File Tabs in AutoCAD 2014

One of the coolest new features in AutoCAD 2014 are the new File Tabs. Located across the drawing area (just below the ribbon), the new File Tabs provide a fast and visual way to switch between open drawings or to create new ones.

When you first start the program, you will see a file tab across the top of the drawing area. With just a single drawing open, you see just one file tab, which corresponds to that drawing. But as you open additional drawings, you will see additional file tabs, one for each open drawing.

File tabs are just one of the new features included in my new iBook, AutoCAD 2014 New Features and Enhancements – Revealed!, published by 4D Technologies/CADLearning. I've uploaded the entire lesson video on File Tabs to YouTube so that you can see for yourself how File Tabs can make it much easier to work in AutoCAD, particularly if you have multiple drawing files open.

 

 

If you have an iPad, you can actually download the entire iBook for FREE from the Apple iBookstore. That's right, 4D Technologies/CADLearning has decided to make my new iBook AutoCAD 2014 New Features and Enhancements – Revealed! free this year. So, grab your iPad, open up the iBooks app, and hop on over to the iBookstore. As of today, this is the only iBook available for AutoCAD 2014. So just search for "AutoCAD 2014".

 

Now that AutoCAD 2014 is shipping, I can finally update my blog with news, tips, and tricks about AutoCAD and some of the other new software from Autodesk (including the new Autodesk ReCap software). So check back.

Rendering in AutoCAD: Ralph Got It Wrong

Judging from Ralph Grabowski's response to an email I sent him yesterday, I don't think he has any intention of publishing my response to an article in this week's edition of his Upfront Ezine. So I'll share my response here.

I have a great deal of respect for Ralph. He is usually quite thorough and calls it as he sees it. But this week, he simply got it wrong.

In this week's lead article, Ralph claimed to have done a head-to-head comparison of AutoCAD's built-in rendering command with Autodesk's new cloud-based rendering service and concluded that the Autodesk 360 rendering was much slower than built-in local rendering. (You can read Ralph's article at http://www.upfrontezine.com/2012/upf-740.htm.)

After reading Ralph's article, I wrote the following email:

I really must take issue with the methodology you used in comparing AutoCAD's built-in rendering command with the new cloud-based rendering. A rendering that takes only 4 seconds on your local machine is hardly a valid test.

As you know, I have been testing computers and graphics cards and writing about AutoCAD about as long as you have. My reviews are regularly published in Desktop Engineering magazine, and I have taught numerous classes about rendering at Autodesk University. I also recently added more that 3 dozen lessons on rendering, both local and cloud-based, to the CADLearning series ofvideo-based tutorials for 4D Technologies' AutoCAD 2013 course.

As part of my reviews for Desktop Engineering, I perform a rendering test using a drawing I obtained from Heidi Hewett at Autodesk. Although the drawing itself is relatively simple, it includes numerous materials and multiple light sources, all of which result in much longer rendering times. On a relatively fast dual-core workstation, it is not unreasonable for the rendering to take up to 5 minutes, whereas on a system equipped with two 8-core CPUs with hyper threading enabled, the rendering might be completed in less than a minute. In addition to the number of materials and light sources, the resolution of the rendered image as well as the render quality will also impact the overall rendering time.

Again, this is for a relatively simple model. It would not be unreasonable for a highly detailed model with multiple light sources, all casting shadows, to take 30 minutes or more even on a very fast system with multiple CPUs. While I have not performed any benchmark tests yet comparing local rendering of such a model to Autodesk's online rendering service, I would expect the online service to be considerably faster.

While you do make some mention of the fact that it does take some time to initially transmit the model to the Autodesk 360 service (and you experienced some problems in doing so), it is also worth noting that the online service can render multiple scenes from the same model, whereas to do this on a local system, you would need to render each scene individually. Furthermore, when you render locally, you cannot do anything else in AutoCAD while the rendering is being computed, whereas when you use the online rendering service, you can go back to work in AutoCAD as soon as the online render request has been processed.

I also suspect that most people who use the Autodesk 360 service log in when they first start AutoCAD. They would therefore already be connected when they clicked the Render Online button and therefore would not experience the same delays as you. 

From the image you supplied, I can see that you rendered the model at a resolution of 640x480 using the Medium render preset, settings that are hardly representative of real-world situations. In my tests, I typically render at a resolution of 1280x1024 using the Presentation Quality preset. It's also apparent from the lack of shadows and materials, that you likely rendered using the default lighting mode and that the Oil Module drawing contained no materials.

I suggest that you come up with a more realistic test before you start publishing results that are purported to be representative of real-world results or typical user experiences.

And what was Ralph's reply to my email?

"I clearly laid out the specifications for the benchmarking so that readers could take it at face value. Thanks for your input!"

That's hardly a useful response and I think it does his readers a disservice.

Come on, Ralph. You got it wrong.

AU Opening Keynote

AU kicked off this morning with one of the best keynotes in recent memory. After an intro by Jeff Kowalski, in which he outline 5 disruptive trends, a series of Autodesk customers, starting with a young engineer that has helped build a new lunar lander, came to the stage and delivered truly moving presentations.

They were followed by Autodesk President and CEO Carl Bass, who continued the theme of disruptive technology and explained in broad strokes how Autodesk is taking advantage of those trends.

I shot video of most of the keynote and will be posting portions of it later this week. So stay tuned.

