Now you see it… Now you don’t! Object Visibility in AutoCAD 2011

If you were a subscription holder in AutoCAD 2010 you got a sneak peek at this new AutoCAD 2011 feature that includes new tools that enable you to control object visibility independent from layer visibility control. The Object Visibility tools are accessible from the large light bulb icon on the status bar (Isolate Objects) or better yet, from the right‐click menu when objects are selected as well as when no objects are selected. When you use the Isolate Objects tool, only the selected objects remain visible in the drawing. All other objects are hidden.

Isolated Objects

 Alternatively, when you use the Hide Objects tool, the selected objects are hidden allowing you to work it from the other angle as well.

Hidden Objects

 You can use a combination of the Isolate Objects and Hide Objects tools to efficiently display only the objects that are relevant to your current task. For example, you might use the Isolate Objects tool to select an area of the drawing you want to edit and then use the Hide Objects tool to hide additional objects within that area. And when you add the power of the Select Similar command to it you can really take control and speed up the selection process. After completing your task, you can quickly restore the hidden objects using the End Object Isolation tool.

End Object Isolation Tool

 The OBJECTISOLATIONMODE system variable controls whether isolated/hidden objects persist between drawing sessions. Also the light bulb icon on the status bar indicates whether object isolation is active by turning RED in the drawing. If it is YELLOW than no object are currently being hidden in the drawing through the Isolate or Hide Objects functionally. But remember layers can still be hiding objects as well.

Object Isolation Status Icon

 In addition to the obvious benefits object visibility controls offer for 2D design, they’re just as valuable for 3D modeling. And it great new features in AutoCAD 2011 that make the magic happen. As always thank you for your time.

Know Your Boundaries…

Have you ever wanted to see where the exact outside perimeter of a paper space viewport is in relation to model space? Well I am going to show you how to generate a polyline using the Boundary command in Layout that transfer itself to the representing area in Model space.

Here’s how…

While you are in layout (paper) use the BOUNDARY command (Alias: BO) set to polyline; pick inside the viewport. [This will create a polyline around the perimeter, of the viewport; especially useful if you have custom complex shapes with some curves].
Now, using the Express tool CHSPACE, when it prompts you to select objects, type L (for Last) OR you could manually select the polyline that was just created.
This will move it through the corresponding viewport into the model environment. Now when you go into model space (TILEMODE 1) you will have the exact same shape that is sized appropriately to the viewport scale and position over the same area as the viewport display.

It’s a fast and easy way to know exactly where the edges of the viewport are in relation.

(*Note: you can NOT do multiple Viewports at the same time, because the transfer location and scale is based off the selected viewport, if you need more than one viewport done? Then you will need to do them separately.)
Also: Remember to have the viewports’ scale correctly set before creating the polyline, to ensure correct size… AND remember to place new boundary polyline(s) on the same layer as your Viewports or on a separate layer that doesn’t plot.

TIP: Also remember that the Boundary command with work in either environment (model/paper) so if you need to generate a polyline in an enclosed area regardless of how many separate objects it takes to close it… Then the Boundary command is your friend!!!
This is Isaac and once again, thanks for your time.

Object Creation Tip

No More Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe… W/ New Object Selections in 2011.

Have you ever needed to select all of the same type of object in your drawing but needed to filter out certain properties, and felt like you were in the middle of a game of “Where’s Waldo?” One of the best features to be added into the AutoCAD core product in AutoCAD 2011 comes from the Subscription Advantage Pack from last year was the advanced capabilities of the new Select Similar tool enables you to select an object and automatically include all other objects of the same type and with the same properties, in a new selection set. And one of the best things about it is you can use it on the fly and it is less time consuming than Filter or Quick Select commands. You can access it from the right‐click menu when objects are selected.

Select Similar tool

A Settings option (accessible when you enter SELECTSIMILAR at the command line) enables you to specify which properties to filter. If only the Layer property is enabled when you select a circle, for example, AutoCAD automatically selects all circles on the same layer as the one you selected. If both the
Layer and Linetype properties are enabled, however, AutoCAD selects only the circles on the same layer
and with the same linetype as the selected one.

