Updates / Evernote / New Software

So, lots of goings on in the Mac n CAD / IMPACT Designs world right now.

As part of my new years tech-solution, I’ve been trying to use Evernote as my new note tool. Why? Well, I like Apple’s Notes with iCloud. I like the synching, I like the versatility. For example, few people know you can insert images into your Apple Notes, or even copy and paste entire web pages for off-line reading. So why switch to Evernote? Well, frankly, it does all that and more. I can insert images and PDF’s, word docs or other files and they act like attachments, effecting acting as a low-level file management service I can access on my iOS devices as well. Also, with the business class account, I can mark up these images and pdf’s. The fact I can mark up BOTH image files and PDF’s is kind of rare in most note or markup tools to begin with, and it’s not even it’s primary purpose.

I use apps like GoodReader and PDFExpert on a daily basis, but neither markup images. In the field, I find I often take pictures of my surroundings and want to markup these snapshots with toes and dimensions. I’ve found Evernote to be better for taking these snapshots, adding text and dimensions, as well as making other notes regarding the site. I also chose to purchase the Jot Script Stylus. It is a bluetooth stylus with a nib the size of a normal pen tip. Right now, it only works in supported apps like Penultimate, but since penultimate syncs with Evernote automatically, all my notes go right into my Evernote account. Because the stylus connects through bluetooth, it has great palm rejection which allows for a much more natural writing / drawing experience. It senses the stylus on the screen and rejects everything else, palm and finger contact, so you don’t accidentally draw a line when trying to pan around your note. I put this through it’s paces at a class I recently attended to learn a new CAD software . . .

Which brings me to my next update. I’ve expanded my CAD software background and added Vectorworks from Nemetscheck to my repertoire. I attended a week long training at their facility in Columbia, MD and had a wonderful time learning the software. I’m incorporating Vectorworks in my workflow and will be creating some training videos as well. Why Vectorworks? Isn’t that like jumping ship to the competition from my beloved AutoCAD for Mac? Not really. Personally, based on my experience with Vectorworks so far, I find they occupy two different areas in drafting and design. This may change as I gain more proficiency with Vectorworks, but right now I find Vectorworks is more closely related to Revit than AutoCAD. I’ve always considered AutoCAD the most ubiquitous CAD program in terms of a catch all-do all CAD program. It can do architecture, mechanical engineering, civil, landscape, telecommunications, 3D, detailing, and beyond. It is designed as an allegory to pen on paper. Vectorworks, Revit, Inventor, Solidworks and the like are industry specific programs that help an architect or engineer design in there specific trade. They tend not to do well crossing over, and most aren’t terribly efficient when it comes to detailing (again, this may change as my experience grows.) So as a draftsman, AutoCAD tends to be more universal, but if I were strictly an architect, I might do better with using Vectorworks or Revit, but it very much depends on the type of design you are doing. I’ll be delving in to Vectorworks more over the coming weeks and as my experience grows I will continue to share my opinions and reviews.

One last tidbit. I was able to pickup one of the Macbook Pro thunderbolt docks I had previously mentioned, the LandingZone Dock. So far, I have mixed feelings. The build quality doesn’t seem to be the best, and I had some trouble getting the connections to line up properly when docking, and there also seems to be some interference on one of the thunderbolt connections causing some display distortions. I’m going to return this one for an exchange and see if the distortion occurs on another unit. Otherwise, the unit functions as advertised and I can see the allure in one of these docks if you use your Macbook Pro in multiple locations.

So, that’ it for today. Obviously my week long training took some time away from the blog and my other work, but I’ll have some more in-depth reviews of Evernote, Vectorworks and the dock coming soon, so stay tuned!

Thunderbolt Update #2 and a quick poll

So, looking at my site stats, my Thunderbolt posts seem to the most popular. Yesterday I got an update (and a bit of a shock) so let’s run through some Thunderbolt docks, shall we?

Running through the docks I mentioned in my last update:

• Sonnet Echo 15 and Echo 15 Pro – Still no update. In Mid-October they promised an update before Mid-December . . . 
  
• Caldigit Thunderbolt station – This is shipping now according to the site. $199 for 3x USB3.0, TB passthrough, HDMI, ethernet and audio ports
• Hengedocks Horizontal Dock – Hmm. They seemed to have combined the two docks they had previously teased, maybe. Essentially, they had 2 horizontal docks listed, one for $249 and one “with Thunderbolt” for $349. Now, they have just a Horizontal Dock with Thunderbolt starting at $249, and still available “2014” (previously, the non-thunderbolt dock, which I still don’t know what that meant, was going to be available Q3 2013.) So, still vaporware.

