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AutoCAD Release 14
by Joe Mizer, NOCCC - March 14, 1998 at 15:55:39:
The current Release of AutoCAD is what everyone wanted after they shifted to AutoCAD release 13. It is well known that Release 13 had a number of problems. AutoCAD 13 was still a very major achievement as a transitional program and setting the stage for what was to come. AutoDesk has delivered on its promise with Release 14 and the program still has not had a major bug fix in almost one full year since it’s initial release. AutoCAD release 14 not only operates much faster, it also loads faster and has smaller files. The previous fastest AutoCAD was Release 12 for DOS, however Release 14 is as much as fifty percent faster for most load, display, drawing and editing operations. It is the most powerful AutoCAD ever. Among other things we now have the capability to render a completed 3D model. The rendering process and GUI remind me of 3D Studio Max by Kinetix. In fact if you need a photorealistic model you can take your model over to 3D Studio Max and when you are finished, people might will ask if is a photograph.If you want to discover more about the power of AutoCAD 14 solid Modeling the North Orange County Computer Club is currently doing tutorials on 3D modeling and AutoLisp. In the future we will be covering more solid modeling and the rendering of completed models. I have extra handouts available which cover the material already presented so join our group at any time.
Autodesk has created a system of drafting tools. You can think of AutoCAD R14 as the hub at the center a wheel. The spokes are Softdesk 8.0, AEC Professional Suite, AutoCAD Map 2.0, AutoCad Mechanical and Autodesk Mechanical Desktop. These programs justify Autodesk adopting the phrase “Design Without Boundaries.” Autodesk has added object technology with the ObjectARX programming interface and Internet capability via the www so that its customers can exploit the Internet in their business. Autodesk has added the Internet Publishing Kit and created dwf, a new format just for the Internet. Quoting from Autodesk they have created all of these tools so the customer can concentrate on designing, and the work at hand not on the software.
The System Requirements are an Intel 486 or Pentium processor or compatible using windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51/4.0. You will need a minimum of 32 MB of RAM and 50 MB of free hard disk space. You also need a 64 MB swap file and a CD ROM. The display minimum is 640 x 480 VGA, however 1024 x 768 is recommended. The lower resolution monitor will use up a large amount of space for tool bars and menu bars which are better saved for drawing area. I am currently running on a 486/100 with 32MB of ram and Windows 95. I used up an entire 216 MB partition on my hard disk drive for the program and swap file and the required free space. The only slow part is getting Windows 95 loaded and allowing a little time for R14 to load. Drawing speed, regeneration etc. is faster than AutoCAD DOS R12 which I use at work. The solid models I have rendered so far are not extremely complex and they render in about one or two seconds maximum.
Every Computer Drafting program does things their own way, but the basic principles are much the same. I have noticed that every machine shop and vendor I deal with has AutoCAD, they may also have pro-engineer, Solid Works, or Cad Key, but they all have AutoCAD. Autodesk also has the largest installed base and claims to be outselling the competition by five to one. I am sure that learning the changes in Release 14 will be easier than learning a new program from scratch.
One feature which I love is AutoSnap. To bring up the dialog box for object snap use ddosnap or from the pull down menu select Tools / Object-snap and make your selection. As you move the cursor, and the aperture box touches an object, a yellow marker symbol appears. This symbol, which matches the symbols shown in the dialog box tells you which object snap mode applies if you click you mouse at this moment. If you pause for a few seconds a small dialog box with the object snaps name will pop up. The status bar at the bottom of the screen also has a toggle button so you can turn running snaps on and off. In Release 12 I almost never use running object snaps because turning them off and back on is more bother then just center clicking on my mouse to bring up the o-snap dialog box. With R14 I select several running o-snaps from the AutoSnap menu and use the toggle box.
If you do have any problems finding your way around in R14, Autodesk has included the Interactive Learning Assistance CD Rom which should solve most of your problems. Learning Assistance divides its topics into three categories. These are Tutorials, Fast Answers and Concepts. The tutorials show you how to perform an operation by giving a step by step procedure. Learning Assistance presents topics in a file manager style, so you can find and select the help you need quickly. Learning Assistance requires the same resources as R14 and when installed and fills up about 10 MB of drive space. Another resource you have available is the on-line help screens. The entire reference manual appears to be available to review a commands and syntax.
A new seat of AutoCAD R14 carries a price tag of $3,750. However if you are using Release 12 or 13 you can upgrade for $695 and $495 respectively. There is one other option you might consider if you are buying a new seat of AutoCAD R14 and that is to purchase Mechanical Desktop R2.0 for $4995.00. Mechanical DeskTop is a fully parametric feature based solid modeler and includes a copy of Release 14. The price once was $6295 and has since been lowered to the current price. If you feel you may need to do some solid modeling in the future this is less money than coming back later and upgrading again. Contact your local dealer or find Autodesk on the Internet at www.autodesk.com. AutoDesk can also be contacted at 1-800-964-6432. vvv
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