Select Similar Settings dialog box

The Select Similar tool also enables you to select more than one object and create the matching selection set accordingly. For example, if the Layer filter is enabled and you select two circles, each on
different layers, AutoCAD selects all the circles on both layers. If, instead, you select a circle and a line,
AutoCAD selects all the circles on the same layer as the selected circle and all the lines on the same layer
as the selected line. In addition to general object properties, you can filter selections based on objectspecific properties, including object style and reference name. Object Style properties apply to text and mtext, leaders and mleaders, dimensions and tolerances, and tables and multilines. Reference names apply to blocks and externally referenced files, including xrefs and images as well as PDF, DWG™, or DGN files.

In addition to the new Select Similar tool, a new option has been added to the PICKADD system variable. When PICKADD is set to a value of 2 (as it is now by default), objects that you select using the SELECT command remain selected in a “pick first” state even after you end the SELECT command.

Easily select overlapping objects using the new selection cycling functionality. You can enable selection cycling from a control on the Status bar. When you try to select an object that overlaps other objects, AutoCAD displays a list of all the overlapping objects. Notice as you pass the cursor over an object in the list, the relevant object in the drawing highlights.

Selection cycling tool

As you see that selecting objects are much more intuitive in AutoCAD 2011, and should speed up your production and editing time drastically. Until next BLOG thank you for your time.

Polylines and Splines get an Overhaul…

Have you always like the capabilities of using Polylines and Splines because of being able to have them connected as one entity, but hated to have to go through the maze of editing options to modify them later? Good news, they have added some great dynamic grip editing to Polylines that let you edit them similar to the boundary lines of hatch. You simply use the new edge grips in combination with the control key cycle through to add new vertices, or convert them into Arcs with out having to redraw them. Even Splines have added more functionality by being able to add “kinks” for a sharp corner. But that is just a few things that have happened to Polylines and Splines, so let’s take a deeper look into each one of these modified commands.

Polylines

Polyline objects in AutoCAD 2011 now have extra grips to make editing them easier than ever. In addition to the familiar primary grips located at the end of each polyline segment, there are now additional secondary grips located at the midpoint of each segment. These grips, like the new Hatch grips, are multifunctional. The available functions can be seen by hovering over a grip, and you can choose an option directly from the menu that appears.

Direct manipulation polyline tools

You can also activate the grip by clicking on it. Then you can cycle through the available functions by pressing CTRL, or choosing one of the options from the right‐click menu. Icons next to the cursor indicate the active function. Sub‐selection for polylines has been refined in AutoCAD 2011. To sub‐select one or more segments of a polyline, hold down CTRL while left‐clicking on the polyline.

Polyline sub‐object selection

Grip behavior for sub‐selected segments is identical to the behavior when the entire polyline is selected. You can now use the JOIN command to connect lines, arcs, and polylines to 3D polylines, as long as they are all contiguous (in other words, they share a common endpoint). You must select the most complex object first (in this case, the 3D polyline), and the objects to be joined do not need to be coplanar.

Splines

Splines have been updated in AutoCAD 2011 to provide more flexibility and control. You can define a spline using fit points or control vertices (CV). CV splines are more appropriate if you will be using them with 3D NURBS surfaces.

Fit spline and Control Vertices spline

When drawing a fit spline, you can specify additional settings for its start and end tangencies, tolerance (how close the spline must come to the fit point), and knot parameterization (controlling the shape of the curve as it passes through the fit point). The only option for CV splines is Degree, which controls how many bends the spline can take in a given span.

CV spline Degree C

Easily switch methods, add and remove points, or edit endpoint tangencies using intuitive grip menus.

Spline tangent direction

The SPLINEDIT command also has several new options, including improved Edit Vertex options. You can now easily add “kinks” or sharp corners to a spline.

Spline kink

You can use the JOIN command to connect lines, arcs, polylines, 3D polylines, and helixes to splines, as long as they are all contiguous (in other words, they share a common endpoint). You must select the most complex object first (in this case, the spline), and the objects to be joined do not need to be coplanar.

So there you have it, useful tools that are easy to use and not hard to modify. I sure you will enjoy these new enhancements, and especially enjoy not having to use explode any more. I’m Isaac saying have fun, and thank you for your time.

