Monthly Archives: December 2016

Merry Christmas!

Or choose whatever you prefer as your greeting:

Geseënde Kersfees
Joyeux Noël
Glædelig Jul
Feliz NatalCrăciun Fericit
සුබ නත්තලක් වේවා
Puthuvalsara Aashamsakal
Wesołych Świąt
Nollick Ghennal
Alassë a Hristomerendë
Feliĉan Kristnaskon
Среќен Божик
Selamat Natal
Joyeux Noël
Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal
Veselé Vánoce
Suk sarn warn Christmas
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
メリークリスマス
Cualli netlācatilizpan
Meri Kirihimete
Kirîsmes u ser sala we pîroz be

Счастливого рождества!
Христос се роди
शुभ क्रिसमस
عيد ميلاد مجيد
Hyvää joulua
toDwI’ma’ qoS yItIvqu’
Καλά Χριστούγεννα
聖誕快樂
Mutlu Noeller
Izilokotho Ezihle Zamaholdeni
Feliz Navidad
חג מולד שמח
Sretan Božić
God Jul
Schöni Wiehnachte
메리 크리스마스
Gledelig Jul
መልካም ገና!
Frohe Weihnachten
Веселого Різдва
Vesel Božič
Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Happy holidays
Iselogbe
圣诞快乐
Zalig Kerstfeest
Krismasasya shubhkaamnaa
ਕਰਿਸਮ ਤੇ ਨਵਾੰ ਸਾਲ ਖੁਸ਼ਿਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ
کرسمس
djoyeus Noyé
Priecïgus Ziemassvºtkus
Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket
Nadolig Llawen
Frohe Weihnachten
Nollaig Chridheil
Felicem Diem Nativitatis
क्रस्मसको शुभकामना
Chuć Mưǹg Giańg Sinh
Gozhqq Keshmish
کرسمس مبارک
გილოცავ შობა-ახალ წელს
Buon Natale
শুভ বড়দিন

AutoCAD 2017.1.1 Update

9 Replies

Thanks to Jimmy Bergmark, I now know that the controversial subscription-only* AutoCAD 2017.1 Update has itself been updated. Jimmy was brave enough to install and run the execrable Autodesk desktop app and discovered the update update. Rather you than me, Jimmy!

Here’s the readme. You’ll need to get at it using Autodesk Account.

I note that a bunch of crashes are fixed by this update update. Perhaps that is related to the magical missing AutoCAD 2017.1 crash information? Who knows?

The update was apparently released over a month ago on 17 November 2016. Autodesk needs to work out an alternative mechanism to Autodesk desktop app so that those of us who won’t/can’t use it will still be informed when updates become available. If only there were some other method Autodesk could use to communicate with customers! Too hard, apparently.

* not really

AutoCAD 2017 for Mac released, still half-baked

4 Replies

AutoCAD 2017 for Mac and AutoCAD LT 2017 for Mac have been released. Here’s a video highlighting exciting and innovative new features such as drawing and layout tabs. Despite such stellar advances, it’s safe to say that AutoCAD for Mac remains half-baked, even after all these years. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

According to Autodesk, these are the features missing from AutoCAD 2017 for Mac:

LAYDEL, LAYMRG, LAYWALK and LAYVPI
Tool palettes
New layer notification
Navigation bar
ShowMotion
Ribbon*
DesignCenter**
Sheet Set Manager***
Steering wheel
Feature finder for help
Model documentation tools
Dynamic block lookup parameter creation/editing
Table style editing
Multiline style creation
Digitizer integration
Geographic location
Simplified, powerful rendering
Material creation, editing, and mapping
Advanced rendering settings
Camera creation
Point cloud
Walkthroughs, flybys, and animations
DWF underlays
DGN underlays
Hyperlinks
Data extraction
Markup set manager
dbConnect manager
WMF import and export
FBX import and export
Design feed
Import SketchUp files (SKP)
Design share
3D print studio
Reference Navisworks models
Right-click menus, keyboard shortcuts, and double-click customization
VisualLISP
.NET
VBA
DCL dialogs
Action recorder and action macros
Reference manager (stand-alone application)
Password-protected drawings
Digital signatures
Workspaces
User profiles
Autodesk desktop app
Migration tool enhancements
CAD standards tools
CUI import and export
BIM 360 add-in
Performance Reporting
Sysvar monitor

* To be fair, AutoCAD 2017 for Mac does have a Ribbonesque feature, albeit one that that looks more like the pre-2009 Dashboard than the Windows-style Ribbon.

** Autodesk claims Content Palette to be roughly equivalent to DesignCenter, but it claimed that (wrongly) about the awful and short-lived Content Explorer. It’s wrong here too; Content Palette on Mac has nowhere near the functionality of DesignCenter on Windows.

