We’ve been here before, so this shouldn’t shock anyone. Autodesk is red hot to employ lots of shiny new people to replace at least some of the old ones that were discarded a while back.
As a free service to Autodesk, I offer this work-for-us video for your enjoyment:
An example of the sort of attitude required from employees who want to stay around can be found at 0:37. Nice!
I’m seeing multiple recent complaints from people stating that their older but perfectly legal perpetual license AutoCADs are being broken. They’re also reporting that Autodesk is being less than helpful about fixing the problem in any reasonable kind of timeframe. Whether this is a deliberate act or yet another “this won’t happen again” screw-up is difficult to determine, but either way it’s pretty obnoxious. People paid a lot of money for this software and they deserve to have it working.
Original Red A figure copyright Autodesk, Inc. This derivative image was created from scratch using BricsCAD V18 and falls under fair use (commentary, criticism).
If you have an old release lying around for whatever reason, maybe you’d better check to make sure it’s not broken.
Autodesk, if you can’t get your licensing act together, I hope you’ve budgeted enough to provide full refunds to everyone with an old license. Millions of them. Thousands of dollars each. That’s quite a few billion dollars. No? Don’t have that in the piggy bank? Better get cracking, then.
To those people stuck without a working AutoCAD who need to get work done while fighting Autodesk, regular readers of this blog will be able to tell you know where to go to get 30 days’ relief. File under told you so.
Has this happened to you? Please comment and provide the details.
Do you have a SketchUp (SKP) file you need to import into a DWG? Need to know how to do it? Tried it but it didn’t work? This tip is for you.
If you’re using AutoCAD 2016 to 2019 for Windows, you can download and install the SketchUp Import plug-in from the Autodesk App Store. If that goes according to plan, this will add the command IMPORTSKP to AutoCAD. You may need to restart your AutoCAD first. It’s straightforward enough; select a file to import and it becomes a block in your drawing.
Reading the reviews for this add-on, it’s clear that it’s not working for many people. If it does work, it only imports SketchUp files up to 2017 format (2016 on 32-bit AutoCAD).
What if it doesn’t work? What if it does work but you have an unsupported 2018 version SKP file? Well, this post could arguably fit into the Why every AutoCAD CAD Manager should have a copy of BricsCAD series, because this is an example of BricsCAD acting as a workaround for AutoCAD limitations. SketchUp files are supported in BricsCAD’s native Import command, no add-ins required. If you have BricsCAD V18.2.10 or later, 2018 version SKP files are supported. If you have an earlier version of BricsCAD you can download the latest here.
Importing SKP files is also supported in the free BricsCAD Shape application, but at the time of writing the version is V18.2.06, which only supports SKP files up to 2017 format.
This is the sixth and final post in this series where I explain why this statement holds true:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
This post explains why adding a copy of BricsCAD to your stable of AutoCAD licenses is a good thing for your future and that of your company.
A CAD Management thing I did a few years ago was to examine the options for replacing AutoCAD and other Autodesk products. I was an AutoCAD loyalist (albeit a somewhat critical one) with over a quarter of a century invested in it. I was looking after the deeply entrenched and very heavily customised CAD environment of a major public utility company that had been using AutoCAD as its primary CAD system since the late 1980s. Hundreds of custom commands were in place and providing priceless productivity benefits. Hundreds of thousands of DWG files were on file, with thousands more coming through every month. The inertia behind AutoCAD was very, very strong. Looking outside the cage was a pretty radical step to take. What led me to that point?
That’s what moved me to take a very, very serious look at alternatives. Your motives may differ. Just the desire to have a Plan B in case of disaster might be enough.
If you don’t feel moved to investigate, you may eventually be faced with no option. Sooner or later, the person who holds the purse strings at your company may point to this year’s much bigger Autodesk invoice and ask, “What are we getting for this? How can we reduce our costs?” When that happens, you don’t want to be scrabbling round for answers before that invoice needs to be paid. Look into the options in advance. Are you really wedded to AutoCAD or are you actually tied to DWG?
Days of Future Past
Here’s my suggestion. Examine the available alternatives to AutoCAD and the other Autodesk products you use. Do it sooner rather than later so you get the chance to determine the answers to non-trivial questions like these:
I went through all of these questions and settled on BricsCAD as the best option in my company’s case. In fact, several aspects made it really the only viable option. The product impressed me with high performance, capabilities well beyond AutoCAD in several important areas, a very high degree of compatibility (particularly LISP but also other customisation files), the availability of perpetual licensing and much lower ongoing costs. The company impressed me with its honesty and attitude toward customers.
Most of all, I was won over because I could see that the product had a future. Subsequent improvements have only strengthened that view.
Obviously, you need to make your own judgement based on your own circumstances. I would suggest looking at all the options, including sticking with AutoCAD permanently, with or without subscription or maintenance. Maybe you can use my investigations as a starting point, but I encourage you to start investigating now rather than when you’re under time pressure and don’t have time to do a thorough job.
It will cost you a few minutes to download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD and start preparing for the possibility of a different future. Maybe it won’t turn out to be part of your company’s future, but it could still be part of your future.
Options are good. Learning is good. Best case scenario, your knowledge is going to save your company money and improve its productivity, and you will end up smelling of roses. Worst case scenario, you’re going to spend some very justifiable time doing something new, different and interesting. I recommend it.
Other posts in the Why every AutoCAD CAD Manager should have a copy of BricsCAD series:
Part 1, fixing drawings
Part 2, 3D operations
Part 3, parts on demand
Part 4, efficiency
Part 5, LISP
My last tiny tip post (Ctrl+Shift+Esc takes you directly to Task Manager) seemed quite popular so here’s another one.
