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SolidCHAT

Your daily dose of industry tips and tricks for your design software!
REAL-LIFE SUCCESS STORIES WITH MERIDIAN

In the ever-evolving landscape of engineering and asset management, organizations seek robust solutions to streamline their documentation processes. Accruent Meridian has emerged as a game-changer, empowering ...

The Role of PLM in Streamlining New Product Development

Introduction: The Importance of NPI in Product Development In today’s fast-paced and competitive market, the ability to innovate and bring new products to market swiftly is not just an advantage; it’s ...

Civil 3D: 2024.3 Update

Civil 3D 2024 has a new update: 2024.3. You can use Autodesk Access to install it or download it from your Autodesk page. Here are the notable enhancements. When creating a new corridor, expect to see this new ...

Can Climate Proofing Structures Help Reverse Climate Change?

This story was originally published by HAMISH CHAMP on the Bluebeam Blog. With the built environment such a prominent source of carbon emissions, it is vital that the industry recognizes the urgent need to ‘climate ...

Mastering Point Clouds in Civil 3D: A Three-Part Guide to Efficiency: Bonus Part

This is a bonus article in the Point Cloud series. Click to view:  Article 1  Article 2  Article 3  With all this talk about decimation and removing many of those original points in the cloud, how does one ...

HIVE Revit Family Standards

What are HIVE Revit Family Standards? HIVE Standards is a system that helps BIM managers check and maintain the quality of Revit family content for the organization. It is set up in the HIVE Portal and runs automatic ...

Mastering Point Clouds in Civil 3D: A Three-Part Guide to Efficiency: Part 3

Most survey and design firms these days rely on point cloud data to some degree. It is often faster, easier, and safer to survey using aerial or ground-based scanners compared with traditional survey methods.  ...

Innovyze’s Breakthrough in Urban Water Management: Paving the Way for Flood-Resilient Cities

Revolutionize your approach with Innovyze Explore our exclusive landing page now. Introduction As cities continue to expand, the importance of ‘Flood Resilience’ in our urban spaces has never been ...

Construction-Themed Amusement Park Aims to Inspire Kids to Join the Industry

This story was originally published by HILARY DANINHIRSCH on the Bluebeam Blog. Diggerland in New Jersey hopes to expose kids to the thrills of working in the construction industry. Making construction appealing ...

Mastering Point Clouds in Civil 3D: A Three-Part Guide to Efficiency: Part 2

Many contemporary survey and design companies now utilize point cloud data to a certain extent. Surveying through aerial or ground-based scanners is frequently quicker, more convenient, and safer compared to ...

Mastering Point Clouds in Civil 3D: A Three-Part Guide to Efficiency: Part 1

Most survey and design firms these days rely on point cloud data to some degree. It is often faster, easier, and safer to survey using aerial or ground-based scanners compared with traditional survey methods.  ...

Building Climate Resilience into Construction

This story was originally published by DIANA KIGHTLINGER on the Bluebeam Blog. By combining future-focused climate data with the latest building science, the industry can adapt the built environment for a planet ...

Bluebeam Revu: 21.0.50 New Features

Update your Bluebeam Revu 21 software to the latest version and experience these new features. Click here for product documentation. Markup Labels Do you need to add information from the Markup List? Just type ...

Turner Construction Produces a Bold Initial Measurement of Embodied Carbon

This story was originally published by Diana Kightlinger on the Bluebeam Blog. Carbon tied up in building materials makes up the largest source of construction emissions—but difficulties quantifying it make ...

How to create PDFs manually in Vault

Sometimes when working with Autodesk Vault, we need to create PDF files quickly without the use of the plot manager. To achieve this, a feature called “create PDF” was introduced a few years back as a response ...

Unlocking Efficiency – An In-Depth Look at Accruent Meridian The Document Management Powerhouse

Engineering documents and drawings are vital assets for any organization that needs to design, build, operate, and maintain physical assets. However, managing these documents can be challenging, especially when ...

Unleashing the Power of BIM Data Suite: A Comprehensive Guide

In the world of data, gathering and analyzing is crucial. Everyone’s clamoring for more data, and CTC Tools are here to deliver. The BIM Data Suite offers multiple ways to access data for your BIM models, ...

Why you should replace your AutoCAD/Civil 3D Tool Palettes with Hive CMS libraries

As an organization grows, it will navigate through projects of different size and nature. Rules and structures need to be fixed, and when managing engineering data comes into play, engineering and production ...

CTC MEP3 2020.1.2 Update

What is the CTC MEP3? The Mechanical Electrical Plumbing Productivity Pack leads the market as the ultimate content package today, precisely tailored for businesses engaged in the fields of both mechanical and ...

Is a Fossil-Free Jobsite Possible?

This story was originally published by MATT WHEELIS on the Bluebeam Blog. A zero-emission jobsite, with no fossil fuel consumption, means the construction industry has to create a zero-emission construction fleet. ...

Dynamo for Revit 2.17 Upgrade – Part 1

Introduction Navigating through the intricate world of Dynamo, it is crucial to stay updated on its continuous enhancements and refinements. In this part, the first of a series dedicated to Dynamo updates, we’ll ...

AutoCAD – Editing with Groups & Layers

AutoCAD – Editing with Groups & Layers  Trying to edit geometry that is overlapping or right next to multiple objects can sometimes be challenging.  We can simplify the process by doing the following:  ...

AutoCAD and Civil 3D: New Tool for Migrating Files to Autodesk Docs

Read until the end to see which extensions for Civil 3D are now available for download! If you use AutoCAD and especially Civil 3D and you use Autodesk Docs and the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), then you ...

AutoCAD: 2024.1 Update

The AutoCAD team has updated the 2024 release and there are some cool new features. Use Autodesk Access to install it or go to manage.autodesk.com and download it. Check out the release notes to read the official ...

Reimagining Home with Regenerative AI Tools

This story was originally published by Diana Kightlinger on the Bluebeam Blog. To create a more desirable future, how should homes, neighborhoods and cities evolve? The SPACE10 Research and Design Lab launched ...

Civil 3D: 2024.1 Update

The Civil team has updated the 2024 release and there are many cool new features. The Civil 3D updates include the AutoCAD update, but they don’t include the Map 3D update, so don’t forget to install that ...

Autodesk Software Downloads

History has indicated that when downloading Autodesk software, one must also manually choose to download and install the appropriate updates for said software. This is often a point of contention as it’s an ...

Civil 3D: Data Shortcuts – Do You Need Them?

Just to be clear, yes, we need to reference Civil 3D objects between drawings. There is no debate for many of my customers. To what I am referring are the little XML files that are created when you make a Civil ...

How Drone Technology Is Construction’s Eye in the Sky

This story was originally published by HAMISH CHAMP on the Bluebeam Blog. Drones – also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs – vary in size and operability. Some are single-rotor machines, akin to a ...

WHAT’S NEW IN REVIT ARCHITECTURE 2024.1

BY: Mahsan Omid The latest version of Autodesk Revit (2024.1) is just out! Soon after the last release of version 2024 in April this year, Revit 24.1 continues to promote some of the most intriguing and much ...

How to Prepare Accruent Meridian and Other Application Software for Ransomware and Virus Attacks

Ransomware and virus attacks are a serious threat to any organization that relies on digital data and systems. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or locks your files or devices and demands a payment ...

Civil 3D: IFC 4.3

There are many ways to send your data to colleagues, partners, friends, and enemies. DWG, LandXML, KMZ/KML, to name a few. They all have strengths and weaknesses. There’s a new(ish) kid on the block now. IFC. ...

Bluebeam Studio Sessions vs. Projects: When to Use One, the Other or Both

Illustration by Jonny Ruzzo This story was originally published by FRANK KALMAN on the Bluebeam Blog. Bluebeam’s tool for real-time collaboration, Bluebeam Studio Sessions, and its tool for document storage, ...

Civil 3D: Standardized Data Tool

This free tool from Autodesk will allow you to quickly collect data from across all your Civil 3D drawing files and manage those data in a single Excel spreadsheet. It can be downloaded from your Autodesk site. ...

How digital technology is transforming the Canadian construction industry

The construction industry is undeniably a crucial pillar of Canada’s economy and society. However, in the 21st century, it faces a multitude of challenges and opportunities, including workforce shortages, ...

Navigating the Markups List in Bluebeam

This story was originally published by CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. If you’ve ever seen a document full of cluttered markups, you’ve thought, “How am I supposed to work with this?” Whether it’s ...

How Accruent Meridian Aligns with Agile Principles

Accruent Meridian is an engineering document management system (EDMS) that helps organizations streamline document management, ensure safety and compliance, maximize collaboration, and achieve a single source ...

Doing more with Location Codes and the Location View in AutoCAD Electrical

A feature that is sometimes overlooked when working with AutoCAD Electrical, is the “Location Code”. This field shown on Figure 1, and can be found inside the edit component window inside the schematic or ...

Flow and Pressure Drop Calculations Available in MEP Fabrication Elements

Have you noticed in Revit you have to choose between ducting and piping that supports flow propagation OR ductwork that is modelled for the intent of fabrication? In the 2024 release of Revit, Autodesk has made ...

The Benefits of Accruent Meridian

How the SolidCAD Meridian Team Can Help You! What is Accruent Meridian? Accruent Meridian is a software solution that helps organizations manage their document (Agreements, Compliance, Contracts, Drawings, Financial, ...

Overview: CTC Licensing and Installation

Learn how to manage CTC licensing and installation for productivity tools with light and dark background-coloured icons. Explore license activation, management, network configuration, and borrowing options. Ensure ...

Civil 3D: Property Set List Bug

There exists a defect in Civil 3D where a property set list cannot be added to a label style. Read on to find out how to overcome this bug in 3 easy steps. Property sets can be defined to add metadata to any ...

