Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:00
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11
Hello and welcome to this accelerator presentation
00:15
where I will discuss the user interface enhancements
00:18
in AutoCAD to increase efficiency and improve the user
00:22
experience.
00:23
So let's get started.
00:26
This is the safe harbor statement
00:28
and is just a reminder that the Autodesk software changes
00:31
regularly to continually improve the software
00:34
and make it a better experience for you.
00:37
If I happen to make any forward looking
00:39
statements in this presentation, please
00:41
do not make any buying decisions based on it.
00:45
So before we begin, a short introduction about myself.
00:49
My name is Renu Muthoo, and I'm a learning content developer
00:52
with ASCENT.
00:53
I have over 23 years of experience
00:56
in various Autodesk products such as AutoCAD
00:58
and other AutoCAD verticals, and I'm also
01:01
experienced in Autodesk visualization software
01:04
products that include Autodesk Julius max and VRED
01:07
Professional.
01:08
I create the coursework and training materials
01:11
for the Autodesk products and I also
01:14
provide support for these products.
01:16
In addition, I have also co-authored few books
01:19
on both AutoCAD and 3ds Max.
01:23
The purpose of this accelerator is
01:25
to learn how the AutoCAD user interface has
01:28
evolved to increase efficiency and improve the user
01:31
experience.
01:33
So the learning objectives are that you
01:36
will learn about the redesign of the Start window
01:39
and how to display multiple drawings as separate floating
01:42
windows.
01:43
I will take you over the improvements
01:45
to the dark theme in AutoCAD.
01:48
You will learn about the enhancements
01:50
to the basic layout and the user interface feature enhancements.
01:54
We will look at the enhancements to the software
01:57
while selecting objects in the drawing window
01:59
and also the command "Preview Enhancements."
02:02
We will go over the various tabs and working off
02:05
the blocks palette.
02:07
And you will learn to add multiple dimensions
02:10
using the DIM command and also how to add center marks
02:13
and center lines to objects.
02:15
I will talk about the improvements
02:17
for supporting high resolution 4K monitors.
02:20
And finally, you will learn about the enhancements
02:23
for a better touch experience in AutoCAD
02:25
using a touch enabled screen.
02:29
s following presentation details features
02:32
which were introduced to AutoCAD across versions 2015 to 2022.
02:37
For clarity, each slide details in which version
02:41
the feature or the enhancement was introduced,
02:43
and you can see that near the bottom right
02:45
corner of each slide.
02:49
So let's start with the Start Tab Redesign.
02:52
In AutoCAD 2015 a new tab was introduced
02:56
that replaced the welcome screen and displayed when you
02:59
launch the AutoCAD software.
03:01
In the AutoCAD 2016, the new tab was renamed to Start tab.
03:06
The Start tab is persistent in the tabs bar
03:09
and is displayed as the first tab
03:11
as you create and open additional drawings.
03:14
While working in a drawing file, you
03:17
can return to the Start tab at any time
03:19
by clicking on it in the tabs bar.
03:22
With its introduction, the Start tab contained two frames--
03:27
Learn and Create.
03:28
The Learn frame contained videos, tips,
03:31
and online resources for learning
03:33
about new features in the software
03:35
and how to start using the software.
03:38
It also provided you with tips on using the software
03:42
effectively and how to access help and training
03:44
resources online.
03:46
The tip of the day used to be updated every 24 hours.
03:50
Then is the Create frame.
03:52
The Create frame contain tools for using
03:55
the software such as creating new drawings or opening
03:58
existing sample or recently opened files.
04:02
This frame also contained links for online services.
04:06
In AutoCAD get
04:10
has been redesigned so that the welcome screen
04:12
has a consistent look and feel across all other Autodesk
04:16
products.
04:18
This way the users have a similar starting experience
04:21
in various Autodesk products.
04:23
By default, the Start tab is always
04:26
available as a first tab in the Files tab
04:29
bar, which is also referred to as the Drawing tabs bar.
04:33
The stop tab remains persistent while you create
04:36
an open additional drawings.
04:38
When working in a drawing you can
04:40
click the Start tab to display the initial Start window.
04:44
You can use Control plus Home to jump from an actual drawing
04:48
to the Start tab window.
04:50
Now the left pane of the Start window
04:53
provides you with options for opening and creating
04:55
new drawings in the AutoCAD software.
04:58
You can click on the Open button to open the Select File dialog
05:02
box where you can select an existing drawing file to open.
05:05
The Open dropdown menu provides you
05:09
with options for opening a sheet set
05:11
and exploring the various sample drawing files as well.
05:15
Clicking the New button starts a new drawing
05:18
from the default drawing template.
05:20
The New dropdown menu provides you
05:22
with a list of available drawing templates
05:25
and gives you the ability to create a new drawing
05:28
from a different template.
05:30
You can also load templates from an online source.
05:34
You have an option to start the sheet set wizard
05:37
and create a sheet set from scratch as well.
05:40
In addition to Open and New buttons,
05:43
there are three more buttons in the left pane,
05:46
which are Recent, Autodesk Docs, and Learning.
05:50
Clicking those buttons open relevant options
05:54
and information in the right hand pane of the window.
05:57
A list of links is also provided to access
05:60
useful online resources such as What's
06:03
new, Online help, and Community forums.
06:06
You can also open both the AutoCAD web and mobile apps
06:10
directly from the Start page.
06:13
The right pane displays relevant options and information
06:17
about the option that you've selected in the left pane.
06:21
So when you click on the Recent button in the left pane,
06:25
the software displays a list of recently used files
06:28
in the right pane.
06:29
These recently opened drawings can either
06:32
be displayed in the form of a list
06:34
or you can display them as thumbnails.
06:36
In the right pane there is a Trumpet button,
06:39
which is a toggle to open or close an announcements area.
06:43
This Announcements area receives AutoCAD update information,
06:47
survey information, and Have You Tried articles.
06:52
In addition to the Announcements,
06:53
there is the Connect area which contains options
06:56
to sign into your Autodesk account
06:59
and send feedback to Autodesk.
07:01
If you click on the Autodesk Docs button in the left pane,
07:06
you get the options to access your connected drives
07:08
such as BIM 360, and you get the options to open and save
07:13
files from your desktop to those connected drives.
07:16
You're required to have the Autodesk desktop
07:19
connector installed on your system for Autodesk Docs
07:23
to work.
07:24
The desktop connector is an integration service
07:27
that connects your desktop folder with the Autodesk data
07:30
management source.
07:32
The learning button in the left pane
07:34
can be used to access learning resources
07:37
that provide information about new features in the software
07:40
and how to start using the software.
07:43
Click on the Learning button to display the learning
07:45
pane, which contains videos, tips, and online resources.
07:51
Moving on to the floating drawing tabs.
07:55
Starting from AutoCAD 2022, you can now pull the drawing tabs
07:59
and display them a separate floating windows.
08:02
This enables you to display multiple drawings
08:04
at the same time.
08:06
While working in multiple monitors,
08:08
you can drag one or more drawings
08:10
onto another monitor making it easier
08:12
to work on multiple drawings side by side
08:15
without having to switch between tabs.
