Ask the Tata Technologies CAD Geeks

All my favorite videos (Autodesk Manufacturing related)

2009-11-23T13:31:00.005-05:00

If you have been following the CAD Geeks blog, there are probably some videos on YouTube that might interest you as well.

Autodesk has its own channel with many different playlists available. A few playlists that I have learned from are listed below.

Just make sure you switch to the "Player View" in the upper right after using one of these links.

Two minute tips in Inventor: http://www.youtube.com/user/autodesk#grid/user/5F0BF9F1949DCC2A
My favorite is the Direct parameter name editing two minute tip.

Lifecycles in Vault Workgroup: http://www.youtube.com/user/autodesk#grid/user/E90F2AD408C2ED29
This gives you a good idea of the lifecycle based security in Vault Workgroup and Collaboration.

Autodesk Inventor 2010 Demos: http://www.youtube.com/user/autodesk#grid/user/FB61F87E7D0D2DB4
Assorted vignettes of Inventor in action.

Inventor Ribbon Interface: http://www.youtube.com/user/autodesk#grid/user/B2E9B7E0943ABE53
How to get your hands around the new Ribbon interface.

Inventor Fusion Technology: http://www.youtube.com/user/autodesk#g/c/FBDEE001B06DC76C
Some technology I am looking forward to.

Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

Panel Components - Mount and Group Codes

2009-11-19T14:01:00.008-05:00

If you are a user of AutoCAD Electrical I am sure you are well aware of installation and location codes. If not a brief example is the ability to apply extra information to a schematic component to be used as a filter when generating reports, this is the most common example.

When we think about our Panel components we have two extra options available and that is the ability to add mount and group codes to our footprint data when working with panel layouts. They do not allow us to use them as a filter when generating reports for our panels but they do allow us to be use them as fields of information to be reported on when running a panel report for components inside of AutoCAD Electrical.

My example descriptions for each:

Mount - maybe a more defined location of a specific component like Back Plate, Left Side, Upper or Lower inside of a panel or control box.

Group - I think of this like being part of an assembly or kit inside of a design. Could be part of sequence of installation.

Again these are just my ideas please use as you will. Take a look at the short video below.

Let's take a look!!!

http://www.screencast.com/t/N2M3NDAwMzY

Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

Security Model example in Vault Collaboration

2009-11-18T16:23:00.006-05:00

I have recently posted a bit about folder level security in Vault and how that can restrict people from changing data in locations they shouldn't have access to. Potentially more important is the ability to use the folder security in conjunction with Lifecycle based security.

Take a look at the two vault interfaces in figures 1 and 2 below.

This first is a look at what an engineer or designer might see when logging into Vault:

This second image shows how a shop floor user or other viewer might see using the Vault Collaboration light weight web client:

Notice that the viewer has been configured to only display data that is a "Released" or equivalent state. This ensures that they are viewing only the correct data and at the right time in the files process lifecycle.

Contributed by Ben of the Tata Technologies CAD Geeks

Are you a CAD Geek Ninja ? .........stay tuned for more info

2009-11-17T13:22:00.001-05:00

Backups? Vault Backups?

2009-11-13T15:55:00.001-05:00

Autodesk Vault backups are an important part of a successful Vault implementation. Take a look at this short video walking you through creating and scheduling a Vault backup event for your local workstation or company server.

Click Here for the new Advanced Config Guide!

This tip is managed by the Tata Technologies Cad Geek Vault

Navisworks - Automatic Animations Part 1

2009-11-12T07:00:00.004-05:00

One of the great strengths of the Navisworks product of course is visualization. This not only helps in coordinating activity and showing potential problems that may occur, it can also be used to help sell an idea or give a real life look at movement inside a factory, building or even a robotic work cell. In the short video I have provided I take a look at how to set-up the first step in a animation. The creation of the scene, selection of geometry and capturing of the start and end point of a moving object. Next week I will take it a step further by adding in the automated part to activate the animation while doing a walk thru. Again, if you have any questions about this blog or any other blog posted to this site please feel free to contact us or submit ideas for future blogs by selecting the cadgeek on this site.
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Let's take a look!!!

http://www.screencast.com/t/NjZjOTI0MTct

Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

What hardware will run Alias effectively?