Streamlining File Sharing in Autodesk Construction Cloud: Exploring Three Effective Methods

Efficient file sharing is crucial for seamless collaboration in construction projects. In the realm of Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), users have access to powerful tools and features that facilitate the sharing ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector

An update to the ADC app is now available and you can read about it and download it from here. As usual, there have been several defect fixes and a few notable new features. If you plan to use  AutoCAD 2024 ...

Land Development Quantities in Bluebeam

This story was originally published by TROY DEGROOT on the Bluebeam Blog. By now you’ve read several of my articles showcasing various disciplines within the design and construction industry and how I’ve ...

Vault Pro 2024, new job processor functions!

With the release of Vault Professional 2024, Autodesk add two new job process into their job processor tool. STEP and DXF are now added to the current PDF functionality. These new functionalities could be done ...

Free your Drives: Using Relative Paths in your Automated Models

Here’s the scene: You’re 18 months deep into building automated models and templates for your production team, and everything is working as well as you can hope – but the IT team has an upgrade plan in ...

Civil 3D 2024: Custom Subassembly Help

Do you create custom subassemblies for Civil 3D? PKT files? Do you write your own help files (you should)? If so, read on for this new, very welcome feature. TLDR: In Civil 3D 2024, right clicking your custom ...

AutoCAD Resources: In the Autodesk Cloud

If you customize AutoCAD across your design team and you use the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), read on… I’ll define AutoCAD resources as files that AutoCAD uses to support design content. Here are several ...

How Technology Can Help Construction Amid Economic Uncertainty

This story was originally published by JAMES CHAMBERS on the Bluebeam Blog. Technology has the potential to eliminate redundant work and streamline mundane-yet-critical tasks, easing the burden on construction ...

Autodesk Desktop App: Replaced

The Autodesk Desktop App (ADA) gets installed on users’ computers when Autodesk applications are installed. Its purpose is to read which Autodesk software is installed on the user’s machine and provide information ...

Sheet Set Manager for Web: Printing in the Cloud

This is a follow-up to my previous article discussing using ACC for the storage of AutoCAD Resource files. If you’re using the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) and publishing using the Sheet Set Manager (SSM), ...

Civil 3D 2024

Well, it’s that time of year again when Autodesk bestows us with the latest release of their flagship Civil Design application. Click here for Autodesk’s documentation. Read on to see which features speak ...

Document Management vs. Content Management

 Document Management and Content Management Are they really the Same?   Businesses generally have several software systems to manage their assets, content, data, and documents. Two software systems that ...

AutoCAD 2024

Well, it’s that time of year again when Autodesk bestows us with the latest release of their flagship drafting application. Click here for Autodesk’s documentation. Read on to see which features speak to ...

The Bluebeam Feature That Will Make Your Workflows Way More Efficient

This story was originally published by CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. ne of the most common themes of my discussions with people about Bluebeam is that they wish they could add just one important feature ...

Civil 3D: 2022.2.2 and 2023.2 Updates

As always, if you are able, I recommend always installing the latest updates as they are released. There was a recent Civil 3D update, 2022.2.2, which provides a host of fixes. The 2023.2 update contains many ...

Why are ‘Generic’ Document Management Tools Costing Organizations?

Organizations recognize the need for an electronic document management solution to store and manage their documentation In many cases to fulfill their business needs the decision is to use a ‘Generic’ document ...

Benefits of going to a SaaS Platform

What are SaaS platforms? How can they help you? SaaS stands for “Software-as-a-Service.” A cloud Software that allow customers to access their applications remotely, often through a subscription package. ...

Revit: Update Room Finish Schedules with CTC Spreadsheet Link

Modifying and updating a room finish schedule in a Revit project can be a tedious task. Working in an itemized Revit schedule makes it time consuming to modify data cell by cell. Have you been tasked with this ...

How to Design Workspaces—Or Any Interior—With Bluebeam

This story was originally published by TROY DEGROOT on the Bluebeam Blog. s you sit in your office, look out over the different workstations, cubicles, communal areas and conference rooms. Do you ever think about ...

InfraWorks: Orthophoto Resolution

So, you have created a new model using the InfraWorks model builder, but you’re not pleased with the resolution. If so, read on… Here is an example of a recent model I created. Free, but not a great image. ...

Civil 3D: Label Styles and Fonts

Are you “The One” who is master of label style creation for your firm? Have you seen this, and you don’t like it? If so, read on. The code in question can occur if, within your Text Component Editor, you ...

How Meridian Manages: Auditorium, Hospital, Hotel, Educational Facility & Data Center Documents, Equipment, Content and Meta Data

INTRODUCTION Managing Auditoriums, Hospitals, Educational Facilities, Hotels and Data Center Documents, Equipment, Content and Meta Data is a Challenge to say the Least. The 2019 Intelligent Information Management ...

Implementing New Construction Tech Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

This story was originally published by FRANK KALMAN on the Bluebeam Blog. Despite the temptation to implement new technology quickly, it’s important that there are practices in place to ensure the tool is evolving ...

CTC Licensing Model Change – What you need to know!

With the release of the 23.0.0 version of all the CTC Software tools, CTC has taken the opportunity to update their licensing model. Licensing for any of the CTC suites of tools was broken up into tiers of licensing ...

CTC Software: The Benefits of Cloud Shared Licensing

CTC Software has enhanced their licensing model in June 2022, all new licensing is facilitated through Cloud Shared Licensing (CSL) now. This shift to CSL means that moving forward the 2023+ releases of their ...

Desktop Connector Update

If you’re an Autodesk Docs/BIM 360/ACC user, this update is for you. A major update is now available. Previous versions were numbered 15.x.x. We are now on 16.x.x. Here is an FAQ. Here is the download page. ...

Sheet Set Manager: Multi-Line Titles

If: Your sheet titles are too long for a single line in your title block and, You use the sheet set manager to control these titles and, You would like to control where the line break occurs… Read on… Multi-line ...

Civil 3D: Targets Without Targets!

Do you use targets to modify the width of a lane or sidewalk? Would you like to vary a daylight slope over a station range? Are you looking for a different way to handle driveway curb letdowns? If you said yes ...

Recap 23.1 Update

Autodesk’s point cloud management app, Recap, has a new update. Read about it here. Download it from your Desktop App, or at https://manage.autodesk.com/ All these features are welcome, but two of them are ...

Want to Get More Out of Bluebeam? Standardize It

This story was originally published by FRANK KALMAN on the Bluebeam Blog. Bluebeam’s dexterity as a construction technology makes it invaluable to the industry, but standardizing its tools and features to specific ...

Civil 3D: Grading Optimization and Project Explorer

A short article today. Click here for more the official documentation.   The Grading Optimization tool and Project Explorer are now available with a standalone license of Civil 3D. Previously, you needed ...

How Digital Processes Help Starline Windows Seal the Deal on Construction

Starline Windows’ digital workflow on a connected cloud platform helps enable it to control its entire process, doing all its own assembly, manufacturing, construction, and installation. Courtesy of Starline ...

Unlock the Power of Bluebeam’s Tool Chest

This story was originally published by  CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. As a structural engineer, I draw a lot of details and lay out a lot of plans. This means a lot of repetitive objects get drawn. How ...

Civil 3D: 2023.2 Update

Autodesk has released the next update for Civil 3D 2023.  Find the release notes here. Install it from the Desktop App or download it from https://manage.autodesk.com In this blogger’s opinion, this is one ...

AEC: How to Save Time and Money from Operation Managment?

Reducing 31200 hours of work annul= $1,872,000 CAD Saving Remember when the architect sent over a change last week, what was the dimension we had to move that door by? You search through your notes and emails ...

INTRODUCING MERIDIAN 2022

INTRODUCING MERIDIAN 2022 MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS 1. Installation Package provides New PowerWeb IIS Application 2. Meridian E-Mail Manager Retired 3. The Default Store Table Data Provider is now Microsoft Access 4. ...

Civil 3D: Recreate your Template

Recreating a Civil 3D template from scratch is not something we look forward to, but it may be necessary at times. Read on to find out more. You may ask why one would need to do this. Some users will do this ...

The Challenges in the MEP Industries

Pain Point: Disconnected Workflows: separate tolls being used by project stakeholders and disconnected workflows internally with firms result in the costly duplication of effort and increase work time. The inability ...

Civil 3D: Profile Grade Intersections

The goal in this example is to design the profile where each grade is an even number.  It’s not as obvious as you might think.  Thanks to my colleagues Dave Hill and Jae Kwon for pointing out the proper tool. ...

Why BIM in MEP?

Why BIM in MEP? 75% of a project’s operational costs in the first 10 years are MEP related. Implementing BIM solution can demonstrate a savings of just 8 minutes per employee each week, and a reduction in change ...

What is BIM? Why BIM Adoption?

In 2020, the research finding from the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries in Canada state that: 94% acknowledge that BIM is the future of project information and design practices 90% ...

Civil 3D: Scary Halloween Tidbit

Many AutoCAD users know about the OVERKILL command, which is used to delete duplicate objects. There are settings which define what exactly constitutes a duplicate object. Same geometry, layer, colour, etc. Many ...

4 Ways Automotive Manufacturers Can Improve Processes with a CMMS

The frequency of recalls in recent years has contributed to a significant, yet unnecessary expense for automotive manufacturers. U.S. vehicle recalls hit an all-time high this decade, reaching a record of 51.2 ...

Civil 3D 2023.1 Update

Autodesk has released the Civil 3D 2023.1 update.  Use the Desktop App to install it or download it from your Autodesk Account.  Click here to find out what’s new and what’s been fixed. Please note that ...

