Autodesk Vault Thin (Web) Client Has A New Look

If you are a subscription customer for Autodesk Vault Professional 2014, you can get your hands on a new thin client. The new Autodesk Vault Thin Client 2014 has been completely redesigned to provide a superior experience when accessing a Vault through a web browser. The redesign includes Enhanced user interfaces, Customizable view functionalities, New BOM interface, and Enhanced report printing.

The first step in getting the new thin client look is to ensure that your Autodesk Vault Professional 2014 is up to date with the latest service packs and hotfixes. See the Autodesk Support for Autodesk Vault. Next you need to log in to the Autodesk Subscription website to download the Autodesk Vault 2014 Subscription Release 1.

With this update Autodesk has completely “overhauled” the Web (Thin) client, although it shares some similarities with Autodesk 360.

An excerpt from the ReadMe.....
The new Autodesk Vault Thin Client 2014 has been completely redesigned to provide a superior experience when accessing a Vault through a web browser. The redesign includes Enhanced user interfaces, Customizable view functionalities, New BOM interface, and Enhanced report printing. See Autodesk Vault Thin Client 2014 for more information.

One thing missing from the readme was that the address to the web client has changed. What this means is that you can access the legacy (old) web client or the new revamped version. This is great as a CAD Administrator I can gradually roll out the new version at my own pace. The old address was http://<servername>/autodeskdm/webclient, the new address is http://<servername>/AutodeskTC.




Also take note that there are issues with Google Chrome and not being able to view the Visualization (DWF) file. I experienced it myself; Autodesk is aware of the issue and is working on it. For now its best to use (gasp) Internet Explorer.

From Irvin Hayes Jr (Product Manager – Autodesk) “Currently the ability to see the DWF in Chrome is not available. Try using the Home Button and selecting Save As then opening the file.”

Other than the “completely redesigned to provide a superior experience” UI overhaul there are a couple new things

• Individual view customization. The administrator sets the default properties to be shown, each user can customize it to their liking
• Improved Bill of Materials (BOM) view when looking at items
• Better reports 

Release of Mockup 360

Mockup 360 is now release and no longer in Beta.  Mockup 360 allows you to review 3D data, locate and capture comments on particular points, and share the design with others.  If you remember Project Freewheel, this has a lot of improvements from that online application. 

If you are interested, here is a link to checkout:

MOCKUP 360

 

Also, there is a forum on what is new with Mockup:

MOCKUP 360 Forum

This is a great way to look at designs and capture the discussion.  I really like the clash check that you can run.  With that said, I would expect some more updates soon so stay tuned!

Adraft Tech Conference on June 12th

If you follow this blog, you may be interested in the live sessions we are providing next Wednesday, June 12^th:

Adraft Tech Conference Information & Sign Up

There will be a live Adraft Technology Workflow presentation, Autodesk Presentations, client presentation, and booths representing different areas of focus (Simulation, 3D Printing, eLearning, Products Design Suite Workflow) are open for questions.  In addition to this, there are breakout sessions intended to provide useful information on the following:

AutoCAD 2014 Overview

Autodesk 360

Additive Manufacturing

Vault 2014 Overview

Getting the most out of AutoCAD Electrical

Visualization: Which tool is right for you?

BIM for Manufacturing

Inventor 2014 Overview

Sim 360 Overview

Navisworks

Introduction to iLogic

Inventor Standards - Migration Strategies

Whatever CAD software or 3D Printer you use, this Tech Conference is geared toward learning, so please come and learn!

Inventor Publisher 2013 R1, Not 2014?

Heads up!  We do not have the full scoop yet, but there is no Inventor Publisher 2014 out yet.  Instead Autodesk is using their efforts to make improvements to the existing product, which is being released as Inventor Publisher 2013 R1.  Here is a link to the features that are being addressed with this R1 release:
Inventor Publisher 2013 R1 Features

 

 

New features include:

Authored Model Properties

Edge Width in Vector Output

Web and Mobile Output

Support for Vault 2014

Inventor Components with Custom Materials

There are a lot of fixes coming with the R1 release.  Check out the link above for a list of the fixes.  There are many different rumors about Inventor Publisher in the discussion groups, but one thing is sure … Autodesk is standing behind it and making imrpovements.  That is important in the software world.

Download Your 2014 Autodesk Software!!

There have been a few things that are different for this year’s release of 2014 software.  I am labeling this year as the “quiet release”.  There was no huge announcement about the different features/functions coming out.  There were no big press releases that I saw.  If you want to see new workflows and features for AutoCAD, Vault, and Inventor … come to the Adraft Technology Conference on June 12^th! (http://www.adraft.com/adraft-events.html ).  Yes, that is a shameless plug for our event!!!

One thing that has changed and affected some of us already is the media delivery.  Autodesk is not delivering media this year.  If you want the media, you can order it for $30, plus shipping and handling.  Autodesk is working to reduce costs and ecological footprint by having clients download the software.   If you are the Contract Manager or the Software Coordinator, you should have received an email that looked something like this as a signal for download:

 

If you need the media, then please let us know and we can order it for you.  The download on some of this software will take a long time, so please give yourself plenty of time and storage space.  We had one suite take approximately 4 hours to deliver digitally and were approximately 20GB in size, compressed.  Here is a link to the Autodesk Subscription Center where you can go to download your software:

Autodesk Subscription Center

Happy downloading!