08:17
Just to keep in mind that a separate drawing window does
08:20
not have any of the interface elements such as the ribbon
08:23
tools or the Steps bar.
08:25
All the interface elements are accessible through
08:28
the main AutoCAD window only.
08:31
After working on multiple drawings side by side
08:34
you simply drag and drop the floating drawing window
08:37
back into the Files tab bar of the main window
08:40
to collapse the separate window.
08:44
Now let's take a look at an in product demo
08:47
that demonstrates the redesign of the Start tab window
08:50
and talks about the floating drawing tabs.
08:54
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
08:54
PRESENTER: When you launch the AutoCAD software,
08:56
the Start tab along with the Start window is displayed.
09:01
Click Open in the left pane.
09:03
In the Select File dialog box open the files.
09:08
Note the two drawing files are listed in the Files tab bar
09:13
but with only one of them is being displayed in the drawing
09:17
window.
09:18
Right click on any one of the drawing
09:21
files in the Files tab bar and select Close All.
09:25
It closes both the drawings but the Start tab
09:29
along with the Start window persist.
09:32
In the Start window in the left pane, select Recent.
09:38
Note that the two recently opened
09:40
drawing files are listed here.
09:43
Click on the thumbnails icon to display
09:46
the images of the recently opened drawings.
09:49
Open the two recently opened drawings from here.
09:53
Note, the two drawing file names are listed in the Files tab bar
09:58
with only one of them being active
10:01
and displayed in the drawing window.
10:04
With the enhancements to the AutoCAD software,
10:07
you can now display multiple drawings as floating windows.
10:12
Click and drag out the drawing that is not active.
10:17
It displays the drawing as a separate window
10:21
making it easier to work on multiple drawings
10:24
without having to switch between them.
10:27
You can also move the floating drawing window around
10:32
and to another monitor as well.
10:35
Click and drag the floating drawing window
10:38
back onto the Files tab bar.
10:41
Switch back to the Start window by clicking on the Start tab.
10:47
In the right pane of the Start window, click on the trumpet
10:51
icon to open the Announcements area.
10:56
Note that an update is available.
10:58
Click on the Send Feedback button,
11:02
it opens the "Product feedback" page where
11:06
you can submit your feedback.
11:08
In the left pane of the Start window, click Learning.
11:13
Note the various learning resources
11:17
and the new and enhancements videos.
11:21
In the left pane links are provided for online resources
11:27
and to access the Community forum and Customer support.
11:32
You can also open the AutoCAD web and mobile apps directly
11:37
from here.
11:38
[END PLAYBACK]
11:39
Now let's move on to the next objective,
11:42
which is the dark theme enhancements in AutoCAD.
11:44
In AutoCAD 2020, keeping in mind the customer feedback,
11:49
significant changes were made to the interface
11:51
to improve the clarity and crispness of the dark theme.
11:55
In the ribbon, the background colors
11:58
were optimized along with the icon colors
12:00
to provide optimum contrast.
12:04
This added to the sharpness of the icons
12:06
without distracting from the drawing area where
12:10
you are usually focused.
12:12
The highlighting of contextual tabs on the ribbon
12:15
is now more distinct when active such as when you
12:19
edit text or create a hatch.
12:22
All the bar enhancements to the ribbon and contextual tabs
12:26
were applied to the light theme as well.
12:30
Let's discuss the various interface elements.
12:33
Starting from AutoCAD 2015, when repositioning layout tabs
12:38
you can drag layouts into positions that are currently
12:42
hidden by the overflow menu.
12:43
As a layout is dragged to the edge of the displayed layout
12:47
tabs either on the left or the right side,
12:50
tabs automatically scroll to show hidden layouts.
12:54
This enables you to draw up a layout
12:56
to any new location required.
12:59
A UI finder was added to the software in AutoCAD 2015.
13:05
Commands can be quickly identified
13:07
in the ribbon, status bar, and the application menu
13:10
by clicking the Find link next to the commands icon
13:14
in the Help window.
13:16
A red animated arrow displays in the interface identifying
13:21
the location of the command.
13:24
In AutoCAD 2016 many interface enhancements were introduced.
13:29
One of them is the dropdown list that
13:32
are available in the ribbon and were replaced
13:35
with galleries in which images of the available options
13:38
are displayed.
13:40
These ribbon galleries can be controlled by the GALLERYVIEW
13:43
system variable.
13:45
When the GALLERYVIEW variable is set to 0,
13:49
the preview images are hidden.
13:51
When the GALLERYVIEW variable is set to 1,
13:54
the preview images are displayed.
13:57
The status bar now wraps automatically
13:59
to a second row if the software window shrinks
14:02
or if additional buttons are selected to be displayed
14:05
in the status bar.
14:06
This ensures that all the buttons
14:08
are available across the bottom of the AutoCAD software window.
14:12
Another interface enhancement is that when multiple drawings are
14:16
open you have the ability to close them all at once rather
14:19
than each one individually.
14:21
When you right click on the File tab three options are
14:25
displayed, which is Close, Close All,
14:28
and Close All Other Drawings.
14:30
The Close option closes only the active drawing file.
14:34
Close All closes all of the open drawing
14:37
files except the Start tab.
14:40
Close All Other Drawing closes all
14:42
of the open drawings except the drawing where the right click
14:46
menu has been opened from and, of course,
14:48
the Start tab, which remains open always.
14:51
If the drawing where the right click menu has been opened from
14:55
is not already active, this option
14:58
also makes that drawing active because it
15:01
closes all of the drawings including the active one.
15:06
Continuing with the interface enhancements.
15:08
In AutoCAD get 2017, several dialog boxes were made bigger
15:13
and can be resized to display more information without having
15:17
to scroll.
15:19
To change the size of a dialog box
15:21
move the cursor to one of the corners
15:23
until a double arrow displays.
15:25
Click and drag until the required size is set.
15:28
Once set, the size of the dialog box
15:31
is maintained each time the AutoCAD software is launched.
15:35
Dialog boxes that are either larger or can be resized
15:40
include Select File dialog box, Page Setup Manager, Object
15:45
Grouping, Layer States Manager, Enhanced Attribute Editor,
15:49
and many, many more dialog boxes.
15:52
This trend of resizable dialog boxes
15:55
continued in the
15:59
as well where the resizing of the drafting settings dialog
16:03
box was added to display more information without having
16:07
to scroll.
16:09
In AutoCAD 2019, the icons in the interface
16:12
were redesigned to have a much simpler and cleaner look.
16:17
These updates apply to the icons in the Status bar
16:21
ribbon, Quick Access toolbar, and the Application menu.
16:24
The icons have been redesigned to focus
16:27
on the shape and color of the icons
16:29
so that they are easy to identify.
16:32
The display of the icons at different monitor resolutions
16:36
was also improved.
16:38
Based on your monitor's resolution,
16:40
the correct icon size is dynamically loaded
16:43
without any visible regeneration to help make the icons clearly
16:48
visible and easy to identify.
16:50
Another interface enhancement was
16:52
the display of the Layer Control bar in the Quick Access
16:55
toolbar.
16:56
This makes the layer tools easily accessible.
