AutoCAD 2011 is out and it has been given several updates.  It seems that recent new AutoCAD releases have had, generally speaking, two major new features added to it.  AutoCAD 2010 had mesh modeling and parametric constraints added to it.  AutoCAD 2009 had the Ribbon and the Action Recorder, though, the Action Recorder has a lot of potential, many users consider it a bust (I don’t, I think it’s great).  Perhaps the same goes for the ribbon as well.  Face it, CAD users don’t like change.  Every release with a major change has had more than its fair share of gripes and groans.

AutoCAD 2011 has two major updates, surface modeling, and a culmination of document tools.  There really isn’t one major new documentation feature (except maybe the transparency setting that is now available,) but instead there are several additions and tweaks that separately are weak, but together make AutoCAD 2011 the best AutoCAD yet!


This is the first article in a series that will closely look at the new features.  I don’t want to give a list of what’s new, but instead, I want to go in-depth and show you each new enhancement.  Some of the articles will cover one new item while others will look at several.  Some new features may even span more than one article.  If you haven’t installed your copy of AutoCAD 2011 yet, do so now.  As a CAD user of over 17 years, this latest release really has me smiling.  Yes I’m an AutoCAD fanboy, but just wait.  Even if you aren’t into the heavy features of AutoCAD (then shame on you for not using the tools you have paid for) you are still going to love the “little things” that are in AutoCAD 2011.

AutoCAD 2011 background & grid are different

Let’s get started.  One of the very first things you may notice in AutoCAD 2011 is the background color.  Yet again Autodesk has seen it fit to change the color, though this time it is more subtle.  It is now a dark gray.  I don’t know why they insist on changing it almost every release, but they do.  It’s ok really, because it is easy enough to change to whatever color you want.  I have a post (click here) that describes the process.  The post is for AutoCAD 2009, but the process is the same for AutoCAD 2011.

Another thing you are going to notice is that there is an actual grid when you turn the grid display feature on!  Out of the box it is on.  Also notice the UCS Icon, it too looks different.  No more cones at the ends, just lines, one for the X Axis and one for the Y Axis.  The grid is colored green on the Y Axis and red on the X Axis.  This is nice because it helps them to stand out, I guess.  This makes the background look more like old fashioned graph paper.  Funny how over the years there have been more and more items in AutoCAD to make its drawings look more “hand drawn” than before.

And since we are on the UCS Icon, the 3D Gizmos have been tweaked a bit too.  Each one is a bit more distinct so that it is easier to tell them apart.  They are also more consistent with their functions.  The axis colors match the UCS icon, and each gizmo looks much more different from the others.  They are still easy to use, go to the Ribbon (in the 3D Modeling Workspace), Home Tab, Subobject Panel.  Expand it, and go to the Gizmo Command.  Select which Gizmo you want to use, now select a 3D object.  The gizmo you picked should pop up.  If not, select the object first, then pick the Gizmo.  Keep the object selected, now pick a different Gizmo, it changes.  If you need to switch between Gizmos, it’s easy.  Just pick the one you want.

The 3D Gizmos

One more highly visible change is in the navigation tools.  By default, there is now a Navigation Bar tool.  This bar has some of the most frequently used navigation tools in it.  It has:  Steering Wheel, View Cube, ShowMotion, Pan, Zoom, and Orbit.  These items used to be in the status bar; they aren’t anymore.  You can turn the navigation bar off and on if it gets in your way.  You can dock the Navigation Bar on the top, bottom, left or right side of the drawing window.  You can also control what navigation tools are displayed.  To change the nav bar, click on the arrow at the bottom of the navigation bar.  This brings up the settings dialog box.  You can also control which version of each command is visible.  Pick which Zoom Command you want to use, though all are available.  The same goes with the orbit command as well as the other tools.  The ViewCube has been enhanced to support the 2D Wireframe view style.  This allows you to rotate your viewport on a two dimensional plane.  One last thing, if you are using a 3D Connexion device, controls for it will show up in the Navigation Bar.

The new Navigation Bar

That’s it for now.  We will get into the other new features and enhancements in later posts.  What have you used so far?  What do you like or dislike about AutoCAD 2011?

Happy Cadding

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Over several posts, CAD-a-Blog has been taking a close look at the new features in AutoCAD 2011. This post will be the last in the series. Here we will take a look at the many additions to the three-dimensional capabilities that were added to AutoCAD. Yes I said 3D! Autodesk added several new tools and 3D features to AutoCAD 2011. There are two 3D workspaces right out of the box, new solid modeling tools, surface modeling capability, analysis tools, more mesh modeling, and point clouds. Wow! Can we still call this AutoCAD? Of course we can! Lets get started.

Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six



3D workspaces

AutoCAD has custom workspaces. Out of the box, AutoCAD 2011 comes with four of them; Classic, 2D Drafting and Annotation, 3D Basics, and 3D Modeling. The 3D Basics workspace provides you with, well, the basic tools you need to create 3D models. The 3D Modeling workspace gives you access to all of the 3D tools and visualization features in AutoCAD.

 

Figure 1 (Click to enlarge): The 3D Modeling workspace contains every 3D modeling and visualization tool available in AutoCAD.

