Meeting Minutes

Past meeting minutes for 2003:

December 18th, 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session". Food and drinks were provided by Shannon Turner, with financial support from Avatech Solutions.

During the initial socializing, Beau Turner showed a method for "light weight" rendering with Viz Render (ships within Architectural Desktop 2004). Since this is the Christmas season he also shared a plug-in for use with VIZRender, VIZ and MAX from Archvision called an RPC. Instead of a 3D model, you can use "photo sets" that display the view of an object (person, furniture, vehicle, etc) from the proper angle. This approximation saves time and computer memory. Currently Archvision has a free holiday Santa for you to download and use. Beau shared how to use this character in a winter wonderland rendering, with trees, snow, evaug lettering and of course a few Santa's.

Beau then called the meeting to order and discussed a few group topics and points of interest.

For the first presentation, Paul Burgener gave a quick and dirty demonstration of creating and using AutoCAD dimension styles. Never use Standard text or dim styles. Make a new style using Standard (or another established style) as the "template". Discussion followed concerning Model Space and Paper Space dimensioning, and the new "DIMSCALE = zero" method. Although they're getting better, Paper Space dims just aren't ready yet according to Paul.

During the short break between sessions, the attendees discussed various corner topics. Shannon also brought out a cake and icecream to celebrate.

Our "main attraction" for the meeting, Raider 3D, was unable to make it due to the flu. We expect to see the Raider 3D presentation within a couple months. In place of this presentation the group facilitated by Beau fielded AutoCAD problems for a bit. Then the meeting took a slightly different direction as users who attended Autodesk University shared their experiences and encouraged others to attend next year.

Door prizes for attendees included too many items to mention as all attendees walked away with at least one autodesk item. These included Autodesk t-shirts, hats, Autodesk light-up pens, Autodesk mousepads, keychains, Augi beer mugs from AU, an NFR copy of Architectural Desktop 2004, and an authentic set of coconut halves, from the AU Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie event!

November 20th, 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session". Food and drinks were provided by Shannon Turner.

After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order, and with the help of attendees, filled a large white board with potential meeting topics for the upcoming year in EVAUG presentations. Beau also routed fliers around advertising upcoming AutoCAD and Inventor classes at the Virginia Beach Tidewater Community College campus. He then demonstrated several websites of interest to AutoCAD administrators and operators including:

http://augi.com (greatly underused)
http://cadtutor.net/
http://betaprograms.autodesk.com
http://dsxcad.com/ (being discontinued)
http://3dcafe.com
http://cadalyst.com and others.

After the break for networking and snacks, Paul Burgener demonstrated how to use a map and aerial images off websites such as Maquest.com, and attach them to AutoCAD drawings. Paul then showed how to SCALE and ALIGN the images to trace a custom-made full-scale map with Polylines. Draworder
moved wide light-colored Splined Polylines to the back, to highlight the route. The final step was plotting the bare AutoCAD drawing (with the Image layer frozen) to a .jpg file that can be emailed, Inserted into Word, or posted to a website.

Door prizes for attendees included an Autodesk tee shirt, Autodesk hat, Autodesk pens, Autodesk mouse pads, Autodesk coffee cup, and an NFR copy of Land Development Desktop.

October 16th, 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session". Shannon Turner provided drinks and pizza courtesy of Avatech Solutions.

After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order. Beau provided several notices for AutoCAD operators including a reminder of Autodesk University, Subscription service upgrade options, AUGI benefits, CADCruise, and the plans for continued development of Autodesk Viz.

For the first presentation, Nick Fuller showed a couple professional drawings, involving the refurbishment of a 2-story chilled water plant in a medical complex. Entirely drawn in 2D, Nick explained the complications of documenting the 50-year old "as-builts", while including the plans for the new equipment and piping. Because the piping was so intense, Nick created layers for each "half floor", for every four feet of elevation. Attendees discussed pros and cons of various layer tools, such as LMAN and Layer State Manager. Nick explained his use of XREFs as well.

