Some CAD managers may serve as solid bridges of support between end users and IT departments, but what about those of us who struggle to build that bridge for better administrative support, faster turnaround times, and strategic planning for future department needs? It's easy to get stuck feeling the pressure or, even worse, seeing only one of 2 equally valid perspectives. In this class, attendees will learn how the speaker put the "manage" back in CAD manager by creating mutual understanding and improving collaboration between 2 departments that may not always see eye to eye.

Let us face it. Every year, less and less of the data in AutoCAD MEP is exposed to AutoLISP. Even if some data may have been available in the last release of AutoCAD MEP, there is no guarantee that it will be exposed in the next version, especially when the DWG™ format changes. You may not feel comfortable replacing all your AutoLISP code with .NET code until there is a time where your company can afford a full rewrite of your code. So how do you bridge the gap between the data stored in AutoCAD MEP and the code you have written in AutoLISP? This class will take show you how you can write just enough .NET code to be dangerous, er, to be effective in exposing data which your AutoLISP applications need. We will use three different examples, based on the speaker's own need to access the data for AutoLISP applications. Programming skills are required for this class, although .NET experience is not a prerequisite.

Autodesk is committed to helping the construction industry realize the value of a fully connected digital platform across design, plan, build, and operate phases. Autodesk and Aurigo partnered to develop the most comprehensive set of cloud-based solutions for public and private owners. Aurigo’s integration with Autodesk Construction Cloud will provide owners a single technology platform for their entire program-design-plan-build-operate lifecycle. This session will showcase the Masterworks connector to PlanGrid as well as give a sneak peek into the soon-to-be-released product for owners.

In this class we will present the process of integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) in order to manage the electrical design of a building project—what we call, “BIMelec.” We will present how different companies benefit from integrating the BIMelec process into their electrical design, and we’ll explain the workflow that enabled the realization of several electrical building projects.

We are in a climate emergency. The built environment is responsible for roughly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, and, with the predicted construction growth in upcoming years, the problem can seem overwhelming and unmanageable. However, as designers we are poised with the opportunity to make the biggest impact by adapting our professional practice. Our lecture will break down a traditional lifecycle analysis, shed light on how to calculate embodied carbon at each design stage, and explain how to draw conclusions from the results. We will also present MASS Design Group’s integrated approach to reducing its environmental footprint and dive into the challenges faced in the firm’s applications across the United States and various African nations. Addressing the climate crisis will require a rigorous inquiry into traditional design methodology across all disciplines; however, the tools and resources we will share are directly applicable to architects and structural engineers.

As users of Fabrication software, we often run into situations where either using or managing Fabrication can be a very time-consuming activity. This session will cover a mixture of processes and techniques that will help you visualize more-efficient ways to power though those time-consuming activities.

AutoCAD software and Civil 3D software have CAD Standards Manager included right with the software. On the manage tab of the ribbon is where you can find the CAD Standards panel. Standards within drawing files define a set of common properties for named objects such as layers and text styles. Consistency in design and drafting are very important for maintaining and sharing drawings internally and externally in AutoCAD. The CAD Standards Manager can help you check, correct, and maintain standards within your company. At the end of this class you will be able to configure template files for standards, attach that standards file to a drawing to check consistency, use the batch checker to create a violation report, and understand how to use the powerful layer translator. Let's investigate these tools together to help provide a more efficient approach to producing and checking design drawings for consistency and standards.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is a state agency responsible for more than 550 miles of highway. As design and construction projects increase in complexity, the Commission faces multiple challenges with data management and variations in project deliverables. With advancing technology, their final goal is to implement digital models as a requirement for project bidding. In congruence with current challenges and goals, they partnered with Microdesk to integrate organization standards and initiate the process of building intelligent 3D model designs using Civil 3D software. The solutions included creating master files of all 550+ miles of highway, CAD/BIM standards for project deliverables, and development of intelligent modeling workflows for Corridors, Drainage, and ROW, all with intelligence that is used to feed geographic information systems (GIS) and asset management systems. These solutions provided a reduction in rework, easier access to data, and an integrated system between departments.

Why should you be using Dynamic Blocks? Quite simply, Dynamic Blocks can greatly reduce the number of blocks in your library, improving your efficiency. While it does take a little more time up front to create a dynamic block, the timesavings on the back end are well worth the effort! Even better news: if you are a proficient user of AutoCAD software, you should have no problem converting those boring, static blocks into shiny, new, Dynamic Blocks.

3D models help us to create better-quality products, but also help us to visualize our designs in various ways: 3D images, videos, games, 360 panoramas, virtual tours, augmented reality, virtual reality, and so on. All these are digital and are able to reach a big audience. Sometimes we need to step out of this digital world and go back to the basics! Brick Reality is a partly 3D printed and partly Lego build of a 3D road design. This class will show you how an InfraWorks model was made and turned into visualizations and a 3D-printed/Lego model.