This post includes ten more keystrokes that I use to save me time with CAD management, development, documentation and support. All of these use the Windows key, which is located between Ctrl and Alt on most keyboards.
These keystrokes apply to Windows 10 but most of them also work with earlier releases.
| Keystroke | Action |
| Win + D | Show the desktop (minimize all windows). It’s a toggle, so use it again to put them back how they were. (Win + M also minimizes all windows and Win + Shift + M restores but I find Win + D easier to remember). |
| Win + E | Start an Explorer window. |
| Win + Plus (+) | Magnify (pixel fattener). You can magnify the screen more in steps by repeating Win + Plus. Win + Minus (-) reverses one level of magnification. Win + Esc exits magnification mode. |
| Win + number | Same as picking the <number> item on the taskbar. For example, if you have pinned Notepad to the taskbar and it’s in the 5th position, Win + 5 will start a Notepad session. Win + 5 again will minimize Notepad. Win + 5 again will restore Notepad. |
| Win + Shift + number | As above but always starts a new instance of the application. For example, if you have Notepad running already but want to force a new instance, you can use Win + Shift + 5. |
| Win + Ctrl + Shift + number | As above but runs the instance as an administrator. |
| Win + Shift + Left or Right | Move the current application to the left or right side of the screen. This is particularly handy for CAD people with dual monitors and apps that typically use up a full screen. |
| Win + I (letter i) | Settings (newer version of Control Panel). |
| Win + Pause | System status – very handy when you’re looking at a problem on somebody else’s computer. |
| Win + R | Run a OS command. |
Bonus tip: Win + L will lock the computer for when you leave your desk (thanks Robin Capper). You can also use it to switch accounts.
There is a full list of Windows keystrokes on the Microsoft site.
This is the fifth post in this series where I explain why this statement holds true:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
This post is about BricsCAD being better than AutoCAD at the one thing that made AutoCAD win the race against its competitors back in the 80s – LISP. That is, AutoLISP (added fully to AutoCAD in Version 2.18) and Visual LISP (fully integrated with AutoCAD 2000).
If you’re a good AutoCAD CAD Manager, you’ll already know the reasons LISP is an extremely important tool, so I won’t cover them here. I may explain those reasons in a later post, but that would distract us from the main point. Why is having a copy of BricsCAD useful to a CAD Manager?
I do my LISP development in BricsCAD these days, and can attest that it’s well worth the investment in time to get the hang of BLADE.
It will cost you a few minutes to download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD and check out the LISP situation for yourself.
Edit: it’s not just LISP. See James Maeding’s comment below about .NET, too.
Windows software (e.g AutoCAD) taking way too long to perform a certain operation? Apparently stuck in an endless loop? Won’t stop even when you hit Esc? Need to end the task so you can try something else instead? Not even hitting the red X in the corner works? Then you might find this tiny tip handy.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc takes you directly to Task Manager.
Do not hit Ctrl+Alt+Del. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Enjoy!
You’re not alone. At the time of writing, the Autodesk license service at auth.autodesk.com is down, so if you need a response from that service before your software will work you’re likely to be severely out of luck.
That’s more likely to be inconvenient if you’re on subscription rather than a perpetual license, because Autodesk subscription software phones home every month. Yes, even if you have a 3-year license.
Here’s an email exchange I just had with a friend. He’s a local person who I don’t normally discuss CAD with. He works for an architect. He has given me permission to use this discussion here.
Hi Steve,
We are looking to update from 2007 and 2010 versions in the office to more recent versions of Autodesk’s AutoCAD.
We don’t need full version but if that’s what is available ok then. Lite version is ok as we use for 2D architectural only. We use other packages when 3D work required.
We also have call to open consultants drawings which may be prepared on full versions or other packages.
Can you let me know what the last version that didn’t require the annual subscription and is available and likely cost?
Much appreciated if you could help.
Cheers
Here’s my reply:
You’re out of luck. Regardless of the release, you can now only pay for AutoCAD by annual subscription (which now means rental and used to mean pre-paid upgrades). Cost is currently AUD $2605 a year. Autodesk occasionally does an “upgrade” promotion for old releases but it’s really just a rental discount (15% at the moment) and means throwing away your perpetual license. If you stop paying, you have nothing, not even your old release. Here’s the link:
https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/autocad/subscribe
There’s currently a 20% off deal for AutoCAD LT rental at AUD $460 a year, which ends in a couple of days:
https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/autocad-lt/subscribe
If you just want to convert back to AutoCAD 2007 or 2010 DWG format and work in that, you have a few options. One is Autodesk’s DWG TrueView, which is a free very cut-down AutoCAD that will allow you to open new DWG and save in earlier releases.
https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/dwg/viewers
Another free option is BricsCAD Shape, which actually gives you more open/save options for drawings than AutoCAD itself, as well as being a 3D architectural modelling application.
https://www.bricsys.com/en-intl/shape/
There’s another free 2D application called DraftSight but that’s not keeping up to date with the DWG versions (it’s still on 2013 format):
https://www.draftsight2018.com/
If you want an AutoCAD-like perpetual license product for 2D drafting that will work directly with the current DWG format, you can’t go past BricsCAD. Works just like AutoCAD, uses the same files, up to date with current versions.