During the break between sessions, the attendees discussed various corner topics and refilled with snacks and drinks. .

After the break, Beau introduced Dr. Savvas, a chiropractor in Virginia Beach (481-9221, drsavvas@greatneckchiropractic.com). Dr Savvas explained the basis of chiropractics with graphics showing the backbone and spinal cord nervous systems. When joints are less than perfect, nerve connections can be damaged, resulting in pain or tingly sensations. Dr Savvas discussed what carpal tunnel syndrome is, and why it's so common among computer operators. Medical doctors often operate to relive pressure in the wrist, while chiropractics relieve the pressure with non-prescription vitamins and supplements, exercises, and massages. Attendees stood up and tried exercises for back, wrist, and neck joint health. Dr Savvas also discussed ergonomic keyboards, seating and keyboard positions, voice recognition software, and wrist pads. He also suggested websites for chiropractic advice, services and ergonomics.

Door prizes for attendees included two Autodesk tee shirts, an NFR copy of AcroPlot .pdf software, two Autodesk pens, Autodesk keychain, and an NFR copy of Autodesk 2004. Both speakers were given complimentary coffee mugs for their presentations.

September 18th, 2003 meeting minutes:

Canceled due to Hurricane Isabel.

August 21st 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session". Shannon Turner provided drinks and pizza courtesy of Avatech Solutions.

After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order. Stephen Collier provided a detailed tutorial sharing helpful short cuts for entering data and formulas into Excel. Stephen uses Excel for electrical circuit (phase) balancing, and has found ways to automate several of the fields for wire gage, amperage, etc. Stephen then demonstrated Spanner by Wisbeck & Fraser (http://www.wfcadtools.com/span40.htm), that imports Excel spreadsheets into AutoCAD. He mentioned a few hints to simplify operation, such as vertically centering the cells, avoid wrapping text, and avoid double lines.

For products similar to Spanner, see the January 2003 minutes, covering Terry Dotson's, XL2CAD, and "Tableout" on http://www.dsxcad.com/.

During the short break between sessions, the attendees discussed various corner topics.

After the break, Beau introduced Wayne Smith (a full time cad user and past student who works for URS), who provided the "Back to Basics II" session. This included a thorough demonstration of precision coordinate entry with AutoCAD. Wayne walked through absolute Coordinates, Relative Rectangular and Relative Polar Coordinates, and then discussed several tips he has found useful for production work. These included Polar Tracking and Direct Distance. Polar Tracking can be set for absolute angles, and angles relative the last line segment. Wayne also showed how to change the UCS to coincide with an existing object, various way to invoke object snaps, and how to rotate the Snap angle.

Door prizes for attendees included an Autodesk hat, Autodesk Keychain, Autodesk digital clock, and and a "not for resale" package of Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3.

July 17th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session". Shannon Turner provided drinks and snacks.

After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order. Claire Ueltschey, of HEWV provided a lesson in Blocks and Block editing, for the AutoCAD Basics presentation. Claire discussed the pros and cons of drawing on layer zero and unique layers. She also demonstrated how to use AutoCAD's REFEDIT command to revise blocks, without the need to mark the insertion point, and explained how blocks can be "nested". The topic of how and when to use layer zero to draw on for use with blocks was also covered.

During the short break between sessions, the attendees discussed various corner topics.

After the break, Beau provided the Advanced presentation for the evening. Beau discussed how to do terrain modeling with the various programs that Autodesk has (AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop 2004 with Viz Render & VIZ 4/Max 5). A brief introduction was given to solid modeling which led us into how to use solids to generate "stepped" terrain with AutoCAD. Next we used AutoCAD polylines set to different elevations to represent our site and Beau briefly explained how to flatten this geometry if needed using a free autolisp utility called flatten.lsp (which changes the Z component of all coordinates to zero). Using the solid extrusions on the geometry we created gives a result similiar to modeling a site plan with cardboard.