16:60
The Layer Control is not displayed
17:02
by default in the Quick Access toolbar,
17:05
you are required to add it to the Quick Access toolbar, which
17:09
can be done by expanding the Quick Access toolbar menu
17:12
and then selecting Layer.
17:14
Additional frequently used tools can also
17:17
be added to the Quick Access toolbar using this menu.
17:21
Also "Have You Tried" option was added to the Help screen.
17:26
When the initial Help screen is open by clicking the question
17:30
mark icon in the info center, a new heading
17:33
called Have You Tried was added to the Help screen.
17:37
Here Autodesk provided help content about useful features
17:42
that you might not be aware of or that you
17:45
might have overlooked.
17:47
This highlights tools that you can
17:49
incorporate in your use of the software on a daily basis.
17:54
Help topics that were added are based
17:57
on the user comments and their feedback
17:60
that Autodesk received.
18:02
Or this users are encouraged to use the "Was this helpful" link
18:06
and provide feedback to Autodesk which
18:09
is then used to provide more help in the Have You Tried
18:13
category.
18:15
In AutoCAD 2022, the Have You Tried help
18:19
was further enhanced to make it quicker and easier
18:22
to find the article of interest.
18:25
All the Have You Tried articles are now organized and grouped
18:30
under main topic headings in the table of contents of the Help
18:34
menu.
18:35
You can expand a heading to display
18:38
all the associated articles.
18:40
For example, selecting the User Interface heading
18:43
expands to display all the articles that
18:46
are associated with it.
18:48
The articles are live links and you
18:50
can click on the article of your choice
18:52
to open it in the Help window.
18:56
Let's now talk about the object selection enhancements.
18:59
The off-screen selection of objects
19:02
was enhanced in the AutoCAD 2018 software.
19:06
You can select objects that are outside of the display area
19:10
by panning and zooming while in a selection window.
19:13
At the Select Objects prompt, begin your selection window
19:17
or crossing window in a visible part of the drawing
19:20
and then pan and zoom to extend your selection
19:23
to the previously off screen portion of your drawing,
19:27
thus selecting objects in that area as well.
19:30
When you're in the editing command, for example, copy,
19:33
move, scale, et cetera, a temporary rubber-band line
19:37
extends from the original location of the object
19:41
to the new location of the object.
19:43
By default, this rubber-band line is a light orange color.
19:47
You can change its color.
19:49
In the Options dialog box display tab click Colors.
19:53
In the drawing window colors dialog box
19:56
that opens in the interface element list
19:59
select Rubber-band line and then use the color dropdown list
20:03
to change the color.
20:06
Command preview enables you to see the results of a command
20:10
before committing to it.
20:11
Before look at 2016, this command preview capability
20:16
was provided for trim, extend, fillet, and chamfer commands.
20:20
In AutoCAD 2016, many of the commands now display a preview.
20:25
The additional commands that were made preview capable
20:29
are blend, erase, rotate, scale, and stretch.
20:33
Let's discuss the blocks palette now.
20:36
The blocks palette was introduced in AutoCAD 2020
20:40
and offers a convenient location from where
20:42
you can locate and insert blocks and drawings
20:45
into the current drawing.
20:47
It replaced the Insert dialog box.
20:50
The blocks palette can be accessed from the View tab
20:54
palettes panel or by clicking Recent blocks, Blocks
20:57
from other drawings from the Insert blocks gallery.
21:01
At the time of its introduction in AutoCAD 2020,
21:05
the blocks palette had three tabs where
21:08
all the blocks are organized.
21:10
The three tabs are Current Drawing tab, Recent tab,
21:14
and Other Drawing tab.
21:17
So first let's start with the Current Drawing tab.
21:20
All the blocks in the current drawing
21:22
are displayed in this tab.
21:24
It's just a replica of the Insert gallery.
21:28
Then is the Recent tab, which provides you
21:30
with all the blocks that are in the current drawing, all
21:33
the blocks that were inserted recently,
21:35
and the drawings that were inserted as blocks.
21:39
Other Drawing tab you can insert any AutoCAD drawing as a block
21:44
or insert blocks from other drawings.
21:47
The file becomes a block in the Current Drawing
21:50
and is then listed in the Other Drawing tab.
21:53
The tab also displays the drawings
21:55
that were inserted while working in the other drawing sessions.
21:60
You can use the ellipsis near the top right
22:02
corner of the palette to navigate to the drawing
22:05
that you want to insert as block.
22:08
The blocks palette also allows you
22:10
to set all the insertion options such as Insertion Point, Scale,
22:15
and Rotation.
22:16
In addition to the regular insertion options,
22:18
the Repeat Placement option was added
22:21
to allow you to insert multiple blocks in a single step.
22:26
In AutoCAD get 2021, the Other Drawing tab
22:30
was simply renamed to the Libraries tab.
22:33
Also in the AutoCAD
22:37
that brings in a single drawing file
22:39
as a block now allows you to locate and bring in a folder
22:43
as well.
22:45
The folder can contain multiple drawings and their block
22:48
definitions.
22:49
When you open the folder from the blocks palette
22:52
it brings in all the drawings in that folder
22:55
into the Libraries tab to be used as blocks
22:58
in the current drawing.
22:60
To save time and to increase work efficiency,
23:03
you can store all the drawings containing their block
23:06
definitions as well together in a folder
23:09
and then access them at the same time
23:11
by opening the folder in the blocks palette.
23:15
In the left side figure, you can see
23:17
that I brought in the Landscape folder
23:20
where I had saved all the landscape drawings together.
23:24
In the AutoCAD 2022, the Favorites tab
23:28
was added to the blocks palette.
23:30
You can group your most commonly used blocks in the Favorites
23:34
tab.
23:35
In any other tab right click on the required block and select
23:39
Copy to Favorites to save it and the Favorites tab.
23:43
The blocks palette also now allows
23:45
you to store all the blocks that are
23:47
in the Recent and Favorites stab into a Cloud location
23:51
with the supported Cloud storage provider, which
23:54
are Box, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
23:57
By storing the blocks on the Cloud,
23:59
you can now access and use them with internet enabled devices
24:03
anytime and from anywhere.
24:06
You're required to be signed into your Autodesk account
24:09
to allow the application to access your blocks.
24:12
Use the Settings icon in the Options area of the blocks
24:16
palette to open the Blocks Sync Settings dialog box.
24:20
Here you can select the location on the cloud
24:23
and manage your sync settings.
24:25
Once you save the blocks on the Cloud
24:27
the Settings icon is replaced by the Cloud icon
24:31
indicating that the recent and favorite blocks are now
24:35
available on the cloud and can be accessed on devices anytime
24:39
and from anywhere.
24:42
Now let's take a look at an in product demo
24:44
that demonstrates how to use the blocks palette.
24:48
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
24:49
PRESENTER: In the Insert tab, Block panel expand Insert .
24:55
Select Recent Blocks.
24:57
It opens the blocks palette, switch to the Current Drawing
25:02
tab.
25:03
All the blocks that are available in the current
25:06
drawing are displayed here.
25:09
Select the block Chair, it attaches itself to the cursor.
25:16
Click to place the block.
25:19
Right click on Chair and select Copy to Favorites.