Full perpetual license is AUD $765 for the Classic version or AUD $1010 including a year’s maintenance. After that, keeping up to date at AUD $320 per year is cheaper than any option Autodesk has, even for renting LT. You can alternatively just pay your $765 once and do the buy-upgrades-whenever-you-want thing that Autodesk stopped doing years ago. It also gives you an upgrade path to full 3D and even BIM if you want to do that further down the track.
https://www.bricsys.com/en-intl/bricscad/
It’s a quick download and install which won’t harm your AutoCAD installation. You’ll probably find BricsCAD will work noticeably faster than any recent AutoCAD, which has got very bloated in recent years. This is particularly obvious if you’re running older hardware.
No, I’m not on commission!
This is the fourth post in this series where I explain why this statement holds true:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
This post is about BricsCAD being more efficient than AutoCAD for some of the things a CAD Manager might need to do. What do I mean?
As I mentioned in my last post, this series is all based on stuff I’ve done in real life as a CAD Manager for a primarily AutoCAD-using company. Feel free to add your comments with your own experiences, even if they differ from mine.
It will cost you a few minutes to download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD and check out the performance and efficiency for yourself.
No, I don’t mean, “Hey, I’m going to Autodesk University this year, let’s hang out!” I mean, is anyone going to Autodesk University this year?
Edit: in this post I am referring to AU2018 in Las Vegas, not any other event.
Because I’m seeing lots of people saying they’re not going. People who haven’t missed it for many years. When Robert Green announced his forthcoming non-attendance on Facebook, I was amazed to see so many prominent long-term Autodesk loyalists do likewise. Here are a few comments:
OUCH! With all the people I know who won’t be there, AU is going to be a lonely place this year.
Especially with half of Autodesk gone!
Whilst certainly not a long standing attendee as Robert, I also won’t be at AU this year. Gonna miss you guys
This is getting REALLY sucky now.
Now you’re making me wonder how many more won’t be there and if I should reevaluate my plan to go.
I probably won’t be there either. I’m pretty pissed at Autodesk for letting go of so many people (Heidi Hewett & Lynn Allen). My boss said he will not send me again because he’s just now feeling the pain of the rental plan. I might want to check out the Bricsys conference or start blogging about BricsCAD.
FWIW, if none of my classes get accepted I’ll be taking a pass as well.
At this point I expect the same.
In light of post AU2017 fallout, wondering how many more will not be going.
Man! Maybe I don’t want to go!
Given what has happened since, really glad I got to AU last year.
Clearly a lot of the Autodesk people I looked forward to seeing won’t be there this year.
The most obvious absence will undoubtedly be Lynn Allen:
Well…I will certainly miss my friends…but I don’t think I could possibly bear attending AU this year.
This wasn’t news to me, because a couple of weeks ago I had already asked Lynn on Twitter:
Her reply came as a shock to some:
As Lynn taught the most popular class there for over 15 years with over 800 people crammed in a room and more wanting to get in, that’s a sizeable hole to fill.
Looking at the AU class proposals, there are a bunch of people attempting to fill the hole. There are no less than five “60 tips in 60 minutes” class proposals. One of them in particular used Lynn’s name in perhaps the not most sensitive way, given that we’re talking about somebody who recently lost their job. That didn’t go down too well:
Don’t get me wrong. Despite my opening paragraph, and despite many significant absences (including the excellent Joseph Wurcher and his 14 years of experience running the show), I expect AU 2018 to still be a big, spectacular, successful, fun event. It will still be attended by thousands and will have many useful classes. Even if the networking won’t be what it was, it may still be well worth your while to attend.
But if you want to hang out with the cool people (and me!) and learn about CAD software that’s actually moving forward, maybe you should visit London for the Bricsys 2018 conference instead.
This is the third post in this series where I explain why this statement holds true:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
This post is about using BricsCAD as a mechanical and structural parts library for your AutoCAD users. As I mentioned in my last post in this series, I was writing a client-specific AutoCAD 3D training course recently. To demonstrate the concept of revolving profiles, and also to compare and contrast different styles of solid creation, I wanted to use a ball bearing as an example. The easiest way for me to get hold of an accurate example ball bearing model was to fire up BricsCAD (a few seconds) and select the part from the Standard Parts panel (a few more seconds).
It gets inserted as a block. After explosion to reduce it to 3D solids, I could then slice it in either BricsCAD or AutoCAD to form the basis for my example. I could save it at any stage in BricsCAD and open it in AutoCAD to continue to work on it seamlessly. What I can’t do is simply copy and paste from one application to another; you do need to save the DWG. You can then open it in AutoCAD or access the blocks using AutoCAD’s DesignCenter palette; if you’re doing this a lot you might want to point DesignCenter to a scratch DWG you keep handy for this sort of parts exchange.
There are currently 13 sets of standards:
Although you may already have your own parts library, having access to a wider range of international standards may prove useful. Aussie steel sections? Go for your life, mate.
Just how much stuff is available? A lot. Each of the sets of standards has multiple sections, each section has many parts, and many of the parts have many sizes. Depending on the part, other parameters (such as bolt length) may also be available for a given size.
Here’s the full Standard Parts panel in action, in this case selecting a nut.
BricsCAD Pro and Platinum have 3D parametrics built in (and given the minor extra cost I’d suggest going for Platinum), so it’s quite feasible to use it as the basis for your own 3D parts library. If you’ve built up a few 2D dynamic blocks in AutoCAD, you’ll be quite capable of doing the same thing in 3D in BricsCAD. The methods are different but straightforward enough to teach yourself.
As pointed out in a comment by James Maeding, you can set up a network license or two and install BricsCAD on everybody’s PC, giving everybody access to the goodies without excessive cost. Bear in mind that like Autodesk, Bricsys charges a premium for a network license over a standalone one. Unlike rent-or-go-forth Autodesk, Bricsys allows you to have a perpetual license and the total cost of ownership is substantially lower.