Next we discussed how to use ADT 2004 and the new mass element DRAPE command and Viz Render (which ships with ADT 2004) to generate a detailed site terrain. ADT 2004's new DRAPE command develops a "Freeform Mass Element" object that acts like a chicken-wire mesh formed over the polylines we generated in AutoCAD at various elevations. Using VIZ Render Beau applied a grass material to the terrain model and did a small rendering to show the results.

Next we discussed to to use the polyline site we generated in AutoCAD in VIZ 4/Max 5 to create a detailed site plan. A few items were covered that included File linking (a nice feature that VIZ has) and the AEC Terrain. We file linked in the geometry and applied a terrain which acts similiar to the Drape command in that it puts a surface/solid over top of the polylines. We also discussed the many differences available for the AEC Terrain and what each one will give you. In the end we applied a grass material to the site and rendered the scene much like we did with VIZ Render above.

At the conclusion of this presentation we briefly discussed Autodesk Revit, Lightscape and Accurender software.

Door prized for attendees included several AutoCAD 2004 books, misc. Autodesk paraphenelia and a "not for resale" package of Autodesk VIZ 4.

June 19th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session".

After the initial socializing Beau Turner called the meeting to order and discussed EVAUG business and news.  The presentation for the evening was how to use the batch plotter for batch plotting .PLT Files.  We discussed how to create a specified printer to plot directly to a file.  After this we discussed page setups and how these can be used to control the output settings used in the batch plotter.  The batch plotter was used to create .plt files for 10 drawings while additional questions were answered.

A short break was taken and various corner discussions were started.

After the break Beau introduced Tim Plumer from Adobe systems and Tim began his presentation of the Adobe Acrobat .pdf file format.  This was very educational for all who attended.  Items covered were where the .pdf format came from, where it is now and where it is headed in the future.  Tim explained that with the release of Adobe Acrobat 6.0 the product now has 3 products for different levels of users (Professional, Standard and Elements).  Some of the highlights of the professional version's integration with AutoCAD include: Single step printing from AutoCAD, Support for ARCH, ISO, JIS, and ANSI page formats, Text searches in the .pdf made from your .dwg.  You have the option of preserving layers so you can turn layers on/off in the .pdf,

Door prizes for attendees included Books, misc. Autodesk paraphenelia and a "not for resale" package of Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0.

May 15th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our standard "Meet and Greet Session".  Food for the evening was provided courtesy of Avatech Solutions, Inc.  

After the initial socializing Paul Burgener called the meeting to order and introduced the presenter for the evening Kage Kuhn (member).  Kage explained a variety of modeling techniques to use when working with 3D Solids.  The creation of simple and complex geometry was also discussed.  

A short break was taken and afterwards Kage continued with Part II of the night.  Kage discussed various shade modes and lighting concepts, Boolean operations with solid extrusions, primitives and the need to control the User Coordinate System (UCS).  Kage concluded with samples of his professional and hobby 3D modeling projects.  The presentation was very educational for both beginner and intermediate users in the 3D realm.

Door prizes for attendees included Books, Avatech coffee mug and a "not for resale" package of Autodesk's Land Development Desktop,

April 17th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our Meet and Greet Session. After the initial socializing, pizza, and drinks, Beau Turner called the meeting to order.

several announcements were made, including:

- Technical Schools Association (TSA) CAD contest is coming up Saturday April 26th, at the Holiday Inn near the I64 and Mercury, in Hampton. They're asking for volunteers to judge.

- Part time (and short term) job teaching CAD in northern Virginia.

- Final entries for the EVAUG banner contest. Attendees were invited to vote during the break on their favorite design..

- Attendees also got to see a 3D prototyping machine and samples.

