Cadalyst Labs Evaluates Five Professional Options
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REVIEWS COLUMNS AutoCAD 2013 • NEC MultiSync EA243WM 24” LCD Monitor Circles and Lines: Hidden Time-Savers in AutoCAD 2013 CadTempo 5.2: Automatically Track and Chart Work Time CAD Manager: Your Job Is to Manage Processes, Not Tools Autodesk Inventor Professional 2013 • BIMlist 2012 for Revit User Profile: Uriel Castillo — CAD Technician on a Mission Summer 2012 | Vol. 29 No. 3 | $9.99 Get Productive with CAD and Get the Job Done. www.cadalyst.com $ 500CAD Cadalyst Labs Evaluates Five Professional Options ENJOY THIS FREE COPY OF CADALYST... compliments of: www.intel.com www.dell.com Tech Trends CAD Use Takes Off Around the Globe The fastest route from vision to reality. Powerfully execute your ideas with Dell Precision™ Workstations. Get the hardware performance you need to maximize the CAD and BIM (Building Information Modeling) processes with ISV-certified Dell Precision Workstations. Experience the power of Intel® Core™ Processors or Intel® Xeon® processors along with optimal 3D image quality from NVIDIA® and ATI professional graphics. With up to 1.5TB* of storage on mobile systems and easy memory upgrades with the new tool-less chassis design on tower workstations, there’s Dell Precision Workstations Get uncompromised performance plenty of room to grow. Plus, exclusive Reliable Memory for your specialized applications. Technology on fixed workstations means less downtime. Find your ideal workstation configuration at www.dell.com/smb/workstations. *GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less. TRADEMARK/COPYRIGHT NOTICES: Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. 86239_us_smb_fy13q1_mag_wkstn_cad_aec_8p5x11_fa.indd 1 4/12/12 1:50 PM Summer 2012 www.cadalyst.com 11 28 16 cadalystlabsreport $ CAD500 30 42 © iStockphoto.com/Joshua Hodge Photograhy iStockphoto.com/Joshua © Cover art direction: Gwen Thomsen Rhoads features cadalystlabsreviews 11 techtrends By Heather Livingston 22 cadalystlabsreview By Bill Fane CAD Around the World AutoCAD 2013 The fastest route from Software developers set their sights on China, Brazil, What’s new? 3D-to-2D functions, cloud-based services Turkey, and beyond as infrastructure investments spur an for le storage and collaboration, and much more. vision to reality. increasingly global market. 28 rstlook By Curt Moreno 14 cadalystlabsreport By Robert Green and Nancy Spurling Johnson NEC MultiSync EA243WM $500 CAD: Can It Go the Distance? LED-backlit 24” LCD monitor offers energy efciency, Powerfully execute your ideas with Cadalyst Labs puts five budget-friendly tools through professional features, and smart design at a good price. ™ paces to see which could be winning options for Dell Precision Workstations. professional use. 30 rstlook By R.K. McSwain Get the hardware performance you need to maximize the CAD and BIM (Building CadTempo 5.2 Information Modeling) processes with ISV-certified Dell Precision Workstations. Automatically track and chart time spent using popular Experience the power of Intel® Core™ Processors or Intel® Xeon® processors columns CAD applications, Microsoft Office, and more. ® along with optimal 3D image quality from NVIDIA and ATI professional graphics. By Robert Green 36 cadmanager 32 rstlook By Bill Fane CAD: Just Another Tool in Your Toolbox With up to 1.5TB* of storage on mobile systems and easy memory upgrades Autodesk Inventor Professional 2013 Think of your job as managing the design process — not with the new tool-less chassis design on tower workstations, there’s 3D modeling software aligns more closely with AutoCAD, Dell Precision Workstations the design tools — and you’ll be poised for success. Get uncompromised performance plenty of room to grow. Plus, exclusive Reliable Memory offers an enhanced UI, and includes cloud-based services. for your specialized applications. Technology on fixed workstations means less downtime. By Lynn Allen 38 circlesandlines 34 rstlook By Patrick Davis Exposing Hidden Gems in AutoCAD 2013 BIMlist 2012 Eleven little productivity enhancements add up to big Revit utility gives users an easy way to organize and Find your ideal workstation configuration time savings. at www.dell.com/smb/workstations. search for content families. 