25:25
Open the newly added Favorites tab.
25:29
The Chair block is listed here for easy access.
25:35
In the Options area select the Repeat Placement option.
25:42
Click on Chair block.
25:47
Select "Don't redefine Chair."
25:54
Click to place.
25:57
Note that the Chair block is still attached with the cursor.
26:03
Click to place as many blocks as he want.
26:10
Press Escape to exit.
26:13
Open the Libraries tab and click on the navigation tool.
26:19
It opens the dialog box.
26:22
Here in the dialog box, you can choose
26:25
a drawing file to be used as a block
26:28
or now you can select a folder as well.
26:34
Select the Landscape folder.
26:38
Click Open.
26:39
All the drawing files that were inside the Landscape folder
26:44
are now displayed here and can be used as blocks
26:48
in the current drawing.
26:53
With the enhancements to the blocks palette,
26:57
you can place the blocks that are
26:59
in the Recent and the Favorites tabs on the Cloud.
27:04
Click on the Settings icon in the Options area,
27:10
it opens the Blocks Sync Settings dialog box.
27:13
Using the ellipsis button, you can now
27:16
use any of the supported Cloud storage
27:20
providers such as Dropbox and save your blocks on the Cloud.
27:28
Here you can also control your sync settings
27:32
and the storage permissions.
27:35
Note that the Settings icon now changes to the Cloud icon
27:40
indicating that your Recent and the Favorites blocks
27:43
are now available on the cloud and can
27:46
be used as blocks on multiple devices any time
27:50
and from anywhere.
27:51
[END PLAYBACK]
27:53
Let's talk about the dimensions enhancements now.
27:56
A general smart dimension tool was
27:59
introduced in AutoCAD
28:02
you to quickly dimension multiple objects in real time.
28:06
It's available in the Home tab Annotation panel of the ribbon.
28:10
You can also type the DIM command to access it.
28:13
The DIM command automatically determines the type
28:17
of dimension required based on the object or point selected.
28:21
You can use a single dimension command
28:23
to add various dimensions such as linear, horizontal,
28:27
and vertical, aligned, angular, radial, diameter, ordinate,
28:31
and arc length.
28:33
After placing a required dimension,
28:35
the DIM command remains active enabling
28:38
you to add other dimensions as required without relaunching
28:42
the command.
28:43
As you start the command and how will you proceed on the object
28:47
that you want to dimension, the software
28:49
automatically detects the relevant dimension
28:52
and displays a preview of the dimension.
28:55
If the previewed dimension is the correct one
28:58
click to save it and then drag the cursor
29:01
to the required location and click
29:03
to place the same dimension.
29:05
You continue to remain in the DIM command allowing
29:08
you to add multiple dimensions for other objects
29:11
in the drawing.
29:13
In AutoCAD 2017, two new tools, that
29:16
is Center Mark and Centerline, were
29:19
added that indicate that the center of an arc
29:22
or circle regardless of the object's perspective.
29:26
Both tools are available in the Annotate tab Centerlines panel.
29:30
The Center Mark tool as an associate center
29:33
mark at the center of selected circles, arcs,
29:36
or polygonal arcs.
29:38
The Centerline tool creates centerline geometry
29:42
that is associated with selected lines and polygons.
29:45
Both these tools are associative in nature.
29:48
If the associated object moves the center lines and center
29:52
marks also update.
29:55
Many system variables were added to support the Center Marks
29:58
and Centerlines.
29:59
So the first one is CENTEREXE, which
30:02
sets the length of the extension line
30:04
or shoots center lines and center marks.
30:07
Then CENTERMARKEXE, it determines
30:10
whether extension lines are created for center marks.
30:13
CENTERLAYER sets the layer on which the center line
30:16
and center marks are created.
30:18
Then we have the CENTERLTYPE and CENTERLTSCALE.
30:23
These set the line type and line-type scale
30:25
used for center lines and center marks.
30:28
CENTERCROSSSIZE and CENTERCROSSGAP,
30:32
they set the size of the central cross
30:35
for center marks and the center cross gap
30:38
it sets the extension line gap between the central cross
30:42
and the extension lines in center marks.
30:46
Moving on to the high resolution monitor support in AutoCAD.
30:50
In AutoCAD 2018, the viewing experience
30:53
on high resolution 4K monitors has been improved and enhanced
30:58
considerably.
30:59
Support for high resolution monitors was further improved
31:04
and over 200 dialog boxes and other user interface elements
31:08
have been updated to ensure a quality viewing experience
31:12
on high resolution 4K displays.
31:15
Most of the interface elements, for example,
31:18
the Start tab, Command line, view cube, big box, grips,
31:22
layer manager, et cetera, et cetera,
31:24
now scaled appropriately as per the windows display settings.
31:29
In AutoCAD 2019, additional work was
31:32
performed in support of high resolution monitors
31:35
and included clarity and crispness
31:37
of the ribbon and the status bar icons.
31:40
With improvements to the display and performance,
31:43
AutoCAD 2020 now launches correctly
31:46
with different DirectX drivers, such as DirectX and DirectX 11,
31:52
or no driver also.
31:54
It also launches correctly on high resolution 4K monitors
31:58
and dual monitors as well.
32:01
Finally, the last objective is the touch gesture enhancements.
32:06
In AutoCAD 2021, support for gestures
32:10
has been enhanced for a better touch experience.
32:13
With the touch enabled screen or interface,
32:16
you can easily pan and zoom, select objects,
32:19
and use objects snaps.
32:21
So when no command is in progress,
32:24
drag with one or two fingers to pan.
32:26
When a command is in progress drag with two fingers to pan.
32:31
Pinch or spread with two fingers to zoom.
32:34
Tap on an object to select it.
32:36
When a command is in progress and if you're
32:38
required to select objects, you can
32:41
drag one finger to create a window or crossing selection.
32:44
You can double tap with one finger
32:46
to end a command or clearer selection.
32:50
When a command is in progress tap at a location
32:53
when prompted for a point.
32:55
For more precise control over object snaps,
32:58
drag your finger over an object until you
33:01
see the object snap you need and then release your finger.
33:06
The touch experiences that were further
33:09
enhanced in AutoCAD 2022 are Single Finger Drag
33:13
for selecting objects and selection state, grip editing,
33:16
and input point acquisition.
33:19
Single Finger Tap for selecting objects and point acquisition.
33:24
Single Finger Double Tap to cancel
33:26
current command on Canvas and invoke the default
33:30
action on geometry.
33:32
Double Finger Tap to undo.
33:34
Press and Hold to invoke right click menu and drawing window
33:38
or invoke grip editing menu on grip
33:41
and also invoke object context menu on geometry.
33:46
All menus are usable via touch including Dynamic Input windows
33:50
and menus.
33:51
Visual style selection can be done in the drawing window
33:55
menu which is located in the upper left corner
33:57
by simply touching it.
33:59
And many adjustments, improvements, and fixes
34:03
were done to support AutoCAD touch.
34:06
Thank you for joining me today for this accelerator
34:09
presentation about the user interface
34:11
enhancements in AutoCAD.
34:13
And I hope you enjoyed the presentation
34:16
and found the information useful.