Hatches and Gradients take on Multiple Enhancements in AutoCAD 2011…

The Hatch tool is streamlined in AutoCAD 2011 for faster creation and editing of hatch objects. It now immediately prompts you to select an internal point without displaying the Hatch dialog box. Instead, the new Hatch Creation contextual tab provides easy access to all hatch and gradient options. (click image to see enlarged view.)

To further extend this functionality, weather you are creating or editing hatch content, it is done consistently for all types of hatch items and has been added to the Contextual Ribbons Section in the CUI.

 A Hatch Editor contextual ribbon displays similar hatch tools when you select an existing hatch.

The Hatch Preview function for the “pick points” method has been improved. Now, just passing your cursor over an eligible area shows you a dynamic preview of what the hatch would look like if you clicked there before you click.

You can also see the result of each click as you pick points or objects in the drawing. Keep in mind that even though it looks as though a hatch was created as you clicked, it will not actually be a separate object unless you have the “Create Separate Hatches” option ON.

AutoCAD 2011 continues to expand object grip functionality with a new center grip for direct modification of hatch objects. You can use these options to stretch or move the hatch or change the origin, angle, or scale. These options are available when you hover over the grip. You can either choose an option from the list, or activate the grip and use CTRL to cycle through the different behaviors.

Other hatch grip behavior has not changed, except that “Stretch” is now the default action for the secondary or middle grips on a nonassociative hatch.

Hatches now support background color in addition to line color. This enables you to have the effect of layering hatches all in a single hatch object.

You now also have the option to set a hatch’s layer before you create it. You can choose either to use the current layer or to pick another one from your drawing. Like color, pattern, and other hatch properties, layer is a persistent setting during your drawing session. If you like the appearance of the traditional Hatch dialog box you can still access it by typing T for the seTtings option at the command line. As you can see they have added the new options for Layering and Transparency (as discussed in one of my recent Blogs) inside the dialog box as well.

The command HATCHTOBACK has been introduced in response to an item on the AUGI wishlist. Similar to TEXTTOFRONT, HATCHTOBACK sends hatches underneath all other objects in the drawing. “Send Hatches to Back” is available on the Modify panel of the Home tab under the Draw Order flyout, along with “Bring Text to Front” and “Bring Dimensions to Front.”

The new system variable MIRRHATCH enables you to mirror hatches while retaining their orientation. (This is similar to the MIRRTEXT variable.) Set to 0, mirroring hatches maintains their original angle. When MIRRHATCH is set to 1, the hatch angle mirrors along with the rest of the objects.

And last, the Hatch Object Limit system variable (HPOBJWARNING) has been increased to 10,000 from 1,000 to reflect the capabilities of current computers. When a large number of objects are selected for hatch boundary calculations, it can result in slower performance. Thanks to increased hardware capabilities, though, it now takes a much larger number of boundary objects to affect calculation speed. You may now also set the value of the Hatch Object Limit manually.

So as you can see Hatching has become a lot more Intuitive, Dynamic and Easier to use in this newer version of AutoCAD. As always I want to thank you for your time and hope you enjoy these new features in AutoCAD 2011.

Drawing Window and Interface has New Appearance in 2011…

1.  At first look you will notice that the drawing window has been updated in AutoCAD 2011 to display a dark gray background in modelspace. You can easily modify the drawing window color from the Display tab of the Options dialog box. The traditional dot grid has been replaced with horizontal and vertical gridlines to more closely represent engineering graph paper. When the grid is enabled, red and green lines extend from the UCS icon to represent the X and Y axes of the origin.

2. Autodesk has added the Workspace in the Quick Access Toolbar. It also includes 2 separate 3D workspaces; they created one for basic simple model design, and one for more advanced 3D capabilities.

3. The last thing that I am going to cover in the posting (and certainly not the last change to the interface) is in the Ribbon. Besides the new drop down arrow for toggling displays modes for Ribbons. They have created a new Ribbon panel button; which only displays the panel as one button; when you hover your curser over the icon; it expands to all of the tool buttons in the panel including the drop down list.