By the way, this series isn’t theoretical, it’s all based on stuff I’ve tried out in the real world. For example, the network license software will happily coexist with Autodesk’s network license software on the same license server. The services ignore each other; no clash, no problem. My experience is that it works just fine on a virtual server.
It will cost you a few minutes to download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD and check out the included parts content for yourself.
This is the third in a series of interviews of Interesting People of CAD (IPoC).
Lynn Allen is a legendary figure in the CAD world and really needs no introduction. I’m very happy that she agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the third and final part of Lynn’s interview. Learn about Lynn’s departure from Autodesk, people’s reactions to the news, and what Lynn thinks about Heidi Hewett going to Bricsys. Also, Miss Tiffany.
Steve: So after all these years, you’re no longer with Autodesk. Was that a shock to the system?
Lynn: After 24 years, it is so hard to train myself to say “they” instead of “we”… I’m still working on that. People who know the inside scoop know that I’m much happier now that I’m on my own. And I’m looking forward to possibly taking my skills, expertise and followers to another company, especially if I can find one that is truly focused on the customer. Or perhaps I’ll continue doing what I’m doing, working as a consultant.
Steve: Many of your long-time colleagues and friends also parted ways with Autodesk at the same time. Do you have any idea why so many highly experienced people were chosen this time round?
Lynn: I think that Autodesk Management would need to answer that question.
Steve: In my career I’ve been through several work experiences where people were being made redundant around me, and it was never pleasant. What was the atmosphere like at Autodesk while the redundancies were being processed?
Lynn: It’s not unlike other companies – it is always a painful process. I’ve been through it close to a dozen times at Autodesk – it’s always sad. And it’s just as hard, in many ways, for the people who are left behind. That survivor’s remorse. It can take a long time for a company to course-correct.
Steve: Even before this latest reduction in force, I have had people expressing their opinion to me that Autodesk has an ageist hiring and firing policy, and that once people get to about 50 they’re marked for deletion. Do you have a view on that?
Lynn: I can’t really respond to that either. I think you know my views on that, Steve.
Steve: What has the reaction been like from people outside to the news of you no longer being with Autodesk? Have people been supportive?
Lynn: People were shocked – plain and simple. And I spent so much time consoling customers and employees I didn’t have much time to process it myself. I literally had people calling me up and sobbing on the phone – what am I supposed to do with that? I felt just horrible that so many people were upset. I had to talk many people off the ledge. I had people swearing to get rid of their Autodesk products… it was insane. People have been amazingly supportive otherwise – I just can’t emphasize that enough. So many have reached out to me… it gets to me just thinking about it. I feel very fortunate that way (and I can’t thank everyone enough)
Steve: The way I see it, Autodesk stands a good chance of losing out twice in removing experienced, skilled and well-liked people. Not only does it lose those attributes, but there’s a good chance that a competitor will gain them! We’ve already seen that happen with Heidi Hewett going to Bricsys and Brenda Discher going to Siemens. Is it safe to say that Autodesk’s main competitors have all been in touch with you?
Lynn: Yes indeed! And let me say I was insanely flattered. I’m still listening and hoping to make the right decision here. We will see.
Steve: Of course you worked with Heidi for many years. She seems to have taken to her new role at Bricsys like a fish to water! Were you happy to see her land that job?
Lynn: You have no idea how happy I was for her. Heidi is brilliant and one of the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with. Bricsys is so lucky to have her on board. And Heidi is happy – and that makes me happy!
Lynn and Heidi back together again, doing their things.
Steve: It was fun seeing you turn up at Solidworks World before your departure had been made public and getting people guessing! You’ve just returned from Gent in Belgium, I see. Did you enjoy that visit?
Lynn: I have enjoyed all opportunities to spend time with companies in the software design industry. They each have their unique offerings for the design customer and I’ve enjoyed getting to know the various companies better. I have also greatly appreciated those companies who have approached me and their amazing “hospitality” if you will.
Steve: I love Belgium. Great people, wonderful beer. Some pretty impressive software, too! Anyway, I see you have been keeping an active presenting schedule going, mostly attending independent Autodesk software-based events. At one of them you got to share the stage with Sophia the creepy robot torso woman. How was that?
Lynn: She is indeed creepy Steve! It was a unique experience I’m not likely to forget in quite some time. I can tell you that I’m certainly not worried about robots taking over the world any time soon – she kept stepping on my lines!
Steve: It’s good to see you’re keeping up the Cadalyst videos. Is it just me or are you getting a little more, er, carefree lately? Or is that just the cold medicine?
Lynn: I’ve definitely been getting a little more carefree (I must admit the cold medicine sent me over the edge though). Even in my live presentations I’ve noticed I’m more carefree and personally I think I’m a better presenter now – because I can just be me.
Steve: Do you expect to expand your presenting repertoire to cover non-Autodesk software in future?
Lynn: Anything is possible!
Steve: Last question. What question do you wish I’d asked you?
Lynn: Wow, what a question! How is my dog Tiffany? She’s doing great, thank you for asking!
Miss Tiffany doing her thing.
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 1
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 2
This is the second post in this series where I explain why this statement holds true:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
This post is about using BricsCAD to do things to help out your AutoCAD users who are having problems with 3D operations. Why would you bother using BricsCAD to mess with AutoCAD 3D models? Because sometimes AutoCAD can’t do stuff with them, and BricsCAD can.
