HyperPics: Beyond the UI

(Time Machine * AU) + AUGI = AU Handouts

Okay so there really is no time machine to my knowledge, but that doesn't mean you can't get your hands on the AU handouts from past years.  However, until that day happens when we can step back in time, you can revisit your favorite AU classes that you might have missed or lost the handouts for by downloading the handouts from the AUGI website. On the AUGI website you can get your hands on the AU handouts from 2000 up through 2005, nope sorry no 2006 this year.  The handouts can be located on the Autodesk University Course Handouts page on the AUGI website.

Note: You will need to be a member of AUGI to access the website and the handouts, but membership is free though.

UPDATE (3/27/07): I was just recently tagged by Joseph at Autodesk that I forgot to mention that the handouts from AU 2006 are avilable on the Autodesk Univeristy website for download.  If you attended AU 2006, feel free to download the handouts to the classes that you missed or look them up on the CD that you should have received last year.

Sincerely,
  Lee

More Information on AutoCAD 2007

Still hungry for information on AutoCAD 2007?  Well AUGI might have enough that fills your hunger of new information on AutoCAD 2007 with the latest issue of AUGIWorld.  There are three articles that cover AutoCAD 2007 that I wrote for the magazine and each article is focused on a specific theme.  The themes are on design, documenting and sharing, and visualization improvments of the product.  AUGI requires a membership, but it is free for everyone.  The articles can be found at the following links below:

Taking Design Further with AutoCAD 2007 (pg. 10)
Documenting and Sharing Designs with Others (pg. 14)
Visualizing Designs in a New Way (pg. 16)

Looking for other articles that I have written? Click here

Sincerely,
  Lee

AUGI's Blogging??

Well apparently AUGI Board has gotten onto the blogging scene.  Their vision for the blog is to allow contributing authors to post a wide range of topics.   It should be interesting to see how this blog develops over time, as AUGI has contributed much to the CAD community in the past.  The AUGI blog is named BLAUGI (short for BLog + AUGI).  A big welcome to the CAD blogging community goes out to the contributing authors of the blog BLAUGI, try to say BLAUGI ten times fast.

Check it out by clicking here.

Sincerely,
  Lee

October Issue of HotNews

Trick or Treat maybe not yet, but the October issue of AUGI HotNews brings a treat with another round of excellent articles.

Migration Madness!
Avoid the potholes on moving day! Here are tips for smoothing the move from one version to another.

Customization Corner: Creating Toolbars with the CUI
How to create toolbars through AutoCAD 2006 software's CUI Editor.

TIPniques: The Power of Page Setups
Guest columnist and AUGI Board Member Mike Perry tells how to make plotting from AutoCAD an easy and stress-free process.

The above listings are some of the highlights of the newsletter, but there are many other great articles in this issue.  To access all the articles of the issue head to the AUGI website and click the Publications section, then AUGI HotNews.

If you are not receiving AUGI HotNews or are not a member of AUGI go to the AUGI website and sign up. It is free to receive the newsletters and becoming a member is free as well.

Click here to access the AUGI website

Click here if you are already an AUGI member, but don't receive HotNews in your inbox

Sincerely,
  Lee

September Issue of AUGI HotNews

The September issue of AUGI HotNews brings a depth of many new articles and range of content.

Migration Madness: When to Move
When is the optimum time to migrate to new Autodesk software releases? This article investigates the reasons for migrating and provides tips on when to make the move.

Customization Corner: Looking Through CUI Panes
How to read the panes in AutoCAD 2006 software's CUI (Customize User Interface).

Tips & Tricks for Knock-out Blocks
Take the tedium out of block management with the Dynamic Blocks feature in AutoCAD 2006 software. Here are tips for using this super time-saver.

The above listing are some of the highlights of the newsletter, but there are many other great articles in this issue.  To access all the articles of the issue head to the AUGI website and click the Publications section, then AUGI HotNews.

If you are not receiving AUGI HotNews or are not a member of AUGI go to the AUGI website and sign up. It is free to receive the newsletters and becoming a member is free as well.

Click here to access the AUGI website

Click here if you are already an AUGI member, but don't receive HotNews in your inbox

Sincerely,
  Lee

AUGI - Volunteer of the Month

AUGI has been gracious enough to nominate me for Volunteer of the Month for September, which is pretty cool because my birthday is in September as well.

Do you have a set of skills that you feel others would benefit from in AutoCAD or another Autodesk product?  Do you want to give back to the CAD community by answering some questions or even maybe but together an online course.  If you have time and want to give back why not check out AUGI's volunteer program.  This program spans many different areas from writing articles in one of their two publications to creating online courses that your fellow CAD-ets can learn from.

Membership to AUGI is free, and there are many cool benefits to being a member.  Some of them include free monthly courses, early registration to AU, online forum and much more.  Head over to the AUGI website for sign up information and list of benefits.

Sincerely,
  Lee

July Issue of AUGI HotNews

Ready, Set, Go... 1/2 the year is gone and it has been exciting so.  AUGI has just released its latest issue of HotNews and it is once again jammed packed full of excellent content.  Get ready to sink your mouse into learning many new things.