So, 3 months after my last post, not much has changed. Very disappointing. However, the other day I saw an article at Cult of Mac talking about a new dock from Akitio called the Thunder Dock. 2x USB3.0 ports, Firewire 800, Thunderbolt Passthrough and eSATA. Not bad, but a bit expensive at $269, especially for only 2 USB3.0 ports, but the eSATA is a nice touch. In the article, the author mentions a dock called the LandingZone Dock, though for the Macbook Air. Upon visiting their site, they make a dock very similar to the one Hengedocks has been promising for a year, but they ARE SHIPPING! So, the LandingZone Dock has 3x USB3.0 ports, 2x USB2.0 ports, Ethernet, HDMI, Audio, and a Mini-Display Port. Now, one thing that is nice is the unit only seems to cover 1 of your thunderbolt ports, so even though it has no passthrough, you can still use your other thunderbolt port. This is a little confusing though, as the port is specifically labeled as a Mini-Display Port, but the descriptions talk about connecting your Thunderbolt device, specifically to the Mini Display port, and chaining them for increased power. Very odd. The photo angle is also little deceiving, but it does look like it covers the HDMI port, so it’s not adding one, just redirecting it. This unit is $199 and they also offer educational pricing.

So, for those looking for a more dock-like dock for their Macbook Pro with Retina, we now have a shipping contender. If anyone knows of any other Thunderbolt docks on the market, please pass them along so I can include them in my lists.

Also, real quick. I’ve been mixing up my posts with videos as well as written posts. Which do you prefer? Please take a second and vote!

Post-Holiday Update

Just wanted to post a quick update now that the craziness of the holidays is over. A few things I’ll be working on / posting about in the coming days / weeks:

• I have been working on a solution to printing / marking up DWF files on the Mac. It’s been some running around, searching, etc but I’m making some progress. If you know of anyone who has a DWF program on the PC they like or manage please get in touch. I’m not going to be creating / developing a new app if I can help it, so I don’t plan on charging for my solutions / workarounds, but if a developer has a program that works on the PC side and wants to be included in my solution, I think a lot of traffic / business might come their way if they are the only Mac solution in town.
• I have been updating / modifying some LISP routines for my AutoCAD for Mac LISP library, so keep an eye out for some new routines and as always, if you have a routine I can include / link to please contact me.
• As something of a new years tech resolution, I am trying to bring Evernote into my workflow in a more significant way. I’ve had a free account for a while, but never really integrated it into my daily routines in any significant way. I know it is a very powerful and useful app, so I am attempting to use it to replace a few utilities at once. I’ll be posting a full review soon, as well as my first impressions of the new Adonit Jot Script, which is a stylus which is supposed to work hand-in-hand with Evernote and some other Evernote apps like Penultimate. It should be arriving in the mail today, so I’ll be playing with it over the next few days and comparing the stylus to my other styli of choice.
• I’ll also have some Lynda updates coming soon, so stay tuned.

That’s it for now. I’ll have some more posts coming up in the next week, so stay tuned as always!

LISP Library

I mentioned in my last post wanting to create a place for AutoCAD for Mac users to go for info and help, and the first page in this new effort is up.

On the menu bar, you should see a new page called LISP for Mac, on which is a list of routines I’ve gathered from various sites that I’ve tested in AutoCAD for Mac and work. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I want to provide a list of routines that are “vanilla” LISP only; no outside calls like .NET, VBA or anything else, so that us Mac users can find routines that work. This list took hours to create, mostly visiting freeware and shareware sites, downloading routines, checking to make sure they are legit, testing them, and finding most are not plain LISP at all, and discarding them. I filtered out routines that were encrypted and had no description (meaning I couldn’t tell what they were really doing.)

Some of the routines take the place or offer similar functionality to those found in Express Tools, like burst, txt2mtxt and arc text. Others are just handy little routines for drawing arc leaders, adding prefixes or suffixes to text or similar. There are a number of routines I am currently editing myself right now, and ones I’ve asked other users / programmers to help with to recreate other Express Tools or other missing features, like TCirlce, Tcount, and chspace. Some of these are more complicated than others, but if you have any routines that work in AutoCAD for Mac that perform these functions or ANYTHING useful really, please send them for inclusion. I give credit to the sites where I obtained these from if possible, but I can also host the file for download directly from this site.

Let’s keep the list growing and share the page so we can help the library become the comprehensive list I hope it to be. Thanks!

Quick Post-AU Update

 

So I’m still recovering after a wonderfully busy Autodesk University 2013. I attended a number of meetings, mostly AutoCAD for Mac related, as well as meeting Carl Bass (CEO of Autodesk) attending a few classes and even teaching a few.

I met a lot of Mac users and a few thinking about switching. Most of the feedback sessions and meetings I attended focused on what features AutoCAD for Mac is missing, and which ones should be included in the next release. There were a few consistent features that were requested over and over, so I’ve made it something of a personal mission to see AutoCAD for Mac become equal to and surpass AutoCAD on the PC both in capability (and hopefully adoption.)