If you have a user who finally asks for help after fighting AutoCAD for ages trying to get an operation to work such as an awkward fillet, a self-intersecting extrusion or a direct edit that doesn’t want to move, you have a couple of options:
I’ve been writing a client-specific AutoCAD 3D training course recently, and going through the exercises I’ve developed has been instructive. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve thought, “Man, this would have been so much easier in BricsCAD.” That’s before we get to the 3D parametrics that BricsCAD has had for a while and which AutoCAD never will.
Why is BricsCAD so much better than AutoCAD at making 3D work well? Because it has to be. When you base your entire product line (including BIM, parametric 3D, sheet metal and a host of other uses covered by 3rd party developers) on a single DWG-based 3D engine, that engine has to be robust, powerful, efficient and fast.
It’s not as if Bricsys can say to somebody struggling with performing 3D operations in BricsCAD that they should be using Inventor or Revit instead. That cop-out is unavailable. It has to just work.
Fortunately, Bricsys has acquired a small group of genius-level experts in this area, and holds on to them rather than dumping them when they get too experienced. It shows. Overwhelmingly, it just works.
It will cost you a few minutes to download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD and confirm this for yourself. It’s well worth it.
There are exceptions, of course. Nothing is perfect, and you will come across the occasional glitch. But those exceptions are definitely rarer than in AutoCAD. My experience also tells me that if you report those exceptions, there’s an extremely good chance that they will be fixed, and quickly. Bricsys ain’t Autodesk.
This is the third in a series of interviews of Interesting People of CAD (IPoC).
Lynn Allen is a legendary figure in the CAD world and really needs no introduction. I’m very happy that she agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the second part of Lynn’s interview, which includes discussion of travel, gender issues and a nasty poster.
Steve: As Technology Evangelist for Autodesk for over 20 years, presentation was a big part of your job. You have a comedic, apparently casual approach to your presentations that is very popular. How much preparation do you have to put in to make it appear so casual?
Lynn: You have no idea how much planning and preparation I put into my presentations! Those on the inside think I’m a little insane I rehearse so much – but I need to in order to feel confident about my presentations. If I’m not confident – I can’t be myself. All that comedy comes from relaxing and just treating the audience like family.
Steve: Your job involved a vast amount of travel, and I see you haven’t stopped. I once remarked that I didn’t know if you had the best or worst job in the world! Which is it?
Lynn: It’s a little of both, Steve! I love spending time with users all over the world… but the travel can really get to me. It always sounds so much more glamourous than it really is. I really do love being home!
Steve: What are some of the travel difficulties you have had to face?
Lynn: Again, oh boy! How long do you have? I’ve had some real travel nightmares. Missed connection nightmares that turned into very painful sagas. I’ve lost my luggage more times than I can count. And I’ve had food poisoning too many times – ended up in the hospital once as a result. Definitely not very glam.
Steve: Are there any countries you still have left on your bucket list?
Lynn: Absolutely! Greece and Iceland. I’ve been to over 75 countries but would really like to add these two countries to my list.
Lynn, smart as ever, enjoying a well-earned vacation
Steve: One of the things I’ve always admired about you, and I think one of the reasons you’re so popular, is how much of a straight-shooter you are. Of course there are limits to how critical you can be about your company’s products. But you never seemed to shy away from saying things like, “That’s a bit annoying” or, “I don’t know why they did it that way, that doesn’t make much sense to me.” Did you ever get into trouble for being too honest?
Lynn: Good question. While I may have been a straight shooter, I wasn’t saying anything the users weren’t thinking! And I also praised the products like crazy so there was certainly more positive than negative. I don’t remember getting into trouble… the teams I worked with were very willing to take my feedback and try to do something about the issues and concerns. No software product is perfect.
Steve: As a female in a male-heavy field, I know you didn’t have to line up for the toilets at AU too often. But you must have faced some difficulties over the years because of your gender. Can you share some of those, and how you dealt with them?
Lynn: You know – I have always been pretty easy going about the gender issue and have actually been treated with a great deal of respect since joining Autodesk. Let’s remember that Autodesk had one of the first female CEOs and I think Carol Bartz’s presence permeated throughout the company. And it was difficult for someone to challenge my AutoCAD knowledge… just since I’d been doing it for so long and was one of the industry leaders so that usually shut people down as well.
Now before Autodesk – well that was another issue! I once had an ATC professional student insist I go get him some coffee (before class began on the first day), treat me clearly as a subordinate, complain that the instructor was late – only to be shocked to find out I was actually the instructor and was going to be so for the next 4 days. He wasn’t very happy about that!
Steve: You once had a “Win a date with Lynn Allen” thing sprung upon you without your knowledge or consent. I must say that horrified me when I heard about it! How did it go down with you?
Lynn: Well, I’d say they probably thought it was amusing in the grand scheme of things but of course it was totally inappropriate! I didn’t have to deal with it as others came to my aid and put an end to it before I had much of a chance to react. I can’t even remember how we fixed it. I believe whoever won was invited to join a big group of us to dinner. It is funny now!
Steve: Were there any other unpleasant surprises like that?
Lynn: Well the biggest horror by far was the poster size version of my face that was put out by Autodesk Marketing! I freaked out when I saw it – especially when the marketer told me it went out to 250,000 customers! I cried in my office for hours. They didn’t even bother to touch it up – it was awful! My boss was so very sweet – he went straight to the top to complain about it and eventually the person who put out the poster “went on to pursue other opportunities” (it wasn’t his first major marketing mistake). I was traumatized for ages. I’m still traumatized when someone tells me they still have one or they ask me to sign it. Burn your Lynn Allen posters… please!
