

The Buddy Pass program begins at 9:00 EST on November 5th, and the first 100 requested will be free! After that, they're just $595 -- really a bargain.

For more on Buddy Passes, check out the AU website.

Hope to see you in Vegas!

Think that AU isn't for LT? Think again!

So I'm positive you've heard of AU before, and I'd be willing to bet that you thought, "Oh, AU, there's nothing for LT there. It's all about AutoCAD and verticals." Well, I've been to several AU's now, and I can tell you that that's not the case at all. There's plenty for an LT user to do, see, and learn.

To prove it, I've gone through the schedule and pulled out classes that would be relevant to LT people from any industry. There are several CAD Management classes, a few on Customization, and a bunch more on features like fields and dynamic blocks. There were only two blocks of time (out of 15) where there weren't good LT classes, and one of those is full of different industry-related keynote addresses (so nobody really has classes there). For that last block, you could always find another class related to your industry, and learn about other Autodesk products that are used in it -- or you could just take a break and get ready for the Beer Bust that evening.

Here's my sample schedule. Most slots have more than one class listed -- I wanted you to see all the options you had. And there's even more than are listed here -- I just picked the major ones.

A few I want to highlight are:

• CP315-2: Customization 101: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. This one's my class!
• CP115-2L or CP101-5L: Custom Object Snaps and Other Geometry Calculator Tricks in AutoCAD®. This one's taught by Darren Young, and I'm one of the lab assistants.
• CD311-1 Extreme DWF™: Top 10 Ways You Can Upgrade your Workflow using DWF and Autodesk® Design Review. This is all about electronic drawing review, and is taught by my colleague Cliff Medling.

And there are many more where those came from! An LT user should have no problem filling up a schedule with good classes.

If the price has you worried, yes, I know it look steep, but remember that it includes the hotel and almost every meal. That means the total cost is completely in line with similar events, or even less.

Hope to see you at AU!

AU Early Bird Discount and a Dynamic Blocks Tip

Are you all registered for AU? If not, and you're planning on it, you might want to do it today -- the $500 early bird discount expires at the end of the day. If you go, be sure to find me to say hi -- I love meeting blog readers. :-)

I learned something new about Dynamic Blocks this week, so I thought I'd share it with you. You probably know that you can use the Properties palette to change the custom properties of inserted dynamic blocks (like picking an option from a lookup table, or entering a value for a linear parameter). But did you know that you can use the Properties palette to change those settings before you pick your insertion point?

Try it: Begin to insert a block (from a menu, tool palette, or with the insert command), but before you pick your insertion point, open up the Properties palette. Look for the section called "Custom" -- this holds the parameter-based properties for your block. Change one of them, and watch the preview of your block update before you place it.

Anyway, I thought that was a pretty neat tip. I hope some of you find it useful!

Meet the AU 2008 General Design Keynote Speaker

There will be a variety of industry keynote speakers at AU this year, but I'm especially looking forward to the General Design session, where the speaker will be Eddie Paul, known as Hollywood's best-kept secret. Eddie create 3D sharks (among other things) for TV and movies, using a variety of Autodesk products, but particularly AutoCAD.

Shaan Hurley (of Between the Lines fame) did an interview with Eddie recently, and it's posted as part of the AU Beat podcast series. If you haven't listened to the AU Beat yet, it's a fun collections of interviews and musings from several top-rated AU presenters and Autodesk insiders.

Time to Start Picking Classes for AU!

Registration for AU 2008 opens Friday to members of AU Online, and on the 15th to everybody, so if you haven't thought about what classes you might want to take, now's the time to start since they tend to fill up fast, especially labs.

Here's the full session catalog (PDF) as of right now. Of course, that's a lot of classes to look through (75 pages!), so here are some that might appeal to my LT readers:

• CM101-1: Managing the AutoCAD CUI and Empowering the Users, R. Robert Bell
• CM205-2: Preventative CAD Management, Mark Kiker
• CM319-2: CAD Standards: How to Get Started, Beth Powell
• CD311-1: Extreme DWF: Top 10 Ways You Can Upgrade your Workflow using DWF and Autodesk® Design Review, Cliff Medling
• CP315-2: Customization 101: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, yours truly (of course I have to recommend this one!)
• GD111-4: The Dos and Don’ts of Dynamic Blocks—Revealed!, Matt Murphy
• GD115-1P: Field Density, dave espinosa-aguilar
• Ogres Have Layers: Beginning with their Templates, Colleen Klein

And that's just what I found in 5 minutes of perusing the catalog -- there are over 600 more to choose from! Admittedly, a lot are dedicated to programming, or to other Autodesk products, but I think you'll have no problem filling your schedule with plenty of great LT-friendly classes.

AU Registration is just around the corner...

Autodesk University doesn't start until December 2, but the time to start planning is now! Registration opens August 8th for AU Online members, August 15th for everybody else. Joining AU Online is free, though, so why not? It's a great resource even without the early registration bonus, with previous years' handouts, networking, and more.

The first version of the course catalog (XLS) has just been made available, so you can peruse the 621 class offerings to see what might appeal to you. (My class is in there, Customization 101: AutoCAD® and AutoCAD LT®.) This is the first version of the schedule, though, so changes are still possible.

For more about AU, check out The AU Experience, Lynn Allen's "Justifying AU to Your Management", and the AU blog, BLAUG.

I know AU isn't cheap, exactly, but compared to other professional conferences, it's a downright steal. Don't forget, when you look at the fee, that it includes your hotel and nearly every meal.

If you're going to be there, let me know. I'll be looking for LT people to talk to!