Upgrading Autodesk Vault

We are often asked about upgrading older versions of Autodesk Vault to the current release.  Autodesk has put together a document along with their WikiHelp page that answers many of these questions:

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Vault/enu/Help/Help/0206-Autodesk206/0261-Upgradin261

As with most upgrades, the process is generally straight forward, but there are recommended steps that should be followed to ensure the safety of the vaulted data.

First and foremost, what is an upgrade? An upgrade means moving Vault data to a newer release (e.g., from Vault 2011 to Vault 2013), to a higher product edition (e.g., from Vault Workgroup to Vault Professional), or both.

When upgrading, upgrade to the highest release first and then upgrade the product edition. For example, if moving from Vault Workgroup 2010 to Vault Professional 2013, first upgrade the release to Vault Workgroup 2013 and then upgrade the edition to Vault Professional 2013.

Typically, the upgrade process for Autodesk Vault can be covered in five steps:

Validate Backup, Upgrade SQL, Upgrade Vault Server, Upgrade Vault Clients, Create Backup

The number of steps within each stage varies depending on the existing Vault implementation.

When upgrading one or two releases, the process involves one installation of Vault server.  If you are upgrading three or more releases, Vault requires an intermediate installation of Vault server.  This is described as a “3 or More” migration path.

Each release of Autodesk Vault server supports migration from the previous two releases. When upgrading over three or more releases, it is necessary to migrate the SQL database through intermediate releases of Vault. This is done by installing every other release of the Vault server up to the final release. For example: In order to migrate from 2009 to 2013, Vault 2011 must be installed as an intermediate step.

Release	Supports Migration From
2013	2012	2011
2012	2011	2010
2011	2010	2009
…	…-1	…-2

With proper planning, your upgrade can go smoothly and with minimal interruption to your workflow.  Contact ADRAFT at 585-389-1900 if you would like assistance or consulting with your Vault or other CAD needs. 

AutoCAD Electrical

Getting the Most Out of Your Legacy Data

This will be the first installment of a series of posts I intend to publish to our blog concerning legacy data. Whether you are a first time AutoCAD Electrical user or seasoned professional, we tend to forget the many conversion tools afforded to us inside the software. We have the ability to convert standard AutoCAD drawings into intelligent drawings inside of an Electrical project. We can convert lines to wires, standard text to text associated to a wire. We can convert standard blocks with attributes to intelligent symbols inside of a project. We can convert dumb ladders to smart ladders. We can convert dumb arrows to intelligent symbols that are attached to wires and carry them from one drawing to another drawing. We can convert manufactured supplied dumb mechanical blocks into intelligent smart panel symbols. We can convert Promis-e projects to AutoCAD Electrical projects.

Some AutoCAD Electrical users prefer to start everything from scratch. Although this is a popular method and a good one, it’s not the only one. I constantly tell Adraft’s customers to never throw anything out that was previously used inside of standard AutoCAD. The reason being is you might be able to save time by converting an object instead of creating that object from scratch. Personally I find myself using both methods. Sometimes it can be easier to start from scratch, but other times I can save time by converting an object I previously created in standard AutoCAD. Visit the Conversion Tools tab inside your software and take a look at all the tools you have at your disposal.

The first category I would like to discuss is the conversion of AutoCAD line objects to real world wires inside of Electrical. On top of that I will show you how to convert standard single line or multiline text to an intelligent piece of text that is associated to the wire you just converted. An example of this would be a piece of text that represents a wire label. In AutoCAD the text is not associated to the line that represents a wire. In Electrical the text is married to the real world wire itself.

Let’s start with Converting Lines to Wires.

You can change a line to a wire by using the Change/Convert Wire Type tool. The tool can actually be found on both the Schematic Tab and the Conversion Tools tab. Since we tend to spend most of our time on the Schematic tab I will use this in my steps to follow but either one will do.

1.     Click Schematic Tab

a.     Edit Wires/Wire Numbers Panel

                  b.     Create/Edit Wire Type drop down menu. 

                         

                  c.     Change /Convert Wire Type. 

                           

2.     In the Change/Convert Wire Type dialog box, select a wire type record in the wire type list.

3.     Make any selections in the dialog box.

·       If Convert Lines to wires is selected, the selected lines are changed to the new wire type.

4.     Click OK

5.     Select the lines in the drawing to convert.

You have now converted standard line objects previously created in AutoCAD to real world intelligent wires inside of AutoCAD Electrical.

Now let’s convert a standard piece of text created in AutoCAD to an intelligent wire number/label for use with AutoCAD Electrical.

Convert Text to a Wire Number

Follow these steps.

1.     Click Conversion Tools Tab

a.     Tools Panel

                  b.     Convert Text To Wire Number

                         

2.     Select the wire near the text to convert

3.     Select the text to convert.

These are just two of the conversion tools you have at your disposal. Like I stated earlier, when you have a few extra minutes please visit your conversions tools tab inside of AutoCAD Electrical. You might find some benefits to using these tools as opposed to starting from scratch each and every time you have to create new objects.

Always remember. DON’T dispose of any legacy data you currently own.

Simulation TV on Adraft Website

Araft adds Autodesk Simulation TV to website

Autodesk has made a very large investment into their Simulation product line, from Simulation Mechanical to Sim 360.  Along with the product development and investment, they have put an enormous amount effort towards the creating and building on the resources for the Simulation software.  The Autodesk Sim Squad has developed a visual resource called Autodesk Simulation TV.  Adraft would like to announce that Sim TV is now an embedded part of our website.  Check it out, I think you will be very pleased.

http://www.adraft.com/simulation.html

Also make sure to check out the Autodesk Sim Squad if you haven't already!!!

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=16661243&siteID=123112