Friday Night Movie

Go outside and play, kids!

Friday Night Movie

Your "projectionist" has been a bit under the weather and otherwise occupied these past few weeks... so apologies all around for that. But enough excuses, let's get on with the show!

Tonite, we learn about how things work. And specifically how the gizmo you happen to be using to view this page are working right now. It's elemental stuff... but did you really understand it before stopping by? Don't tell. We won't.

Instead, just Enjoy!

Lynn Allen's Tips & Tricks 2015

It took Lynn a little longer than usual to get her annual tips and tricks booklet out this year, but it's every bit as good as always. So if you want to get the most out of your new version of AutoCAD, or just want to see what new features were included in the 2015 release, this publication is for you.

Go grab your copy of Lynn Allen's 2015 Tips & Tricks booklet now! It's free!

Dynamic Editing

BOGGIE - NOUVEAU PARFUM (official music video) from THE SOUP on Vimeo.

Now you try it.

AU 2013 Live Streaming Videos

It's Autodesk University 2013 time in Las Vegas, USA once again!... that time of year for almost 10,000 users, vendors, and others to descend on a city that never sleeps to talk all things Autodesk and high tech. If you can't be part of the crowd be sure to visit the 2013 AU Live Streaming Video page and take part from your desktop. You will find a great lineup of things there that you can see live during each day of the conference, including the Keynote, Closing sessions, and much more.

All events this year are once again being held at the palatial Venetian & Palazzo hotel convention and exhibition center. So check the schedule page above and look in during the week if you can! It will be well worth the time and bandwidth!

Leftovers!

Something of comet ISON actually survived the trip around the sun! Yesterday during the Google+ Hangout session with NASA scientists the outcome looked bleak. In fact many of them predicted doom but justified it by saying that "comets are notoriously unpredictable". That may be... but the pictures don't lie. Something made the passage. Now it remains to be seen if anything is out there for viewing come the first few weeks of December. If so look to the same eastern skies before sunrise.

AutoCAD 2014 & Windows XP Finally Divorce

If you hadn't seen this yet the following is something you may need to know:

Microsoft® has announced the discontinuation of support for Microsoft® Windows XP operating system. Since Autodesk is aware that a large number of AutoCAD users continue to use Windows XP, they have begun notifying customers about the impact to AutoCAD software products.

AutoCAD® AutoCAD® 2014 will be the final version of AutoCAD software* that will run on the Windows XP operating system. This is important if you will continue to be using a computer with XP as the operating software:

• AutoCAD 2014 is the final release that can be installed on the Windows XP operating system.
• AutoCAD 2014 is the final version of AutoCAD that will be supported on Windows XP. 
• If you have a currently supported version of AutoCAD on Windows XP, Autodesk will continue supporting your AutoCAD software through the "support life" of the product (Autodesk support is limited to the most current version and previous three versions of AutoCAD software). 

AutoCAD® isn't the only program that will be affected.  All of the AutoCAD® verticals are going to be included.  So be sure to visit this page to get the full impact of the new policy.  You'll find more information there including detailed frequently asked questions.

Official San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Time-Lapse

This may be an ultimate, "How It's Made", episode... for those who have seen that program on USA television. If your internet connection can handle it be sure and watch this at full 1080p and full screen and marvel at what has been done. The time-lapse video shows in 4 minutes what cost taxpayers roughly $6.5B over the past 5 years. As of this writing the construction is finally nearing completion.



More images of the construction and information on the design is currently available in the Autodesk Gallery.

Burning Man 2013

As seen from a remote controlled drone. Very cool.

Autodesk Project Chronicle

I became aware of another Autodesk Labs cloud-based service tonite called "Project Chronicle", so it was worth some time experimenting with it. Hopefully this will be something they will either keep for a while or make fully available to subscription users much like Autodesk 360. Project Chronicle is a great way to create short videos like the one above.

You'll have to pardon my narration... but this was all done much like the creation of the block itself... completely on the fly!

To be able to view this full screen on the Project Chronicles website, place your cursor over the image above and click on the link in the upper left corner.

AutoCAD C3D 2014 Installed

C3D Splash Screen

Installing a program as complex as any of the Autodesk series is always filled with at least a little bit of anxiety.  It's not uncommon for something to go a little haywire... maybe a driver is missing or incompatible, maybe there was an error in the download, maybe something else went south.  Think space launch.  There are millions of lines of code just like parts in a rocket engine, and every single one has to work perfectly or there's an explosion on the launch pad.  I've had these scenarios in the past and they're no fun.

Think AutoCAD 2013.  For whatever reason it never did install and work correctly on my computer and in the end I just ignored that release for a year until 2014 came out a few months ago.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014

Yes, it's true.  My long wait for my very own copy of AutoCAD Civil 3D is finally over.  This afternoon I was granted a full license of the latest version to install and work with on my own computer(s).  The downloading is in progress as this is going to press and the hunt for good reference and learning materials will begin later in earnest.

For 3 years I asked, begged, pleaded, cajoled, made the case, provided the justification(s), you name it, to get a home use license so I could learn this program.  But it was all to no avail; the answer was always "no' or no answer at all.  In the end (today) those obfuscations and delays were no factor - I managed to get a legal copy without outside "help" at all.  Whoever said hard work isn't rewarded was all wet.  It is!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

And worth every precious second too!

