LT Unlimited

Fun with Google

I'm on vacation next week (and hoping many of you are too), so I thought I'd leave you with a few fun Google searches to keep you entertained while I'm gone. (And yes, they're all safe for work, in case that's where you're reading this.)

Try plugging the following words and phrases into www.google.com:

• Let it snow
• Hanukkah
• Do a barrel roll
• Tilt
• Askew
• The loneliest number
• Recursion

Some of them may be time-limited, but a few at least are probably permanent. (And with the first one, try "clearing" the screen by holding down the left button & moving the mouse.)

Enjoy! I wish you all a very happy holiday season, and I'll see you in 2012!

Viewport Macros

Looking for some time-saving shortcuts for your everyday work? CAD Notes has a post today from Paul Munford of the CAD Setter Out with 11 macros for working with viewports.

Read the article

Paul suggests putting the macros on a tool palette, as seen on the right, but of course you can put a macro on all kinds of interface elements, including ribbon panels, toolbars, and pull-down menus.

Got your own click-saving macros you’d like to share? Send ‘em on in, and I’ll feature them here too.

Facecast Tip

If you saw Lynn Allen’s Facecast on the AutoCAD Facebook page Wednesday, then you’ll know where I got this tip.

I’ve posted before about the ribbon cycle button, which lets you control how much space the ribbon takes up at the top of your screen, so hopefully you’re familiar with it.

But Lynn pointed out that double-clicking on the active tab name has the same cycling effect! Pretty neat. I’d actually seen this happen once before, but didn’t make the connection (I thought I’d clicked on something else).

If nothing else, this will provide a little more ammunition in your arsenal for tackling those “hey, wait a minute…” problems.

Thanks Lynn!

(And if you missed the Facecast, but want to see what else Lynn had to say, you can check out the archives here.)

AutoCAD LT week on Facebook

Did you notice that it's AutoCAD LT week on the AutoCAD Facebook page? Tips & tricks specifically for AutoCAD LT users are headed your way all week. Become a fan and stay up to date with all the latest news and announcements.

There's even a Facecast TODAY at 10:00 Pacific with Lynn Allen, "15 Tips in 15 Minutes" plus Q&A, so tune in to get tips & ask questions! Hope to see you there!

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

This is it, the very last video in the AutoCAD LT Sheet Set Manager video series. This one might represent the biggest change in workflow for you, since it shows how you can go from a two-part title block (xref and block) to managing project-wide and sheet-specific information through the SSM.

Automate Title Block Data

Have you enjoyed this series? Has it inspired any of you to give the Sheet Set Manager a try?

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

Here it is, the penultimate video in my Sheet Set Manager series. (I love that word. I mean, I could say "next to last", but where's the fun in that?)

At any rate, until now we've been working with the built-in properties available for sheets and sheet set. But this wouldn't be AutoCAD LT unless you could add your own bits of personalization, right?

Create Custom Properties

And there's still time to enter the scarf drawing! Email me for your chance to win!

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

When we last left off with the Sheet Set Manager series, we were just getting into the cool automation tools available in this feature. Today's video keeps going with that, showing you how to link views with the labels that reference them.

Automate Callout Label Data

(And my scarf raffle is still open--send me an email if you want a hand-crafted piece of AU history!)

Technology Makeover on the AutoCAD Facebook page

Everybody loves a makeover show, right? Of course! So we decided we had to get in on the act, and the result is airing this week, one episode per day, on Facebook. Here’s the blurb:

Architectural Design Firm Receives Surprise Technology Makeover

Alan Mascord Design Associates, Inc. is a residential architectural firm based in Portland, Oregon. The economic downturn of the past few years hit them, causing them to scale back on their technology investments. But now, watch as they receive the surprise of their lives: a complete software and hardware technology makeover. Sponsored by Autodesk and Lenovo, the Technology Makeover provided them with new seats of Autodesk Building Design Suite software and powerful Lenovo Thinkstation workstations. And we filmed all of it. Watch all this week on the AutoCAD Facebook page. http://autode.sk/vhZdWi.

Who’s ready for a giveaway?

I’m home from AU again, and mostly recovered from my jet lag. (Traveling east is so much harder than going west!) You’ve already seen most of the pictures I took (really should have taken more), but I have one last collage of some of the friends & colleagues I saw last week.

So many friends, so little time…there’s always so much to do at AU, you feel lucky if you get to say more than “hi” as you pass in the hallway.

Speaking of things to do, I promised you a giveaway and I intend to deliver!

You may have heard about the Creative Design Studio we had at AU. It’s probably our best playground ever, with LEDs and batteries to make your badge glow, PVC shooters with marshmallow ammunition, 123D projects out of cardboard, live sketching with Sketchbook…and a giant box of yarn, crochet hooks, and knitting needles.

Now, that last item may not sound very exciting to you, but it was to me. See, I’m a Maker. And I make things with yarn. Sometimes, confessing this hobby makes me feel like I’m about 85, but I’ve made some really pretty things (if I do say so myself). And I still have the blanket that my mom’s dear friend made for me when I was a baby, so I know it’s an art form with real lasting value.

So that’s why I was so happy to see the bin of yarn in the Creative Studio. I grabbed a ball of green yarn and a crochet hook, and a couple days later had this scarf:

  

(Neither picture does true justice to the color—it’s a real kelly green.)

And I’m giving it away to one lucky blog reader or Twitter follower. I thought about having a contest, but that takes more brainpower than I have post-AU, so it’s just a drawing.

To enter, send me an email at [email protected]. Say something about the scarf so I know why you’re writing to me. I’ll assign numbers as the emails come in, and use a random number generator to choose a winner. The drawing will be held next Monday, December 12, so get your entries in before then.

Who knows, maybe this will be the beginning of a fun new AU tradition!

Autodesk University, Day 4

I am homeward bound today, after a wonderfully successful AU 2011. It seems that just about everything went right this year, from well-attended Innovation Forums to less-crowded escalators--and especially AU Virtual, which was streamlined to provide a better experience for both speakers and attendees.

My last day of AU was full of exhibit hall duty again and helping to distribute & collect surveys looking for people interested in participating in customer success stories. (You know you don't have to wait for a survey here though, right? If you want to tell your AutoCAD LT story to the world, you know how to reach me.) I even took a lab class for the first time in years -- now I know just a *little* about Sketchbook Designer...which is infinitely more than I knew before I took the lab. :-)

I have a few pictures left to post, but I'm going to wait until next week for that, when I have full browser access again so I have more control over post formatting & can caption them properly.

Also next week, I will be announcing details for a very special AU-themed giveaway. I won't say more now, except that it has to do with the Instructables team and the Creative Design Studio that was here at AU. Stay tuned!