Beyond the Paper

3D Performance DirectX Trials

We all know how difficult it can be at times to view complex 3D models with Autodesk Design Review or any other application for that fact.

Mind you, this is a problem that is widespread and not only caused by applications but many times by the limitation of the used platform itself.

We have made much progress over the years and Autodesk Design Review 2009 has shown many improvements as far as performance in the 3D arena is concerned. And yes, 2D performance was improved as part of the same.

Autodesk Design Review 2009 even offers some assistance to you to improve 3D performance.

The afore stated dialog appears when DirectX drivers are detected on the system. Several customers have now confirmed that switching to DirectX graphic drivers actually enhances the 3D performance of Autodesk Design Review even further.

You can always switch back to OpenGL, if you did accept the DirectX settings and find that it does not show improvements to your liking. Use Tools>Options>Model>View Settings.

Not sure which version of DirectX you have on your system? Try running "dxdiag.exe" through  your Start>Run Windows interface. This will bring up a detailed Windows DirectX Diagnostic Tool user interface.

The shown dialog is from my own system and your own might differ, since it will display information relevant to your system.

The UI offers information but also provides some diagnostic tools under the display tab. FYI - I chose to decline Microsoft's invitation to "check for WHQL digital signatures" in the process.

Here are some links to good resources on the subject:

•   Wikipedia DirectX info
•   Microsoft DirectX info
•   DirectX resources

Share any feedback you may have with regards to Autodesk Design Review & DirectX!

-Volker

Autodesk Design Review 2009 Installation Echo

With so many questions based around installation and setup, I thought it would make perfect sense to focus an article on our Autodesk Design Review 2009 installation instructions again.

Our Autodesk Design Review 2009 installation instructions provide details on how to

• Install Autodesk Design Review 2009 manually
• Install Autodesk Design Review 2009 silently, including
  • Through MSI
  • From a DOS prompt
  • To change the path
• Install Autodesk Design Review 2009 for a small workgroup
  • Create an image of the setup file at the “network_share” from which users in the workgroup can remotely install the product and only at the default path.
• Install Autodesk Design Review 2009 for mass deployment
  • Remotely install the Design Review 2009 to a large number of workstations
• Reinstall or repair Autodesk Design Review 2009
  • If you accidentally delete or alter files that are required by Design Review 2009, Design Review 2009 might not perform correctly, and you might receive error messages when you try to execute a command or find a file.
• Uninstall Autodesk Design Review 2009
  • To remove all components
• Change the default file type
  • Change default file type from DWFx to DWF.
• Prevent a desktop shortcut from being installed

Some important things to remember:

Only a user with administrative privileges can install Autodesk Design Review 2009. As a workaround, administrators can use one of the above stated deployment methods to push out the applications to those users, who do not have Administrator access rights.

When the Design Review 2009 installer detects an earlier version of Design Review, the earlier version will be uninstalled automatically before Design Review 2009 is installed. When an earlier version is detected, you will be prompted to either continue the installation or select a new file path to install Design Review 2009.

When manually installing Design Review 2009, previous versions of the DGN and JT Import Plug-ins will be automatically uninstalled. After installing Design Review 2009, download the 2009 version of the Import Plug-ins from Autodesk.com and install them separately.When Design Review 2009 is installed silently, previous versions of the DGN and JT Import Plug-ins will not be automatically uninstalled.

You can download the Autodesk Design Review 2009 Installation Documentation here.

-Volker

Autodesk University 2008 Session Schedule

Almost 1,500 sessions were submitted for AU 2008, and these have been whittled down to 621 sessions for presentation this fall.

To develop this year’s curriculum, we looked very closely at which topics were of greatest interest last year and we also looked at industry trends.

The Autodesk University 2008 Class schedule has now been posted and is available for viewing on the Autodesk University Blog (BLAUG) at http://au.autodesk.com/blogs/view/2008_Session_Catalog/.

-Volker

Quantity Extraction from 2D or 3D DWF?

You bet!