42 userprole By Cyrena Respini-Irwin Man on a Mission Uriel Castillo, municipal CAD technician, believes his job departments is to make Fort Wayne, Indiana, a better place to live. 4 editor’swindow 7 cadcartoon *GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less. 7 cadcentral 10 hottipharry TRADEMARK/COPYRIGHT NOTICES: Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Summer 2012 cadalyst www.cadalyst.com 3 86239_us_smb_fy13q1_mag_wkstn_cad_aec_8p5x11_fa.indd 1 4/12/12 1:50 PM editor’swindow Simply Amazing. Means to an End s your company one that blocks sions and easier implementation, because employee access to YouTube and it puts the focus on the benefits of social media sites in an effort to keep change rather than the challenges. workers productive? Does the prac- Let me clarify that this does not mean Itice help time-wasters see the light and you should ignore the issue of technol- become more responsible — or do they ogy upgrades! We couldn’t be successful just nd other ways to shirk work? today without the software and hard- Micromanaging staff by updating a ware that support our workflows, and few server settings is much easier than those tools are constantly evolving. But establishing ground rules and clearly an organization should implement new communicating expectations, but it technology only if and when it supports won’t solve the slacking problem. Plus, business goals, not “because it’s time” it cuts off access to valuable professional or in response to the latest marketing or resources and makes responsible workers media buzz. feel resentful. Just as in parenting, I hope my words will reach the man- punitive management actions don’t agers and business owners responsible Yes, software necessarily yield long-term benefits — for adopting CAD tools, but they apply and can often backfire, spurring increas- equally to the users in the trenches, for a and hardware ingly worse behavior. different reason: Considering yourself to Policing blindly, rather than establish- be, first and foremost, a CAD user — a are essential to ing effective, nuanced procedures, is a tool wielder — could cause you to lose common response when a company con- sight of a more meaningful purpose. our jobs — but centrates on tools instead of people and As a prime example, take Uriel processes. In his latest “CAD Manager” Castillo, the subject of our “User Profile” success depends column (“CAD: Just a Tool in Your Tool- on page 42. Employed in the utilities box,” page 38), Robert Green tackles this engineering department of the City of on putting CAD management misstep, advising that Fort Wayne, Indiana, Castillo is a CADD a focus on good design will ultimately technician by title. But he believes his real people and lead to payoffs that aren’t possible if purpose is making his city a better place TurboApps for Mobile. processes first. you’re focusing too narrowly on technol- for its residents — and CAD technology is ogy deployments. a means to that end. Welcome to the New Generation of Mobile CAD Solutions. “Which technology do we need, and Keeping your eye on the big picture, when?” should never be the first ques- instead of just the tools you use, can lead From IMSI/Design, the Turbo folks. tions you ask. To find success where tech- to increased job performance, as Green nology is involved, you must first know asserts, as well as increased job satisfac- your goals as an organization or depart- tion; your contributions will become more ment (or as an individual, if you work personal, more meaningful, more satisfy- independently). Ask instead, “What is ing. It’s all about perspective! our mission?” Do you aim to develop the highest-quality products, create energy- Nancy Spurling Johnson efficient buildings, make roads safer? Editor-in-Chief, Cadalyst Once you’ve clearly defined your [email protected] mission, the next question should be, “What are the processes we need to improve and the problems we need to overcome to reach our goal?” This approach will naturally lead to smarter software and hardware purchasing deci- See what’s amazing at www.TurboApps.com/Amazing IMSI/Design • 25 Leveroni Court • Novato • CA 94949 • Tel: 800.833.8082 http://www.TurboApps.com/Amazing 4 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst Summer 2012 © 2012 IMSI/Design, LLC. All rights reserved. TurboApps is a trademark of IMSI/Design, LLC. All rights reserved. Simply Amazing. TurboApps for Mobile. Welcome to the New Generation of Mobile CAD Solutions. From IMSI/Design, the Turbo folks. See what’s amazing at www.TurboApps.com/Amazing IMSI/Design • 25 Leveroni Court • Novato • CA 94949 • Tel: 800.833.8082 http://www.TurboApps.com/Amazing © 2012 IMSI/Design, LLC. All rights reserved. TurboApps is a trademark of IMSI/Design, LLC. All rights reserved. Cadalyst is printed on demand, resulting in less stress on our environment through reduced paper volume 29 no. 3 use, printing, and shipping. Cadalyst (ISSN 0820-5450) and the logo appearing on the cover are registered trademarks of Longitude Media, LLC. Printed in the USA. Cadalyst doesn’t verify claims or other information appear- www.cadalyst.com ing in advertisements in the publication and cannot take any responsibility for losses or other damages incurred by read- ers in reliance on such content.