CC1803

SOFTWARE review
and documenting electrical control
systems. I'm not an electrical engineer,
but that is an astonishingly large number
of electrical component symbols.
The MEP Toolset comes with specialised
MEP engineering features and 10,500+
intelligent mechanical, electrical, and
plumbing objects to draft, design, and
document building systems. The Plant 3D
Toolset uses the specialised plant design
and engineering toolset to produce P&IDs
and then integrate them into a 3D plant
design model.
The ready availability of GIS data is
transforming projects that require geolocating
or to facilitate terrain
development. The Map 3D Toolset has the
tools you need to incorporate GIS and
CAD data to support all planning, design,
and data management. It also provides
access to spatial data stored in files,
databases, and web services, and
enables users to aggregate it with
AutoCAD design data.
Finally, the Raster Design Toolset has
raster to vector tools for converting
scanned drawings into DWG objects.
AUTOCAD ANYWHERE
Those are the headline additions, but
AutoCAD 2019 and AutoCAD LT 2019
subscribers will have access to a couple
of other new features, which will enable
them to take their designs out into the
field, show them to clients, or edit them
on the fly. Instead of taking bulky
documents on site, DWGs can be
downloaded to Windows, Android and
iOS mobile devices and modified in the
field. AutoCAD subscribers can log in to
their web app accounts by visiting
web.autocad.com giving them access to
trusted files (not just PDFs!) and core 2D
drafting and editing tools.
This is a great feature. The AutoCAD
web app enables users to access
AutoCAD directly from a web browser via
web.autocad.com. There is nothing to
download or install: you just simply log in
to your Autodesk account and quickly
access your working files and the core 2D
drafting and editing tools (ex: Arc, Circle,
Rectangle, Offset, Trim, and more),
including Xref support, and layer
management.
One of the early users, and owner of
Mechanical CAD Design and BIM firm,
Point to Point CAD Services, Clifton
Schnarr, said "The detail in the AutoCAD
web app is just superb! You can see the
dimensions, the contrast, the colour …
just all the depths to be seen on a 2D
drawing. The resolution is just excellent."
Save to Web and Mobile, another new
feature expands on the capability by
providing a seamless interchange
between 'Save to Web and Mobile' and
Open from Web and Mobile', enabling
users to work without interruption across
desktop, web and mobile platforms. Users
can work in the field, view and edit any
drawing on the AutoCAD web or mobile
app and save it back to a local network
drive to continue working at the office.
DWG COMPARE
The new DWG Compare feature in
AutoCAD 2019 and AutoCAD LT 2019
helps users identify graphical differences
between two revisions of a drawing or
Xref. They can quickly view changes, see
clashes, review constructability, and more.
Turning revision clouds on aids in
highlighting changes, or users can
systematically cycle through each revision
to make sure every detail is accounted for.
"It's beautiful, very easy to use and
helpful," explains Ashwin Tahiliani, an
architect at Designcast.
Shared Views is an enhancement to the
'Share Design Views' feature. This
AutoCAD 2019 and AutoCAD LT 2019
feature makes it easier for users to share
designs with stakeholders without
sending your DWG or PDF files to them.
Instead, a viewable file is created in
AutoCAD, and circulated via a shareable
link that can be viewed and commented
on in the browser of any device with
internet access. Comments that
collaborators make on the shared link
now appear right back in your AutoCAD
desktop product.
2D PERFORMANCE
ENHANCEMENTS
Autodesk has invested in streamlining 2D
graphics performance with this release.
Operations that typically require AutoCAD
to redraw or regenerate 2D graphics (like
changing draw order, zooming, panning,
and changing layer properties, particularly
in large drawings or drawings with raster
images) are now up to twice as fast. And
you can also take over control of 2D
graphics performance using the Graphics
Performance dialogue box.
AuotoCAD 2019 was launched on the
22nd of March, and prospective users
can download a trial of either AutoCAD
2019 or AutoCAD LT 2019 from the
website below.
www.autodesk.co.uk
March/April 2018 19