Migration Maddness: Part 3
Third in a series of articles designed for those of you who wear the CAD manager's hat. This month, tips on how to prepare for migration.

Autodesk Vault Tips & Tricks
Valuable tips for managing Autodesk Inventor design data with Autodesk Vault.

TIPniques: Xrefs, Part 2
Part two of a series on Xref

Customization Corner: The Changing Landscape of AutoCAD Customization
A look at the new Customize User Interface (CUI) feature in AutoCAD 2006.

The above listing are some of the highlights of the newsletter, but there are many other great articles in this issue.  To access all the articles of the issue head to the AUGI website and click the Publications section, then AUGI HotNews.

If you are not receiving AUGI HotNews or are not a member of AUGI go to the AUGI website and sign up. It is free to receive the newsletters and becoming a member is free as well.

Click here to access the AUGI website

Click here if you are already an AUGI member, but don't receive HotNews in your inbox

Sincerely,
  Lee

New AUGI ATP Courses - July 2005

Last month AUGI hosted 4 different ATP (AUGI Training Program) courses.  There is no limit to the number of courses that might be offered each month, but there are usually about 3 or more.  These courses range from AutoCAD courses to Inventor and some of the vertical products like ADT.  I was approached back in May to develop a course last month which was Dynamic Blocks and Block Enhancements for AutoCAD 2006.  This month I have developed another course that is on the basics of the new Customize User Interface feature, or CUI, in AutoCAD 2006.  These courses are all self paced with forums dedicated for each course.

So if you can't get out for training you can do it in small easy to digest chuncks during the day, and the best thing of all is that membership to AUGI is free and so are the ATP courses.  Each course contains 3 segments, which is about 6 - 10 pages of reading with examples and exercises.  So what are you waiting for, get out there and sign up.

Click here to access the AUGI ATP Courses page

Courses start July 11th:
Get Going with AutoLISP (Instructor: Robert Green)

Grasping AutoCAD 2006 Menu Mayhem (Instructor: Lee Ambrosius)

Inventor Projects: Yes, They Can Be Your Friends! (Instructor: Philippe Dauphin)

Just When You Thought You Knew Everything About AutoCAD - Productivity Features in AutoCAD 2006 (Instructor: Brenda Richardson)

If you are not a member of AUGI, just head to the AUGI home page to sign up.  Don't for get it is free.

Sincerely,
  Lee

AUGI Training Program (ATP)

Have you sat at your desk lately wondering if you should go back to school and learn something new?  Maybe you have asked the boss to attend a seminar on learning new features in AutoCAD, but he can't justify the cost.  Maybe you don't have time to spare in your busy schedule, but you should always try to make room to learn.  If you are short on funds and/or time maybe you should consider checking out AUGI's Training Program (ATP).  They have some different courses running each month.

In May they held ATP sessions on Logic, Debugging and Error Handling for VBA and Maintaining CAD standards while avoiding a coup d’état.  This month they are launching 4 new sessions that range from the new Dynamic Blocks feature in AutoCAD 2006 to a session in 3D.  Along with AutoCAD sessions this month, there are a couple on ADT.  The sessions are developed in 3 segments that make it easy to pick up and go through yourself, but if you need some help the forums dedicated to each session are just a click away.

So get out there and sign up for them today... oh did I forget to mention they are free to AUGI members.  What is even better than that is the AUGI (http://augi.com/) membership is free as well.  So now you can do it on your lunch hour, before or after work, standing in line at Starbucks or even on your porch late at night.  Since it is free and can be done at anytime of the day you learn something new each day.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Heading to AUGI CAD Camp June 7th

Hey everyone out there... have you ever wanted to attend Autodesk University, but can't afford to go or be out of the office for a full week.  AUGI is offering a one day event in a city near you called CAD Camp.  This one day event is full of classes and opportunities for network with other people in your area.  From what I have heard these events are very good and offer a variety of sessions.  For a cost of $99 for those that sign-up before the early bird deadline and $129 for those that sign-up after the deadline it is hard to not find a reason to go.

I will be heading to the event that is closest to me on June 7th.  This event is being held in St. Paul, Minnesota.  It is still not too late to sign-up for the event, but sessions are filling fast.  So what are you waiting for... come out and learn some new tips and techniques that will help you back in the office.  If you are attending and want to chat just come up and talk.  I am out there more for the networking, but will be taking in many of the sessions that will be offered during the day long event.  Below is an over view of the schedule.  To find out what sessions are available visit the AUGI CAD Camp website.

7:30a - 8:30a		Registration Open - Exhibitor Showcase Open
8:30a - 9:00a		Keynote Address and Event Orientation
9:00a - 10:15a		Breakouts - Course Session 1
10:15a - 10:30a		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
10:30a - 11:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 2
12:00p - 12:30p		Solution Showcase
12:30p - 1:30p		Lunch
1:30p - 2:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 3
2:45p - 3:00p		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
3:00p - 4:15p		Breakouts - Course Session 4
4:15p - 4:30p		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
4:30p - 5:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 5
5:45p - 7:30p		Evening Reception and Main Stage Presentation  - Sponsored by Avatech

Hope to see some of you out there.

Sincerely,
  Lee