CAD Manager's Job Description Evolves to CAD/BIM Manager

The job description of CAD Manager continues to evolve. We have noticed an increasing demand for CAD Managers whose skill set includes an in-depth knowledge of both AutoCAD and BIM from an Information Technology perspective.

This trend is eloquently described in a recent post on Mistress of Dorkness.

BIM Managers connect like CAD Managers

http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/2009/02/bim-managers-connect-like-cad-managers.html

MEP BIM Coordination Debate

"There is a general confusion when it comes to Revit. Revit is simply a different platform.

If you are coordinating a project, there is a common platform, such as NAVIS WORKS where all of the different elements come together to collaborate.

For example your steel can be created by Tecla, your architecture by Revit, your Fire Protection by FireCad, your HVAC/Mechanical piping by Maps software, your plumbing by Quickpen, and your electrical by Revit MEP.

All of the different file extrentions get loaded on to the NavisWorks File (NWF) reguardless from where they originated. The biggest issue emerging is the lack of understanding……and the fact that everyone is being misled by software vendors. As of today (and for at least the next 5-7 years) no one platform is capable of creating a true Building Information Model. "

This helpful information was submitted by:
Franklyn Lowder
BIM Coordinator
CADTECH, Inc

Computer Import Email Scam now Merging with Identity Theft!

This is an example of Email Spam that has been in circulation for some time. We were just contacted by a local firm that had received this email cc'd to our company! We had nothing to do with the sender or the receiver. Our corporate email address had been used without our knowledge to give fake legitimacy to the email. If you receive an email like this it is a scam. There are many variations in circulation. The senders want your confidential information.

Original Message ----- From: nelson anderson
Hello,How you doing? My name is Nelson,i hail from UK and right now i work in Germany I read description and am interested in your services,I will be importing some computer into the United States.The PC are laptops pentium 4 dell computer ..i want you to Install software, clean inner & outer computer components, update software to current status.Get back to me with you total cost for the services of 10 computer.i will like You to know that my mode of payment is by check.I await your urgent response so that i can put the arrangement in order.Thanks.

OfficeMax $10.00 Ink Cartridge Refills - Recession Buster!

OfficeMax will refill your Printer Ink Cartridges for $10.00. Last week, skeptical but faced with a budget crunch, we took in our empty HP cartridge for a fill up. We only had to wait about 5 minutes while the cartridge was filled.

The refilled cartridge works fine, with some minor glitches. Our HP printer did not immediately recoginize that the ink had been replaced and for a few days we had to ignore dire "Out of Ink" Warnings, when printing. The warnings dissapeared and though a low ink level is still indicated when we print, our prints look normal.

Addendum- 3/02/08: Last week, we went back to OfficeMax with a color cartridge to refill and were told that there was such a long wait that it would take a day! We opted to buy a new cartridge, instead. After replacing our color cartridge with a new one, we noted that although the new HP cartridge registers as full, HP shows the refilled/full cartridge as empty.

CAD Watch - Allplan by Nemetschek - Europe's Popular BIM Solution

We were recently contacted by an architectural designer, looking for work who had just moved to the US, from Spain. He told us that the demand for Revit skills here was a surpise. According to him, Allplan is widely used for 3D architectural design in Europe and Revit is virtually unknown.

Lachmi Khemlani provides an in-depth summary of Allplan's history, strengths and weaknesses on her informative site, AECBYTES. She also states that Allplan is very popular in Europe. Allplan BIM 2008 Architecture

Here are some excerpts from Lachmi's article in which she outlines basic differences between Allplan and Revit

“…One of the most complex aspects of Allplan that needs to be understood before being able to work with it effectively is how the data is structured. A project is the main organizational unit, and unlike centralized model applications such as Revit, a project in Allplan is a folder containing a large number of sub-folders and files rather than a single file….”

“…Other pluses are its multi-disciplinary capability, all available within the same application, in contrast to other multi-disciplinary suites such as Revit and Bentley, which have different applications for the different disciplines….”

Nemetschek-Allplan

How to Scan Wrinkled Blueprints and Plans

To scan damaged plans which are badly wrinkled take two pieces of mylar that match the dimensions of the plans, make a pocket and sandwhich the paper plan in between the mylar. Run this through your scanner. Your scans should come out ironed.

Tip submitted by Brian Kramer- FedEx/Kinko's

Convert NAD27 Data to NAD83

Here's a link to a helpful utility web page that will convert NAD27 numeric data to NAD83 and visa versa.

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/nadcon.prl

NAD27 and NAD83 coordinates can be drawn in AutoCAD, but only as inert points.

NAD27 and NAD83 coordinates can be accurately plotted and converted graphically (NAD27 to NAD83 or vice versa) in AutoDesk Civil 3D, Autodesk Map, Autodesk Land Development Desktop and ESRI GIS.

Duplicate Block Name Nightmare - AutoCAD Block inserts with mystery entities

This block snafu question was submitted to us by a busy CAD operator who was driven nuts by unwanted entities which mysteriously inserted with his titleblocks. It is a useful example of how not to setup office blocks.

1. Two titleblocks are created with 2 different names. The border is a another block inside each titleblock.

The 8.5x11 border block in the 8.5x11 titleblock has the same name (TB_BORDER) as the 11x17 border block (TB_BORDER) in the 11x17 titleblock.

2. The 11x17 title block looks fine. There is no sign of other block entities in the drawing. We don't see an addtional 8.5x11 border in this drawing.

3. If the 11x17 Title block is inserted into a drawing in which the definition of the 8.5x11 border block already exists we see an unwanted block entity - the 8.5x11 border. Note that the 11x17 border block was not pulled up by the drawing. The existing definition was used. This results in a corrupted title block. The end user may be clueless as to the cause.

4. To fix. Rename the internal TB_BORDER block. You can use the RENAME command without exploding the blocks.

5. If you need a fast temporary fix, attach the TitleBlock as an XREF .

Best Practices: Keep block names distinctive, descriptive and different for each entity in your block library. This includes blocks you are using to build other blocks.

Looking for an Online Fax Service? - We Recommend GotVMail

We really like GotVMail's Online Toll-Free Fax Service. Client's who need to share drawings with us can easily fax in their plans.

GotVMail's TIFFServer interface gives us the ability to mark-up our incoming faxes and save them to PDF or JPG.

The dashboard features include: Convert to PDF, Scroll pages, Fit, Zoom, Format, Add a Sticky Note, Add text, Highlight, Add an arrow, Stamp. The Stamp cursor menu, shown in the screen shot below, provides a selection of messages to choose from.

Although GotVMail's 800 numbers can double as a fax line we don't recommend this for anyone who relies on their fax. Clients complained that transmission was intermittant when they faxed to our Gotvmail 800 number. Adding a dedicated GotVMail fax line solved the problem.

GotVMail's technical support team is responsive and available via phone or email. They can customize your setup.


Visit GotVMail.com for more information.

AutoCAD to TurboCAD - Fix Corrupted Text Glitch

TurboCAD 8 corrupted some of our dimensions in an imported AutoCAD DWG file with romans.shx/MTEXT. Note that the Diameter symbols (created with %%c) are huge. TurboCAD also rotated the correctly placed AutoCAD dimensions and moved them off to the right.

Inside AutoCAD, we exploded the MTEXT in our Dimensions. Our client reported that this did the trick when he pulled the revised DWG into TurboCAD.