Why BIM in AEC Firms?

What is BIM? Why BIM Adoption? Is your existing workflow process seamless? Is there repetition or duplication of effort? Is data being re-enter from time to time? How do you handle changes? How many tools do ...

Leverage Jupyter Notebook for Reporting on your BIM360/ACC Environment

Leverage Jupyter Notebook for Reporting on your BIM360/ACC Environment Introduction Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) (see Figure 1) is a cloud-based application that allows design teams to manage their drawings ...

AutoCAD 2023.1 Update

Autodesk has released the 2023.1 updates.  Use the Desktop App to install it or download it from your Autodesk Account.  Click here to find out what’s new.  Additionally, the 2023.0.1 update is also available. ...

The Top 5 Reasons to Use Quantity Link in Revu

This story was originally published BY TROY DEGROOT on the Bluebeam Blog. Let’s do a quick flashback to show a feature in Bluebeam Revu you might not be aware of, although it’s been around for several ...

Civil 3D: Plan Production Styles

Do you use Civil 3D’s plan production tools?  Do you wonder where the styles come from, the design file, the production template?  Read on to find out. If you’re not familiar with Civil 3D’s plan production ...

Civil 3D: Profile Grade Intersections

The goal in this example is to design the profile where each grade is an even number.  It’s not as obvious as you might think.  Thanks to my colleagues Dave Hill and Jae Kwon for pointing out the proper tool. ...

Civil 3D: Model Existing Underground Utilities Efficiently

Civil 3D: Model Existing Underground Utilities Efficiently Must you draw existing gas, tel, and other similar underground utilities for your projects?  If you’re not using the technique described below, you’re ...

Civil 3D: Pipes not Extending to Structures

Have you seen this before?  This is how Civil 3D’s pipes sometimes appear before and after the current annotation scale has been changed.  Not good. Read on to learn more… What is the cause?  This setting ...

Bluebeam Transition to Subscription

Starting September 20th, 2022, Bluebeam is Moving from Perpetual Standalone Licensing to Subscription  New subscription packages: Bluebeam Basics Bluebeam Core Bluebeam Complete Benefits of Subscription: Work ...

CTC Licensing Model Change – What you need to know!

  With the release of the 23.0.0 version of all the CTC Software tools, CTC has taken the opportunity to update its licensing model. Licensing for any of the CTC suites of tools was broken up into tiers ...

Ten Essential Features of an Electronic Document Management Solution (EDMS)

Does your company need an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) with the ability to manage your Corporate, Contractor, Project, Vendor, Operations, and Maintenance data and documents while continuing to ...

Updated Version: Quantity Takeoffs Are the Best Kept Secret in Bluebeam Revu

This story was originally published BY MIKE LANDERS on the Bluebeam Blog. Deepak Maini, a 20-year qualified mechanical engineer, shares tips and tricks for using QTO software (From 2019) Watch the video here. ...

Civil 3D: Alignment Creation – Free Entities

Alignments are created in Civil 3D by selecting AutoCAD objects or by using specialized tools.  Sometimes selecting objects is appropriate, but when the alignment is required to be very flexible in terms of ...

Four Things Municipalities Should Do When Taking Plan Check Digital

This story was originally published BY FRANK KALMAN on the Bluebeam Blog. Cities and municipalities transitioning their plan check process from paper to digital have a lot to look forward to. Moving the paper-based ...

Civil 3D: Alignment Creation – Floating Entities

Alignments are created in Civil 3D by selecting AutoCAD objects or by using specialized tools.  Sometimes selecting objects is appropriate, but when the alignment is required to be very flexible in terms of ...

Civil 3D: Alignment Creation – Fixed Entities

Alignments are created in Civil 3D by selecting AutoCAD objects or by using specialized tools.  Sometimes selecting objects is appropriate, but when the alignment is required to be very flexible in terms of ...

HOW OUR AEC E-LEARNING SOLUTION IMPROVES EMPLOYEE RETENTION

This story was originally published by Eagle Point Software AN AEC E-LEARNING SOLUTION CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES. Employee retention is one of the biggest ongoing goals for successful companies. ...

A Robust Information Management Solution is Key to Succeed in the Oil & Gas Industry Today

The complexities of upstream & downstream exploration, drilling, projects, operations, and production require continuous advancements, improved communication, best-in-class practices and maximized efficiency. ...

Why Custom Hot Keys in Bluebeam Revu Are a Game-Changer

This story was originally published BY CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. Bluebeam Revu has a variety of built-in features, including a comprehensive markup tool palette. You can draw elliptical curves, lines, ...

Grading Optimization Troubles and Fixes

Grading Optimization was a great addition to the Civil 3D 2022 arsenal of tools. It is one of the first tools to incorporate AI into our civil designs and is able to help us get quick preliminary quantities, ...

Overcome your Pressing Oil & Gas Challenges with Comprehensive Information Management Solutions

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil & gas (O&G) industry has recovered better than expected, with oil prices remaining strong and oil demand back to 95% of pre-COVID levels. But O&G companies ...

How To Keep Remote Construction Teams Motivated and Productive

This story was originally published by TRACIE SANIM on the Bluebeam Blog. COVID-19 has forced many workplaces to embrace remote working. However, for some employers, working from home and self-isolation directives ...

How to Create Intelligent Custom Labels with Expressions in Civil 3D

Introduction  Figure 1 – Dynamically Labelled Basement Elevations Today we see how we can make labelling much easier and consistently accurate in Civil 3D. “Expressions” are used to create user properties ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update

Autodesk Desktop Connector  Autodesk regularly updates the Desktop Connector with fixes to defects and some basic functionality updates; this update is no different, but there is one major feature update which ...

Common CMMS Data Misses: How to Improve Capital Asset Planning and Total Cost of Ownership

One fundamental responsibility of all service department leaders is to properly manage the assets under their charge until they reach end-of-life and must be disposed of. Able stewardship includes capital asset ...

Batch Hyperlink Will Blow Your Mind

This story was originally published by CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. Imagine pointing to an entire folder and subfolders of drawings and bringing the section cuts, elevations and plan notes to life (from ...

Civil 3D Assemblies: Tool Palette or Block Library?

Civil 3D Assemblies: Tool Palette or Block Library? Civil 3D comes shipped with pre-configured assemblies that may or nay not fit your needs.  We created another BLOG post here to show how to create your own ...

Security in the Clouds: Pressing Cloud-Based CMMS Concerns and How Industry Leaders Are Addressing Them

With data breaches and ransomware attacks becoming more common – and more severe – by the day, it’s understandable to have concerns or confusion about security and cloud applications. This includes your ...

Recap: 2023 Release

Recap: 2023 Release Autodesk has just released their Point Cloud management application, Recap 2023.  Click here to join the live webinar on April 19th.  Click here for Autodesk documentation.  Read on to ...

Infraworks: 2023 Release

Infraworks: 2023 Release Autodesk has just released its Civil visualization and analysis application, Infraworks 2023.  Click here to join the live webinar on April 19th.  Click here for Autodesk documentation.  ...

Civil 3D: 2023 Release

Civil 3D: 2023 Release Autodesk has just released its flagship Civil Engineering modelling application, Civil 3D 2023.  Click here to join the live webinar on April 19th.  Click here for Autodesk documentation.  ...

Default Hotkeys: What’s the Pattern?

This story was originally published by CHRIS GRAHAM on the Bluebeam Blog. Bluebeam has a document that shows Revu’s hotkeys for various features, located here. Starting with the basic hotkeys, we can type ...

AutoCAD 2023: New Release

AutoCAD 2023: New Release It’s that time of year; Autodesk has just released the 2023 version of their flagship drafting application, AutoCAD.  Read on to discover some of the new features. Click to peruse ...

Plant 3D & Roll Over Tool Tips

When working on any design, it’s helpful to have data readily available. Typically, when we need to see certain properties of an object in AutoCAD, we would have to select the item and open its properties window. ...

How Roofing Contractors Increase Efficiency with Bluebeam Revu

This story was originally published by TROY DEGROOT on the Bluebeam Blog. It’s been fun over the past couple of articles highlighting ways concrete and framing contractors are using Bluebeam Revu. To ...

Tool Palette: Open File or Web Page

Tool Palette: Open File or Web Page Do you have CAD standards document or web page you’d like to make easily accessible to your AutoCAD users?  Does it make sense to create a Tool Palette button for this?  ...

Civil 3D: New Geotechnical Modeler

Civil 3D: New Geotechnical Modeler Autodesk has released a new extension for Civil 3D 2022 called the Geotechnical Modeler.  It replaces the former extension named the Geotechnical Module, which was developed ...

5 Top Tools To Help Onboard Your Team With Construction Software

This story was originally published by JAMES CHAMBERS on the Bluebeam Blog. One of the concerns people cite when it comes to digital transformation in their organizations is around onboarding teams without ...

Can Meridian EDMS be used as an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Tool?

In short, yes. By design, Meridian is an engineering document management system (EDMS). But once in use by Engineering, the tool can be extended to support more general content management needs and maximize your ...

Matterport – Accelerating the AEC Industry

Register for Space Jam, the Matterport event series that showcases how our partners enhance Matterport offering and provide your customers with immersive experiences Blog Source: Matterport Architects, engineers, ...

Civil 3D: Edit a DREFd Object with No Source

Civil 3D: Edit a DREFd Object with No Source You have a drawing containing an alignment that was data referenced. The source drawing cannot be found, and you need to edit that alignment. How to do this? Read ...

Autodesk Docs: Public File Sharing Links

Autodesk Docs: Public File Sharing Links Do you use Autodesk Docs?  Would you like to create a link for an external customer to download a file?  Does this customer NOT use Autodesk Docs?  If so, read on. ...