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 1
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 3
Here’s a mega-tip with a lot of experience behind it:
As a CAD Manager looking after AutoCAD users, or a power user looking after yourself, it’s worth your while to have a copy of BricsCAD handy.
Why? There are too many reasons to fit in one blog post, so I’m going to do a mini-series. The first post is about using BricsCAD to fix up drawings that are giving your AutoCAD users problems.
One of the things that surprised me most when evaluating BricsCAD as a potential replacement for AutoCAD was that my expectations were wrong when it came to the reliability of opening DWGs. Over the years, I collected a variety of DWGs that gave various releases of AutoCAD some problems. Some of those problems occurred while performing some kind of editing or processing, while others prevented AutoCAD from opening the drawing at all. I was expecting BricsCAD to have all those problems, plus perhaps some additional incompatibilities of its own.
What happened was the opposite. I don’t think I came across a single drawing that AutoCAD could open but BricsCAD couldn’t. On the contrary, BricsCAD was much more forgiving than AutoCAD, breezing through the process of opening drawings that had problems that originated in AutoCAD. Maybe 80-90% of my “problem” drawings were problems for AutoCAD alone. In many cases an AUDIT in BricsCAD and a re-save was enough to make the problem go away in AutoCAD. In other cases I could use BricsCAD to recover the unrecoverable using the traditional methods of WBLOCK, saving as an earlier release, saving as DXF, binary search (I may do a later post on exactly what that means), and so on.
Note that you may be able to obtain similar results using other DWG-based products such as DraftSight, ZWCAD or even the free BricsCAD Shape. However, I don’t have the experience with those products to be able to confirm that. Autodesk’s DWG TrueView, being a cut-down AutoCAD, tends to have the same problems as AutoCAD.
One thing that was particularly pleasant about using BricsCAD to fix problem drawings was the speed at which it could be done, because of BricsCAD’s generally superior performance. Closing and opening AutoCAD is painfully slow these days as the bloat gets worse, so having a product that fires up quickly is very handy.
Also handy is the availability of tools within the product that make it easier to locate and fix problems. Of particular importance is the Drawing Explorer, which provides a consistent and efficient interface that provides access to over 20 different types of aspects of a drawing (e.g. layers, linetypes, text styles, etc.):
One example arose showing how useful this is, when my users were having an intermittent problem with some drawings locking up AutoCAD 2015 on open. Some trial and error made it possible to discover that the trigger for this was the existence of a text style (any text style) with a bigfont attached, where the bigfont SHX file did not exist. It was possible to fix this in an earlier or later AutoCAD release, which the users may or may not have available to them, by opening the drawing, using the STYLE command, then using that dialog box to go through each text style one at a time, looking for bigfonts.
It was much easier to quickly fire up BricsCAD, use the STYLE command which opens the Drawing Explorer in the Text Style section, and see all of the text styles laid out at once (see above). It was very efficient to quickly look for recalcitrant bigfonts and make them go away, or to see instantly that bigfonts weren’t the problem.
Similarly, the consistent, searchable and efficient interface of the BricsCAD Settings dialog makes it easy to check the values of any settings that you suspect may be triggering the problem in AutoCAD:
As a CAD Manager, it’s definitely worth your while to do the quick download and install of an evaluation BricsCAD. My experience in dealing with Bricsys is that requests for extensions for evaluation purposes are usually accepted, so you probably won’t have to give up your valuable tool as soon as your 30 days are up.
Once you’ve determined that it really is an invaluable tool to have around, the cost of entry is low enough to make it relatively easy to justify the investment. You won’t need to recover many drawings to get your money back.
This is the third in a series of interviews of Interesting People of CAD (IPoC).
Lynn Allen is a legendary figure in the CAD world and really needs no introduction. I’m very happy that she agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the first part of Lynn’s interview. Topics include life before Autodesk, that AU wig and user groups, especially AUGI.
Steve: Can you tell me a little about your background before you started with Autodesk? Have you always been involved in teaching and training?
Lynn: I started using AutoCAD with Version 1.4 at American Honda. I then went to one of the first AutoCAD resellers in North Hollywood where I did a little bit of everything, but primarily training. I moved to yet another Autodesk Training Center (ATC) where I became the manager of three ATCs. I also taught AutoCAD at the local Junior College along the way.
Steve: When did you start at Autodesk and what did you do initially?
Lynn: I joined Autodesk in 1994, working in their training dept. Shortly thereafter I became the Training Department Manager.
Steve: I first saw you at AU in 1995 and you were well known and liked then. How did you manage to build up such a following?
Lynn: Well, I like to believe people liked me because I genuinely tried to help the AutoCAD/Autodesk community out. I was involved in AutoCAD since the early days, had a column in Cadence/Cadalyst magazine for over 20 years (before the internet when people used to read for information). I had written several books on AutoCAD and thanks to my job as Autodesk User Group Manager I had a chance to present to Autodesk product users all over the world. I am friendly, I mean well, and I think that shows through in my presentations. I made it a point to never be too busy to stop and listen – I really want to help. I don’t think can’t fake that – people can see you for who you really are on stage.
Steve: What was the story behind the wigs?
Lynn: Well, there was only one wig… a blonde one. At one point I dyed my hair brown and boy did people complain! It was such a sticking point with everyone (it was really unbelievable how upset people were about it). So I walked into one AU and put a blonde wig on the monitor and said “Here you go people, here is your blonde hair!” It got a big laugh, but I do believe it got my point across.