*** Autodesk claims AutoCAD for Mac’s Project Manager is functionally equivalent to the missing Sheet Set Manager.

Also, some PDF export features don’t work when plotting, only when using Publish.

No workspaces? No model documentation? No hyperlinks? No table style editing? Various kinds of reference files unsupported? No Visual LISP or DCL? Still? Come on Autodesk, you’re not even trying.

That’s before we get on to the lack of third party applications, vertical variants and object enablers. Is Autodesk expecting full price for this thing? Really?

It’s not all bad news, though. Not having Autodesk desktop app is no handicap at all. Also, according to Autodesk the following features are unique to AutoCAD for Mac:

Coverflow navigation
Multitouch gestures
External reference path mapping
OpenGL Core Profile support
OS notification for updates
Language switching in product

Well that’s all right, then.

Autodesk to pull the plug on 123D

2 Replies

The reason you should never rely on SaaS for anything important is that, well, you just can’t rely on it. If the software breaks, or the vendor goes under, or decides that line’s not profitable enough, or just loses interest, you’re screwed. More importantly, you’re screwed on a timeframe that’s out of your control, and probably much shorter than you would like. You can’t just go on using the software until you’re ready to move on, like you can with perpetual licenses.

Thanks for the latest lesson, Autodesk, regarding 123D:

Over the past few years, millions of people have unlocked their creativity with the Autodesk 123D apps and community. We’ve grown from one desktop tool in 2011 to multiple apps across desktop, web, and mobile.

We’re incredibly proud of these products, and even more proud of what you all have MADE with them. But we recognize that the portfolio has become complex. We are making some changes to simplify our Autodesk portfolio and workflows for people everywhere who love to make things. We are consolidating these tools and features into key apps such as Tinkercad, Fusion 360, and ReMake.

Today, we are sharing the news that in early 2017, after we complete this consolidation, we’ll be shutting down 123dApp and turning off many of the apps to new download. Rest assured that we remain committed to providing free tools to hobbyists, kids, hackers, and makers around the world. We value you, your models, and are going to do this consolidation in the right way.

You’ll be able to access and download your content from 123dApp in the coming months. We will make every effort to make sure you will be notified before we make any changes to the apps or website.

What’s next? We’ll be working closely with you, the 123D Community of users, to make sure your questions are answered. We’ll be sharing more details on this blog and our support forums, and will notify you when we start to implement changes.

Autodesk is committed to help people make anything and we are committed to help you continue to do just that. Look for more detailed information in the next few days, weeks and months.

–The Autodesk 123D Team

Whether Autodesk’s definition of “the right way” coincides with that of users remains to be seen. Of course, Autodesk 123D is free and you get what you (don’t) pay for. But if you think Autodesk won’t do this with its paid SaaS products, you’re dreaming. The same applies to any vendor, but Autodesk in particular has a horrible history of killing products and leaving masses of crying orphans to fend for themselves.

Steve’s fencing year 2016

Australian Fencing Circuit 1, Melbourne, Australia

Veteran Men’s Sabre – Bronze and 50+ Gold

Asian Masters / Oceania and AFC 3 Veterans, Perth, Australia

Asian Masters / Oceania Veteran / AFC3 Veteran Men’s Sabre (50+) – Gold
Asian Masters / Oceania Veteran / AFC3 Veteran Men’s Foil (50+) – Bronze
Asian Masters / Oceania Veteran Men’s Sabre Teams (Australia A) – Gold
Asian Masters / Oceania Veteran Men’s Foil Teams (Australia Green) – Bronze

Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships, Christchurch*, New Zealand

Men’s Sabre (50+) – Gold
Men’s Sabre Teams (Australia) – Gold
Men’s Foil Teams (Australia) – Gold

* I flew into Christchurch the day after the earthquake.

Australian Open and Veteran Fencing Championships**, Canberra, Australia

Open Men’s Sabre Teams (Western Australia) – Silver
Veteran Men’s Sabre – 50+ Gold
Veteran Men’s Foil – Silver and 50+ Gold
Veteran Sabre Teams (Western Australia – Captain) – Gold
Veteran Epee Teams (Western Australia – Captain) – Gold
Veteran Foil Teams (Western Australia – Captain) – Bronze

** At these Championships I fenced in 11 events and came away with 7 medals, which I believe is a men’s record for Australian events.

So among other things, I’m 50+ Sabre Champion of Australia, Oceania, Asia and the Commonwealth. The Western Australia Championships were also awarded a couple of weeks ago, where I won Veteran Championships in all three weapons and the Master-at-Arms (all-rounder) Championship. All-in-all, a pretty good year!