Well that is all I have time for now but there is a lot more to come in future posting, so don’t forget to keep checking back. Until then, thank you for your time.  – Isaac

New Features in AutoCAD 2011 continued…

Well, I hope you enjoyed that last post on linetypes in 2011 and I know this one will not disappoint as well… In fact, I just received a support case from one of our customers two days before the unveiling of the new features of 2011. He wanted to know if there was a way to tone down the display of some objects in his AutoCAD drawing that he received from a client. He understood that it could be done through an Xref or a PDF type format using “fading”, but that wasn’t the way that he desired to work. But, there’s good news! I am happy to announce that 2011 has introduced a new type of Layer Property called “Transparency”. Let me show you how it works…

Transparency
AutoCAD 2011 includes a new transparency property that enables you to apply transparency to objects and layers in the same way you apply colors, linetypes, and lineweights.

AutoCAD Transparancy

You can set transparency by layer, by block, or individually for an object. The default transparency value for layers and objects is 0, and you can set it as high as 90. The Layer Properties Manager (palette and dialog), the Layer States Manager, the Layer Filter dialog, and the Layer Translator have all been updated to reflect the new transparency property. In the Layer Properties Manager, a new column for Transparency is available in modelspace and layouts, and a column for Viewport (VP) Transparency is available in layouts and floating modelspace viewports.

You can set transparency for individual objects just like color and linetype. Setting a transparency value for an individual object overrides the layer transparency setting for that object. You can access object transparency from a number of places: the Properties palette, Quick Properties, or the ribbon. The new CETRANSPARENCY system variable sets the transparency property for new objects.

The SetByLayer Settings dialog has been updated to include Transparency as one of the available Properties and Transparency has also been added to the Quick Select, Filter, and Match Property Settings dialogs as well as the CHPROP, CHANGE, -LAYER, VPLAYER, and LIST commands.

A button has been added to the status bar to enable you to temporarily turn off transparency display (TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY system variable), similar to the behavior of the lineweight display button. This does not affect plotting. However, you have the option to turn off transparency when plotting. The Plot and Page Setup dialogs both include a checkbox for transparency (PLOTTRANSPARENCY), similar to the behavior for plot styles. When this option is enabled, AutoCAD rasterizes the entire drawing for plotting, slowing down the plotting process.

Prior to AutoCAD 2011, images had a setting, also called “transparency,” that controlled whether the background of a bitonal image was clear or opaque. This property has been renamed to “background transparency” to distinguish it from the new “transparency” property. You can apply both background and object transparencies to images in AutoCAD 2011.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this one and I will try to keep them coming… until then, I thank you for your time.

New Features in AutoCAD 2011

WOW where to begin… AutoCAD 2011 has so many great new powerful features that it was had to choose what I thought would be most useful to everyone. In fact if I were to write just a little bit about all of the neat new features this article would have been over 50 letter-size papers long. So I had to make a tough choice on what I thought was my favorite one to write about, so I narrowed it down to three or more that I thought were pretty neat that everybody could use in any discipline. So I guess you will just have to keep tuning in to my future Blogs to catch all of these great tools, because I have found that it would be impossible to cover them all at once. And remember: By no means “what so ever” are these the most powerful tool introduced, there was a lot of very cool things added from Menus, Display features, Drawing tool enhancements, Constraints to 2D commands to an amazing leap forward in 3D capabilities in this release. In my last count there were over 35 new features added, so there is bunch of stuff for everybody, but all in all I was looking for something that everybody can start using right away with practically no training at all so here is the one I choose to tell you about first…

Text Alignment in Linetypes
AutoCAD 2011 now makes it possible to maintain linetype readability in any orientation. In the older version you could reverse the direction of lines by switching the values of the start and end points (or rotate the line 180 degrees), but that would not work on PLINEs with out exploding or ARCs at all, they always read to the outside from the center of the arc. In 2009 AutoCAD gave us the REVERSE tool but it was just a button to do what we had always done manually before, and with the same results as before. But I am happy to announce that in 2011 there is a new linetype pen setting in town and it is called “Upright!”

