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November 2010

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LD Assistant 2010
Set Isometric Grid and Snap

Simulate a 3D object from a particular viewpoint by aligning along three major axes.

Isometric drawings simulate a 3D object from a particular viewpoint by aligning along three major axes.

By setting the Isometric Snap/Grid, you can easily align objects along one of three isometric planes; however, although the isometric drawing appears to be 3D, it is actually a 2D representation. Therefore, you cannot expect to extract 3D distances and areas, display objects from different viewpoints, or remove hidden lines automatically.

If the snap angle is 0, the axes of the isometric planes are 30 degrees, 90 degrees, and 150 degrees. Once you set the snap style to Isometric, you can work on any of three planes, each with an associated pair of axes:

Left. Aligns snap and grid along 90- and 150-degree axes.

Top. Aligns snap and grid along 30- and 150-degree axes.

Right. Aligns snap and grid along 30- and 90-degree axes.

Choosing one of the three isometric planes causes Ortho and the crosshairs to be aligned along the corresponding isometric axes.

For example, when Ortho is on, the points you specify align along the simulated plane you are drawing on.

Therefore, you can draw the top plane, switch to the left plane to draw another side, and switch to the right plane to complete the drawing.

Featured NEWS

• Pre-LDI Show LD Assistant Las Vegas CAD Training

A very special thank you goes out to Pat Bash of In-House Production (left) for making the LD Assistant
Pre-LDI Show CAD training a huge success.

LD Assistant CAD users came from as far away as Germany to "see the light". Lighting designers Sebastian Weis, Raimo Piper and Tobias Morell from PIPER WEIS MORELL Partners made the long trip to take advanage the three day LD Assistant class.

• Meet The LD Assistant 2010 Class

• AutoCAD WS Web, Mobile Application Officially LaunchedCAD - Oct 2010 - Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, announced the availability of AutoCAD WS, a new free* web application that uses cloud computing technology to enable AutoCAD software users to view, edit and share their AutoCAD designs and DWG files through web browsers and mobile devices. The AutoCAD WS mobile application for iOS is also now available as a free* app in the App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Click here to keep reading.

• AutoCAD WS Exceeds 125K Downloads, Autodesk 'Overwhelmed' - Within the first 24 hours of availability of the AutoCAD WS mobile application on the iTunes App Store, it has been downloaded over 125,000 times. Over 80,000 new user accounts were created and more than 35,000 drawings have been uploaded. Click here to keep reading.

LD Assistant 2010

• Better Predict What Your Event Will Look Like •

A realistic rendering of a model can give a production team or prospective client a clearer vision of a conceptual design than a plotted drawing. Most drafting time is spent working on line representations of a model. On occasion, however, you might need to see a more realistic image involving color and perspective—for example, when verifying your design or when presenting a final design.

LD Assistant's advanced rendering tools produce highly detailed and photorealistic images.

Ray-traced Reflections and Refractions: Ray tracing traces the path of rays sampled from the light source. Reflections and refractions generated this way are physically accurate.

Benefits of LD Assistant's Indirect Illumination: Indirect illumination techniques, like global illumination and final gathering, enhance the realism of a scene by simulating radiosity, or the interreflection of light in a scene.

Final Gathering: Final gathering is an optional, additional step used to improve global illumination (GI). It increases the number of rays used to calculate GI to smooth out and eliminate adverse lighting artifacts.

• LD Assistant is the only Entertainment Lighting and Event Planning CAD program that's 100% AutoCAD DWG •

• Photometric Lighting Workflow

For more precise control over lighting, you can use photometric lights to illuminate your model. Photometric lights use photometric (light energy) values that enable you to define lights more accurately as they would be in the real world. You can create lights with various distribution and color characteristics, or import specific photometric files available from lighting manufacturers.

Photometric lights can use manufacturers' IES standard file format. By using manufacturers’ lighting data, you can visualize commercially available lighting in your model. Then you can experiment with different fixtures, and by varying the light intensity and color temperature, you can design a lighting system that produces the results you want.

• IES Standard File Format & LD Assistant 2010

IES standard file formats can be created and modified.

You can create a photometric data file in the IES format using the IES LM-63-1991 standard file format for photometric data. (IES stands for Illuminating Engineering Society.) However, only the information relevant to LD Assistant Ac is described here. For a complete description of the IES standard file format, see IES Standard File Format for Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and Related Information, prepared by the IES Computer Committee (http://www.iesna.org).

The luminous intensity distribution (LID) of a luminaire is measured at the nodes of a photometric web for a fixed set of horizontal and vertical angles. The poles of the web lie along the vertical axis, with the nadir corresponding to a vertical angle of zero degrees. The horizontal axis corresponds to a horizontal angle of zero degrees and is oriented parallel to the length of the luminaire. This type of photometric web is generated by a Type C goniometer and is the most popular in North America; other types of goniometry are supported by the IES standard file format but are not discussed here.