BricsCAD startup LISP bug fixed

Autodesk perpetual license owners to get screwed big-time

91 Replies

Hidden in amongst a bunch of the usual highly dubious subscription statements from Carl Bass is an announcement that spells doom for Autodesk perpetual license owners. I will resist the temptation to skewer Carl’s spin (for now) because this announcement is much more important:

Bass also confirmed that the company plans to converge the two existing subscription models — maintenance and product subscriptions — into a single offering over the next two years. “If you look out to fiscal year 2020, we want to be in a place where, first of all, we have a single kind of offering with a single back office and infrastructure to support it, one that will be a combination of product subscriptions as you see them plus a consumption model on top of it. That’s where we see the business heading.

“Along the way, it’s how do we motivate customers to move from one model to another in the program, what are the price points, and how does that transition work? In our mind, getting to a single model is really important. It will give the best service to our customers, it will be the most affordable for us to have, [and] we can start getting rid of some of the systems that were designed for a different era and concentrate on giving a world-class experience to users.”

Translation: Autodesk is going to drive up prices of maintenance subscription (perpetual license keeping-up-to-date fee) to match the much higher prices of product subscription (rental). Maintenance subscription will then be merged into oblivion. Your return on your long-term investment in Autodesk software will be zero. Your reward for decades of loyalty to Autodesk will be to have your software costs blown through the roof.

If you’re not already making plans to abandon the Autodesk ship, you really need to do so now. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Don’t say Carl didn’t warn you.

Get out or get screwed big-time. I mean, get out or get motivated to transition into a world-class experience.

I have a real problem with BricsCAD

3 Replies

To be precise, I have a real problem with writing about BricsCAD. I’ve written some pretty complimentary things about BricsCAD lately. In the interests of balance, I’ve been intending to write about some of the issues people can expect to deal with when moving from AutoCAD to BricsCAD. Such issues certainly exist. The problem I have with that is that the issues keep going away!

Here’s how it usually goes. I find a problem in BricsCAD. I submit a support request. Within hours, I get a meaningful response from a person who understands the issue. Within days, I’m informed it’s been fixed internally and the fix will be in the next update. Within a week or two, that update is released. I download and install the updated version. It’s basically a full reinstall, but all settings are seamlessly retained and it’s faster and less painful than an AutoCAD Service Pack installation. The whole thing from start of download to completion typically takes 5 or 6 minutes. The problem is gone, and I have nothing to write about!

Here’s the latest interaction. This is typical, and has been repeated many times:

Steve Johnson
05-12-2016 05:30 UTC
I don’t know if this is a BricsCAD problem or a DOSLib one, so I am reporting it to both Bricsys and Dale at McNeel. I’m also not sure if this was happening in earlier versions.

If I load DOSLib during an S::STARTUP call and then use the (dos_msgbox) function later in that call, this fails the first time round because BricsCAD things the function is not defined. Opening a second drawing results in the call working as expected. I’ve chopped down our startup routine so you have an example.

; error : no function definition ; expected FUNCTION at [eval]

Awesome Bricsys Person
05-12-2016 12:32 UTC
Hi Steve,

There was a regression introduced in V17.1.10 that caused startup code to execute too early under certain conditions, before the lisp engine document context was properly initialized. This has been fixed now for the next update.

Steve Johnson
06-12-2016 02:43 UTC
I must say, the responses I’ve been getting to my support requests have been absolutely bloody brilliant. Cheers!

Now, can you imagine the same scenario with Autodesk? I’m sure many of you have lived through it. First thing would be an automated response. A day or two later would be a confused support person coming up with totally unrelated links to Knowledgebase articles. A series of increasingly frustrating back-and-forth emails might go on for days or weeks until the Autodesk person finally plays their trump card, blaming the third-party routine (incorrectly) and/or stating that they don’t support users’ customization.

Such a problem would stay in AutoCAD indefinitely. Repeated reports, year after year, using subscription support and the forums and formal reporting mechanism in the Autodesk Beta program, would make no difference. Eventually I would give up and the problem would never get fixed. Again, this is typical, and has been repeated many times. This applies to bugs, incompatibilities, feature design, performance issues, user interface difficulties, documentation system idiocy, you name it. It’s massively frustrating and I know many very smart people who have given up even trying. The only exception is documentation content; that gets fixed as soon as possible, within the limitations imposed by Autodesk’s arcane systems.

The difference in attitude between Autodesk and Bricsys is glaring, stark, obvious. Autodesk pays lip service to providing customer service and software quality. Bricsys just gets on and does it.

cad nauseam

Mostly AutoCAD, BricsCAD and related subjects