Beau then opened the floor to trouble/problem items which included:

- One attendee mentioned that every 15 minutes or so his copy of 3D Studio VIZ keeps closing down. Attendees explained and suggested a search on Autodesk.com knowledge base for the solution and a few attendees mentioned that a series of software dongle locks that shipped had some errors.  The search on the knowledge base confirmed this and we e-mailed the found document to the member.

- A Batch plotting question was asked in regards to other third party options (besides AutoCAD's) one suggestion included Intergraph's Interplot

(or Aplot).

- With the range of cad versions out there and saving back and forth between them the issue of repairing problem drawings came up.  To repair these drawings it was suggested that removing any customization, performing an Audit and purging the file.  It was also mentioned that Recovering the file sometimes picks up things that Audit does not.  If the problem is no longer occurring you can start adding back your customization (menu's, lisp, VBA (reactors, database modifiers) one at the time to isolate the issue.  If you still have problems after this posting the file to the Autodesk discussion group customer-files a solution can be found by others as to why a drawing has issues and also how to fix them.

- How to render a linked ADT drawing using a standard single component wall but render each side of the surface with different materials in 3D Studio Viz.  The question was asked, but the solution came after the meeting as was sent to the attendee.  If you need this information please contact evaugpresident@bigfoot.com.  

- Track balls, carpel tunnel syndrome, and ergonomics of CAD work was also discussed in hopes of helping to relieve repetitive stress.

- AutoCAD paths and the network location of these files for support and customization folders to share with others networked in your office.

We took a short break for snacks and mingling and to vote on your favorite design submittals.  After the break we returned to discuss Internet resources for CAD support. The following websites were shared or mentioned:

http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/autocad/tutorials/index.htm - great site for newsletters that search the net for you and deliver new information to your inbox.

http://www.cadtutor.net/ - great tutorials and forums.

www.avat.com - for tutorials, articles, streaming media video, and other general information.

http://www.dsxcad.com/ - Dave Stein's site for programming support and articles.  The "Visual Lisp Developers Bible" has also been updated for AutoCAD 2004 and is available for download at no cost.  Don't miss the DSX Tools available for free as well.

http://www.archidigm.com/hall/index.htm - This site has a paid section as well as free information.  For users of ADT the pay section has lots of great information to enhance your education.

http://www.cadmin.com/

http://www.tripleddesign.com/ADT2004/adthome.htm - This site has a great section for the Brain Dumps on Architectural Desktop 2004, a missing/updates section for additional items that were not included in the shipping version of ADT/AutoCAD 2004 or updated information.

http://www.autodesk.com -  The Autodesk site was recently updated and point A closed down and morphed into the new Autodesk website.  There was a few items that may have not been included in the migration from Point A, but new items are appearing all the time.  The knowledge base should be one of your first stops for any issue you may be having.  You can search with keywords to help find a particular issue.

The Autodesk discussion groups were also mentioned as they are a huge resource that are underutilized by most AutoCAD users.  The discussion groups can be accessed in one of two ways, either web-based or by newsreader.  They can be found here: http://discussion.autodesk.com/WebX?14@@.ee77aa7

In closing the votes were tallied for the EVAUG banner design contest.  There was 15 entries and of those one stood out to the attendees.  The design by Stephen Collier was the clear winner.  Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry.  Stephen of course won an Autodesk logo item of his choice from http://shop.autodesk.com/products_all.asp.  Look to see the final banner design at the next meeting.

Door prizes for attendees included packs of Easter candy, some with a ceramic holders.  The members only prize for the evening included a "not for resale" package of Autodesk's Architectural Desktop 3.3. Nearly all attendees won some prize for the evening.

March 20th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our Meet and Greet Session. After the initial socializing, pizza and drinks, Beau Turner called the meeting to order. Beau introduced Dave Stein, who addressed the new AutoCAD 2004, (shipping now). Dave referenced articles on AutoCAD 2004, such as http://www.dotsoft.com/acad2004.htm, and http://ellenfinkelstein.com/autoCAD.html. 

