Last Day of 2008 – What do you want in Future AutoCAD
I figured on this last day of the year 2008 what better way to look forward than to ask readers what they wanted in the future AutoCAD. Perhaps there is a new feature or function you have long waited for but not seen it in past releases or something you don't want to change. Readers come out of the shadows and let me know what you would like in a future AutoCAD and also mention what version of AutoCAD you are using now. Perhaps you have a cool trick or tip to share with others as that is always a welcomed gift. I know some are on holiday now but for those of us connected currently just select the comment option to this post.
Have a very Safe and Happy New Years and may your 2009 be better than any past year, -Shaan
23 comments
Linetype generation for 3DPolylines with an option to show the linetype as one elevation line in plan view.
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Hello,here is the list I want:
1 Objectarx suport custom entity with c#
2 with Autocad running,not only *.arx but also *.dlls extention can be unloaded.
3 Maybe a 3d toolset like Setchup, with which,people can make 3d models easy and fast.
thanks!
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If the crosshairs are rotated (UCS_Z and/or SNAPANG) and you make a selection, the rectangle for a window or crossing should rotate as well.
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I’ll ditto the linetype generation for 3D polylines, and to carry that over into verticals so that profile lines in Civil 3D obey linetype generation.
But that isn’t my main wish for the year.
I’d love to see more cooperation/coordination between the development teams.
One benefit might be quick adoption of bonus-pack goodies in the verticals, but even that isn’t my point.
The devel teams are like sports league teams. Sure, they all play baseball, but still they are after each other’s throats when it comes to the playoffs and the World Series.
???
One of you might be GRAPE AutoCAD, and the other be BERRY AutoCAD, but you’re all AutoCAD, OK?
Combine your beta-tester teams, from the top vertical all the way down to the vanilla level. Keep the members all year long. (meaning DON’T exclude vertical users from Bonus Pack testing !!!!!! and !!!! and !!!).
Whew!! Take a breath, count to 10…
Shaan, you do a hell of a job. You run a site with some great teams.
The only thing I really see as a problem is that they’re a number of great teams rather than ONE killer team.
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In the Future of AutoCAD I would to see VSTA (Visual Studio Tools for Applications)
Have a great 2009
Cheers,
Filipe Francisco
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Better Mac support!
I (and many more professionals) would love to work without having to lug two machines or with a layer of virtualization, and just be able to dump windows. At least lets start with a DWG viewer, that is better than what’s out there now!
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The ability to use PDF files as raster background.
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Get rid of the Ribbon all together. This wastes too much of a systems resources.
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Now that AutoCAD has a PDF printer (Which works with 64 bit OS, good work!), make the next step and add a PDF to DXF converter.
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Productivity improvements for 2d-drawing, eg:
1) A more convenient way to edit polylines.
2) More complex linetypes, which have no problems in corners.
3) Arcs in multilines.
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Non-uniform scaling of selected objects. (Without converting to blocks & doing math.)
-Jasper – If I’m reading you’re comment correctly, you could use the ucsfollow variable to do the equivalent. Though it would be convenient to have the selection boxes follow the UCS without twisting the view.
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Shaan,
I hope you read this message.
I wish AutoCAD supports the new Table Object feature from Excel 2007. One of the main advantages is that, because the Named Range pairs with the name given to the Table Object in Excel, the cell’s range of the Named Range dynamically updates if you increase or decrease the number of rows or columns of that table. As a result, when you update the Data Link in an AutoCAD Table object, with that Named Range assigned to it, it’ll automatically reflect the new range of cells. Currently, although you can link an Excel book by a Named Range, it does not cover, however, a Table Object´s Named Range. It is also desirable to maintain the cell’s high when new rows of data are added to the Linked Excel file, for example, the cell’s high to always be 5 mm for new Data rows created in a linked file.
On another subject, when representing numbers, I wish AutoCAD dimension style also supports spaces, apart from dots or commas, to separate the thousands. For example using 50 000 instead of 50,000. A workaround is to select Windows Desktop option in Unit format, which is in the Linear dimensions Located within Primary Units tab of the Dimension Style dialog box. You then have change the format in the control panel of the Windows Operating System. The drawback is that it will be Windows dependent, so if the same file is opened on another computer it’ll take the format of that operating system.
Those changes are would be pretty much welcome in a future AutoCAD release.
Thank you,
Huáscar Fernández
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Embed Raster Images?