Now, the linetypes included with AutoCAD 2011 behave this way by default. But you can update your own custom linetypes; just open the LIN file and you need to change the rotation option to U, for “upright”. (The other possible values for the rotation option are R, for “relative,” and A, for “absolute.”)
An example linetype definition looks like this:
Old:
*GAS_LINE,Gas line —-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS–
A,.5,-.2,["GAS",STANDARD,S=.1,R=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.25
New:
*GAS_LINE,Gas line —-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS—-GAS–
A,.5,-.2,["GAS",STANDARD,S=.1,U=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.25
Example Linetype Definition
In my next BLOG I am going to introduce you to a brand new Layer Property that I know you are going to love, so don’t forget to keep checking back in! But for now… this is Isaac saying “Keep On CADing!”

New Dawg… Old Tricks?

This blog is going to hit home for a majority of us and I apologize up front if anybody feels offended, but realize this is not the intent of this article. I had recently been dealing with a lot of support calls lately with people moving to subscription, which is the best bang for your buck having the newest technology as soon as it is released at a discounted price, along with all of the many other advantages and benefits that go along with being a subscription holder. Which is a great thing for everybody, but here is where things start to turn downhill…

People are creatures of habit… and that is understandable and once they start doing something they get, they want to keep doing it that way, because it is easy and it works! Completely understandable… IF WE COULD FREEZE TIME! But unfortunately, we live in a fast paced technical world, and things are always changing and there will always be someone trying to build a better mouse trap; even if it take a little while to work out the bugs. But where I see the problem compounds its self is when I have someone ask for help to make their new software to perform and look like the older version. For example the first thing I hear is “How do I turn off that ribbon thingy and where are my toolbars?”

…I KNOW, I KNOW!!! We are all saying “Hey wait a minute, he is talking about me!” Well, no need to be concerned, I was talking about me a few years ago; but if you feel guilty, GOOD NEWS, I have a solution for you too. Here is how I see it …everything that you know now, you were able to learn, and I am not just talking about school. And lets face it, technology advances faster and faster everyday… could you imagine an astronaut telling the rocket scientist, “Can you make the new space shuttle run just like the older one?” … or a consumer telling the cell phone company, “I don’t like the newer thin cell phones because they are harder to find than the 8 pound brick that you used to use as a cell phone, perhaps not so many years ago.”

Well the same thing, weather we like it or not, is what happens every time we load your new software and try to make it look and work like the older versions, which Autodesk realizes that people want to be able to do this, and that is why they keep a lot of the old menu items available and just turn them off, “to try and keep the customer as happy”. But unfortunately, this makes it easer for all of us to convert right back to our old tricks, and before we know it we are trying to keep up with everybody else flying to Jupiter, but in a rocket that was only design to go to the moon. It’s hard to get out of that comfort zone, but you know what I have learned over the years, it’s a lot harder and more time consuming to update yourself from a 2 year technical coma, than to just spend a little bit of time updating yourself as soon as the technology is introduced. Plus, then you get to take advantage of the new tools that were design to increase productivity. I have found the only reason it take longer at first is that I just don’t know how to use it yet. It’s kind of like using the stove over the microwave, it may take some time to learn how to start the microwave than the stove but in the long run the microwave is much faster. Also if you were to bring up all of the toolbars that replace the Ribbon tools, you would only have enough drawing area left to draw postage stamps; so unless that is all you design, I would take the next step to learn how to the new functions work before writing them off. Plus don’t forget the new release of Autodesk 2011 products is just around the corner, which also means that Autocad 2007 will no longer be supported by Autodesk. 

So, I have made it a point that when ever I teach a class of current users of AutoCAD I always go over the new interface and show them how to use them properly. And you know what? That is now the preferred method they have chosen to work today. So take some time and go through the New Features Workshop, our take a hands on training at an Autodesk ATC (Authorized Training Center) site, LIKE OURS!!! (…Sorry I just had to pitch that! LOL). However you want to learn it… but most of all, just don’t ask that person that is stuck in a rut, from the 1990’s, if you want to know what you NEW AUTOCAD is capable of now. You would be surprised what NEW TRICKS this NEW DAWG has up it’s sleeve.

-Isaac Harper