Beyond the Paper

Add a Palette to a Group

Autodesk Design Review 2009 allows you to add a palette to a group. Enclosed are the steps required for this process as well as a video outlining the same.

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

To group palettes

1. Click and drag the title bar of the palette to be added to another palette or group.

2. Drop the palette on the title bar of the receiving palette or group.

A tab with the name of the dragged palette is added to the bottom of the receiving palette. The palettes are grouped.

A thank you to Chris Blocher who created this video for us.

-Volker

Change the Status of an Existing Markup

Autodesk Design Review 2009 allows you to change the status of an existing markup. Enclosed are the steps required for this process as well as a video outlining the same.

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

To change markup properties

1. Select the markup on the canvas or in the Markups palette.
2. In the Markup Properties palette, from the Status drop-down list, select a status.

Notice in the Markups palette, to the left of the markup name, the icon changes from a markup icon to the status icon. The markup color also changes on the canvas to reflect its status.

Optional: In the Markup Properties palette, in the Notes text box, type the desired information.

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Important: Before closing the DWF file, make sure that your note is edited the way you want it. Existing notes are no longer editable once you reopen a DWF file.

You can now save the DWF file and send it to someone else for revision of the drawing or continued exchange of markup and discussion.

A note of thanks to Chris Blocher who recorded this video for us.

-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

It's Alive in the Lab: Project Freewheel 1.0.3 Now Available

There is a new release of Project Freewheel. Scott has outlined what's in it on his It's Alive in the Lab blog:

Project Freewheel 1.0.3 Now Available

Using a combination of Autodesk Design Review plus the 3D/2D ShareNow Add-in for Autodesk Design Review, lets you publish DWF files to Project Freewheel. This allows you to share your designs with those who do not yet have Autodesk Design Review. You can read more about ShareNow at:

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/ShareNow/

Project Freewheel offers a markup capability similar to Autdoesk Design Review. Users can take advantage of it using just their browsers. So an electronic reviuew process based on Autodesk Design Review can be extended to others who might be on Linux, the Macintosh, or even a cell phone.

Sharing designs using applications in conjunction with software as a service solutions is just one of the ways that allow DWF to go beyond the paper.

--Scott

Never Lose Important Redlines from the Field

Whenever I hear the word “redlines”, I first think of large redlines on my papers from Ms. Rodgers class in Middle school.  She liked the fat red pens.  Those redlines were usually not good, and I would rather not see them.  However, for our customers, redlines are important information which we need to keep track of, as losing them can cost us time and money.

The power of Design Review is the ability to easily track all redlines created in the field, and place them neatly into your native design application.

This movie shows you how easy it is to take redlines created in the field, and track them in your Autodesk design application.  This example uses a DWF mapbook published from Autodesk Map 3D, but the workflow is similar for any Autodesk design application.

Steps:

1. Publish DWF mapbook from AutoCAD Map 3D
2. Open DWF mapbook in Autodesk Design Review
3. Use navigation tools or Find to locate object on your map (item which needs repair, or noting a change)
4. Add markup noting repair or issue on sheet
5. (optional) Change status of markup
6. (in AutoCAD Map 3D) use Markup Set manager to overlay markups created in Design Review
7. Update Map 3D database of repairs/issues

If you implement this Design Review workflow into the field you may never lose another redline, and might receive a “gold star” for saving time and money.

Thank you to Cliff Medling for another great article.

--Volker

Import DWFx Markup into Revit 2009?

Users noticed that you can export out DWFx from Revit 2009 but there does not seem to be an option to bring in back in as a DWFx markup set. The option is simply missing from the import file type menu.

No, you are not missing a step somewhere nor is there a method to do it at this point.

The Revit team has acknowledged the shortfall and will correct it in the next available update.

--Volker

Markup Arc Tool?

A markup arc tool seems to be pretty common in the marketplace, yet we do not offer one at this point for Autodesk Design Review. I believe that we did offer one during the days of Volo View though.

We have had some requests for an arc tool, yet they were not on the same scale as requests for digital signatures or the ability to lock markups.

Why would you think that we should reintroduce a markup arc tool?

Please submit your feedback by replying to this blog or send an email to [email protected].

Thank you.

--Volker

Triangle Callout Limitation

Many users would like to change the default size of the triangle tag within Autodesk Design Review 2009; in most cases they are looking to increase the font size. Which would result in an incorrect display like this:

At this point, the font height has to be set to 12 pt or smaller, in order for a 2 digit number to show correctly in the default sized symbol - correctly looking like this:

To confirm - the default default size of the triangle is not adjustable at this point - not manually or through the API. The only known workaround is to modify the triangle by dragging out the handles, once the callout has been created.

We are looking into improving this feature in a future release.

--Volker

Find and Locate

Want to become the office hero?  Unless you are looking at weeks until retirement, we are all looking to make a difference, and please our managers, right?  We all know the golden rule for office heroics:  make money or save money!  I am always hearing about the time and cost savings that our customers have incurred with implementing DWF and Autodesk Design Review into their current design processes.  The best part is, it’s a free solution, so when you are writing up the “justification for software”, it should be easy.

Below is a quick look at how you can save time and money using the new find and locate feature in Design  Review 2009, by implementing DWF and Design Review, instead of paper, into your workflow.  If you already use Design Review in your workflow, this should speed things up even further, as it is a quicker way to get to the information (including BIM data) that your team needs.

This quick tutorial (just over 2 minutes) will walk you through finding and locating objects, properties, text, etc. within a DWF file repository.  And maybe, just maybe, you will become the office hero.

See the “How To” Movie on Vimeo:  http://vimeo.com/955553

Find and Locate Feature

1. Open your DWF file in Design Review
2. Using the Find feature (from the main toolbar, or select Edit>Find), enter a text string.   
3. Click the Advanced Find button to display the Advanced Find features, including selecting the type of content being searched: All, Current Model or Sheet, Current Table, Markups, Models, Sheets, Tables.
   Note: You can quickly locate text in an open DWF file by searching for tabular data, markups, text on 2D sheets, objects, sheet names, and their properties. Found results are shown in a convenient list, enabling you to click a result to display the found text or associated object on the canvas or in a palette.
4. Many results should show up for “door.” Click any resulting hyperlink to display the associated result instance in the canvas window.
5. The result is highlighted in both the Object Properties and Model panels.

Note:  Any text item which was imported into your DWF file using the DWF Writer can also be located with the find feature.  This includes Microsoft Office products, as well as PDF files and others.

Another great article submitted by Cliff Medling.

--Volker