That said, as part of my “mission” I’m attempting to find and consolidate workarounds and training materials for AutoCAD for Mac. I’ve found a lack of a centralized library of information for learning and using AutoCAD for Mac. While Autodesk’s Forums are a wonderful place to ask questions, I want to provide a repository for people to access LISP routines, techniques, and other methods for working on AutoCAD for Mac. To that end I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few days surfing the web, pulling LISP routines together, testing them, tweaking them, discarding them, and starting over. I have a library of useful tools I’m going to put on a new page here on Mac N CAD, specifically for all the routines that work in AutoCAD for Mac (meaning no other programming languages, just straight LISP.) Some add functionality similar to Express Tools, like the burst tool, others add new functionality. So, if you have ANY tools that you would like to add, please email me directly at jim@impactdesigns.biz and I will see that they are added to the list.

So, check back here very soon for some new pages, and some new tips and tricks!

Alt Options Quick Tip

A quick tip on the power of the Alt / Option key in Mac OS X.

Lynda video and Fn Key switcher app

Today’s tip / video involves creating your very own app that will automatically switch the functions keys on your Mac OS X keyboard from media keys (volume, display brightness, etc) to standard function keys so you can control Ortho, Osnaps and other functions using the standard keys in AutoCAD for Mac.

Go here to see the Lynda.com course on the New Features of AutoCAD for Mac 2014.

Here is script #1:

tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell

 

tell application "System Events"
if UI elements enabled then
tell tab group 1 of window "Keyboard" of process "System Preferences"
click checkbox "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys"
end tell
else
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane ¬
to pane "com.apple.preference.universalaccess"
display dialog ¬
"UI element scripting is not enabled. Check \"Enable access for assistive devices\""
end tell
end if
end tell

tell application "System Preferences"
quit
end tell

Here is script #2:

tell application "System Preferences"
reveal anchor "keyboardTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
click checkbox 1 of tab group 1 of window 1
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"

Thunderbolt Dock update . . .

 

Update

Wow! I can’t believe it has been 6 months since I’ve been on here!

Obviously, a lot has happened it that time, so lets run though a few things:

• Mavericks was announced and released
• AutoCAD for Mac 2014 was released
• The iPhone 5s, iPad Air were announced and released
• The Mac Pro was announced!

So, quite a lot has been revealed from both Apple and Autodesk. I’ll be posting some more in depth reviews of most of these soon, so stay tuned. For now, some quick thoughts:

• Mavericks is nice, love the multi monitor support, but wish it could be tweaked a little. I like the menu bar / dock on multiple screens, but with I could set each monitor as the same space and retain the full screen app support.
• iOS 7 is pretty nifty. It replaced 90% of what I used to jailbreak for, namely control center, daily info on the lock screen. However, I’d love to keep the calendar on my lock screen at all times, and I miss quick-reply to SMS in the lock screen.
• The 5s is great, the TouchID sensor is very sleek, but I did some work in my yard and got a cut on my thumb and it didn’t work on that finger for 2 weeks. Nothing drastic, I could still log in with the code or use 2 other fingers, but obviously is a an un-overcomable issue with fingerprint readers.
• The iPad Air is incredibly light! I picked up a mini for a week trip and loved the size / weight, but the new Air is to me the perfect solution. As light as the mini, but the larger screen of the full iPad.
• I REALLY want a new Mac Pro. If anyone has the means and wants to supply one for extensive long term testing and review, I am more than happy to oblige.

I’ll have an update on the Thunderbolt dock situation as well as my reviews of all the new products and softwares coming soon so stay tuned!

Quick update / New Tech

Few quick updates –

• I’ve begun recording some quick video tutorials thanks to my new Logitech HD webcam and Yeti Microphone, using Camtasia. Look for some new tips and demonstrations coming soon!
• We’ve scheduled the next meet up for AutoCAD for Mac users in DC for June 4, so if you are in the Baltimore / DC metro come on out!
• I’m working on about 5  new classes for Autodesk University this year. Lots to do, but some great information I want to pass along.
• I’m on vacation next week, but while I’m chilling on the beach I’ll be coming up with new content. I’ve been more active here for the past month, but that’s only going to increase.

Also, looking at new technologies coming down the road, this article over at Core77 looks at a new stylus / ruler combo that Adobe has been working on. This looks like awesome technology, and the fact they are using an iPad and iPhone in the demo makes them that much cooler. The video isn’t terribly well shot since you can’t see half the stuff he is doing or what his hands are doing with the Napoleon, but as a tech teaser this is pretty sweet. I’d love to see some similar tech be integrated with Mac OS X and be used for things like Sketchbook.