Let’s take a look at how we can use 3ds Max software in photo shoots for advertising campaigns. We used 3ds Max to help The Sunday Times produce campaigns for Kia Motors and Grundig. 3ds Max helped us meet publication deadlines that wouldn't be possible with photography. When sourcing and constructing sets was unfeasible, 3ds Max stepped in. Using interactive rendering alongside a photographer, we placed influencers in their dream kitchens. After putting four influencers into virtual sets, we conducted a car shoot with a specific shoot location but without the car (the Kia e-Niro release was imminent and the car was not in the country). In this talk, you will learn how we used computer-generated imagery (CGI) to complement photography, and how we used interactive rendering for instant feedback, saving hundreds of hours in production by using 3ds Max.

Multiple cultures in today’s business world often require both published applications and in-house applications to be easily usable by anyone. Globalization is designing and developing applications for users in multiple cultures, and localization is the process of customizing data and resources for specific cultures for applications. In this class, we’ll talk about and demonstrate building an AutoCAD plug-in that is localized for multiple cultures. We’ll create resource files adding strings that are displayed in the application; have commands that are culture aware; and set up the user interface, including dialogs that handle different cultures. Although we’ll focus on AutoCAD applications, most of what we’ll cover applies to any .NET development.

Who hasn’t had this situation—receiving data from a planning partner who’s also using AutoCAD Architecture software or AutoCAD MEP software and content that should be added doesn’t display. Or, content that is displayed doesn’t look like you expect, or doesn’t meet the firm’s graphical design standards. So, where should you start the modifications, and, more importantly, how do you apply them? The class will walk through how to navigate through the swamp of settings that are possible within the Display Manager, showcasing its possibilities and perks. We’ll explain an effective workflow when starting from scratch, or when dealing with data coming from an outside source who’s also working with AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD MEP, without losing what others might have defined.

AutoCAD Mechanical design software offers many drawing enhancements beyond traditional AutoCAD® software. Many of these productivity tools offer immediate benefits to manufacturing designers currently using AutoCAD. From standards management to documenting Inventor® 3D CAD software models, this class promotes 10 of the best productivity tools available in AutoCAD Mechanical.

Although programs focusing on the growth of minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and black-owned businesses have been in existence for decades in the United States, the growth of these firms in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has either remained constant or diminished. In this fireside chat, Amie Kromis will speak with Deryl McKissack, Chairwoman and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, and Michael Russell, President and CEO of H.J. Russell & Company. The conversation will explore how the AEC industry can support MBEs through the lens of these companies’ successful—yet unnecessarily challenging—experiences in building capacity and competing on their own.

You need to strictly control project schedules to ensure the success of a project. Therefore, contractors need a simple, useful application that can also be accessed online in order to perform project management tasks with the intelligent model during the construction process. In this class, you will learn how to build a Forge application to visually manage project progress by utilizing intelligent models. The Forge platform consists of cloud-based developer tools from Autodesk. We will introduce Forge APIs by walking through some sample code demonstrations to help you gain access to your BIM (Building Information Modeling) data. Forge APIs also provide you with a way to manipulate and update more information in intelligent models in the cloud. If you are interested in learning Forge to innovate the way you work and make the best use of your data, then this class is for you.

The U.K. government has mandated that all government-funded projects must be delivered to Level 2 Building Information Modeling (BIM) by 2016. In a breakout from U.K. convention, companies have used AutoCAD Civil 3D software as the highway design tool for the Building Information Modeling (BIM) model and Revit software and Structural Bridge Design software for the major bridge structures. While 3D BIM models have been around for many years, there usually has not been any attendant data attached (beyond the inherent geometry) to models generated from AutoCAD Civil 3D software. We will discuss various strategies and methods for creating additional asset data in AutoCAD Civil 3D, and propose and demonstrate a method of attaching additional data to the BIM model and linking this to both the AutoCAD Civil 3D software entities and the Navisworks objects for Field BIM software. As part of this process, we will also discuss how Civil 3D objects may be used to represent real-world assets in the BIM model. Finally we will explore the result of customisation using .NET plug-ins to Civil 3D to further enhance the ability to link data to the BIM model.

Why should you be using Dynamic Blocks? Quite simply, Dynamic Blocks can greatly reduce the number of blocks in your library, improving your efficiency. While it does take a little more time up front to create a Dynamic Block, the timesavings on the back end are well worth the effort! Even better news: if you are a proficient user of AutoCAD software, you should have no problem converting those boring, static blocks into shiny, new, Dynamic Blocks.

Learn how you can use InfraWorks software to create base traffic models by importing surfaces, roads, and real traffic data, and defining traffic turning movements. Once the base model is completed, you can use InfraWorks Traffic Simulation to create construction proposals to understand how the level of service is impacted once lanes are shut down, and how an alternate intersection is created to simulate proper vehicle movements at the merging point.

Project closeout is the most visible and memorable part of a project to ownership, but it is often relegated to the back burner by project teams (including trades) that have already moved on to a new project. Valuable partnerships can quickly sour when project turnover goes poorly. Learn the keys to building trust between a general contractor and a project owner, how the challenges facing each relate to that relationship, and how to overcome them to transform closeout into a source of value rather than a weak point in the project timeline.