Steve: You were the Worldwide User Group Manager for a while, what did that involve?
Lynn: That was the best job ever! I had the opportunity to work with local user groups all over the world as well as AUGI. My job (as well as my team) was to help them all be successful – support them – be there for them. I had a wonderful team, we all loved our jobs.
Steve: I know Autodesk put a lot of support behind AUGI. What forms did that support take?
Lynn: They provided monetary support, physical support (we helped them with their newsletter as well as other promotional marketing), various events, their website, and made sure they had a big presence at AU since they were instrumental in getting AU off the ground.
Steve: What do you think Autodesk gained, and still gains, from supporting AUGI?
Lynn: Who wouldn’t want to promote an organization full of passionate users? That said – Autodesk has really dropped off of AUGI support (and local user groups) in the past decade or so…it’s really made me sad. For years I stepped in as a volunteer Autodesk rep because they had no one to work with… it was rough.
Steve: I know there were some real characters among the people running those early NAAUG/AUGI boards. Do you have any fun stories you can share about them?
Lynn: Oh boy! Too many to tell… Although I do love the time when AUGI president David Harrington ordered vanilla ice cream (at a very nice restaurant) and they accidentally brought him the one from the dessert tray which was actually Crisco… the look on his face when he took the first bite was priceless! We still laugh about it today.
We had a president we had to impeach because he took the Autodesk software we gave him for User Group door prizes and sold it. That wasn’t cool… We had our fair share of trials and tribulations but it was all worth it in the end. I still have a massive soft spot for user groups!
Steve: I’ve heard from David Kingsley about one side of the controversy over whether AUGI should have been run using a professional management group. Do you have any insights on what went on there?
Lynn: Well, there are pros and cons with that story. AUGI did get some amazing benefits when SolidVapor was working with them as they did so much of the legwork and heavy lifting. They couldn’t do it all for free – they had quite a staff supporting all of their efforts. I also understand how AUGI felt about the situation. I can totally see both sides of the situation.
Steve: I’ve run an Autodesk user group myself, and I know it’s very difficult when volunteers have different ideas about how things should happen. What lessons could be taken from that whole experience?
Lynn: While working with a passionate group of volunteers can be challenging – they are all in it for the better good of the organization. Trying to keep that in mind definitely helps.
Steve: So if you had any advice for somebody starting up a big user group from scratch, what would it be?
Lynn: Find passionate individuals who have the time to dedicate to getting the organization off the ground (a Board if you will). These individuals need to put in a fair amount of time to do the job right. Meeting face to face at least once a year is also essential in my mind – filled with head-down brainstorming and detailed planning. Plus people get to know each other better and become more tolerant of each other. And as a corporation – definitely treat these Board members well! Spoil them a little – they’ve earned it! I have to give SolidWorks (and Richard Doyle) some kudos here – they really understand the value of user groups and have dedicated resources to help them be successful. I love that!
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 2
IPoC interview – Lynn Allen – part 3
I did a silly video. It’s only 10 seconds long. Enjoy.
As I mentioned in March, this year’s Bricsys conference will be held in London (yes, the British one) on 23 and 24 October.
More details have now been revealed on the Bricsys Conference page and tickets are now on sale. We now know:
My attendance at the 2016 and 2017 conferences was well worthwhile, even coming from Australia. With the user/customer event now extending to two days rather than one, I expect this year’s event will be a step up from that. I’m hoping to attend this one too, in which case I will be happy to meet up with any of you.
Disclosure: Bricsys covered my travel expenses for the 2016 and 2017 conferences.
Welcome to the second in this series of interviews of Interesting People of CAD (IPoC).
David Kingsley has had a long and interesting career, was present in the early days of CAD adoption, and served as an AUGI board member for years. Here is the third and final part of David’s interview. This was the most interesting part of the interview for me, but unfortunately much of the more hilarious anecdotes and other discussions were off the record so I can’t share them. I hope you enjoy what’s left!
Steve: What are you most proud of achieving with AUGI?
David: I have to say AUGIWorld magazine and the website. That’s where the group really took off and looked professional.
Steve: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently with the benefit of hindsight?
David: As you get older you learn a few things. I’d probably be a bit more diplomatic about the changes that they went through, and try to resolve things in another way. I don’t know that it would have done much good. I got pretty arrogant about their turnover. I tried to stick to the facts without getting personal; I would always try to do that. I would try to convey factual information but I went a little over the edge with the campaign against what they were trying to do.
I really have no regrets about anything to do with getting the magazine and website started, and how we set up that agreement with SolidVapor. I think that really put a professional face on AUGI at that point.
Steve: What value do you think Autodesk has received from AUGI? Is it a marketing tool…?
David: Yes and no. Having worked directly with the engineering people, I felt they genuinely wanted to know what the users wanted, at least at that point in time. They used us as a filter, so to speak. We were out there gathering information and we were supposed to put it into a filtered and cohesive form for them to use. That’s what I remember as the mission of the group, which is to be the mouthpiece of the user community to Autodesk.
[Some discussion on Robert Green’s AUGI involvement]
I message with Robert often on Facebook and he’s been to visit my house.
Steve: I finally got to meet Robert after all these years, about six months ago in Paris when we both got invited to the Bricsys Conference. It means I’ve finally got to meet some people I haven’t managed to meet on my travels in the past.
[Some discussion about user group names]
David: The original name of the group was NAAUG (North American AutoCAD User Group) and we switched over to AUGI when we went international. Looking for the new name, we came up with a number of variations and one of them I remember was DAUGP (pronounced Dog Pee)!