The new journey begins!

Tech Support

For Mom. She'll get it.


And yes, I'm laughing.

Google Nose

It's the newest way to search yet... today Google announced, Google Nose!  

For more information be sure to sniff -Here-.

AutoCAD 2014 - What’s New

Each new release of AutoCAD is jammed with what are supposed to be bug fixes and new features.  Some years we get more of one than the other.  Some years everything seems to go wrong, and other years it goes just about right.  As time moves on this year I'm certain we'll find things that still don't work or haven't been fixed as well as features we love.  As long as the balance isn't lopsided in the negative we should be okay.  As for myself I've been testing fairly heavily the last few days and haven't hit anything major yet.

So here are a few of the things you can look forward to in the new release:

Tablesaw Router Station Build

This past weekend I completed the upgrade of my Rigid TS3650 tablesaw.  I bought this table new in 2003 and it has served me well in stock condition ever since.  But over the years the projects I've built have required more and more routing, and often the type of routing that is best performed on a dedicated router station setup.  This upgrade project was to install a new Excalibur #40-070 cast iron wing with a router plate cutout to replace the original cast iron wing that came with the saw.

Right up front I have to say that this idea wasn't an original one of mine.  The key piece of information came courtesy of a guy named Derek over at the Making Splinters blog.  Without his discovery of the cast iron surface none of what follows would have been possible!  So mahalos to you bigtime, Derek! :)

Custom Fence

I'm currently in the process of modifying my table saw again. The new Excalibur #40-070 cast iron surface wing with an insert for a router plate, and a new Jessem Mast-R-Lift II to install with it have arrived. This past weekend I built a few custom "bench beams" (below) to act as a third hand support system during dis-assembly and installation. That work will be documented here once I get on with it. But over the last couple of nights I've been working on the design of a custom fence system to compliment the setup.

Router fences are completely different than table saw fences in both use and function; they're actually much more like sacrificial dado fences, so for everything to work properly in the new setup I need to come up with something custom for my equipment. Nothing "off the shelf" is going to work unless I completely replace the table saw fence. And that I'm not going to do even as much as I might like a new Biesemeyer table saw fence system! At least not now.

The video above shows the design I came up with for my system. It's a compilation of ideas found on the internet, custom systems for sale, and the basic router table fence built by Norm Abrams of the New Yankee Workshop many years ago. The drawing work was prepared using Trimble SketchUp 8 and the video captured with Techsmith's SnagIt 11.

A couple items I inadvertently omitted in my narration of the video include the fact that the main anchoring section (the dark brown piece) gets clamped to the cast iron surface to keep the system locked in place. Most router table surfaces have slots cut perpendicular to the feed direction to allow in/out fence adjustment. Unfortunately the Excalibur surface does not have these slots, so my design makes provision for that using the dark brown base design shown here. Also, T-bolts, washers and wing nuts will be used to connect sacrificial and other facing pieces onto the main assembly. If it turns out that unfinished Baltic birch isn't smooth enough for efficient use I'll replace them with pieces fabricated using melamine.

As noted in the video, comments and suggestions are always welcome. If you see something that looks like it could be improved I'm wide open to hear your ideas.

Bench Beams 4"x4"x36" - 1/2" Baltic birch

Evangelists

Nowadays... that is to say, in the digital age, we have evangelists. No, I'm not waxing theological here, I'm referring to the software gurus (and gurugals) who seem to eat, breathe, live, and love the complex software packages we alternately love/hate. I have two evangeli; one I've met personally (and she's as sweet as she looks in her various and sundry videos), and one I'd like to meet some day.

Lynn Allen is my go-to AutoCAD evangelist. I've taken classes from her and met her in person at AU a few years ago.  I never miss Lynn's bi-weekly Cadalyst Video Tips either.  You can sign up if you like them and get email notices when ever a new one comes out.

Julieanne Kost is my Adobe evangelist. One look at her work and you have to believe she has plenty to share. Take your eyes off her blog for a while and you're sure to fall behind the curve.  Every day, Julieanne shares Instagram photos from her travels (and she travels a lot!).  Here she's compiled a year's worth of her favorites.

You've gotta love (and use!) the internet these days. And hitch your wagon to every "evangelist" you can find!

Autodesk University 2012

Certified!

This summary is a little late going up on the board, but a quick review of my Autodesk University 2012 conference in Las Vegas a month ago is still worth doing.  Some may have noticed the black AutoCAD panel at the bottom of these pages.  The certificate above validates it. 

Aerial Photography

27-Dec-2012 (KOA)

Yesterday was the day once again for an annual aerial photo flight at Kona.  I’ve gone up every year between Christmas and New Year’s since 2004.  In the beginning these flights were only done at Kona to capture the crowded conditions we see on the ramps during the holiday break.  Eventually a separate annual flight was scheduled at the Hilo airport too and the photo library became a useful tool for recording conditions and changes over the prior 12 months at both airports.  We also learned how to leverage the pictures for reports or whenever a case had to be made for project needs.  Images really do trump words every time.