Among the many features of AutoCAD 2004 that Dave demonstrated and discussed here are a few:

• New file format is smaller and faster.
• Tool Pallets for frequently used blocks, LISP routines, hatch patterns, showing thumbnails.
• Transparency of above Tool Pallets and Command Area provides additional work space.
• Expresstools now incorporated, such as FULLSCREEN (now on an icon), Wipeout and Revision Clouds.
• MIRRTEXT default is correct as 0 (Text is legible after Mirroring).
• MAXSORT default is raised to 1000, allowing more layers be alphabetized.
• "Today" opening dialog is replaced with "Communicator".
• Quick access to toggle settings, such as Snap, Osnap, Ortho.
• Multiple Redos, with a drop down list like Word.
• True colors (not just 255) with RGB values and the pantone color system.
• Digital signatures.
• Can be installed along with AutoCAD 2002, for a transition period.
• Right click option allows speed sensitivity so it can emulate <Enter> or activate the cursor menus.
• Plotting to .jpg format without setting up a "phantom" printer.
• Mtext now supports tabs.
• Gradient-fill solid hatching pattern.
• Shaded drawings can be plotted.
• Windows XP shaded icons and "window shade" category roll-ups.

Drawbacks include:

• Can't save in R14 format anymore.
• New password capability (similar to password protecting a Zip file) for drawings can't be disabled.

After the meeting Dave sent a follow up to some of the questions that were asked:

With respect to some of the issues that were raised during the presentation last night, here are some follow-up responses from my personal research
involving AutoCAD 2004...

TRUE COLOR PLOTTING AND PLOT STYLES

If you use true colors in a given drawing, you can only use named plot styles (.STB files) to map the colors to plotting output. From my tests, if you have even one entity, layer or object that uses a true color (RGB) mapping, attempts to use a color-based plot style are simply ignored without any
error messages given.

GENERAL PLOTTING

I forgot to mention that the PLOT dialog has undergone some changes. For one, there are new "quality" options such as Normal, Draft, Preview, Maximum, Presentation and Custom. Viewports can be plotted with shading. Shading can be invoked from the PLOT command or allowed as shown in the viewport display. The Plot Stamp feature now has a corrected "Inches.pss" file that works properly.

TRIVIAL BUT HELPFUL

The HELP / ABOUT dialog form has a new "Product Information" button that displays detailed information about your installation. You can also save the information to a text file by picking a button.

WHOHAS has been incorporated to allow you to see who has a drawing file opened for editing in real time. This is accomplished through the use of a new hidden DWL file that is created whenever a DWG file has been opened for editing by AutoCAD.

In addition to license "borrowing" through FLEXlm (network clients) you can also specify a time-out setting in which AutoCAD will simply close if no activity has occurred within a specified amount of time. Network client installations can be pre-configured prior to client installation (limited features only). Clients can be deployed from the license server in either networked or standalone configurations.

WIPEOUTS AND PAPERSPACE

I added wipeout regions in paperspace to mask out portions of entities shown from modelspace through a viewport. I moved the modelspace entities around through the viewport and from direct access within the model tab. I toggled wipeout frames on and off again and in every situation, the display was correct and the plotting preview and plotting output results were also correct.

PLOTTING TO ADOBE PDF

I configured AutoCAD 2004 to create a PC3 for Adobe Distiller 5.05 on Windows XP. I was easily able to plot more than 50 successive plots to 11x17 using the monochrome.ctb plot style, scaled to fit, and auto-rotated without any problems from both modelspace and paperspace. Batch plotting to Adobe has not been evaluated as of yet, however, conferring with our design and engineering staff, I have learned that on AutoCAD 2002, we have successfully batch plotted to PDF more than two dozen occasions of more than 500 drawings each without any problems whatsoever.

My tests on Windows XP with Acad2004 included use of Wipeout and raster images as well as gradient hatch patterns and viewports using polygonal boundaries. I have not encountered any noticeable problems with any tested configuration so far.

