Beyond the Paper

New DWF Reprographics category added

Today I made some changes to the categories on this blog. The DWF Printing category was a mixture of using Autodesk Design Review to print DWF files locally and working with commercial reprographers to print DWF files at a reprographics shop. I moved the reprographics posts to a new category called DWF Reprographics. While I was at it, I moved obsolete posts, e.g. "Patch for DWF Composer R2 Now Available," to the Weblog category. This means if you use the categories on this blog for a particular aspect of DWF, you will only get a list of relevant articles. Beyond the Paper blurs the line between a blog and a restricted-authors wikipedia.

Updated DWF FAQ 8.0

I updated the blog-based DWF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. I included answers to some recent questions. Based on blog contributions from the DWF team, the FAQ is growing to be quite comprehensive.

Some of the new questions include:

1. How does the electronic review process work?
2. What are some tips for using the PUBLISH command?
3. What are some tips for using the Sheet Set Manager?
4. How do I create a cross section using Autodesk Design Review?
5. Why is Autodesk Design Review now free?
6. Does Autodesk Impression work with DWF files?
7. How do I get Autodesk Design Review to release a DWF file from my Visual Basic application?
8. What's new in AutoCAD 2008 with regard to DWF?
9. What's new in Autodesk Design Review 2008?
10. What's new in Autodesk Vault 2008 with regard to DWF?
11. Can I compare two DWF files and see the differences?
12. What are the Autodesk Design Review 2008 system requirements?
13. How does DWF Version Compare work with polylines?
14. Can I have both Autodesk Design Review and Autodesk DWF Viewer on the same machine?
15. How does DWF Version Compare work with polygons?
16. Can I control what I see or don't see in the Navigation Pane of Autodesk Design Review 2008?
17. Should I have privacy concerns about participating in the Customer Improvement Program for Autodesk Design Review 2008?

A link to the blog FAQ is always available in the left navigation section of the blog:

You may have to clear your browser cache to obtain the latest blog FAQ HTML page.

Autodesk Design Review 2008: DGN Import Feature Overview

In a previous blog article, I wrote about how JT files can be imported into Autodesk Design Review 2008. This posting is patterned after that one but for DGN.

DGN is the name used for CAD file formats supported by Bentley Systems Microstation and Intergraph Interactive Graphics Design System CAD programs. One of the new features of Autodesk Design Review 2008 is the ability to import a Version 8 2D DGN file. 3D is not supported. DGN files earlier than version 8 are not supported. The file gets converted to a DWF. The ability to import DGN files is available as a plug-in for Autodesk Design Review. It can be downloaded from:

www.autodesk.com/dwf-plugins

A DGN file is imported and converted to DWF by:

1. When you open Autodesk Design Review 2008 without specifying a DWF file, this is what you see:
   

2. Without a DWF file already open, the Import capability is not available from the File menu. Grrrrr!
   
   To work around this, you can open a dummy DWF file. Longtime Autodesk customer, Charles Bliss of Applied Mechanics, has created a dummy DWF file called EmptyBase.DWF explicitly for this purpose.

3. Based on the work for the JT blog posting, I already had a reference to Charles Bliss' file in my recent favorites.
   
   So I could quickly open up an empty file.

4. With a DWF file open, Import is now available from the file menu.
   

5. Selecting import brings up the Import dialog. You can use the pull down to select the desired file type - this case, DGN.
   
   As installed, Autodesk Design Review also imports DWG and DXF files. As demonstrated in the other blog posting, importing of JT files is available via another plug-in that is also available on www.autodesk.com/dwf-plugins. Using the standard Windows browsing technique, you navigate to the desired folder and pick the desired DGN file.

6. One selected, Autodesk Design Review imports the DGN file and converts it to a DWF.
   
   The viewing, printing, markup, and measurement capabilities of Autodesk Design Review are now available for that design data.

Actually in addition to importing a DGN into Autodesk Design Review to convert it to DWF, an AutoCAD 2008 user can import a DGN which converts it to DWG and then publish to DWF.

Like they say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." I am not sure why they say that, but people do say that.

Having one file format that can house all of your project data, in one file, for all of your project members, that can be shared across the entire life cycle of your project, really makes DWF go beyond the paper. This applies to design data that comes from many sources - including DGN.

DWF Viewer for Macintosh

Austin Silver Software is proud to announce the availability of McDwiff, a DWF viewer for the Macintosh:

http://www.macdwf.com/

McDwiff requires an active internet connection. It connects to Project Freewheel to render the DWF files 100% accurately. You can open any DWF (2D or 3D) on your Mac, just like any other file type. 3D files open, but 3D rotation will be coming in a future version. McDwiff requires Mac OS X 10.3.8 or later. It runs on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. McDwiff is free for non-commercial use and $39 otherwise.

Although not quite the equivalent of the Autodesk DWF Viewer due to its use of an internet connection and the uploading of design data to an Autodesk server, McDwiff is a huge step forward in enhancing the DWF experience for Macintosh users. There might be some interest in this. One or two people have asked for a Macintosh DWF viewer. :-) This is another example of DWF going beyond the paper.