Civil 3D: Sharing Assemblies

Civil 3D: Sharing Assemblies So, you’re the technical team lead for your Civil Engineering firm, and you need to share amongst your team some Civil 3D Assemblies. You know how to create an AutoCAD tool palette, ...

What’s New in Plant 3D 2022

One of the strengths of AutoCAD Plant 3D is its customizability. For example, it allows users to build custom P&ID symbols and tags to suit their project needs. Whenever I conduct Plant 3D training, I’m ...

How Framing Contractors Can Best Use Bluebeam Revu

This story was originally published by TROY DEGROOT on the Bluebeam Blog. In my last article, we covered the features in Bluebeam Revu that all concrete subcontractors should know. I started the piece saying ...

Civil 3D Styles: Object Naming Defaults

Civil 3D Styles: Object Naming Defaults So, you’re in charge of your company’s Civil 3D standards and drawing template and you’re annoyed when users don’t use the documented naming convention.  Read ...

Meridian Tips – How to Easily Add Redlines and Comments

Today in our Meridian Tips video blog, we want to show you how easy it is to collaborate with other user’s in the Meridian EDM solution. If you have ever wanted to add comments or markups on technical documents ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update

Autodesk Desktop Connector  Autodesk is spending many resources getting their cloud system tweaked just right.  Yet another version of the Desktop Connector has been made available.  Read on to find out more. ...

Civil 3D: Grading Optimization Problem

Civil 3D: Grading Optimization Problem Do you have an issue displaying the Grading Optimization (GO) window with Civil 3D 2022.1 and GO 2022.2?  If so, read on. I have been working with GO since it arrived, ...

How to Use Revu to Create Successful Bids

This story was originally published by MIKE LANDERS on the Bluebeam Blog. With smart PDFs now being generated as part of bid packages thanks to a variety of digital tools within the marketplace, end–users ...

Civil 3D: Designing a Pond with a Sloped Bottom

Are you designing a pond with a sloped bottom?  If so, you may be interested in this technique. To watch the short video demonstrating the complete quick step-by-step process, click here. […]

Importing wire types in AutoCAD Electrical

Whenever we are working with AutoCAD Electrical, one of the key features that we have when we are creating our drawings, is the ability to create and assign the custom wire types that we will use throughout our ...

An Electrician’s 4 Favorite Bluebeam Revu Features

This story was originally published by DOMONIC DIAZ-WESTON on the Bluebeam Blog. Every construction trade plays a different role in each construction project. As a result, they are likely to find different values ...

Infraworks: Custom Assemblies

It’s relatively easy to create a custom component road assembly within an Infraworks model.  But how does one save that custom assembly for use later?  Read on to find out! The answer depends on how you’d ...

How Concrete Contractors Can Best Use Bluebeam Revu

This story was originally published by Troy Degroot on the Bluebeam Blog. I’m a firm believer that every specialty contractor could benefit from implementing Bluebeam Revu in their everyday workflows. ...

Civil 3D: PPK Extension

Many of our customers desire the ability to transform Civil 3D data between coordinate systems.  This was challenging or impossible…until now!  Read on… It is available for Civil 3D 2019-2022.  Read more ...

Enabling The Navisworks Plug-In in Plant 3D

In my previous blog, I explained how Navisworks can complement Plant 3D. Now I will show you how to enable some Navisworks features directly within Plant 3D, or any AutoCAD based products. With this feature enabled ...

What a “Free” Document Management Tool Costs Your Business

Many “free“ content management solutions are available in the market today, such as SharePoint, Box, Network Shares, and even USB external drives. Organizations recognize the need to capture their ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update

We are excited to share with you the highlights of the latest Autodesk Desktop Connector update! Enhancements are: Folders Shared using Autodesk Drive are now visible on the desktop when using Desktop Connector. ...

Previews… More like Pro-views: Professional Revit Family Previews the Easy Way Using the Free Family Preview Generator

When you are looking at inserting a family, you will want to get the most amount of information about the family file in the shortest amount of time. Without tools like HIVE you are limited to 2 sources of information, ...

Getting Started with Product Design Visualization

Getting started with product design visualization is easy.​ Currently most engineering is accomplished using 3D modeling software’s. It can be done in solids, surfaces, meshes, nurb curves etc. It ...

Earthworks Processor Alternative Use Cases – Mapping Borehole Information

Earthworks Processor is a great tool in the CTC CIM Project suite for automating hours of surface creation and manipulation for the purpose of calculating dynamic and accurate earthworks quantities. With the ...

CIM Project Suite 22.0.3 Released

We are pleased to announce that our partner CTC Software released Civil 3D CIM Project Suite, version 22.0.3. It is now released and can be accessed on the CTC website. Below are release notes: 22.0.3 9/17/2021 ...

Create Easy Surface Statistics Labels with Dynamo

In this blog, our Civil/Infrastructure Technical Product Specialist, Jae Kwon, will cover how a Civil 3D user can use an automatic way to create surface statistics labels with Dynamo. Instead of Civil 3D users ...

15 time-saving labeling shortcuts with CTC’s Label Genie (Part 1)

Label Genie can save you a ton of time by creating all sorts of useful labels quickly. Here’s 15 examples that you can use right now. Descriptions of the settings are included, but to really get up and ...

How Sets in Revu Simplifies Document Management

This story was originally published by Rob Dunn on the Bluebeam Blog. Digitally creating PDF drawings and sharing them for review and markups through the cloud saves lots of time for professionals in the architecture, ...

Dynamic Duo – AutoCAD Plant 3D and Navisworks: How to view Plant 3D data in Navisworks

In a data driven world, information can be the currency that can make or break your project. Misinformation, or the lack of, can cause delays and costly errors in a project’s life cycle. AutoCAD Plant 3D is ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update – February 13, 2023

We are pleased to share with you the highlights of the latest Autodesk Desktop Connector update! New Feature and Enhancement: Autodesk Construction Cloud drive now supports the View Online capability in Desktop ...

Wrangle that Sheet: Making Revit Sheets Layout Easily with Free Tools from the BIM Project Suite

The CTC BIM Project Suite is geared towards users doing the project work, the included tools aim to make everyday project work easier and more efficient that using Revit tools alone. There are 5 free tools accessed ...

Effective Data Structure is Key for Success in Today’s Digital Workplace

Digital transformation is essential for any business looking to navigate the post-COVID world that exists today. Before the pandemic, the focus on digital transformation was high but has increased due to a large ...

Assign Point Layers by Note Column with Dynamo

In this vlog, our Civil/Infrastructure Technical Product Specialist, Jae Kwon, will demonstrate how to assign point layers by Note Column with Dynamo application. Autodesk Dynamo is a programming environment ...

Civil 3D 2022.0.1 CIM Suite Tools Updates from CTC

We are excited to announce that our partner CTC Software released Civil 3D CIM Project and Manager Suites, version 22.0.1. It is now released and can be accessed on the CTC website. This update saw a lot of fixes ...

Understanding Product Lifestyle Management (PLM): The Path to the Digital Future

In my opinion, the most painful product lifecycle management (PLM) failures happen when companies struggle to understand the concept and implement it in their organization. This technology is made to help them. ...

8 Ways Layers Create Clarity in Revu

This story was originally published by Troy DeGroot on the Bluebeam Blog. ne powerful feature in Bluebeam Revu I think everyone should be using in some capacity is Layers. If you come to Revu with a CAD background, ...

Migrating Versions in AutoCAD Electrical

Every year Autodesk releases a new version of the software which often contains new features, bug fixes and overall improved stability, so a common question that we get from our customer is: how do I move all ...

Bring your designs to life in Lumion 11.5

This story was originally published by Lumion on the Lumion Blog. With Lumion, you can render more than a building. Render your client’s dream home, render a story about design that moves emotions, render ...

Civil 3D 2022 CIM Suite Tools Updates from CTC

We are excited to announce that our partner CTC Software released Civil 3D CIM Suites for version 2022. It is now live and can be found on the CTC website. The update can be downloaded from the about menus in ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update – June 2021

June 1, 2021 (v. 14.10.0.1456) Do you use BIM 360 and AutoCAD products?  Do you have the Autodesk Desktop Connector installed?  If so, there is a new update.  This may not be news to you as there are frequent ...

How to add a new Table/Family in AutoCAD Electrical

A very common question that we get asked is how we can add a custom table inside the catalog browser. As you already know, the catalog browser consists of several different “families” or categories that divide ...

Civil 3D 2020.6 Update

Fixes, and of course new features are included with this update.  Here are the release notes.  Read on to discover what’s new.   Fixes There have been many defect fixes and you can read about them here.  ...

How to Build a Digital Project Dashboard for Plan Documents

This story was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. Digitizing plan documents is only as effective as your ability to access them as you work. Digital dashboards in Bluebeam Revu make ...

Three Pirates Build a Music Ship

What will you do if you take a month off work and can not travel anywhere due to Covid-19 travel restriction? The answer is easy: Stay home and build a musical instrument repair workshop from an old shed and ...

The Basics of Document Control: What You Need to Know

With today’s shifting digital landscape, if your organization is not focusing on document version control, you maybe be costing your business money and efficiency by not using modern, practical engineering ...

AutoCAD Printing and CTB

Do you use more than one CTB file when printing in AutoCAD?  More than 10?  40?  What if I said you really only need 1, the Monchrome.ctb file?  Read on to find out how… If you already understand CTB files, ...

The Bluebeam Stapler—Making Working Life a Little Less Complicated

This story was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. Working on a job that requires numerous PDF files to be collated into one manageable document? It’s easy with Bluebeam Stapler. What ...