2009-11-11T10:47:00.003-05:00

I get asked all the time what hardware I recommend for running Alias. Personally I have had a lot of luck with the Dell Precision line of workstations. I have also used HP and Dell workstations at the various companies I've worked for with decent results.

What I have observed over the years is that Graphics Cards play a BIG part in how Alias runs on a machine. Don't cheap out on your graphics!!! Spend the money and get a good workstation class card. The key word being "workstation". Workstation class graphics cards are designed specifically for CAD applications. While a high end gaming card may work sometimes, they are not supported.

Below is a link to the Autodesk Hardware Qualification Chart for computers and graphics cards. This chart lists all the currently tested configurations. Use this as a guide when you are getting ready to upgrade or buy a new system.

Hardware Qualification Chart

Created by Aaron... Your Alias CAD Geek!

Hey, where is my command in the Inventor 2010 Ribbon Interface?

2009-11-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

The first Autodesk Inventor 2010 service pack has been released and you have finally convinced the Engineering department to move to the new version. The installation goes well and the only question on Monday morning is “Where did my command move to with the new Ribbon?” Take a look at this quick video tip that explains how to use the built in command locator from the Inventor Help resource.

This tip brought to you by another Cad Geek!

Determining Change Impact with Vault

2009-11-09T16:00:00.007-05:00

One of the reasons I hear that people initially want to use Autodesk Vault as part of their Inventor work flow is for the Copy Design tool included in all the Vault editions... But organizationally, the gem of Vault might just be the "Where Used" function. This lets an engineer or designer determine if a component is used in any other designs before making a change. This automatically takes advantage of the Inventor file relationships of files as they are checked in without having to tell the system any file relationship information.

Here is an example of a sub-assembly that is used in multiple assemblies. Any change to the 20-011.iam file would impact all of the designs and drawings listed beneath it:

Here is a short video of it in action:

Watch Video Here

Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

Where are all the Alias Tutorials???

2009-11-06T12:56:00.003-05:00

If you are reading this you have probably scoured the internet looking for tutorials and demos for Alias. Not to easy to find them is it? While the CAD Geeks are trying to do our part to provide useful content to the Alias community, not many others are. Fortunately the folks at Autodesk have started to actively populate the AliasDesign web site with new and cool tutorials. They have assembled a nice selection of tutorials from basic to advanced technical surfacing. So after you have filled up on cool CAD Geek content surf on over to AliasDesign and check them out!

You can check it out here...

http://aliasdesign.autodesk.com/learning/tutorials/

Navisworks - Bringing it all Together

2009-11-05T09:16:00.013-05:00

One of the major challenges today is working on a single project that is developed from multiple data sources. Many companies who have to coordinate this type of activity own several different cad systems to accomplish this task. With owning the different cad packages comes the cost of not only purchasing them but also the maintenance that comes with it year after year. Navisworks allows you to perform these same activities with the investment in a single cad package.

Navisworks is compatible with all major native design & laser scan file formats so data from various sources can be combined together to create a single digital model for review, regardless of size.

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Let's take a look!!!

http://www.screencast.com/t/rejX7BQdEo

Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

Who renamed my assembly components?

2009-11-03T16:03:00.003-05:00

After performing a copy design with Vault, the part names within the Inventor model browser do not match the new renamed components. Watch this quick video to find out how to find and fix the browser names within an Inventor assembly.

Contributed by a Random CAD Geek

Breaking Down the "L" in PLM

2009-11-02T13:50:00.008-05:00

I have seen and heard all kinds of different descriptions of what PLM (Process Lifecycle Management) is. They usually end up way too complex with lifecycle being the primary hangup. Lets make it simple:

Process - A series of steps that need to occur

Lifecycle - A time based measure of the process (What steps can occur when)

Management - A way to control something

So by my way of thinking, Lifecycles are nothing more than a way to define what should happen at a specific point in time in a process.

