Technical What’s New
AutoCAD
®
Mechanical 2009
Technical What’s New
Welcome to AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 ®
Contents Ease of Use and Adoption.. ............................ Native AutoCAD User Interface....................... Mechanical Layer Management.. ...................... Property Palettes.. ......................................... Windows Vista File Paths................................
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Standards-Based Drafting and Parts Libraries. 4 International Drafting Standards...................... 4 Standards-Based Symbols............................... 4 Standard Part Favorites.................................. 4 Design and Drafting Productivity Tools.......... Associative Hide for Blocks............................. Object Property Settings................................ Power Dimensions.........................................
AutoCAD® Mechanical is AutoCAD® software for manufacturing. It contains all the functionality of AutoCAD plus a comprehensive set of features developed specifically to accelerate the mechanical design process. AutoCAD Mechanical automates many common tasks, such as generating mechanical components, dimensioning, and creating bills of materials. It supports international drafting standards and provides a library of over 700,000 standard parts. And, it enables drafters to quickly and easily detail and document digital prototypes created in Autodesk® Inventor™. With numerous improvements to usability features, standard parts libraries, and drafting productivity tools, AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 offers designers a competitive edge by saving them countless hours of effort.
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Proven Benefits.. .......................................... 6 Stay Up to Date............................................ 6 Conclusion.................................................. 6
AutoCAD Mechanical 2009
Technical What’s New
Ease of Use and Adoption AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 is focused on providing ease of use and adoption for AutoCAD users. Keeping the AutoCAD user experience intact allows designers to maintain their existing workflows, while adopting the enhanced functionality of AutoCAD Mechanical at their own pace. Native AutoCAD User Interface Progressive Tooltips Some of the most commonly used AutoCAD Mechanical commands now provide an additional level of information within a progressive tooltip. Hold the cursor over the command icon and the first level of information for that command is displayed. Continue to hover and the expanded level of detail is displayed in the tooltip. If you need more information about any command, press the F1 key while the tooltip is displayed to view the help topic for the command. Mechanical Layer Management Mechanical Layer Manager Modify settings for AutoCAD layers, to AutoCAD Mechanical layers and mechanical layer def¬initions. The updated functionality merges the AutoCAD Mechanical properties with a style AutoCAD users are familiar with. AutoCAD layers can now be converted to AutoCAD Mechanical–specific layers with the updated AMLAYER command and then placed into Layer Groups with the new AMLAYERGROUP command. The ability to configure the menu in context enables the user to view as much or as little information as is necessary. The dialog box has also been updated to provide a better visual reference to assist users in navigation.
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Property Palettes Block Users can now utilize the new AutoCAD Property Palette dialog boxes that fully support customization of AutoCAD Mechanical symbols. This flexibility helps AutoCAD users feel comfortable and remain productive when switching to unfamiliar workflows.
ByStandard Layer Control The ByStandard classification provides increased layer control in the AutoCAD Mechanical standards-based environment. AutoCAD users familiar with the ByLayer option can classify objects as Standard Elements, so that any changes are consistent across all symbols. Users can selectively override settings for text height, text color, leader arrowhead type, arrow size, and leader color for each symbol within a centralized dialog box. If the master settings are edited, the associated updates will be consistent throughout the drawing. Windows Vista File Paths The paths to folders containing configuration files have been changed to operate within the Windows Vista® User Account Control specifications. Consequently, users no longer have to be a power user or administrator to run AutoCAD Mechanical in the Windows Vista operating system.
AutoCAD Mechanical 2009
Technical What’s New
Standards-Based Drafting and Parts Libraries Realize consistent results on the shop floor by producing accurate designs using a comprehensive set of standards-based components. AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 supports international drafting standards and includes libraries of more than 700,000 standard parts. International Drafting Standards GOST Standard AutoCAD Mechanical now supports the GOST standard, from line weights and text sizes to GOSTspecific symbols and workflows. This capability reduces the need to make manual adjustments to annotations in drawings for use in the Commonwealth of Independent States. All symbols have been updated to support the GOST standard, including supporting workflows for leader notes and welding symbols, and new functionality, such as marking and stamping symbols.
Standard Part Favorites Favorites List With access to more than 700,000 standard parts and features, the new Favorites List can significantly reduce the time required to insert standard parts and features into a drawing. The flexible dialog box uses drag-anddrop editing, detailed visual representations of the favorite component or feature selected, and the ability to share this information with other users.
Standards-Based Symbols Symbol Libraries Save complex welding, surface, and leader note symbols to symbol libraries, and reuse them without having to configure parameters at every use. The symbol library functionality has been revised to enhance visibility, capability, and usability, so that the behavior of symbol libraries is consistent across all annotation features. The symbols are shown in enhanced view lists, with rendered previews and tooltips that provide detailed information about the symbol. The ability to import symbol libraries from other drawings enables users to take symbols from legacy drawings and quickly reuse them in new projects.