Civil 3D and Infraworks 2022 are Here

Autodesk has released the latest version of their Civil Engineering package, Civil 3D 2022, and its partner in crime, Infraworks.  Click to peruse the Autodesk Documentation. Recap 2022 has also been given some ...

CTC 2021 Revit Product Updates!

CTC Software has been preparing to release updates to our AEC tools for Revit 2021. This release launched May 4th and affects most of our AEC offerings. HIVE has undergone a massive update, streamlining all aspects ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector Update

Do you use BIM 360 and AutoCAD products?  Do you have the Autodesk Desktop Connector installed?  If so, there is a new update.  This may not be news to you as there are frequent updates, but this one is somewhat ...

How to Create an Empty/Smaller Catalog Database in AutoCAD Electrical

When we are working with AutoCAD Electrical, one of the keys features of the software is the ability to quickly grab information from the catalog browser so it can be later on be used in our reporting tools such ...

Matterport – Blur Brush Tool (Beta)

Do you need to censor something in your Matterport Tour, say a family photo, signage, license plates? Inside your Matterport Account, in the Edit Mode of a Showcase model, is the Blur Brush. The Blur Brush is ...

Lumion 11.3 Release Overview

Architects love using Lumion for one important reason — it breathes life into rendering. Lumion makes the process feel like a natural part of your craft, helping you produce beautiful results with ease at every ...

Revit Content Management- Changing Needs for a Work from Anywhere Future

The past year has brought challenges to all. While we look for areas to support and encourage, we continued to look at how we can best serve the needs of our clients. One of the most critical points that hit ...

How Meridian Portal Can Help You Streamline Online Reviews

A typical review scenario can look like the following: a technical drawing or document needs to be approved internally by a group of experts.  The relevant documents are gathered from various sources, printed, ...

Matterport Capture app for Android is officially here!

This article was originally published by Kirk Stromberg and Matterport on the Matterport Blog. With Capture now generally available on Google Play, anyone can Matterport their space using a Pro2 or their favorite ...

Label Genie for Civil 3D: New Features

Label Genie, with it’s recent debut, changed how we do Civil 3D sheet annotation. Allowing automated insertion of labels across multiple drawings and layouts at once, Label Genie turns hours of work into minutes. ...

Auto Grader for Civil 3D: New Features

Auto Grader is a game-changer in Civil 3D site grading. Through dynamically linked feature line sets, users can create grading families for parking lots, ponds, subdivisions, and more. The latest release features ...

Bluebeam Revu Update 20.2

The latest update for Bluebeam Revu has recently been released; you can find the release notes at this link. Independent Length Measurement units.  In previous versions, a user would calibrate a page, say in ...

Earthwork Processor for Civil 3D: Subgrade Volume Calculations

Earthwork volume calculations can be a complex task in Civil 3D, especially with variable depth subgrades found in many site projects. With the CTC Earthwork Processor in the CIM Project Suite, this work is done ...

Installing AutoCAD 2022 and Other Autodesk 2022 Applications

AutoCAD 2022 is here and it has a new installer.  Very few clicks are required, which is good and easy, but what if you need to customize your installation?  Read on… Installers can be customized by logging ...

AutoCAD 2022 Latest Update Notes

It’s springtime and the birds are singing.  Also, Autodesk has released the latest version of their flagship CAD package, AutoCAD 2022.  Click to peruse the Autodesk Documentation. Read on to see some notes ...

Revit MEP and CTC– Schedule XL

Having troubles keeping your MEP notes from Excel in Revit up to date? Schedule XL is the right tool for you. Schedule XL allows you to create schedule views (drafting view or schedule view) within Revit from ...

5 Revu Workflows for Civil Designers, Contractors

This article was originally published by Troy DeGroot and Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. Awhile back I was teaching a Bluebeam Revu basics class for a group of civil engineers and designers. An issue quickly ...

Civil 3D Double Click Customization

Is there a Civil 3D object that you would like to double click and run a specific command?  if so, read on.  (This works for AutoCAD commands too.) Try double-clicking an Alignment.  The AutoCAD properties ...

Tip: 5 steps to great renders from Lumion

This article was originally published on the Lumion Blog. You’ve finished your 3D model and imported it into Lumion. Now, it’s time to make it look great. With all of Lumion’s functionality just inviting ...

Autodesk Inventor: Get A Different Perspective

In this modern age of software, it seems that there is a specific software or tool for just about anything, but our main asset for accomplishing our CAD work is still our eyes. The way we view things has a major ...

CTC & Feature Lines – Establishing the Hierarchy of Power!

Which option do you choose when creating a feature line? In my early days of learning Civil 3D I was given an analogy of buckets. That any of the objects in a site, “Bucket”, could not interact with other ...

How a CMMS System Can Increase your Business’s ROI and Uptime

Have you been tasked to minimize your equipment downtime, increase asset condition visibility and spare parts?  If so, this can be a daunting task for an asset–heavy organization to move to a more ...

11 Revu Tools to Ease the Punch Walk Process

This article was originally published by Troy DeGroot and Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. Today I want to talk about Punch Walks, QA/QC, or whatever you might call it when you collect field data during ...

Flexible, Customized Legends and QTOs with CTC’s Data Wizard.

Flexible, Customized Legends and QTOs with CTC’s Data Wizard.   How do you tackle quantity takeoffs in your projects? Do you use Civil 3D’s QTO Manager? Do you scale on paper or PDF’s? Between the ...

Automated, Flexible, and Iterative Plan Production Tools. CTC’s Sheet Generator Workflow is the Whole Package.

You can’t afford to create plan and profile sheets without these tools! If you have ever tried to create Plan & Profile sheets on mass with the Native View Frame tools it sure beats doing it by hand. But ...

Create Your Own AutoCAD Tutorial Library

Are you or do you have a staff member in your office who likes to create tutorial content?  Or maybe you simply have some web links to which you’d like to regularly refer.  Maybe you’d like to share these ...

How a Localized, Multi-Language CMMS Can Streamline Global Operations

Any sizeable global corporation that maintains sites worldwide knows how language barriers can negatively impact communication and team productivity.  Let’s break this down: If person-to-person communication ...

A Document Management Workflow for the Modern Construction Project

This story was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on Built, the Bluebeam Blog. Most construction projects are massive undertakings. Teams of architects and engineers work tirelessly preparing large volumes ...

Outil Civil 3D pour arpenteurs – Suite de projets CIM 2021

L’article de blog d’aujourd’hui présentera des outils spécialisés à l’arpentage, accélérant d’une part la production de vos plans dans Civil 3D et d’une autre part l’élaboration de vos gabarits. ...

Why You Should Move Technical Documents to the Cloud

Increasing operational efficiency is a crucial metric for any modern organization.  Teams are struggling during the Covid-19 Pandemic due to the reality of having a smaller remote workforce. Having reliable ...

Outil Civil 3D pour simplifier vos corridors et Projets 3D – CIM Project suite 2021

L’article de blog d’aujourd’hui présentera des outils qui accélèreront la production de vos designs de Projets 3D, qu’ils soient des corridors routiers, des intersections ou des tranchées d’excavation. ...

Infraworks 2021.2 Update

Autodesk has released the next update for Civil 3D 2021.  Find the release notes here.  Here are some highlights: Add decorations to component roads imported from Civil 3D. Modify lane markings for component ...

What Makes Digital Collaboration in Construction Possible?

This article was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. ne of the downstream effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has been a strong projected uptick in cloud software conversions. With ...

Civil 3D 2021.2 Update

Autodesk has released the next update for Civil 3D 2021.  Find the release notes here.  Here are some highlights: New ArcGIS workflows: Refresh data sources. Import raster data as an image, or as surface data. ...

Outil Civil 3D pour simplifier vos terrassements – CIM Project suite 2021

L’article de blog d’aujourd’hui présentera des outils qui simplifieront vos designs de terrassement, en utilisant tout le potentiel des Lignes caractéristiques de terrain sans avoir à passer par les ...

Plan Production Workflow with CTC Tools: Sheet Sets

Creating sheets has always been a time-consuming process and needs to be addressed quite early in the design for preliminary submissions. While sheet sets can help us with global information updates across sheets ...

Meridian Accelerates Time to Market through Engineering Document Accuracy

As an excellent solution for any life sciences business with full support for E-Signatures and E-Records compliance, Accruent’s Meridian provides 3 key features: Ensure compliance with FDA 21 CFR, Part 11, ...

Bluebeam: PROFILES

What is a profile? One of the most essential features in Bluebeam that will help all users to organize themself is maybe one of the less known; Profiles. Profiles in Bluebeam are important. It is not just about ...

Civil 3D Pressure Pipes

Civil 3D 2021.1 introduced several new features including a new compass when creating a pipe run.  This is excellent news, but depending on your modeling requirements, it can cause an issue if you leave in a ...

Autodesk Fusion 360 & Metallic Strip Animal Sculptures – Part 2

As promised in my last blog, here are some tips and tricks that I often use to convert mesh body to a b-rep or t-spline body in Fusion 360. Tip #1: Converting a mesh body to a b-rep or t-spline body in Fusion ...

The Digital Transformation Train is Leaving the Station, and We Should All Be on Board

2020 has taught me a number of things, including presumably how indoor cats feel, that March and June are the same thing if you don’t go outside, and that if Godzilla were to stumble onto the shores of Tokyo ...

Why Revu Is the Essential Tool for Facilities Teams Leading Return-to-Office Plans

This article was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. As many organizations across the globe begin to bring employees safely back into the office after months of remote work due to the ...

Gravity Pipe Network Editing Best Practices using CTC Tools

Today’s blog post will be focused on revealing the industry’s best practices for Civil 3D – Pipe Networks. Explore the techniques to build Civil 3D gravity pipe networks and edit them using the ...