Autodesk's Vault Workgroup and Collaboration fit into this category of engineering tools, and the Lifecycle part is a key to the latest Autodesk data management offerings. The Vault solutions allow you to configure as many lifecycle schemes as necessary for your different processes. Each lifecycle scheme can then have as many lifecycle states as you need to define a process. The great thing about a lifecycle state is that it controls exactly who can access a document and what they can do with it.

I have also heard it described as "allowing the right people to access the right documents at the right time" in reference to the latest Vault products.

Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

iLogic Part 4 - Tips & Tricks

2009-10-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

In Previous posts we have looked over the iLogic interface, iLogic parameter creation, and iLogic rule creation. For the last of our four iLogic posts we are going to look at creating one more rule and show some great features to use when rule writing. iLogic provides some good tools for saving snippets of code that may be reused amongst different designs and adding comments to the rule to better explain to others what is going on. Lets take a look!

iLogic Snippets, Comments and more Here!

For more information and discussion about iLogic join us at the Inventor Users Site for iLogic

Added By Rodney, another one of those CAD Geeks.

Navisworks - Adding Mark-ups to a Project

2009-10-29T09:32:00.015-04:00

As we all know Navisworks is a great tool for bringing in large amounts of data from multiple cad systems and viewing in a single file. Many companies today take advantage of Navisworks for overall project management. Navisworks offers some great tools to help us communicate areas of the project to be considered for review or just need to electronically mark-up possibly during a project review. These red line tools give us the ability to add text, comments, tags and revision clouds to allow others to understand areas of the project in question. My favorite feature within these tools is working with the tags themselves. They allow us to track each tag created with a status much like a data management system. Our options are - new, active, approved and resolved. These four options are also search able for anyone to easily find.
Let's take a look!!!
http://www.screencast.com/t/Rrx0drAAt74b
Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

New Online Showcase Training Course

2009-10-28T08:00:00.003-04:00

We have created a new online self-paced training course for Autodesk Showcase.

This course covers the basic functionality of Showcase and what steps are necessary to create real-time photo realistic imagery from your existing 3D geometry.

If you have a seat of Showcase and haven't taken the time to learn the software this is your chance. This class covers the basics and walks you through the process of creating an image like the one you see above.

Follow the link below for more information...
I Get It - Showcase Basics Training

Libraries Per Project

2009-10-27T10:49:00.009-04:00

For all you CAD Administrators out there, sometimes a company, or even a specific job, does not need to leverage every Content Center Library available. The libraries users have access to can be controlled per Project:

From this dialgog box, you can choose which libraries are active for the current project, edit the library name, create an empty user library, delete a library (be careful!), and transfer libraries.

The command to launch the Configure Libraries dialog box is at the bottom right of the Projects dialog:

Contributed by a New CAD Geek

Manage the Lifecycle of any Document

2009-10-26T15:11:00.008-04:00

With the advent of the Vault 2010 products from Autodesk, most people have realized the potential for using Vault to manage their drawing release process. What many people don't immediately realize is how Vault can also be used to manage the lifecycle of other document types as well.

This can be a great advantage to groups outside of engineering who need secure access to data beyond CAD, and who also need to contribute their own documents relevant to a product. As an example, marketing could load a design specification document into Vault that then gets attached to the master engineering CAD data to track the relationship between these documents and any changes to either of them.

Check out this video showing the modification and addition of non-CAD files to Vault:

Watch Video Here

Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

iLogic Part 3 - iLogic Rules!

2009-10-23T12:50:00.000-04:00

iLogic rules are used to manipulate design elements in a model based on different user input. The ability to write rules in iLogic adds endless possibilities to the way we can manipulate our designs. The iLogic interface for writing rules provides us with many of the functions, feature lists, etc. that are needed to quickly and accurately control the design. This makes it much easier to automate designs based on engineering criteria. Although many have found that some basic programming experience can go a long way, many will find that it is not required to get iLogic to do what you need it to do. We are going to look at creating some simple rules to change our fence design based on the iLogic parameters we created in Part 2.

Check out why iLogic rules Here!

Added By Rodney, another one of those CAD Geeks.

Would you like to find clashes within your digital factories?