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AutoCAD Mechanical 2009
Technical What’s New
Design and Drafting Productivity Tools AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 offers additional productivity gains to mechanical designers through a variety of enhancements to the comprehensive collection of drafting tools. Associative Hide for Blocks AMSHIDE for Non-mechanical Structure Workflows The AMSHIDE feature can now be used on nonstructure objects, including Blocks, and does not require the enabling of mechanical structure. The AM2DHIDE command has been merged with AMSHIDE and provides a complete interface for both structure and non-structure hide situations. When completed, the hide situation updates automatically, at which time users can name and quickly identify each instance within the mechanical browser. The AM2DHIDE and AM2DHIDEDIT commands and workflows are still supported to help users make a smooth transition. Object Property Settings Automatic Property Management The Object Settings dialog box, which defines how AutoCAD Mechanical draws power objects, has been redesigned with usability in mind. The relationship between compound objects (objects that contain other objects—for example, a compound object balloon contains a leader object, a text object, and a balloon geometry object) and basic objects is shown while enabling users to predefine their properties separately.
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Preview updates provide instant feedback as users change property definitions. If a particular object is shared by two or more compound objects, a message warns users as soon as they attempt to change the settings. Warning dialog boxes also assist in properly configuring layer properties by providing multiple configuration options. Unnecessary mechanical layer information has also been moved to a secondary dialog box, reducing the potential for distraction while configuring power objects. Power Dimensions Power Dimensions The Power Dimension interface has been redesigned with the AutoCAD user in mind. The command line options have been reorganized to provide more visibility into the various dimension types that can be created with the AMPOWERDIM command. Visual aids that are displayed at the crosshairs indicate the type of dimension being created. Nested commands have been isolated and given individual commands and icons. Dialog boxes have been updated with usability in mind and have been simplified to control only the elements relevant to AutoCAD Mechanical. Power dimensions now respect the AutoCAD linear scale factor settings (DIMLFAC) and allow use of the quadrant option with angular dimensions.
AutoCAD Mechanical 2009
Technical What’s New
Proven Benefits
Licensing Cascading network licensing supports customers who need to deploy multiple Autodesk products. AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 licenses can easily be combined with licenses for Autodesk Inventor. As AutoCAD Mechanical licenses are used, the network first chooses the standalone AutoCAD Mechanical licenses, then the Autodesk Mechanical Desktop licenses, and finally the applicable Inventor licenses. The manufacturing offerings from Autodesk fit together to form a complete solution.
In an independent productivity study1 between basic AutoCAD and AutoCAD Mechanical, the results concluded that when using AutoCAD Mechanical: • Drafting and annotation tasks are 55% faster • Design and engineering tasks are 85% faster • 60% reduction in the number of commands used
Feedback AutoCAD Mechanical customers can provide feedback to the AutoCAD Mechanical development team through several different avenues. For example: • Provide tips or join newsgroups at www.autodesk.com/autocadmechanical For the complete study go to: www.autodesk.com/autocadmechanical-productivity
Stay Up-to-Date
• Keep up-to-date on what’s happening in your industry, stay in touch with other industry professionals, and take advantage of a host of online resources at the Manufacturing Community Portal at www.mfgcommunity.autodesk.com • Talk with your Autodesk Authorized Reseller and support staff
Autodesk gives you more. Gain access to technical expertise, utilize training and support programs direct from Autodesk, stay up to date with the latest product releases and give us your feedback. Not only does Autodesk want to help you use AutoCAD Mechanical more effectively but we want to make sure AutoCAD Mechanical is working effectively for you.
Your input is crucial to our success and we look forward to receiving your suggestions.
Conclusion
Subscription Log into the Subscription Center to receive product updates, log and view support requests, or take eLearning courses. A valuable component of Autodesk® Subscription, eLearning provides a continually expanding curriculum of short training exercises.
We thank you for your continued support of AutoCAD Mechanical and hope you feel we are listening to your needs. We added the new and enhanced functionality to AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 to help make you more productive, your company more competitive, and to return true value to your bottom line.
Product Updates If you experience an issue with AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 that has already been solved in a service pack or hotfix, a dialog box appears when you submit the problem to Autodesk, enabling you to immediately install the new service pack or hotfix.
1 Designed by Autodesk and commissioned to an independent consultant, this study explores 10 common design challenges and shows direct comparisons of the time and effort required to accomplish each specific task in AutoCAD and AutoCAD Mechanical software. Read the complete study at www.autodesk.com/autocadmechanical-productivity Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.