On-Demand Access to the Latest Technical Drawings Anywhere

Having instant cloud-based access to the latest asset information is now a priority for today’s manufacturers, as it maximizes safety and labor efficiency. Accurent has added new features and integration tools ...

Plumbing Code Calculations With Spreadsheet Link and Schedule XL – Part 2

Posted from CTC BIM Project Suite White Paper Library –  CTC Software Result When the workflow is developed and implemented, the entire building occupancy can be calculated in a minute, and the code validation ...

CTC Tools for Civil 3D Best Practice Series: Grading

This week’s post is all about the best practices series that is focused on revealing the industry’s best practices for Civil 3D Grading tools. It has been designed for Civil 3D 2020 users.  After watching ...

Autodesk Fusion 360 & Metallic Strip Animal Sculptures – Part 1

Part 1 I love sculptures and can spend hours at museums that devoted to sculpture. I also love structural Engineering and structural sculptures. Running into Artist Sung Hoon Kang‘s stunning animal sculptures ...

Plumbing Code Calculations With Spreadsheet Link and Schedule XL – Part 1

Posted from CTC BIM Project Suite White Paper Library –  CTC Software The Issue Revit® has trouble with complex calculations and the ability to run cross-category math. This can be frustrating when design ...

Five Ways to Design and Access Masterfully Efficient Digital Dashboards in Revu

This article was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog.   Digital dashboards offer teams a centralized, easily navigable hub for critical project documents and information. Don’t ...

Program Validation with Spreadsheet Link and Room Family Manager – Part 2

Posted CTC BIM Project Suite White Paper Library –  CTC Software End Result When the workflow is developed and implemented, the entire special program can be added to the Revit project in a matter of ...

Program Validation with Spreadsheet Link and Room Family Manager – Part 1

Posted from CTC BIM Project Suite White Paper Library –  CTC Software Issue When working on medium to large buildings, how are you managing your program requirements? How are you checking the intended ...

Using Meridian Portal to Streamline Cloud-based Reviews

A typical scenario in today’s work from home reality needs a technical document package to be reviewed by a dedicated team of experts. A document controller accomplishes this by gathering the required hard ...

Autodesk Desktop Connector and Sheet Sets

An update to the Desktop Connector as made available on August 11, 2020.  Here is the relevant Autodesk document. If you’re a Sheet Set user who also uses BIM 360, this update is for you.  In addition to ...

AutoCAD 2021.1 Update

Autodesk has released the first update for AutoCAD 2021.  Find official documentation here.  Here are some highlights: Blocks palette: There is a new Favorites tab. Block can be copied from other tabs to the ...

Civil 3D 2021.1 Update

Autodesk has released the first update for Civil 3D 2021.  Find official documentation here.  Here are some highlights: Feature Lines: Easily insert elevation points or PIs on feature lines at their crossings ...

InfraWorks 2021.1 Update

Autodesk has released the first update for Infraworks 2021.  Find official documentation here.  As of the date of the release of this article, Autodesk has not yet added information about the 2021.1 update.  ...

Boost the power of Meridian with Cloud API Integrations

While Enterprise resource planning and maintenance management platforms are versatile tools that can up productivity and lower operating costs, they normally offer basic engineering document management ...

Working with Bluebeam Studio Project – Part 2

Part 2 : How to Basically set-up a project Now your project is created, you will need to upload all documents needed for your project which need to be shared with your team or your partners in the project. To ...

Parameter Jammer using Revit MEP and CTC Tools

Are you a Revit MEP user and frequently download Revit content from manufacturers or sources like BIM Object? Once that content is loaded into the project, is there a struggle to get the family properly to work ...

What’s new in Revit 2021

Revit 2021 comes with many new features and improvements. I have highlighted some of the multidiscipline Revit features in this post. User Interface feature As soon we open Revit 2021 for the first time, we notice ...

Working with Bluebeam Studio Project – Part 1

Introduction: What is Studio Project Studio Project is a cloud-based light document management system that allows people to centralize and access their project data using Bluebeam Revu Interface. Files within ...

Civil 3D Surface Points

Easily differentiate points appropriate for a surface model from those that are not. A typical topographical surveys consist of hundreds or even thousands of points, most of which must be added to the definition ...

How SaaS EDM Solutions makes remote work effective during Covid-19

Many industries have been affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic including Manufacturing, Utilities, and Transportation. As projects need to stay on track despite today’s challenges, we have all had to assess our ...

Property Set Data in Civil 3D

We use the Manage Tab in Civil 3D for some important stuff like data shortcuts, managing styles, and Dynamo. But how often do we look at the panels between those tools? So today let’s talk about Property Set ...

The Multi Space Dimension of Autodesk Inventor

Relativity says we live in four dimensions. String theory says it is 10. What are ‘dimensions’ and how do they affect reality? With three axes, we can describe forms in three-dimensional space. And Every ...

Collaborating with Bluebeam Studio

What is Studio? Let’s start from here. Most users are not familiar with Bluebeam Studio although it is becoming more and more useful and popular these days. So, let’s dig into to it and take a look at ...

What’s new in Inventor 2021

Inventor 2021 comes with many visual changes that continue to modernize and streamline the 3d modeling experience. Several productivity enhancements and one fairly major AnyCAD update round out this year’s ...

The new Rotary machining strategy in Fusion 360 CAM is a thing of beauty!

Last month, I wrote that a lot of improvements and new features had recently been built into Fusion CAM. One of these is the Rotary multi-axis 3D milling strategy, which has been a very long time in coming. What ...

Civil 3D 2020.4 Update

Autodesk has released the Civil 3D 2020.4 update.  Use the Desktop App to install it.  Here are the Autodesk release notes for this new update. Notables: New SYSVAR “DataShortcutsSourceCheck” to change ...

What’s new in turning? A lot!

I mentioned in my last entry that Turning saw some important (and overdue) improvements of late. Indeed, you may have noticed that the Turning/Profiling function has been broken into a dedicated roughing strategy ...

Installed fonts don’t appear in Bluebeam Revu | Revu for Windows

This article was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. in the Knowledge Base. Problem A font that’s installed on your computer doesn’t appear in Revu. Causes The font type isn’t compatible with Revu Revu ...

Tons of new goodies for Fusion 360 CAM

Since I last wrote here, there have been big, big changes to Fusion CAM (excuse me: “Fusion Manufacturing”). These changes range from completely new (and it needs to be said, very useful) machining strategies, ...

CTC 2021 Revit Product Updates!

CTC Software was actively preparing to release updates to our AEC tools for Revit 2021. This release took place on May 4th and affected all of our AEC offerings. HIVE has undergone a massive update, streamlining ...

Sharing is Caring

In todays manufacturing world there is a bigger demand on sharing data with all stakeholders outside your company.  This could be your supplier, buyer, manufacturing team and they could require viewing the drawing ...

AutoCAD and Bluebeam

Many users create PDF files from AutoCAD products as PDF seems to be the standard digital format.  There are three issues you may run into and some settings to consider if you use Bluebeam Revu as well as AutoCAD. ...

Working Remote Sessions With Gautam Shenoy and Bluebeam

This story was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. on the Bluebeam Blog. In light of many states’ stay at home orders in light of the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic, many professionals in the construction, ...

Dynamo for Autodesk Fusion 360 – Made Simple

Dynamo Studio is typically associated with Revit; however, it offers a fantastic platform for algorithmic-driven design and easy parameter manipulation in Fusion 360. It also features great T-spline and surface ...

Civil 3D 2021 is Here

It’s that time of year again folks; Autodesk has released their flagship Civil Engineering product in Civil 3D  2021.  Here is an Autodesk article explaining the new changes.  Here are my favorites from ...

Working From Home with HIVE – CTC

This article was created by CTC Software So, you need to work remote from the office and you have discovered it is a bit of a pain for production. Or, perhaps you have yet to discover the pains of extended remote ...

AutoCAD 2021 is Here

It’s that time of year again folks; Autodesk has released their flagship product in AutoCAD 2021.  Here is an excellent article explaining the new changes.  Below are the features that are close to this BLOG ...

Manage drawings more efficiently with Batch Link | Revu 2019

This article was originally published by Bluebeam, Inc. in the Knowledge Base. The Batch Link® feature automatically creates hyperlinks for a group of PDFs, like when you’re working with a multi-drawings ...

Roof Truss versus Rafter and Extending to Core tool

I would like to point it out two tools that can make a big difference when designing roofs, the Truss or Rafter tool and the Extending to Core tool. They also affect the shape and size of the eave truss. Revit ...

Path of Travel update on Revit 2020.2

Since my last post about the path of travel, Autodesk made a very useful update on the path of travel tool. The path of travel was calculated automatically by Revit picking the start and end point. Now we have ...

Frame Generator End Caps in Inventor 2020

In the 2020 release of Inventor, the Frame Generator Design Accelerator received a number of minor enhancements as well as one of significance that likely has users asking how they ever lived without it. You ...

Finally, plan and profile sheets that update after design changes

Plan production tools in Civil 3D are great for creating plan and profile sheets, but what about when the inevitable design changes come and you need to update your sheets? You either update them manually or ...

HSM CAM Tips and Tricks: Equation-Driven Parameters

I will be publishing quick Tips and Tricks regularly to help make you more productive and to capture your best practices. One of my favorite such tricks is using “smart fields” or equation-driven parameters. ...

Bluebeam: DYNAMIC FILL

When I sometimes look at some architectural projects, I tell myself that as much as the design is beautiful, the various estimators involved in the project must have pulled their hair out. So, let’s look ...

Create custom legends and QTO with Data Wizard

Tabling, legend creation and QTO workflows leave a lot to be desired in Civil 3D, forcing to use many different subpar tools, or worse, performing the work manually. With Data Wizard you can scan any number of ...