Now it's time for me to finish prepping for the first of my two presentations this afternoon.

Join me for Coverage of Autodesk University 2011

It's the week after Thanksgiving, which means that I'm back in Las Vegas attending the 18th Annual Autodesk University. Today is dedicated to special meetings, including a press and blogger briefing that is just getting started.

I'll be posting as much information as possible this week...basically whatever I can tell you about that isn't under non-disclosure. So stay tuned.

Tech Day at Infineon Raceway

Today was an absolutely incredible day here at Infineon Raceway. The IZOD Indy Car Series organized a Technology Day for writers.



After arriving at the track and shooting photos of the Indy Lites practice, we met at the Media Center and were assigned to one of the team's pits for the morning IndyCar practice. This meant that we were sort of captive in the pits rather than being out around the track taking photos, but we got a first hand look at what goes on as the teams work to make final preparations to their cars before the afternoon qualifying session.



After the practice session, we had lunch in the Honda Hospitality tent, hosted by Erik Berkman, President of Honda Performance Development. I've got lots of notes from our lunch meeting, many of which will be included in my forthcoming article.



Then we were driven up the hill to the Versus TV Compound, where Robby Green, VP and General Manager took us through the many tractor trailers that house the various television production facilities, including one trailer containing cameramen operating the numerous remote controlled cameras scattered around the racetrack, and the main control room where the director and producers control the on-air broadcast.



Then we went back down to pit row where we were met by Bryan Herta, former IndyCar Series driver and owner of Bryan Herta Motorsports. We each received Motorola headsets so we could hear all of the race team communications and also ask questions.



Then we met with Jack Arute, the primary on-air commentator for Versus' coverage of IndyCar racing.



Next, we went to the pits of deFerran/Dragon Motorsports, where we met with Eric Zeto, the team's race engineer (who I also interviewed yesterday for my article) and Raphael Matos, driver of the #2 HP deFerran Dragon entry. They explained how the team collects and analyzes telemetry throughout the race.



We then had a bit of a break, so I went back trackside to take photos of the Historic Grand Prix cars during their final practice session.



To round out the day, we were driven up to the IZOD IndyCar Series Paddock Club, where we met with Gil deFerran, 2003 Indy 500 winner and owner of deFerran/Dragon Motorsports, and Tony Cotman, the project manager of the 2012 IndyCar. We also met with Matt Ellis, the manager of Infineon Raceway.



It was an incredible day.


I've also got a bunch of videos that I shot throughout the day that I'll be uploading later once I can edit them down. So check back again later next week.

Racing in Sonoma

Friday was the first day of practice here at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. I climbed up the hill to watch the action in turns 2 and 3. Shooting late in the afternoon, this proved to be a dramatic location, with some excellent photo opportunities of cars as they crested the hill.

Here's Marco Andretti, driving the number 26 car for Andretti Autosport. Marco already has a career win here at Infineon.

Will Power, driving the number 12 Verizon Team Penske car had some demons to vanquish. Coming over this hill during the race last year, he collided at full speed with the stationary car of Nelson Philippe, who had just spun. He broke two vertebrae in his back and missed the rest of the season. Power now leads the points total for the 2010 Indy Racing League season.

Power had no problems negotiating the turn during practice, and would go on to clinch yet another pole position during Saturday's qualifying session.

I'm here this weekend to work on an article on how de Farran Dragon Racing uses technology from its primary sponsor, HP, in the preparation and operation of its car, driven by IRL rookie driver Raphael Matos. I attended the Indy 500 this year as a guest of HP and will use the opportunity afforded by this weekend at Infineon to complete the research for my article.

The Most Fun I've Had With My Clothes On

I've got to admit right off the bat that today, I felt like the proverbial kid in a candy store. I finally got to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I got to ride in an Indy Car 2-seater race car.

I watched other people doing this at several tracks, most recently when I was in Indianapolis for this year's Indy 500. At that time, I was ready to pay to ride, but then learned that all of the opportunities were already sold out for the entire weekend. Well, today, I finally got my chance.

Here I am all suited up and waiting for my turn.

I'm at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California to photograph the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, the last road course race of the 2010 Indy Racing League season.

Thanks to my friends at HP, today I got to partake of the "Indy Racing Experience." What's more, my driver today was Davey Hamilton, one of the drivers with Dragon Racing, the team sponsored by HP. I'm currently working on an article about the team.

The 2-seater is a larger version of an actual Indy car. It's got the same engine that they ran last year. The only difference is that it's longer, with a second seat behind the driver.

After arriving at Infineon Raceway at 9am, I signed several pages of release forms and then went into a changing room to don my firesuit and boots. Then, I waited until it was my turn to put on a balaclava, helmet, and gloves and climb aboard behind Davey. After the crew strapped me in and surrounded my head with a Hans device, they started the engine and we took off.

What a kick. Going from zero to more than 100mph in a few seconds and then braking through the corners and up the hill at Infineon (still Sears Point as far as I'm concerned) was an incredible rush.

If there was any downside, it was that the two laps were over way too quickly. I talked with Davey afterwards and told him next time I want to drive.

I shot some video while at the track and also got some onboard video shot from a car-mounted camera. I've edited the footage together and posted it on YouTube. Here it is. Enjoy.

All I can say is, if you've ever thought of doing a 2-seater ride, go for it. And thank you HP for making my ride happen.