Steve: [Spits coffee] That’s a good one!
David: I didn’t think that was a good one.
[Some discussion of user groups in general, Bricsys and BricsCAD]
David: I always like to stay on top of these things, you know? I read Ralph Grabowski’s newsletter all the time and he’s been talking about it [BricsCAD] a lot lately.
[Some discussion of the then-forthcoming bundling of AutoCAD and most verticals and Autodesk’s move to subscription only]
David: I know they’re trying to emulate Adobe’s subscription model. It’s going to be painful for a while but I think they’ll eventually get there. It’s just got to be affordable. But you know, people scream about the price and when I looked into it the cost was about $1.00 to $1.50 an hour based on 2000 hours a year. If you can’t afford $1.50 or $2.00 an hour overhead, you’re in the wrong business!
Steve: Yeah, but every business likes to reduce its overheads and doesn’t like to pay extra overheads. Autodesk is doing what it can to reduce its costs; it’s just sliced its workforce by about 23% in two stages. Nobody likes paying more money than they have to.
[More discussion about perpetual licenses, subscription, maintenance and ADN]
Steve: Do you have any fun stories to tell about your AUGI days?
David: I remember checking in to the MGM Grand for AU and being there for nine days, never even leaving the hotel. We would go in and start setting up AU and we would man the booth and teach classes and then break it down and do a debriefing. I remember one time all of us in a conference room and we all just fell asleep. We folded our arms on the desk, put our heads down, a couple of people got tired and a couple of people kept talking, a couple of people dozed off and sooner or later it was everybody. We were all just flat exhausted. We all woke up and said, “What are we doing here?”
I lived in Denver for many years, a ten hour drive to Las Vegas. It was worth taking the car for a nine-day stay. I think I did that 5 or 6 years running. I remember a few of us had to find a laundromat midweek, and I was the only one with a car. One year I arrived at the MGM about seven one night after this long drive, and it was just jammed to the hilt. I couldn’t even get off the street. I had a lot of stuff and decided to get a valet, because Autodesk would expense stuff like that for us, but I couldn’t get one. It took me an hour to check in. Turned out the Rolling Stones were playing the MGM Grand that night! I was there about two hours before show time.
On the way to my room there were people walking around the arena trying to sell tickets for $350 a seat! I like the Stones but I wasn’t ready to pay that and I’m sure my wife wouldn’t have been happy either.
Another time, I went to a hospitality party with the executives. The suite there had all this dark wood and it looked like a cabin in the Rocky Mountains somewhere, up on the 15th floor of the MGM Grand. All sorts of hors d’oeuvre and wine, I’m sure they paid a bundle for that!
Steve: Yeah, the parties were always fun.
I have a falling asleep story too. I was at AU 2006. I was with Owen Wengerd and we were hanging out at a bar until 1 AM and we were just about to head off to bed when we saw Tony Peach walk past. He was a great guy, passed on a few years ago, but Owen and I both knew him from earlier times. We ended up at a bar talking and it was about 4 AM before we called it a night. The next morning I had a class, I was hoping to learn .NET programming for AutoCAD. I got there and sat down and my eyes glazed over and it was the old dropping off and neck-jerking wake-up thing. That’s the reason I never became a .NET programmer in AutoCAD! I just slept through the class. It was too hard. I gave up.
[We swap a bunch of really funny off-the-record stories – I wish I could share them!]
David: [About Lynn Allen] How can you axe a person like that? She’s kind of the face of the corporation.
Steve: Yup. I don’t understand it. Maybe it’s personal.
David: Yeah. Also there was this thing about age discrimination. A lot of the older folks are wondering whether this had something to do with age. Who knows? Inevitably as you’ve been there a long time your salary climbs and you get expensive after a while, but they probably generate a lot more revenue than they cost.
Steve: I’m sure Lynn generated a lot more revenue than she cost.
David: Yeah. I can imagine next year when some guy in a suit shows up, they’re not going to be happy!
Steve: Well, she’s a drawcard, that’s for sure. And I guess she’s likely to be somebody else’s drawcard soon.
David: That’s true. I understand she’s got offers or at least approaches from all the competitors. Solidworks in particular.
Steve: I wonder if she comes as a package with Heidi Hewett? I understand Heidi wrote a lot of the material.
[Note: this interview took place before Heidi’s move to Bricsys]
David: Yeah, That would be a real coup. Hiedi was her cohort there. I remember watching Heidi teach a class and the software was acting up. I blurted out that a number of mathematicians throughout history have had numbers associated with them like Avagadro, Reynolds and so on. I want to create a Kingsley Factor, as follows: “The efficiency of a piece of software is inversely proportional to the number of eyes looking at the screen.” It always screws up when 50 people are looking at it.
Steve: The curve will show a dip at two people observing, based on my experience in support. I would get a call out about a certain problem and the two words that were guaranteed to fix it were “Show me.”
David: Heidi and her husband Nate lived close to us. We would catch up with them at the local pub from time to time.
Steve: I remember Nate got the shaft [from Autodesk] in about 2009 in an earlier “culling of the unwanted”.
David: Earlier than that, there was another big reduction-in-force and we were there [at Autodesk] and we knew it was going to happen.
Immediately after our board meeting, we left San Rafael and relocated in San Francisco for AU. As I recall that was the year of four AUs. One young Autodesk employee was with us and said, “Well, I got laid off. But! I have a job to finish off through Autodesk University and they didn’t take away my American Express card. So we’re gonna party this week!”
IPoC interview – David Kingsley – part 1
IPoC interview – David Kingsley – part 2