Brian Haines has created this very cool video, showing in detail as to how the process works. He describes the steps, from the creation of 2D or 3D content with Revit Architectural to the import into Autodesk Quantity Takeoff, and the subsequent data display.

Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff software enables cost estimators to gather design data, high-quality images, and precise information from intelligent design applications such as AutoCAD®, Revit® Architecture, and AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, as well as from “nonintelligent” CAD data and image formats.

Way to go, QTO.

You can view the video here or download it, by right clicking the link and choosing the "Save Target As.." option.

-Volker

Pin and Unpin a Palette with Autodesk Design Review 2009

Chris Blocher has recorded this short video, making the process of pinning and unpinning a palette with Autodesk Design Review 2009 looking as easy as 1-2-3.

Please note that this particular video does not have any voice feed and offers explanatory captions instead.

-Volker

Autodesk Design Review 2009 Custom Symbols

Some of you may have noticed that the symbol import functionality is no longer part of the stamp menu item in Autodesk Design Review 2009.

So where did it go?

This is part of the ongoing user interface (UI) redesign in the Autodesk Design Review product and symbols have been given their very own icon in the Autodesk Design Review 2009 release .

So what does that mean for the user?

Functionality remains the same, but steps for the process have been changed slightly. Details are as follows:

Autodesk Design Review 2008 Steps

1. Select the stamp menu item
2. Select "Import DWF as Symbol Catalog"
3. Browse to the desired DWF file

Autodesk Design Review 2009 Steps

1. Select the symbol menu item
2. Select "Create Catalog.."
3. Browse to the desired DWF or DWFx file

Thoughts or comments?

-Volker

Spotlight on .Net instead of ActiveX ?

Historically, AutoCAD has been using .NET for a couple releases now but Autodesk Design Review was never allowed to use .NET until today.

In terms of education, any ActiveX control can be used in .NET.

To do this with our control, apply the following steps:

1. Open up a .NET Form application.
2. Make sure the Toolbox is visible. If not, use the “View” menu and select “Toolbox”.
3. Right click in the “Components” bar in the Toolbox and select “Choose Items…”.
4. Select the “COM Components” tab.
5. Check the “Autodesk DWF Viewer Control” item.
6. Push the “Ok” button.

Once completed, our framework ADV (Autodesk DWF Viewer) control will show up as a new tool (.NET Form control) in the Components section of the Toolbox and as such, you can drop one right into your application just as you can with any other item in the Toolbox.

Also note that this .NET Form control will expose .NET versions of all the same properties, methods and events as its ActiveX counterpart.

Note:  This *trick* works for any ActiveX control … we’re not special. When doing this, .NET automatically creates what is called an “interop” module (also called a managed wrapper) that does the translation between the COM world and .Net world. However this interop is another module that must be included with any application built using this technique (it will show up in your solutions binary directory and will be prefixed by “AxInterop.”).

-Volker

Disable AutoUpdate for Autodesk Design Review 2009

The ability to turn off the auto update capability has been known for some time but we never managed to provide an updated article showing the corresponding registry key for Autodesk Design Review.

Many users find this to be a good workaround if the product starts up very slow initially,due to Internet connection restrictions or speed.

This can be done by editing this registry entry in the following way:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Design Review\Settings\AutoUpdate

• InitialCheck  1
• DoNotShowAgain  1
• CheckInterval          0

Initial check is there to verify ADR has been started at least once. If you set it to "zero", it will be reset to "one" each time ADR is run.

These registry settings do need to be applied on a per machine basis. User who are interested to roll this out across many seats at once, should create a *.reg file with these settings. One way of pushing it out could be by using a start up script.

-Volker

Autodesk Design Review 2009 SP Update

We have released an updated version of the Autodesk Design Review 2009 SP as of Friday, June 27th 2008.

The original and previously released Autodesk Design Review 2009 SP introduced access issues for any users on Microsoft Windows XP, who did not have local Administrator rights. Users of Microsoft Windows Vista were not affected by the problem.

Users who wish to install the updated version of the Service Pack, must remove the previously installed version of the Autodesk Design Review 2009 SP.

New and Updated Version of Autodesk Design Review 2009 SP

-Volker