Interested in tweaking an HSM (Inventor CAM, Fusion CAM, HSMWorks) post-processor yourself?

The “SolidCAD Universal FANUC” post processor (free on our website) contains a large number of parameters that can be set on-the-fly through the “Post-Process” dialog, without needing to change anything ...

BING Images Won’t Appear

Have you ever turned on background BING imagery inside AutoCAD products only to find they don’t appear?  There could be a few reasons for this: No Geolocation or coordinate system is set. You’re not logged ...

Keeping Your Revit Model Healthy by Utilizing CTC Express Tools

Many firms struggle to fully keep their Revit models healthy. There are manual, and tedious workflows that can be error prone. Do you want to do a thorough health check of your model prior to sending it out? ...

Bluebeam: ESTIMATING BASIS

A lot of people are still estimating on paper plan to quote their job on a project. So, why should they use Bluebeam for doing it? In fact, we’ve got the answer from the same people; faster, direct export to ...

Design better Pipe Networks with CTC Software

While Pipe Networks are a great toolset in Civil 3D, they fall short as a true design tool. With CTC Software, we can edit pipe runs through a design-oriented, dynamic interface. We can swap multiple parts, both ...

Do you know about Adaptive Clearing?

Hey CNC’ers! Do you know about Adaptive Clearing? It’s the intelligent roughing strategy at the heart of HSM CAM that has changed milling forever. Increase your profitability by getting to near-net-shape ...

Curious about the hype around Autodesk’s HSM CAM?

Hey CNC’ers! Curious about the hype around Autodesk’s HSM CAM? And now you’re looking for more information and possibly a demonstration? Well, you’ve come to the right place! SolidCAD is not only Canada’s ...

AutoCAD FLATTEN

AutoCAD has a command contained within the Express Tool named FLATTEN.  It is designed to remove any non-zero elevations from selected objects within a drawing.  It does an excellent job with this, but there ...

Customizing the Inventor Marking Menu

A few years ago, Autodesk introduced context-sensitive radial menus called Marking Menus, in Inventor. These menus provide a quick and visual way for users to select the most commonly used commands in each environment. ...

Revit Data Corruption

Let’s talk about data corruption in Revit. In this post I will look at these 4 points: File crashes before opening Crashes when opening a new view Looking for corrupt families Higher level investigation As ...

ArcGIS and AutoCAD – Free Background for everyone using AutoCAD

Imagine a world where you could get high resolution background image maps to display and PRINT in AutoCAD. Esri and Autodesk are working closer than ever and this alliance benefits all CAD and GIS users. Esri ...

PART 3 : Change Management (ECR, ECN, and ECO)

This is the third in a three-part series of Fusion Lifecycle videos. In this video, we will focus on Change Management with a specific focus on Engineering Change Orders. In the previous video, we saw that the ...

Revit Family Creation: Family with Adjustable Built-in Label

Usually Tags are added separate from the Components we place, but in certain situations the “tag” needs to be part of the family. To push this further occasionally a request is made for flexibility in the ...

PART 2 : Bill of Materials (BOM) Transfer from Vault to Fusion Lifecycle 

This is the second in a three-part series of Fusion Lifecycle videos. This video, will focus on the Bill-of-Material transfer from Autodesk Vault Professional to Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle. Vault Pro and Fusion ...

Revisiting AutoCAD Basics: Shortcut Menu Hotkeys

Many of us use keyboard shorts and aliases to keep our eyes on the drawing area and keep our thoughts on our design. Searching for commands on the ribbon, especially if it’s buried in the pull-down portion, ...

Path of Travel tool – Revit 2020

Path of Travel tool is a new feature in Revit 2020 that determines the distance between two points on a floor plan. By selecting a start point and an end point, Revit automatically creates the path and calculates ...

BIM Project Suite – Free Valuable Tools for AEC

Down below are BIM Project’s Suites best FREE tools: (1) Quick Select Gives users the ability to build or filter selections of Revit objects by specific categories or parameter values. For more click here ...

PART 1 : New Project Introduction Process In Fusion Lifecycle

This is the first in a three-part series of Fusion Lifecycle videos. In this video, we will review the New Product or New Project Introduction process in Fusion Lifecycle. Fusion Lifecycle and Autodesk Vault ...

Project Analytics with CTC Software

Need for data analytics is growing rapidly within the AEC industry. I have clients that tell me about the work, effort, time and most importantly money they have lost because they did not understand the reasons ...

Common Uses of Productivity Tools by Contractors

Model Compare, in the BIM Project Suite. This tool can compare to iterations of a Revit model. Very useful to see “what’s changed” in very great detail. Thus if they are estimating, or looking for coordination ...

Uncover CTC’s Project Cleaner tool from BIM Manager Suite

In case you were unable to attend SolidCAD and CTC’s webinar last week here is what you need to know… When working through general project cleanup, there are many tedious tasks. Deleting unused views, removing ...

Civil 3D Assembly Sets

Have you ever saved and used Assembly Sets within the Intersection Wizard for saving your custom assemblies for future use?  Have you ever had issues with them not appearing to work properly every time you use ...

Introduction to BIM Project Suite

In case you were unable to attend SolidCAD and CTC’s webinar last week here is what you need to know… Shawn Zirbes, a Guru for everything CTC, uncovered how the BIM Project Suite allows Autodesk Revit users ...

Civil 3D Viewports

A little tip today.  Have you ever zoomed out within a profile viewport and your surfaces and alignments are not there?  The two viewports shown below are nearly identical except the one on the bottom doesn’t ...

Bluebeam Revu 2018.6

Bluebeam has released their latest update for their flagship PDF markup tool, Revu.  Please see this link to learn more about how to update your installation, and then click here to find out which defects have ...

Reconcile the Differences Between Parameters live in projects without Destroying Data

Let’s talk about Revit families. Are your Revit users pulling families from manufacturer websites, then having to spend project time individually reconciling the differences between the parameters used without ...

CTC BIM Projct Suite 2020 – Invisibility Advisor

Find improperly displayed elements in Revit with Invisibility Advisor. Part of the BIM Project Suite, this tool can also identify the cause of invisibilty as well as offer useful information and links to relevant ...

Workaround: Civil 3D XREF Structures Do Not Resize

My friend and customer, Ben Cartmell from Koers & Associates in Parksville, has brought to my attention a method, of which you may not be aware, for working around a limitation within Civil 3D. The limitation ...

Revit Project Cleanup – Why and How

As a collaborative BIM software, Revit enables multiple authors to work within the same project file. However, as projects progress files can grow rather large, often time filling up “extra stuff”. This extra ...

Making more beautiful, realistic, and detailed renders in Revit

3D visualization is an essential part of architectural illustration today. Renders allow you to communicate your vision and intent to clients and colleagues. This is why models or drawings are often sent out ...

Energy analysis – Realize the greatest benefit of BIM

Many engineers do not realize the power of Revit and prefer to trust the process of designs they have been using for years, such as Excel, manual calculations or their company templates. In fact, they have implemented ...

The 3 Main Types of Panel Schedule Templates in Revit

Panel schedules are an essential part of any electrical design and provide a level of coordination that ensures accurate design and documentation. Panel schedules can be created before or after circuits are connected ...

Are we beyond BIM?

If everybody is so proficient with the change to a BIM process, then why aren’t building projects embracing it more widely? Why aren’t those firms who have embraced it finding the efficiencies that it promises? ...

BIM 360 Design – the next gen of Collaboration for Revit

As of April 9, 2018, Collaboration for Revit is available as BIM 360 Design – Autodesk’s next-generation cloud work-sharing, data management, and design collaboration product. This is part of several changes ...

Auto-numbering parking stalls using Dynamo

This article describes how to use Dynamo to number parking stalls. Numbering parking tags can be tedious doing manually. If you have to number or renumber parking stalls and you are looking for tools to do it ...

Revit 2019: Essentials for MEP Engineers

Getting started with Revit can feel daunting. It’s an unfamiliar program that may not work like your current software. But, like anything new as you become more familiar with it you will start to see the benefits ...

Revit Family Guide – Master Revit Families in 10 Steps

A Family is a group of objects that form a building component such as a door, a wall, a window or a chair. All families are associated to a specific category and contain a set of properties (parameters) and a ...

New in Revit 2019 – MEP Engineers improvements to primary/secondary hydraulic

Revit 2019 has arrived, and with it comes a number of great new features and enhancements for different uses. • BIM 360 Design is the re-branded C4R • Open Dialog Enhancement to show version of the Revit ...

Implementation and BIM

What is this thing we have been calling BIM “implementation” for so many years? As a professional who has been working in and around the move to Building Information Modeling for over 15 years, I am appalled ...

4 New Features Architects should know Revit 2019.2

Autodesk’s release of 2019.2 included some interesting features that Architects should be aware of.  There were a couple minor improvements to the program itself, but it seems like a larger effort is being ...

CUI command in AutoCAD

In this post I will show you how to Customize User Interface and how CUI command allows to customize drawing environment to suit your needs. The Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor in AutoCAD provides a wide ...

So you think your Revit model is corrupt

 I am going to talk about file corruption in Revit. To keep things brief I will be doing a few separate posts on this topic. Today I will touch on 4 points: Initial Investigation First steps to resolution Common ...

How to reuse Revit content to supercharge your BIM infrastructure & standards

By Michelle Ovelson, AEC Technical Consultant at SolidCAD Looking for efficiencies when it comes to enhancing BIM infrastructure and standards? Repurposing Revit content from completed projects is a smart, efficient ...