Video transcript
00:00
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11
Hello and welcome to this accelerator presentation
00:15
where I will discuss the user interface enhancements
00:18
in AutoCAD to increase efficiency and improve the user
00:22
experience.
00:23
So let's get started.
00:26
This is the safe harbor statement
00:28
and is just a reminder that the Autodesk software changes
00:31
regularly to continually improve the software
00:34
and make it a better experience for you.
00:37
If I happen to make any forward looking
00:39
statements in this presentation, please
00:41
do not make any buying decisions based on it.
00:45
So before we begin, a short introduction about myself.
00:49
My name is Renu Muthoo, and I'm a learning content developer
00:52
with ASCENT.
00:53
I have over 23 years of experience
00:56
in various Autodesk products such as AutoCAD
00:58
and other AutoCAD verticals, and I'm also
01:01
experienced in Autodesk visualization software
01:04
products that include Autodesk Julius max and VRED
01:07
Professional.
01:08
I create the coursework and training materials
01:11
for the Autodesk products and I also
01:14
provide support for these products.
01:16
In addition, I have also co-authored few books
01:19
on both AutoCAD and 3ds Max.
01:23
The purpose of this accelerator is
01:25
to learn how the AutoCAD user interface has
01:28
evolved to increase efficiency and improve the user
01:31
experience.
01:33
So the learning objectives are that you
01:36
will learn about the redesign of the Start window
01:39
and how to display multiple drawings as separate floating
01:42
windows.
01:43
I will take you over the improvements
01:45
to the dark theme in AutoCAD.
01:48
You will learn about the enhancements
01:50
to the basic layout and the user interface feature enhancements.
01:54
We will look at the enhancements to the software
01:57
while selecting objects in the drawing window
01:59
and also the command "Preview Enhancements."
02:02
We will go over the various tabs and working off
02:05
the blocks palette.
02:07
And you will learn to add multiple dimensions
02:10
using the DIM command and also how to add center marks
02:13
and center lines to objects.
02:15
I will talk about the improvements
02:17
for supporting high resolution 4K monitors.
02:20
And finally, you will learn about the enhancements
02:23
for a better touch experience in AutoCAD
02:25
using a touch enabled screen.
02:29
s following presentation details features
02:32
which were introduced to AutoCAD across versions 2015 to 2022.
02:37
For clarity, each slide details in which version
02:41
the feature or the enhancement was introduced,
02:43
and you can see that near the bottom right
02:45
corner of each slide.
02:49
So let's start with the Start Tab Redesign.
02:52
In AutoCAD 2015 a new tab was introduced
02:56
that replaced the welcome screen and displayed when you
02:59
launch the AutoCAD software.
03:01
In the AutoCAD 2016, the new tab was renamed to Start tab.
03:06
The Start tab is persistent in the tabs bar
03:09
and is displayed as the first tab
03:11
as you create and open additional drawings.
03:14
While working in a drawing file, you
03:17
can return to the Start tab at any time
03:19
by clicking on it in the tabs bar.
03:22
With its introduction, the Start tab contained two frames--
03:27
Learn and Create.
03:28
The Learn frame contained videos, tips,
03:31
and online resources for learning
03:33
about new features in the software
03:35
and how to start using the software.
03:38
It also provided you with tips on using the software
03:42
effectively and how to access help and training
03:44
resources online.
03:46
The tip of the day used to be updated every 24 hours.
03:50
Then is the Create frame.
03:52
The Create frame contain tools for using
03:55
the software such as creating new drawings or opening
03:58
existing sample or recently opened files.
04:02
This frame also contained links for online services.
04:06
In AutoCAD get
04:10
has been redesigned so that the welcome screen
04:12
has a consistent look and feel across all other Autodesk
04:16
products.
04:18
This way the users have a similar starting experience
04:21
in various Autodesk products.
04:23
By default, the Start tab is always
04:26
available as a first tab in the Files tab
04:29
bar, which is also referred to as the Drawing tabs bar.
04:33
The stop tab remains persistent while you create
04:36
an open additional drawings.
04:38
When working in a drawing you can
04:40
click the Start tab to display the initial Start window.
04:44
You can use Control plus Home to jump from an actual drawing
04:48
to the Start tab window.
04:50
Now the left pane of the Start window
04:53
provides you with options for opening and creating
04:55
new drawings in the AutoCAD software.
04:58
You can click on the Open button to open the Select File dialog
05:02
box where you can select an existing drawing file to open.
05:05
The Open dropdown menu provides you
05:09
with options for opening a sheet set
05:11
and exploring the various sample drawing files as well.
05:15
Clicking the New button starts a new drawing
05:18
from the default drawing template.
05:20
The New dropdown menu provides you
05:22
with a list of available drawing templates
05:25
and gives you the ability to create a new drawing
05:28
from a different template.
05:30
You can also load templates from an online source.
05:34
You have an option to start the sheet set wizard
05:37
and create a sheet set from scratch as well.
05:40
In addition to Open and New buttons,
05:43
there are three more buttons in the left pane,
05:46
which are Recent, Autodesk Docs, and Learning.
05:50
Clicking those buttons open relevant options
05:54
and information in the right hand pane of the window.
05:57
A list of links is also provided to access
05:60
useful online resources such as What's
06:03
new, Online help, and Community forums.
06:06
You can also open both the AutoCAD web and mobile apps
06:10
directly from the Start page.
06:13
The right pane displays relevant options and information
06:17
about the option that you've selected in the left pane.
06:21
So when you click on the Recent button in the left pane,
06:25
the software displays a list of recently used files
06:28
in the right pane.
06:29
These recently opened drawings can either
06:32
be displayed in the form of a list
06:34
or you can display them as thumbnails.
06:36
In the right pane there is a Trumpet button,
06:39
which is a toggle to open or close an announcements area.
06:43
This Announcements area receives AutoCAD update information,
06:47
survey information, and Have You Tried articles.
06:52
In addition to the Announcements,
06:53
there is the Connect area which contains options
06:56
to sign into your Autodesk account
06:59
and send feedback to Autodesk.
07:01
If you click on the Autodesk Docs button in the left pane,
07:06
you get the options to access your connected drives
07:08
such as BIM 360, and you get the options to open and save
07:13
files from your desktop to those connected drives.
07:16
You're required to have the Autodesk desktop
07:19
connector installed on your system for Autodesk Docs
07:23
to work.
07:24
The desktop connector is an integration service
07:27
that connects your desktop folder with the Autodesk data
07:30
management source.
07:32
The learning button in the left pane
07:34
can be used to access learning resources
07:37
that provide information about new features in the software
07:40
and how to start using the software.
07:43
Click on the Learning button to display the learning
07:45
pane, which contains videos, tips, and online resources.
07:51
Moving on to the floating drawing tabs.
07:55
Starting from AutoCAD 2022, you can now pull the drawing tabs
07:59
and display them a separate floating windows.
08:02
This enables you to display multiple drawings
08:04
at the same time.
08:06
While working in multiple monitors,
08:08
you can drag one or more drawings
08:10
onto another monitor making it easier
08:12
to work on multiple drawings side by side
08:15
without having to switch between tabs.