DRAWING FILE PASSWORD LOCKING

As I had learned during pre-release, this feature exists in AutoCAD 2004 and there is no means for overriding a password lock on a given drawing file other than to attempt reverse engineering through third-party means (OpenDWG?). You have to open a DWG in order to export it to DXF, where you "might" be able to manually edit out the DXF header information that contains the password lock. If you cannot open the DWG, I'm not sure you can create a DXF.

The password protection feature can be disabled in AutoCAD 2004 during installation.  To disable this feature:

Select the Custom install type, and then clear the Drawing Encryption check box on the Select Features page.  When AutoCAD 2004 is installed in this manner, the Password tab will not be available in the Security Options dialog box or when a drawing is saved.  This procedure works for both a stand-alone installation and a network deployment.

Adobe Acrobat 5.0 allows you to create PDF files whereby you can lock the PDF with a password at various "levels" of protection. For example, you can prevent copy/paste from the PDF content. You can prevent printing or even opening the file. Microstation 8 has added password locking, but offers more levels of granularity than AutoCAD 2004 does. This feature will undoubtedly evolve as the user community weighs in.

REFMAN (XREF MANAGER)

Again, polling five individuals that I know who have used this feature, not one has expressed any serious problems with it.

2004 DWG FILE COMPRESSION

Since the 2004 DWG file is compressed natively, attempts to compress it again result in a larger file. This is a common trait of re-compression even with JPG, MPEG, ZIP and MP3 files. Each time the file is compressed, the compression key header is added to the start of the file to allow for decompression. Since the data is already compressed, this header simply adds to the file size.

CUSTOMIZATION ISSUES

I have added a chapter to my (free) book that covers issues relating to AutoCAD 2004 and Visual LISP and other APIs. The book "The Visual LISP Developer's Bible" is available on the web in Adobe PDF format at http://www.dsxcad.com.

The book also covers new and modified commands, system variables and functions. Note also that I have posted a beta version of DSX Tools 2004 for free download. I will try to get an updated version posted soon.

CONCLUSION

I hope this information helps clarify some of the issues that several attendees were concerned about. If there are other issues, I would be more than happy to research them through the Autodesk Developer Network, my colleagues and web-buddies, as well as through Autodesk Enterprise Support services.

Dave has been a longtime supporter of the EVAUG (see the EVAUG "Friends" page). Dave Stein's website with free AutoCAD utilities (DSX Tools) and great articles can be found at http://dsxcad.com/

Door prizes for attendees included a "not for resale" package of Autodesk's Land Development Desktop, Autodesk logo backpack from Autodesk University, Autolisp programming book, and multi-tool knife from The Whitlock Group.

February 20th 2003 meeting minutes:

We started the evening with our Meet and Greet Session. In celebration of two years at the HEWV location, Shannon brought us a decorated cake. After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order, and introduced Paul Burgener, who provided a brief brief on the STMPLOT routine. After inserting the block $stamp$.dwg on the edge of a layout, Paul "activated" the STMPLOT.lsp file. The routine automatically updated the block to list the file, user's logon name, date, and time. It then opened the plot dialog box. For more information about STAMPLOT and other "freeware" AutoLISP routines, contact Leonid Nemirovsky, http://home.pacifier.com/~nemi/ or nemi@wport.com.

Beau continued with an in-depth demonstration of the Express Tools RTEXT, which does more than does STAMPLOT.  He passed out handouts explaining the syntax (Diesel), and options to build plot stamps providing the drawing path and name, date, plot time, editing time, operator name, xrefs, images, layout, current layer, and other information.  Revising RTEXT objects is easily done with the RTEDIT command.