How to reuse Revit content to supercharge your BIM infrastructure & standards

Looking for efficiencies when it comes to enhancing BIM infrastructure and standards? Repurposing Revit content from completed projects is a smart, efficient method of updating your template and warehouse or ...

Why every project needs a BIM Execution Plan

In this video, you will learn why a BIM Execution Plan (BEP) is important for a project of any size. Whether you’re working on a big “full BIM” IPD project or a smaller project, a properly created and developed ...

Using Curtain Walls for Wall Panel Systems

This video examines one of the best features Revit has to offer: curtain walls. We will look at how to use curtain walls for exterior finishes – like metal panels – that are not curtain walls. During this ...

Tips & Tricks: Increase your productivity in Revit

Have you ever wondered if there’s a better way to do something in Revit, join us for this short video that focuses on how to improve your productivity. This video will review: The best way to use 3D View Cube ...

Best Practices for Revit Model Groups

Revit Model Groups are a wonderful thing when you know how to use them and follow some basic rules. They allow capturing repetition in the building model, and provide a way to tag through the groups, maintaining ...

How to Organize My Schedules Using the Browser Organization

In this video you will learn some quick tips and the basics of organizing the schedules using the Browser Organization. Revit 2018 provides various options for organizing the schedules in your project browser ...

Tips for Creating Detail Components

Detail components are Revit families that can be placed in drafting views or detail views to add information to the model. They offer a more efficient, easier to use, and easier to control method of detailing ...

Civil 3D 2020

Autodesk has released the latest iteration of their Civil Engineering modeling software, namely Civil 3D 2020.  Go to the Autodesk Account page to download the software or get it from the Desktop App. Note, ...

AutoCAD 2020

Autodesk has release the latest iteration of their flagship drafting software, namely AutoCAD 2020.  Click here to see Autodesk’s page detailing what’s new.  Go to the Autodesk Account page to download ...

Civil 3D 2019 Update 2

A new update for Civil 3D 2019 has just been released.  You can find it in the usual places; the Desktop App or your Autodesk Account.  Here is the ReadMe; note that AutoCAD 2019.1.2 must be installed prior ...

Infrastructure Road Show Series – Recap

Recently the SolidCAD civil team conducted the first Infrastructure Road Show series across Western Canada! Our roadshow series was designed to uncover emerging technologies and new software, share best practices ...

Civil 3D 2019.1 Update

Autodesk has released the first update for Civil 3D 2019. It is called the Civil 3D 2019.1 Update. As is the new norm, updates contain fixes and also feature enhancements. You can discover all of the details ...

Civil 3D 2019 Pipe Networks

Please note, this issue seems to have been fixed with the release of Civil 3D 2019.1. ———— If you are still having issues with Civil 3D 2019 installed and you’re using pipe networks, ...

Autodesk Multi-User (Network) Licensing

Infraworks  Attention Autodesk multi-user customers!  Excellent news follow. The 2019 license manager provides additional functionality which resolves two issues present in previous versions: In previous versions, ...

InfraWorks

InfraWorks  There has been a significant change to Infraworks’ services. 1. It will no longer be possible to create new analyses such as Watershed, Traffic, Line Girder, Profile, and Corridor in 2018.2 and ...

AutoCAD 2019

 AutoCAD 2019  Autodesk has released the latest iteration of its flagship drafting application AutoCAD.  Here are some of the highlights.   This is a comparison matrix from Autodesk. AutoCAD 2019 remains ...

Infraworks 2018.2

Infraworks 2018.2 Autodesk has released the latest update for its Infraworks application.  You will find information about the update in the team webcast found here.  The update is not yet available as of January ...

Civil 3D Update 2018.2

Civil 3D Update 2018.2 Autodesk has released the latest update for its Civil 3D 2018 application.  You will find information about the update here.  The update can be installed with the Desktop App or by downloading ...

SolidCAD, an Approved Provider on the Autodesk Services Marketplace

SolidCAD, an Approved Provider on the Autodesk Services Marketplace SolidCAD, a leading Autodesk Platinum Partner and Canada’s premier technology solution and professional service provider, is excited to announce ...

Achieving Super Results with Autodesk Fusion 360 and ExactFlat

Achieving Super Results with Autodesk Fusion 360 and ExactFlat   Recently SolidCAD’s own Hung Nguyen created an outstanding Iron Man mask for his son who was heading to Comic-Con. With a combination of ...

Civil 3D 2018 and Large Surfaces

Civil 3D 2018 and Large Surfaces If you have recently upgraded to Civil 3D 2017 or 2018 or are planning to AND you work with large surfaces (I’ll let you define what a large surface is) you’ll want to read ...

Vehicle Tracking Update 2018.1

Vehicle Tracking Update 2018.1 Autodesk has clearly spent considerable resources developing this update.  There are many fixes and enhancements in this Vehicle Tracking 2018.1 update.  You will find information ...

Civil 3D Update 2018.1

Civil 3D Update 2018.1 Autodesk has released the latest update for its Civil 3D 2018 application.  You will find information about the update here.  Click this link to view a recorded webinar.  The update ...

AutoCAD Update 2018.1

AutoCAD Update 2018.1 Autodesk has released the latest update for its AutoCAD 2018 application.  You will find information about the update here.  The update can be installed with the Desktop App or by downloading ...

Revit Courses are now CanBIM Certified!

NEWS UPDATE: SolidCAD Now Offers courses that are CanBIM Certified! At last week’s CanBIM meeting in Toronto, SolidCAD recently announced that they are CanBIM certified. You can now take Revit courses that ...

Civil 3D / Map 3D Hotfix

Civil 3D / Map 3D Hotfix Autodesk has release a new hotfix for Civil 3D and map 3D 2018.  The issue occurs when grip-editing an AutoCAD arc and some other objects.  The position of the mouse is different from ...

Bluebeam Revu 2017 Updates

Bluebeam Revu 2017 Updates Bluebeam has released Updates 1 and 2 for its Revu 2017 lineup.  See Bluebeam’s Release Notes for more information. As usual, there are fixes for defects and some new functionality.  ...

Check out how SolidCAD helped Cithara Guitars Inc. make beautiful music using Autodesk Fusion 360!

PROJECT PROFILE If you are inquiring about a product that does it all when it comes to product design, Fusion 360 is the solution for you! This 3D cloud-based platform allows users to test both fit and finish, ...

PRESS RELEASE: SolidCAD earns Autodesk Construction Specialization

SolidCAD, Canada’s largest Autodesk Platinum Reseller, has been awarded the new construction specialization allowing them to provide clients with industry leading construction and data management tools. ...

SolidCAD/Cansel’s Hung Nguyen announced the International Winner of the Fusion 360 Model of the Month!

Check out how SolidCAD/Cansel’s, Hung Nguyen used Fusion 360 to bring his kayak – F1 Model to life! About Hung…   “Hello! My name is Hung Nguyen from Canada – The Land of Love.  I currently ...

What’s New in Inventor 2018?

What’a new in Inventor 2018? Curious to know what has changed in the new release of Autodesk Inventor 2018? This short clip explains all the latest features! […]

Common Tech Issue of the Week #5 – Inventor Edition

Cannot Hide Components in Assembly View in Inventor IDW File Issue: I cannot hide individual components in my existing assembly view in Inventor IDW file.  When I right-click on the part I would like to hide, ...

Update: Canada Ontario Styles Kit for Civil 3D Now Available!

Canada Ontario Styles Kit for Civil 3D The Canada Ontario Styles Kit is available to download and contact SolidCAD today! Here are some Key Highlights  listed below: DWT template containing Ontario Civil 3D ...

Revit Tip of the Day #2

Revit Files are Clogging Up My Server Storage! Some people find that Revit files are using up too much storage on their server or other storage. Although a few companies have ‘limitless’ cloud storage ...

Common Tech Issue of the Week #4

When starting Microsoft Office every time, AutoCAD runs for installation Issue: When starting Microsoft Office every time AutoCAD® runs for installation. Two error messages pop up: AutoCAD <version>: Please ...

Using the Autodesk Prerequisite Checker

Check Hardware Specifications – Autodesk Prerequisite Checker Want to know if your computer can run AutoCAD, Revit, 3DS Max, etc.. Instead of comparing your computer to a recommended system specifications, ...

Common Tech Issue of the Week #3

Restoring Toolbars in New Versions of AutoCAD Issue: Although the new type of interface with Ribbons was introduced in AutoCAD 2009 to replace traditional Toolbars, there is still a large number of users who ...

Civil 3D – Tip of the Day

Civil 3D Object Tooltips If you’ve been using Civil 3D for a while, than you’re probably loving the object tooltips! There are two types of tooltips (Proximity and Rollover)  for Civil 3D objects, which ...

Revit Tip of the Day #1

Backing Up and Recovering Revit Files Standalone and Workshared Revit Files are backed up and restored in completely different ways. Here is an explanation and some best practices… You should probably refer ...

Civil 3D – Tip of the Day

Civil 3D Label Styles-Using Expressions For every project, we either use out-of-the-box styles or create new styles to meet specific requirements of the company we work for or the project we are working on. Once ...

Common Tech Issue of the Week #2

Softlock Manager Error when starting AutoCAD Issue: When starting AutoCAD with standalone license the following error appears and software does not start: “The security system (Softlock license manager) is ...

Common Tech Issue of the Week #1

PDF created from AutoCAD shows frames around text in PDF viewer   Issue: When viewing a PDF from AutoCAD in a PDF viewer, such as Foxit Reader or Adobe Reader, frames are displayed around text. Causes: ...

Software Update for Autodesk Civil 3D

Performance Enhancement Tool for Autodesk Civil 3D 2014-2017 Autodesk has received reports of major performance issues when opening, purging and plotting Civil 3D drawings in versions 2014-2017. For Civil 3D ...

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