3D object snaps

Object snaps have been available in AutoCAD for a long time. Now there are 3D object snaps. They work the same way, but you can toggle them on and off just as you could "regular" Osnaps. These new snaps have their own settings, status bar icon toggle, and are in the shift-right-click shortcut menu. When activated (by clicking on the 3D Osnap icon in the status bar) you can snap to a vertex, midpoint on an edge, center of a face, knot, perpendicular, and to the nearest face. The F4 key toggles 3D Osnaps on/off. Type 3DOSNAP to get to the settings window. Here you can check on/off which 3D Osnap to have active.

Solid modeling tools

These tools arent new, just improved. These tools include Extrude, Loft, Revolve, and Sweep. Youve used these tools many times, but now you can select an edge or sub-object as a profile or curve in order to create a new surface. You arent limited to using planar curves anymore. This new feature gives you much more flexibility when creating 3D objects.
Solid editing has new finishing tools. In the Solid tab on the ribbon you will find the new Fillet Edge and Chamfer Edge commands. They work just like their 2D cousins, but in three dimensions. They also have a preview feature that helps you make sure you have things set right before you edit the 3D model you are trying to fillet or chamfer.

Figure 2 (Click to enlarge): Use the Fillet Edge or Chamfer Edge commands to modify 3D objects.

Surface Modeling

AutoCAD has had 3D solids for some time. AutoCAD 2010 gave us mesh objects. AutoCAD 2011 gives us two different types of surfaces: Procedural Surfaces and NURBS. Procedural surfaces are associative and retain history. NURBS (non-uniform rational b-spline) are not associative, have no history, but they do have control vertices. These vertices give you the ability to sculpt or shape your surfaces more freely.

Surface creation tools

So much has been added to surfaces in AutoCAD 2011. You can create surfaces in different ways and you can also create three different analytic surface types: Blend, Patch, and Network. A Blend Surface creates a smooth transition between existing surfaces. It fills in the gaps, and you have choices as to how this is done. While creating a blend surface, a grip edit opens up giving you a choice between position, tangent, and curvature. Each choice makes the blend different in ways that will be obvious.

The Patch Surface tool enables you to "patch" an open, closed-edge object. It creates a new patch surface for any bounding edge that is a closed loop.

The Network Surface tool gives you the ability to create a surface through a set of curves in the U and V directions. It works similarly to the Loft command, but is more flexible. You can even choose a selection of curves that are not connected to each other. If you define a network surface with edges from existing surfaces you will get additional grips that enable you to control the continuity between the new surface and the old surfaces.

The SURFOFFSET command (also found in the Create panel of the Surface tab in the ribbon) will let you offset a surface. It creates a new surface that is "parallel" to the old surface at a set distance.

Surface editing tools

AutoCAD 2011 gives us many new tools that allow us to edit these new surfaces we can create. They will be familiar to you. Use the SURFFILLET command to fillet between the edges of two surfaces. I told you it would be familiar! There is also a Trim tool (these can both be found in the Edit panel on the ribbon). The Trim tool will cut a hole in a surface based on the shape of another object. Draw the trimming edge shape, start the Trim tool, pick your trimming edge and then your shape (just like the trim command) and it will cut out a hole in your surface that is shaped like your trimming object. If you made a mistake, you can use the UNTRIM command. The Extend tool allows you to extend a surfaces edge to another object. The Sculpt tool (SURFSCULPT) lets you create a new object based on the enclosed volume of multiple intersecting surfaces. The area must be enclosed for it to work.

Analysis tools

AutoCAD now has a few analysis tools that can help you understand your objects continuity between different surfaces that make up a shape. They are found in the Analysis panel in the Surface tab on the ribbon. The Zebra tool lets you look at a surface continuity by projecting parallel lines on the surface. The Curvature tool displays a color gradient on the surface letting you know where there are high (and low) area of curvature. The Draft tool also displays a gradient color on the surface that enables you to figure out if a model has enough draft between a part and its mold. The displays for these tools are controlled with the Analysis Options dialog box. Get there in the Analysis panel.

Figure 3 (Click to enlarge): The analysis tools in AutoCAD can give you a different visual display of your surfaces.

Mesh Modeling

The Mesh Modeling tools have gotten a bit better in AutoCAD 2011. They provide a more flexibility and give more control. Visit the Mesh tab for these new tools. Use the Merge Mesh tool to merge two or more adjacent faces into a single face. This will make for one larger face and could make things easier to edit. If you want to extrude a face, for example, but the area is currently three or four faces large, merge them into one and have at it.

The Close Hole tool will fill in the gaps between mesh objects by selecting the edges of a surrounding mesh object. A new surface will fill the empty space between the selected edges.
The Collapse Face or Edge tool lets you force vertices of a mesh face to converge at the center of a selected face, or edge. The Spin Triangle Face tool will change the shape of a face by rotating the edge of a triangular mesh face.

Conclusion

AutoCAD 2011 has added many new tools and features to its 3D arsenal. AutoCAD users can now create 3D solids, meshes, and surfaces. Many editing tools have been added as well as creation tools. AutoCAD’s 3D abilities have grown tremendously over the past few releases.

This wraps up our look at the new features in AutoCAD 2011. It was a long journey but this release had many new features. I could have stretched it out even further, but this release is half over! It wont be long before we start talking about the next release of AutoCAD I’m sure.

(Reprinted with permission from Autodesk User Group International - AUGI)

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