The "main attraction" of the evening was Meg von Runnen , of Arc Second, Inc.  >Meg demonstrated her calculator-sized computer (a Compaq iPAQ PDA) with ArcSeconds' PocketCAD software.  No longer do you need to carry around D- or E-sized printouts for checking "as built" conditions.  Meg jotted down locations and dimensions of a house floor plan, and projected it all on the overhead display for the attendees to see.  Though currently only in 2D, Pocket CAD is a Windows CE application that through it's converter software, can create and mark up AutoCAD and MicroStation drawings.  The cost is $200.  Using PocketCAD's "Punchlist" feature, you can easily place "attributed" blocks within a drawing to document details, such as places that need repair.  Meg used the scenario that she was inspecting a hotel, and needed to document leaks in the ceiling to be repaired. 

Meg also demonstrated measuring distances with Leica's Pro4 laser tape, connected by cable to her iPAQ.  The entire bundle (iPAQ, software, and laser tape measure) costs about $1600 from www.seilerinst.com.  You can rapidly measure and record the dimensions of each room of a building, alone.  The iPAQ also supports a plug-in camera.  Meg can be reached at http://www.arcsecond.com/ 703-435-5400 x246 or megv@arcsecond.com.

Door prizes for attendees included a "not for resale" package of Autodesk's Architectural Desktop, an Autodesk PDA case, and a copy of the PocketCAD software.

January 16th 2003 meeting minutes:

Much to our surprise, the meeting was attended by our valuable member, Rich Stow, who was recently injured in a motorcycle accident on his Goldwing, just a week earlier.  Dedicated to support the EVAUG, Rich asked his wife to drive him to the meeting (thanks, Sue), with his arm still in a sling, walking with a cane.  For more info on Rich, check out http://members.cox.net/rich-sue/  and http://members.cox.net/rich-sue/ranger.html .  See the EVAUG meeting minutes for Rich's presentation on February 20th, 2002.

We started the evening with our Meet and Greet Session.  Food and drinks were provided courtesy of Avatech Solutions.  After the initial socializing, Beau Turner called the meeting to order, and gave handouts listing AutoCAD resources and training options, and the rules for the EVAUG banner contest.  Banners will begin displaying for votes at the next EVAUG meeting.  For more information on the banner design contest you can get a copy from the downloads section of the website.  Beau then introduced the first speaker, Nick Fuller, from Bowman Foster and Associates, who demonstrated his company's use of block attributes for notes within a drawing.  After defining the lines, arcs, and circles for a block, use ATTDEF to develop each attribute, usually using middle-center justification, and zero text height.  BATTMAN allows editing these attributes later.  By selecting "Sync" in the upper right corner, all the instances of the block are updated.  Nick showed how part schedules are easy to standardize, when each row of the table is a block with multiple attributes.  Text in title blocks is another excellent use for attributes.

Nick and Beau then demonstrated attribute extraction with AutoCAD's ATTEXT command.  Drawings don't need to be open, to extract their attribute information into spreadsheets.  The meeting continued with a discussion of converting Excel spreadsheets into AutoCAD tables, and vice versa, with the Spanner feature of Terry Dotson's XL2CAD add-on software package, for only $60.  For details, see http://www.dotsoft.com/xl2cad.htm.

After a short break for snacks, Beau introduced Avatech's Fred Stewart and Rusty Belcher, for their presentation and demonstration of Autodesk's Inventor solid and surface modeling software.  Attendees saw how intuitive modeling in 3D is, as the Inventor icon "tool packs" changed along with modeling tasks.  No need to set AutoCAD object snaps.  Using a "space ball" mouse, Rusty developed ergonomic handles for a corkscrew mechanism, and rendered it as attendees watched.  Parts of the corkscrew were made translucent with Inventor's "Ghost View" feature.  The modeler can easily "select through" parts in the ghost view.

Door prizes for members included a "not for resale" package of Autodesk's Architectural Desktop, and a copy of George Omura's thick book, Mastering AutoCAD 2002.  Prizes for the general attendance included a free membership to the EVAUG, and a 2003 calendar from Form Z software company.

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