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radio buttons for portrait or landscape in the plot dialogue box………. like in the simple, but good old days.
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How about being able to xref a file to itself, Ive been wanting this for years!
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Have a command to scale up small section of detail on a drawing rather than having to use another viewport object option.
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Thank you very much for all the suggestions to shape the future of AutoCAD. All are very much appreciated. Some could be easy to implement, while others could be a little more complicated but important nonetheless. I will see what we can do. Also make sure to participate in the AUGI AutoCAD Wish List process at AUGI.com as membership is free.
One note is with the new AutoCAD Subscription Bonus Packs you get the new PDF abilities to reference the PDF and even snap to vector geometry so there is no need to convert a PDF to a DXF or DWG and make the publisher of the PDF upset. These should fulfill the two PDF related requests in this comment thread from Ross and Zachary.
These PDF functions will be integrated into future AutoCAD based products so you would see them in the future AutoCAD for Architects and Civil 3D for example.
Best Regards,
Shaan
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Scriptpro for Vista64
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there are two ideas i’d like to suggest for the next release and they have been requested for many many years (ot a complaint here, just the reality):
1. point styles. right now, PDMODE and PDSIZE allow one style/size of POINT entities for the entire design. yes, we can make BLOCKs and insert them for points, but the POINT is such an efficient entity, it would be wonderful to be able to insert POINT entities — one batch using PDMODE 34 with PDSIZE 10, another batch using PDMODE 30 with PDSIZE 5, etc. a piece of cake to implement really with huge benefits for the civil engineering community alone.
2. a default block definition capable of being used for any undefined block. the reasons for asking for this are too numerous to list here.
-dave
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How about we stop releasing a new version every year? I’d like to see a shift to every other year or something.
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How about having AutoCAD 2009 geometry exportable (3DSOut Command) into one of your other products, 3D Studio MAX 2009 for example, the way it has been for the past 15 years until it now doesn’t because the kind people at AutoDESK decided we didn’t need that functionality anymore…
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Andy,
Are you aware most Autodesk products import and export DWG as well FBX support is growing? The 3DS format is old and no longer maintained as a main file format since 3ds max went to the .max format and 3ds max can read and write DWG.
Best Regards,
Shaan
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Dynamic blocks — add “Plug” and “Socket” parameters.
A Plug would work in a manner similar to the current “Alignment” parameter, in the way it flips the block around, but would only connect to a socket. This would make it very easy to assemble components in a drawing.
You might remember that this was included in Actrix way back when. It was my favorite feature! 🙂
Linetype generation for 3DPolylines with an option to show the linetype as one elevation line in plan view.
Hello,here is the list I want:
1 Objectarx suport custom entity with c#
2 with Autocad running,not only *.arx but also *.dlls extention can be unloaded.
3 Maybe a 3d toolset like Setchup, with which,people can make 3d models easy and fast.
thanks!
If the crosshairs are rotated (UCS_Z and/or SNAPANG) and you make a selection, the rectangle for a window or crossing should rotate as well.
I’ll ditto the linetype generation for 3D polylines, and to carry that over into verticals so that profile lines in Civil 3D obey linetype generation.
But that isn’t my main wish for the year.
I’d love to see more cooperation/coordination between the development teams.
One benefit might be quick adoption of bonus-pack goodies in the verticals, but even that isn’t my point.
The devel teams are like sports league teams. Sure, they all play baseball, but still they are after each other’s throats when it comes to the playoffs and the World Series.
???
One of you might be GRAPE AutoCAD, and the other be BERRY AutoCAD, but you’re all AutoCAD, OK?
Combine your beta-tester teams, from the top vertical all the way down to the vanilla level. Keep the members all year long. (meaning DON’T exclude vertical users from Bonus Pack testing !!!!!! and !!!! and !!!).
Whew!! Take a breath, count to 10…
Shaan, you do a hell of a job. You run a site with some great teams.
The only thing I really see as a problem is that they’re a number of great teams rather than ONE killer team.
In the Future of AutoCAD I would to see VSTA (Visual Studio Tools for Applications)
Have a great 2009
Cheers,
Filipe Francisco
Better Mac support!
I (and many more professionals) would love to work without having to lug two machines or with a layer of virtualization, and just be able to dump windows. At least lets start with a DWG viewer, that is better than what’s out there now!
The ability to use PDF files as raster background.