08:17
Just to keep in mind that a separate drawing window does
08:20
not have any of the interface elements such as the ribbon
08:23
tools or the Steps bar.
08:25
All the interface elements are accessible through
08:28
the main AutoCAD window only.
08:31
After working on multiple drawings side by side
08:34
you simply drag and drop the floating drawing window
08:37
back into the Files tab bar of the main window
08:40
to collapse the separate window.
08:44
Now let's take a look at an in product demo
08:47
that demonstrates the redesign of the Start tab window
08:50
and talks about the floating drawing tabs.
08:54
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
08:54
PRESENTER: When you launch the AutoCAD software,
08:56
the Start tab along with the Start window is displayed.
09:01
Click Open in the left pane.
09:03
In the Select File dialog box open the files.
09:08
Note the two drawing files are listed in the Files tab bar
09:13
but with only one of them is being displayed in the drawing
09:17
window.
09:18
Right click on any one of the drawing
09:21
files in the Files tab bar and select Close All.
09:25
It closes both the drawings but the Start tab
09:29
along with the Start window persist.
09:32
In the Start window in the left pane, select Recent.
09:38
Note that the two recently opened
09:40
drawing files are listed here.
09:43
Click on the thumbnails icon to display
09:46
the images of the recently opened drawings.
09:49
Open the two recently opened drawings from here.
09:53
Note, the two drawing file names are listed in the Files tab bar
09:58
with only one of them being active
10:01
and displayed in the drawing window.
10:04
With the enhancements to the AutoCAD software,
10:07
you can now display multiple drawings as floating windows.
10:12
Click and drag out the drawing that is not active.
10:17
It displays the drawing as a separate window
10:21
making it easier to work on multiple drawings
10:24
without having to switch between them.
10:27
You can also move the floating drawing window around
10:32
and to another monitor as well.
10:35
Click and drag the floating drawing window
10:38
back onto the Files tab bar.
10:41
Switch back to the Start window by clicking on the Start tab.
10:47
In the right pane of the Start window, click on the trumpet
10:51
icon to open the Announcements area.
10:56
Note that an update is available.
10:58
Click on the Send Feedback button,
11:02
it opens the "Product feedback" page where
11:06
you can submit your feedback.
11:08
In the left pane of the Start window, click Learning.
11:13
Note the various learning resources
11:17
and the new and enhancements videos.
11:21
In the left pane links are provided for online resources
11:27
and to access the Community forum and Customer support.
11:32
You can also open the AutoCAD web and mobile apps directly
11:37
from here.
11:38
[END PLAYBACK]
11:39
Now let's move on to the next objective,
11:42
which is the dark theme enhancements in AutoCAD.
11:44
In AutoCAD 2020, keeping in mind the customer feedback,
11:49
significant changes were made to the interface
11:51
to improve the clarity and crispness of the dark theme.
11:55
In the ribbon, the background colors
11:58
were optimized along with the icon colors
12:00
to provide optimum contrast.
12:04
This added to the sharpness of the icons
12:06
without distracting from the drawing area where
12:10
you are usually focused.
12:12
The highlighting of contextual tabs on the ribbon
12:15
is now more distinct when active such as when you
12:19
edit text or create a hatch.
12:22
All the bar enhancements to the ribbon and contextual tabs
12:26
were applied to the light theme as well.
12:30
Let's discuss the various interface elements.
12:33
Starting from AutoCAD 2015, when repositioning layout tabs
12:38
you can drag layouts into positions that are currently
12:42
hidden by the overflow menu.
12:43
As a layout is dragged to the edge of the displayed layout
12:47
tabs either on the left or the right side,
12:50
tabs automatically scroll to show hidden layouts.
12:54
This enables you to draw up a layout
12:56
to any new location required.
12:59
A UI finder was added to the software in AutoCAD 2015.
13:05
Commands can be quickly identified
13:07
in the ribbon, status bar, and the application menu
13:10
by clicking the Find link next to the commands icon
13:14
in the Help window.
13:16
A red animated arrow displays in the interface identifying
13:21
the location of the command.
13:24
In AutoCAD 2016 many interface enhancements were introduced.
13:29
One of them is the dropdown list that
13:32
are available in the ribbon and were replaced
13:35
with galleries in which images of the available options
13:38
are displayed.
13:40
These ribbon galleries can be controlled by the GALLERYVIEW
13:43
system variable.
13:45
When the GALLERYVIEW variable is set to 0,
13:49
the preview images are hidden.
13:51
When the GALLERYVIEW variable is set to 1,
13:54
the preview images are displayed.
13:57
The status bar now wraps automatically
13:59
to a second row if the software window shrinks
14:02
or if additional buttons are selected to be displayed
14:05
in the status bar.
14:06
This ensures that all the buttons
14:08
are available across the bottom of the AutoCAD software window.
14:12
Another interface enhancement is that when multiple drawings are
14:16
open you have the ability to close them all at once rather
14:19
than each one individually.
14:21
When you right click on the File tab three options are
14:25
displayed, which is Close, Close All,
14:28
and Close All Other Drawings.
14:30
The Close option closes only the active drawing file.
14:34
Close All closes all of the open drawing
14:37
files except the Start tab.
14:40
Close All Other Drawing closes all
14:42
of the open drawings except the drawing where the right click
14:46
menu has been opened from and, of course,
14:48
the Start tab, which remains open always.
14:51
If the drawing where the right click menu has been opened from
14:55
is not already active, this option
14:58
also makes that drawing active because it
15:01
closes all of the drawings including the active one.
15:06
Continuing with the interface enhancements.
15:08
In AutoCAD get 2017, several dialog boxes were made bigger
15:13
and can be resized to display more information without having
15:17
to scroll.
15:19
To change the size of a dialog box
15:21
move the cursor to one of the corners
15:23
until a double arrow displays.
15:25
Click and drag until the required size is set.
15:28
Once set, the size of the dialog box
15:31
is maintained each time the AutoCAD software is launched.
15:35
Dialog boxes that are either larger or can be resized
15:40
include Select File dialog box, Page Setup Manager, Object
15:45
Grouping, Layer States Manager, Enhanced Attribute Editor,
15:49
and many, many more dialog boxes.
15:52
This trend of resizable dialog boxes
15:55
continued in the
15:59
as well where the resizing of the drafting settings dialog
16:03
box was added to display more information without having
16:07
to scroll.
16:09
In AutoCAD 2019, the icons in the interface
16:12
were redesigned to have a much simpler and cleaner look.
16:17
These updates apply to the icons in the Status bar
16:21
ribbon, Quick Access toolbar, and the Application menu.
16:24
The icons have been redesigned to focus
16:27
on the shape and color of the icons
16:29
so that they are easy to identify.
16:32
The display of the icons at different monitor resolutions
16:36
was also improved.
16:38
Based on your monitor's resolution,
16:40
the correct icon size is dynamically loaded
16:43
without any visible regeneration to help make the icons clearly
16:48
visible and easy to identify.
16:50
Another interface enhancement was
16:52
the display of the Layer Control bar in the Quick Access
16:55
toolbar.
16:56
This makes the layer tools easily accessible.