2009-10-22T08:51:00.001-04:00

Autodesk Navisworks Manage can find clashes or interferences between any of the 3D file formats that it can read. This enables more effective identification, inspection, and reporting of interferences in a 3D project. Navisworks Manage can do this in seconds instead waiting until its being built.

Let's take a look at how easy and fast this can be accomplished
http://www.screencast.com/t/gflri9Sfmi
Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

Where did all my menu items go?

2009-10-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

Have you ever gone into a menu and discovered what you are looking for is not there? This can be VERY frustrating for new users who are not aware of Alias's Short & Long Menus preference. The Short Menus give you an abreviated menu set that is supposed to make the interface less cluttered. I dislike this option and always change my interface to show Long Menus. This will guarantee I see everything whenever I open a menu.

Long Menus can be found by going to, Preferences -> Menus -> Long Menus

Created by Aaron... Your Alias CAD Geek!

Vault Workspace File Management

2009-10-20T15:52:00.001-04:00

Check out this quick video describing how to use Windows file attribute values to assist in the management of the local Vault workspace.

Created by Pete one of the Cad Geeks

It's not just stress that produces instability

2009-10-19T15:48:00.006-04:00

In the Inventor Simulation Suite and Inventor Professional, the FEA solver can determine if a design will fail due to a high stress in the model, but this might only be half the story. If the model is in compression and is a thin or elongated structure, the model could fail due to its structural instability (Buckling) rather than deformation due to high stress. The Autodesk Algor solution includes critical buckling analysis to ensure this won't be the primary mode of failure.

Thin walled plastic parts or sheet metal could be susceptible to buckling as well as traditional problems like truss or structural frame design.

While the structure below might have a high safety factor of 30 or more for the stress analysis, the buckling analysis shows only a multiplier of 27. This indicates that the structure could fail due to buckling rather than only exceeding the yield point of the material.

Contributed by Ben of the Tata Technologies CAD Geeks

iLogic Part 2 - Parameters are Key!

2009-10-16T15:30:00.001-04:00

In my last post we took a look at the iLogic interface and some of the tools available to us. This week we are going to learn about iLogic parameters. Knowing how to create iLogic parameters is one of the first steps to effectively using the product for design automation. iLogic Parameters allow us to easily create Boolean, and Multi-value type parameters to control our models. These parameters tied to iLogic Rules will give designers, engineers, and maybe potential customers a quick an effective way to pick options with in a design.

Find out why iLogic parameters are key Here!

Added By Rodney, another one of those CAD Geeks.

Navisworks - Adding Hyperlinks

2009-10-15T09:19:00.015-04:00

As were all aware that Navisworks is a great tool for handling large amounts of data for visualization, timeline reviews and animation. One item we often over look is how much extra information we can link to our file. Today's example is adding hyperlinks to our data. The use of this feature adds great benefits to our data giving us the ability to link photos, office documents and websites to various components within our data set. Making the use of Navisworks that more compelling to be used for a Master File for any project.

Let's take a look!!!
http://www.screencast.com/t/XN6VBTy8
Created by Dave one of the Cad Geeks

Ask the Tata Technologies CAD Geeks

All my favorite videos (Autodesk Manufacturing related)

Panel Components - Mount and Group Codes

Security Model example in Vault Collaboration

Are you a CAD Geek Ninja ? .........stay tuned for more info

Backups? Vault Backups?

Navisworks - Automatic Animations Part 1

What hardware will run Alias effectively?

Hey, where is my command in the Inventor 2010 Ribbon Interface?

Determining Change Impact with Vault

Where are all the Alias Tutorials???

Navisworks - Bringing it all Together

Who renamed my assembly components?

Breaking Down the "L" in PLM

iLogic Part 4 - Tips & Tricks

Navisworks - Adding Mark-ups to a Project

***New*** Online Showcase Training Course

Libraries Per Project

Manage the Lifecycle of any Document

iLogic Part 3 - iLogic Rules!

Would you like to find clashes within your digital factories?

Where did all my menu items go?

Vault Workspace File Management

It's not just stress that produces instability

iLogic Part 2 - Parameters are Key!

Navisworks - Adding Hyperlinks

New Online Showcase Training Course