Get rid of the Ribbon all together. This wastes too much of a systems resources.
Now that AutoCAD has a PDF printer (Which works with 64 bit OS, good work!), make the next step and add a PDF to DXF converter.
Productivity improvements for 2d-drawing, eg:
1) A more convenient way to edit polylines.
2) More complex linetypes, which have no problems in corners.
3) Arcs in multilines.
Non-uniform scaling of selected objects. (Without converting to blocks & doing math.)
-Jasper – If I’m reading you’re comment correctly, you could use the ucsfollow variable to do the equivalent. Though it would be convenient to have the selection boxes follow the UCS without twisting the view.
Shaan,
I hope you read this message.
I wish AutoCAD supports the new Table Object feature from Excel 2007. One of the main advantages is that, because the Named Range pairs with the name given to the Table Object in Excel, the cell’s range of the Named Range dynamically updates if you increase or decrease the number of rows or columns of that table. As a result, when you update the Data Link in an AutoCAD Table object, with that Named Range assigned to it, it’ll automatically reflect the new range of cells. Currently, although you can link an Excel book by a Named Range, it does not cover, however, a Table Object´s Named Range. It is also desirable to maintain the cell’s high when new rows of data are added to the Linked Excel file, for example, the cell’s high to always be 5 mm for new Data rows created in a linked file.
On another subject, when representing numbers, I wish AutoCAD dimension style also supports spaces, apart from dots or commas, to separate the thousands. For example using 50 000 instead of 50,000. A workaround is to select Windows Desktop option in Unit format, which is in the Linear dimensions Located within Primary Units tab of the Dimension Style dialog box. You then have change the format in the control panel of the Windows Operating System. The drawback is that it will be Windows dependent, so if the same file is opened on another computer it’ll take the format of that operating system.
Those changes are would be pretty much welcome in a future AutoCAD release.
Thank you,
Huáscar Fernández
Embed Raster Images?
radio buttons for portrait or landscape in the plot dialogue box………. like in the simple, but good old days.
How about being able to xref a file to itself, Ive been wanting this for years!
Have a command to scale up small section of detail on a drawing rather than having to use another viewport object option.
Thank you very much for all the suggestions to shape the future of AutoCAD. All are very much appreciated. Some could be easy to implement, while others could be a little more complicated but important nonetheless. I will see what we can do. Also make sure to participate in the AUGI AutoCAD Wish List process at AUGI.com as membership is free.
One note is with the new AutoCAD Subscription Bonus Packs you get the new PDF abilities to reference the PDF and even snap to vector geometry so there is no need to convert a PDF to a DXF or DWG and make the publisher of the PDF upset. These should fulfill the two PDF related requests in this comment thread from Ross and Zachary.
These PDF functions will be integrated into future AutoCAD based products so you would see them in the future AutoCAD for Architects and Civil 3D for example.
Best Regards,
Shaan
Scriptpro for Vista64
there are two ideas i’d like to suggest for the next release and they have been requested for many many years (ot a complaint here, just the reality):
1. point styles. right now, PDMODE and PDSIZE allow one style/size of POINT entities for the entire design. yes, we can make BLOCKs and insert them for points, but the POINT is such an efficient entity, it would be wonderful to be able to insert POINT entities — one batch using PDMODE 34 with PDSIZE 10, another batch using PDMODE 30 with PDSIZE 5, etc. a piece of cake to implement really with huge benefits for the civil engineering community alone.
2. a default block definition capable of being used for any undefined block. the reasons for asking for this are too numerous to list here.
-dave
How about we stop releasing a new version every year? I’d like to see a shift to every other year or something.
How about having AutoCAD 2009 geometry exportable (3DSOut Command) into one of your other products, 3D Studio MAX 2009 for example, the way it has been for the past 15 years until it now doesn’t because the kind people at AutoDESK decided we didn’t need that functionality anymore…
Andy,
Are you aware most Autodesk products import and export DWG as well FBX support is growing? The 3DS format is old and no longer maintained as a main file format since 3ds max went to the .max format and 3ds max can read and write DWG.
Best Regards,
Shaan
Dynamic blocks — add “Plug” and “Socket” parameters.
A Plug would work in a manner similar to the current “Alignment” parameter, in the way it flips the block around, but would only connect to a socket. This would make it very easy to assemble components in a drawing.
You might remember that this was included in Actrix way back when. It was my favorite feature! 🙂