AutoCAD Electrical Productivity

AutoCAD or AutoCAD Electrical? A Productivity Study.

The most frequently asked question I receive from the AutoCAD user community that are thinking about switching to AutoCAD Electrical is what type of productivity gains can you expect to receive when making the transition. From a user’s perspective I could personally give you countless examples of how much more productive you can be but that would take up too much time and space for a blog posting. Keeping this simple, AutoCAD Electrical software is built specifically to create and modify electrical controls designs. AutoCAD Electrical design software includes all the functionality of AutoCAD plus a complete set of electrical CAD features. Comprehensive symbol libraries and tools for automating electrical design and drafting tasks help to save hours of effort. Built-in reporting tools help eliminate errors and provide accurate information to manufacturing. All of these features plus the many others allow more time for design and engineering.  Autodesk performed a very simple study that details the productivity gains that users can expect to see when moving from basic AutoCAD to AutoCAD Electrical. In the study Autodesk performed ten tasks and calculated the time it would take to perform each task inside of both AutoCAD and AutoCAD Electrical. Then they calculated the percentage of time saved for each task with a total at the end. Most AutoCAD users are surprised at the results but it comes as no surprise to the users that have standardized on AutoCAD Electrical for all of their electrical CAD design needs.

Below is a table of the results of the study. I encourage everyone to click on the link below the table. The link will take you to the white paper on Autodesk’s website which will enable you to view in detail how they were able to calculate and come up with the results for each specific category.

Link to white paper: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/cad_electrical_productivity_study.pdf

Using your digital camera for more than just photos!

Autodesk Labs is at it again! Do you have an object, room, or even an entire building you want to view in Autodesk products? Project Photofly is a new technology preview on Autodesk Labs that may be able to help. This preview allows you to take a series of photos of an object, and Photofly does the rest by "stitching" the photos of the object together to create a 3D cloud point model.

Highlights

• Allows anyone with a digital camera to create near accurate 3D models from photographs using the web.
• Utilizes common point and shoot digital cameras.
• Harnesses the power of cloud computing to translate photos into detailed 3D models.
• 3D models can be manipulated by design software (e.g., AutoCAD, Inventor, 123D).
• Allows sharing through YouTube, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Learn more about Project Photofly : Autodesk Labs

Buzzsaw/Streamline Go Mobile

Many things are going "mobile" these days.  Some are just for fun, but some are very useful.  This was one that makes a lot of sense to me!  Buzzsaw or Streamline (they are the same technology) have a mobile app that allows you to download and upload data to a Buzzsaw or Streamline site.  I believe that this could be very useful for managers, service guys, or anyone needing to access data quickly away from their computer and internet.  You need a data signal and to have a Buzzsaw/Streamline site with login/password.  I have used this a few times and love the capability to access data while onsite.  Take a look at this link:
Mobile Application for Buzzsaw