16:60
The Layer Control is not displayed
17:02
by default in the Quick Access toolbar,
17:05
you are required to add it to the Quick Access toolbar, which
17:09
can be done by expanding the Quick Access toolbar menu
17:12
and then selecting Layer.
17:14
Additional frequently used tools can also
17:17
be added to the Quick Access toolbar using this menu.
17:21
Also "Have You Tried" option was added to the Help screen.
17:26
When the initial Help screen is open by clicking the question
17:30
mark icon in the info center, a new heading
17:33
called Have You Tried was added to the Help screen.
17:37
Here Autodesk provided help content about useful features
17:42
that you might not be aware of or that you
17:45
might have overlooked.
17:47
This highlights tools that you can
17:49
incorporate in your use of the software on a daily basis.
17:54
Help topics that were added are based
17:57
on the user comments and their feedback
17:60
that Autodesk received.
18:02
Or this users are encouraged to use the "Was this helpful" link
18:06
and provide feedback to Autodesk which
18:09
is then used to provide more help in the Have You Tried
18:13
category.
18:15
In AutoCAD 2022, the Have You Tried help
18:19
was further enhanced to make it quicker and easier
18:22
to find the article of interest.
18:25
All the Have You Tried articles are now organized and grouped
18:30
under main topic headings in the table of contents of the Help
18:34
menu.
18:35
You can expand a heading to display
18:38
all the associated articles.
18:40
For example, selecting the User Interface heading
18:43
expands to display all the articles that
18:46
are associated with it.
18:48
The articles are live links and you
18:50
can click on the article of your choice
18:52
to open it in the Help window.
18:56
Let's now talk about the object selection enhancements.
18:59
The off-screen selection of objects
19:02
was enhanced in the AutoCAD 2018 software.
19:06
You can select objects that are outside of the display area
19:10
by panning and zooming while in a selection window.
19:13
At the Select Objects prompt, begin your selection window
19:17
or crossing window in a visible part of the drawing
19:20
and then pan and zoom to extend your selection
19:23
to the previously off screen portion of your drawing,
19:27
thus selecting objects in that area as well.
19:30
When you're in the editing command, for example, copy,
19:33
move, scale, et cetera, a temporary rubber-band line
19:37
extends from the original location of the object
19:41
to the new location of the object.
19:43
By default, this rubber-band line is a light orange color.
19:47
You can change its color.
19:49
In the Options dialog box display tab click Colors.
19:53
In the drawing window colors dialog box
19:56
that opens in the interface element list
19:59
select Rubber-band line and then use the color dropdown list
20:03
to change the color.
20:06
Command preview enables you to see the results of a command
20:10
before committing to it.
20:11
Before look at 2016, this command preview capability
20:16
was provided for trim, extend, fillet, and chamfer commands.
20:20
In AutoCAD 2016, many of the commands now display a preview.
20:25
The additional commands that were made preview capable
20:29
are blend, erase, rotate, scale, and stretch.
20:33
Let's discuss the blocks palette now.
20:36
The blocks palette was introduced in AutoCAD 2020
20:40
and offers a convenient location from where
20:42
you can locate and insert blocks and drawings
20:45
into the current drawing.
20:47
It replaced the Insert dialog box.
20:50
The blocks palette can be accessed from the View tab
20:54
palettes panel or by clicking Recent blocks, Blocks
20:57
from other drawings from the Insert blocks gallery.
21:01
At the time of its introduction in AutoCAD 2020,
21:05
the blocks palette had three tabs where
21:08
all the blocks are organized.
21:10
The three tabs are Current Drawing tab, Recent tab,
21:14
and Other Drawing tab.
21:17
So first let's start with the Current Drawing tab.
21:20
All the blocks in the current drawing
21:22
are displayed in this tab.
21:24
It's just a replica of the Insert gallery.
21:28
Then is the Recent tab, which provides you
21:30
with all the blocks that are in the current drawing, all
21:33
the blocks that were inserted recently,
21:35
and the drawings that were inserted as blocks.
21:39
Other Drawing tab you can insert any AutoCAD drawing as a block
21:44
or insert blocks from other drawings.
21:47
The file becomes a block in the Current Drawing
21:50
and is then listed in the Other Drawing tab.
21:53
The tab also displays the drawings
21:55
that were inserted while working in the other drawing sessions.
21:60
You can use the ellipsis near the top right
22:02
corner of the palette to navigate to the drawing
22:05
that you want to insert as block.
22:08
The blocks palette also allows you
22:10
to set all the insertion options such as Insertion Point, Scale,
22:15
and Rotation.
22:16
In addition to the regular insertion options,
22:18
the Repeat Placement option was added
22:21
to allow you to insert multiple blocks in a single step.
22:26
In AutoCAD get 2021, the Other Drawing tab
22:30
was simply renamed to the Libraries tab.
22:33
Also in the AutoCAD
22:37
that brings in a single drawing file
22:39
as a block now allows you to locate and bring in a folder
22:43
as well.
22:45
The folder can contain multiple drawings and their block
22:48
definitions.
22:49
When you open the folder from the blocks palette
22:52
it brings in all the drawings in that folder
22:55
into the Libraries tab to be used as blocks
22:58
in the current drawing.
22:60
To save time and to increase work efficiency,
23:03
you can store all the drawings containing their block
23:06
definitions as well together in a folder
23:09
and then access them at the same time
23:11
by opening the folder in the blocks palette.
23:15
In the left side figure, you can see
23:17
that I brought in the Landscape folder
23:20
where I had saved all the landscape drawings together.
23:24
In the AutoCAD 2022, the Favorites tab
23:28
was added to the blocks palette.
23:30
You can group your most commonly used blocks in the Favorites
23:34
tab.
23:35
In any other tab right click on the required block and select
23:39
Copy to Favorites to save it and the Favorites tab.
23:43
The blocks palette also now allows
23:45
you to store all the blocks that are
23:47
in the Recent and Favorites stab into a Cloud location
23:51
with the supported Cloud storage provider, which
23:54
are Box, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
23:57
By storing the blocks on the Cloud,
23:59
you can now access and use them with internet enabled devices
24:03
anytime and from anywhere.
24:06
You're required to be signed into your Autodesk account
24:09
to allow the application to access your blocks.
24:12
Use the Settings icon in the Options area of the blocks
24:16
palette to open the Blocks Sync Settings dialog box.
24:20
Here you can select the location on the cloud
24:23
and manage your sync settings.
24:25
Once you save the blocks on the Cloud
24:27
the Settings icon is replaced by the Cloud icon
24:31
indicating that the recent and favorite blocks are now
24:35
available on the cloud and can be accessed on devices anytime
24:39
and from anywhere.
24:42
Now let's take a look at an in product demo
24:44
that demonstrates how to use the blocks palette.
24:48
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
24:49
PRESENTER: In the Insert tab, Block panel expand Insert .
24:55
Select Recent Blocks.
24:57
It opens the blocks palette, switch to the Current Drawing
25:02
tab.
25:03
All the blocks that are available in the current
25:06
drawing are displayed here.
25:09
Select the block Chair, it attaches itself to the cursor.
25:16
Click to place the block.
25:19
Right click on Chair and select Copy to Favorites.
