This session will present the many changes we've made to our Vault and Inventor systems in order to accommodate the different requirements of a product-based design and manufacturing environment as opposed to a project-based one. Making this change has seen a reduction in the engineering support the manufacturing team requires, which in turn allows the engineering team to come up with new ideas for more products. Increased reuse of assemblies and reconfiguration of systems have led to new opportunities for sales while building on the established experience base. The ways in which we have moved to simplify procedures, reuse models, manage our data, and track OEM use are definitely scalable both up and down, therefore allowing everyone to take advantage of the changes we've made. This was a long process for us, and we'd like to share our experience and potentially help you prevent some of the headaches we encountered along the way.

This session will cover the adventure of electromechanical designs with lifecycles that started with AutoCAD Electrical software and Inventor synchronization and extended to architectural projects. The data synchronized with AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor software can be managed with Vault software and Autodesk Construction Cloud. It can be defined as 3D BIM content—electrical connector in Inventor and transferred to Revit. Through the collaboration of Autodesk Construction Cloud and Vault, we can share both Revit and Inventor data with colleagues in different departments, edit them, and publish the final versions.

Ensuring accuracy in a large set of construction documents can be complicated. Spelling errors, missed annotation, and multiple users on a project can still waste a project's budget time when they don't need to. Automating the keynote creating and editing process can help eliminate these time wasters, saving considerable time and money for some of our most basic needs. This lesson will cover a feature in AutoCAD software that will use an Excel file as one source of truth for keynotes on construction documents. We'll create a table that will be dynamically populated with keynotes as they are used in a drawing, allowing for concise tables that, along with the Excel file, can be updated together to match for the duration of project design. Any engineering discipline using AutoCAD will be able to use this workflow.

Learn how to bring your AutoCAD .NET Framework applications to work with AutoCAD 2025 and newer by refactoring them for .NET 8. This class will walk through key refactoring strategies, framework updates, and compatibility considerations to modernize your projects.

Join us for an insightful session designed to introduce and then dive deep into Vault Connector, showcasing its features, functionality, and how it bridges the gap between engineering and enterprise systems. We will start from the overall context of Vault PLM and its value proposition while touching topic of Items & BOMs that will feed into the detailed exploration of Vault Connector. We will wrap up with general Q & A session towards to end. 

Each release of AutoCAD software translates to bigger and better features, but some old tools have never changed. Scripting is one of these tools. It's still just as powerful today as it was when introduced into AutoCAD software back in the late ‘90s. If you can key in commands at the command line, you can script. If you're not familiar with the Action Recorder, you’ll learn in this class how to create some easy macros to use for increased speed of design. Regardless of your knowledge of scripting or the Action Recorder, you'll go from zero to hero in 60 minutes in this class.

This course will move beyond the basics course. It will cover the functions necessary to gather and use various data types. You’ll learn how to get data from the user of your programs, and then manipulate and apply that data in various ways. You’ll learn how to automate the drawing process in AutoCAD software. The course will start with a short review of data types, then move directly into getting, storing, and using these data types. At the end of this course, you’ll know how to access AutoCAD software’s drawing commands via AutoLISP—and will understand how to go well beyond what is taught in the course, applying the learned concepts to your daily work routine—so that your tasks will not be so routine! We guarantee that you can learn this language and become more productive.

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.

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.

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.

Writing AutoLISP code is one thing; troubleshooting it and restoring the system "back to normal" when crashes occur while troubleshooting can be a headache. Take this class and take away your headaches. Learn how to quickly get things back to normal. Learn how to use lists to your advantage-I mean, LISP does stand for List Processing! Learn how to create your own error routine to set things back the way they were before your fancy new program crashed and burned. Crashing and burning is part of the process of getting a new timesaving routine off the ground-this class will make those crashes less painful. This session will feature AutoCAD software and is AIA approved.

Learn how to use AutoCAD software Sheet Set Manager to manage and automate your page layouts and callouts. There is no longer any need to manually manage border information, page numbers, section/detail callouts, or other repetitive information. This class will explain Sheet Set Manager from setup to implementation, knowledge that will greatly increase your project efficiency and accuracy.

Would you like to take hours, or even days, out of your typical schematic design process on every new project? Maximize the power of AutoCAD Electrical software in your organization by implementing a streamlined workflow using selected standard tools. In this class, we show you how to use the intelligence of a completed AutoCAD Electrical project and some subtle, yet powerful tools integral to AutoCAD Electrical, to take a new project from 0 to 90% complete in a matter of minutes. By using the power of several project-wide editing tools, we transform a completed project into a unique new project where you can cruise through the mundane changes and direct your focus to what is substantially different.

AutoCAD Electrical software provides many tools to configure the software specifically to the design environment and workflows of your company. Do you have specific folders and paths for your custom files? (Hint: You should!) We’ll show you where to set these for everyone on your design team. We cover the WD.ENV, WD_M.dwg, WD_PNLM.dwg, DEFAULT.WDT, and many other reference files. Tired off making the same old picks and clicks to start your drawings or save custom files? Join us to enter the brave new world of enhance productivity.

This class will be all about programmable logic controls (PLCs), including standalone, fixed, and parametric styles of PLCs. This extravaganza of popular PLC properties will include discussion of the different types of PLCs available in AutoCAD Electrical software, the building of custom PLCs, some tips and hints, and, if we have time, customization of the Spreadsheet to PLC file.

There are approximately 3200 electric utilities in the United States. Each utility has their own standards, procedures, workflows, and more for designing substations. To solve the overwhelming task of automating substation design to fit each utility's specific situation, Autodesk and AutomationForce partnered to develop the Substation Design Suite, an add-in for Inventor software and AutoCAD Electrical software. This class describes Nashville Electric Service's (NES) experience in adapting these software packages for their unique work processes. The class includes discussion of the challenges NES faced in the beginning, the pros and cons of using provided content versus creating customized content and provides examples of customizing Substation Design Suite content and templates in Inventor and adapting AutoCAD Electrical to meet specific design requirements.

Are you ready?...Set?...Let's GO! This is a fast-paced class designed to keep you on your toes with rapid-fire tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your time in AutoCAD Electrical software. Hold on tight, it’s going to be a wild ride!

In this class, you learn to create standard (plates) circuits in AutoCAD Electrical software for substations. We cover how to use options in AutoCAD Electrical to insert blocks of standards to complete substation design in a quick, standard, and accurate way. We demonstrate the linking of parts in an assembled circuit, how to add options in a timely manner, and complete your design using all the tools that AutoCAD Electrical has to offer.

Do you want to see what's new in the 2016 release? Join us in a demonstration and discussion about the new tools and features.

In this roundtable session we will discuss how electrical designs are transitioning into the Digital Prototyping world using AutoCAD Electrical software and Inventor software. What is required for a smooth transition? What functionality is required? What makes 2D-to-3D workflows valuable? What types are simulation are available? How valuable is simulation? Come and discuss these topics and how Product Design Suite software can help you and your peers.