The photometric data is stored in an ASCII file. Each line in the file must be less than 132 characters long and must be terminated by a carriage return/line-feed character sequence. Longer lines can be continued by inserting a carriage return/line-feed character sequence. Each field in the file must begin on a new line and must appear exactly in the following sequence:

1) IESNA91
2) [TEST] The test report number of your data
3) [MANUFAC] The manufacturer of the luminaire
4) TILT=NONE
5) 1
6) The initial rated lumens for the lamp used in the test or -1 if absolute photometry is used and the intensity values do not depend on different lamp ratings.
7) A multiplying factor for all the candela values in the file. This makes it possible to easily scale all the candela values in the file when the measuring device operates in unusual units—for example, when you obtain the photometric values from a catalog using a ruler on a goniometric diagram. Normally the multiplying factor is 1.
8) The number of vertical angles in the photometric web.
9) The number of horizontal angles in the photometric web.
10) 1
11) The type of unit used to measure the dimensions of the luminous opening. Use 1 for feet or 2 for meters.
12) The width, length, and height of the luminous opening. It is normally given as 0 0 0.
13) 1.0 1.0 0.0
14) The set of vertical angles, listed in increasing order. If the distribution lies completely in the bottom hemisphere, the first and last angles must be 0° and 90°, respectively. If the distribution lies completely in the top hemisphere, the first and last angles must be 90° and 180°, respectively. Otherwise, they must be 0° and 180°, respectively.
15) The set of horizontal angles, listed in increasing order. The first angle must be 0°. The last angle determines the degree of lateral symmetry displayed by the intensity distribution. If it is 0°, the distribution is axially symmetric. If it is 90°, the distribution is symmetric in each quadrant. If it is 180°, the distribution is symmetric about a vertical plane. If it is greater than 180° and less than or equal to 360°, the distribution exhibits no lateral symmetries. All other values are invalid.
16) The set of candela values. First, all the candela values corresponding to the first horizontal angle are listed, starting with the value corresponding to the smallest vertical angle and moving up the associated vertical plane. Then, the candela values corresponding to the vertical plane through the second horizontal angle are listed, and so on until the last horizontal angle. Each vertical slice of values must start on a new line. Long lines may be broken between values as needed by following the instructions given earlier.

The following is an example of a photometric data file.

• Small Servers Better to Serve You and Protect Your CAD Files!

One of the most flexible backup options is the NETGEAR’s ReadyNAS line. The ReadyNAS’ biggest claim to NAS backup fame is that it supports bi-directional backup via SMB/CIFS (any networked share), HTTP, FTP, NFS and rsync!

The Netgear ReadyNAS Duo RND is favored by providing hot-swap drives, support for disk quotas, and excellent media streaming capabilities. You can also access the Duo via an SSL-encrypted connection. Add the fact that it works with Windows, Mac, and Linux or Unix clients, and it’s no surprise that this versatile network storage is a winner.

Another Network Attached Storage (NAS) that we like is the Acer Aspire Easystore AH340-U2T1H. Its design provides a versatile platform for building a home/office server and it uses the Windows Home Server operating system, and it is only $399.00. The HP MediaSmart EX490, Windows Home Server w/ Intel Celeron 2.2 Ghz 2GB DDR2 1TB HDD installed (three open bay), 4 USB & 1 eSATA expansion ports , Mac Compatible and TiVO support is only $439.00

No matter which NAS or home/office server you use it will give you peace of mind that your data is safe. You can also connect to these little babys when you are on a job site or on the road. In the last few years we've seen more and more of these little guys popping up.

Network Storage (NAS): RND4410-100NAS

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo 2-bay NAS Drive Enclosure w/ Gigabit & speeds up to 25MBps (Diskless) $194.00

Network Storage (NAS): RND4410-100NAS

Netgear ReadyNas NV+ 4-bay NAS Drive Enclosure w/ Gigabit & speeds up to 25MBps (Diskless) $309.00

ARTICLES

• AutoCAD WS Mobile: Take Your DWGs Anywhere on Your iPhone - uploading drawing directly from AutoCAD using AutoCAD plug in, measuring distance between objects, Edwin Prakoso,

• AutoCAD WS File Storage Limits - no limits, 15MB DWG upload restriction, Android for future, Shaan Hurley, Between the Lines

• Autodesk Expands SketchBook Product Line - Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2011 software offers a best-in-class digital sketching experience. A new user interface and easy-to-use toolbar provide more intuitive access to key SketchBook Pro tools, together with enhanced brushes that enable users to more easily switch between drawing modes for lines, rectangles, circles, along with more extensive customization. Users can better express and fine-tune their creations. For example, Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2011 makes it easier to adjust color and contrast, apply layer blends for easier color or effects experimentation, interactively crop images or type in text annotations and descriptions.

• Available Now DWG Files to Go - allowing drawings to be shared/modified via web/mobile devices, AutoCAD WS mobile application for iOS, additional AutoCAD WS functions, The new AutoCAD WS mobile application for iOS, also free, provides access to AutoCAD WS for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users and is available now for download from the Apple iTunes App Store. Nancy Spurling Johnson, Cadalyst, -

• Changing Text Width - selecting DTEXT object, accessing properties window, changing width factor, Orhan Toker, Daily AutoCAD

• An AutoCAD Roadshow in India and an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Draworder - using TEXTTOFRONT/ HATCHTOBACK commands, controlling display of text, dimensions, hatching, Lynn Allen's Blog

REVIEWS

• Gateway P-7808u FX Edition Core 2 Quad - While parent company Acer rules the Netbook market with its budget-priced Aspire One, Gateway is the first name that comes to mind when thinking of high-quality low-cost gaming rigs, thanks to the popular FX series.

The $1,749 P-7808u version breaks the mold somewhat by cramming in an Intel Core 2 Quad processor, in addition to the expected Nvidia GeForce 9800M (it's also about $500 more than the standard dual-core version). The end result is a great all-around desktop replacement that can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it, and an excellent alternative to more expensive gaming laptops from Asus and Toshiba.

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