25:25
Open the newly added Favorites tab.
25:29
The Chair block is listed here for easy access.
25:35
In the Options area select the Repeat Placement option.
25:42
Click on Chair block.
25:47
Select "Don't redefine Chair."
25:54
Click to place.
25:57
Note that the Chair block is still attached with the cursor.
26:03
Click to place as many blocks as he want.
26:10
Press Escape to exit.
26:13
Open the Libraries tab and click on the navigation tool.
26:19
It opens the dialog box.
26:22
Here in the dialog box, you can choose
26:25
a drawing file to be used as a block
26:28
or now you can select a folder as well.
26:34
Select the Landscape folder.
26:38
Click Open.
26:39
All the drawing files that were inside the Landscape folder
26:44
are now displayed here and can be used as blocks
26:48
in the current drawing.
26:53
With the enhancements to the blocks palette,
26:57
you can place the blocks that are
26:59
in the Recent and the Favorites tabs on the Cloud.
27:04
Click on the Settings icon in the Options area,
27:10
it opens the Blocks Sync Settings dialog box.
27:13
Using the ellipsis button, you can now
27:16
use any of the supported Cloud storage
27:20
providers such as Dropbox and save your blocks on the Cloud.
27:28
Here you can also control your sync settings
27:32
and the storage permissions.
27:35
Note that the Settings icon now changes to the Cloud icon
27:40
indicating that your Recent and the Favorites blocks
27:43
are now available on the cloud and can
27:46
be used as blocks on multiple devices any time
27:50
and from anywhere.
27:51
[END PLAYBACK]
27:53
Let's talk about the dimensions enhancements now.
27:56
A general smart dimension tool was
27:59
introduced in AutoCAD
28:02
you to quickly dimension multiple objects in real time.
28:06
It's available in the Home tab Annotation panel of the ribbon.
28:10
You can also type the DIM command to access it.
28:13
The DIM command automatically determines the type
28:17
of dimension required based on the object or point selected.
28:21
You can use a single dimension command
28:23
to add various dimensions such as linear, horizontal,
28:27
and vertical, aligned, angular, radial, diameter, ordinate,
28:31
and arc length.
28:33
After placing a required dimension,
28:35
the DIM command remains active enabling
28:38
you to add other dimensions as required without relaunching
28:42
the command.
28:43
As you start the command and how will you proceed on the object
28:47
that you want to dimension, the software
28:49
automatically detects the relevant dimension
28:52
and displays a preview of the dimension.
28:55
If the previewed dimension is the correct one
28:58
click to save it and then drag the cursor
29:01
to the required location and click
29:03
to place the same dimension.
29:05
You continue to remain in the DIM command allowing
29:08
you to add multiple dimensions for other objects
29:11
in the drawing.
29:13
In AutoCAD 2017, two new tools, that
29:16
is Center Mark and Centerline, were
29:19
added that indicate that the center of an arc
29:22
or circle regardless of the object's perspective.
29:26
Both tools are available in the Annotate tab Centerlines panel.
29:30
The Center Mark tool as an associate center
29:33
mark at the center of selected circles, arcs,
29:36
or polygonal arcs.
29:38
The Centerline tool creates centerline geometry
29:42
that is associated with selected lines and polygons.
29:45
Both these tools are associative in nature.
29:48
If the associated object moves the center lines and center
29:52
marks also update.
29:55
Many system variables were added to support the Center Marks
29:58
and Centerlines.
29:59
So the first one is CENTEREXE, which
30:02
sets the length of the extension line
30:04
or shoots center lines and center marks.
30:07
Then CENTERMARKEXE, it determines
30:10
whether extension lines are created for center marks.
30:13
CENTERLAYER sets the layer on which the center line
30:16
and center marks are created.
30:18
Then we have the CENTERLTYPE and CENTERLTSCALE.
30:23
These set the line type and line-type scale
30:25
used for center lines and center marks.
30:28
CENTERCROSSSIZE and CENTERCROSSGAP,
30:32
they set the size of the central cross
30:35
for center marks and the center cross gap
30:38
it sets the extension line gap between the central cross
30:42
and the extension lines in center marks.
30:46
Moving on to the high resolution monitor support in AutoCAD.
30:50
In AutoCAD 2018, the viewing experience
30:53
on high resolution 4K monitors has been improved and enhanced
30:58
considerably.
30:59
Support for high resolution monitors was further improved
31:04
and over 200 dialog boxes and other user interface elements
31:08
have been updated to ensure a quality viewing experience
31:12
on high resolution 4K displays.
31:15
Most of the interface elements, for example,
31:18
the Start tab, Command line, view cube, big box, grips,
31:22
layer manager, et cetera, et cetera,
31:24
now scaled appropriately as per the windows display settings.
31:29
In AutoCAD 2019, additional work was
31:32
performed in support of high resolution monitors
31:35
and included clarity and crispness
31:37
of the ribbon and the status bar icons.
31:40
With improvements to the display and performance,
31:43
AutoCAD 2020 now launches correctly
31:46
with different DirectX drivers, such as DirectX and DirectX 11,
31:52
or no driver also.
31:54
It also launches correctly on high resolution 4K monitors
31:58
and dual monitors as well.
32:01
Finally, the last objective is the touch gesture enhancements.
32:06
In AutoCAD 2021, support for gestures
32:10
has been enhanced for a better touch experience.
32:13
With the touch enabled screen or interface,
32:16
you can easily pan and zoom, select objects,
32:19
and use objects snaps.
32:21
So when no command is in progress,
32:24
drag with one or two fingers to pan.
32:26
When a command is in progress drag with two fingers to pan.
32:31
Pinch or spread with two fingers to zoom.
32:34
Tap on an object to select it.
32:36
When a command is in progress and if you're
32:38
required to select objects, you can
32:41
drag one finger to create a window or crossing selection.
32:44
You can double tap with one finger
32:46
to end a command or clearer selection.
32:50
When a command is in progress tap at a location
32:53
when prompted for a point.
32:55
For more precise control over object snaps,
32:58
drag your finger over an object until you
33:01
see the object snap you need and then release your finger.
33:06
The touch experiences that were further
33:09
enhanced in AutoCAD 2022 are Single Finger Drag
33:13
for selecting objects and selection state, grip editing,
33:16
and input point acquisition.
33:19
Single Finger Tap for selecting objects and point acquisition.
33:24
Single Finger Double Tap to cancel
33:26
current command on Canvas and invoke the default
33:30
action on geometry.
33:32
Double Finger Tap to undo.
33:34
Press and Hold to invoke right click menu and drawing window
33:38
or invoke grip editing menu on grip
33:41
and also invoke object context menu on geometry.
33:46
All menus are usable via touch including Dynamic Input windows
33:50
and menus.
33:51
Visual style selection can be done in the drawing window
33:55
menu which is located in the upper left corner
33:57
by simply touching it.
33:59
And many adjustments, improvements, and fixes
34:03
were done to support AutoCAD touch.
34:06
Thank you for joining me today for this accelerator
34:09
presentation about the user interface
34:11
enhancements in AutoCAD.
34:13
And I hope you enjoyed the presentation
34:16
and found the information useful.
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