LD Assistant 2010 Unleashed - Better Predict What Your Event Will Look Like

A realistic rendering of a model can give a production team or prospective client a clearer vision of a conceptual design than a plotted drawing. Most drafting time is spent working on line representations of a model. On occasion, however, you might need to see a more realistic image involving color and perspective—for example, when verifying your design or when presenting a final design.





LD Assistant's advanced rendering tools produce highly detailed and photorealistic images.
   
Ray-traced Reflections and Refractions: Ray tracing traces the path of rays sampled from the light source. Reflections and refractions generated this way are physically accurate.
    
Benefits of LD Assistant's Indirect Illumination: Indirect illumination techniques, like global illumination and final gathering, enhance the realism of a scene by simulating radiosity, or the interreflection of light in a scene.
    
Final Gathering: Final gathering is an optional, additional step used to improve global illumination (GI). It increases the number of rays used to calculate GI to smooth out and eliminate adverse lighting artifacts.

LD Assistant 2010 Coordinates

You can use absolute or relative Cartesian (rectangular) coordinates to locate points when creating objects.

To use Cartesian coordinates to specify a point, enter an X value and a Y value separated by a comma (X,Y). The X value is the positive or negative distance, in units, along the horizontal axis. The Y value is the positive or negative distance, in units, along the vertical axis.

Absolute coordinates are based on the UCS origin (0,0), which is the intersection of the X and Y axes. Use absolute coordinates when you know the precise X and Y values of the point.

With dynamic input, you can specify absolute coordinates with the # prefix. If you enter coordinates on the command line instead of in the tooltip, the # prefix is not used. 

For example, entering #3,4 specifies a point 3 units along the X axis and 4 units along the Y axis from the UCS origin..

The following example draws a line beginning at an X value of -2, a Y value of 1, and an endpoint at 3,4. 

Enter the following in the tooltip:
Command: line
From point: #-2,1
To point: #3,4
The line is located as follows:





Relative coordinates are based on the last point entered. Use relative coordinates when you know the location of a point in relation to the previous point.

To specify relative coordinates, precede the coordinate values with an @ sign.

For example, entering @3,4 specifies a point 3 units along the X axis and 4 units along the Y axis from the last point specified.

The following example draws the sides of a triangle. The first side is a line starting at the absolute coordinates -2,1 and ending at a point 5 units in the X direction and 0 units in the Y direction. The second side is a line starting at the endpoint of the first line and ending at a point 0 units in the X direction and 3 units in the Y direction.

The final line segment uses relative coordinates to return to the starting point.
Command: line
From point: #-2,1
To point: @5,0
To point: @0,3
To point: @-5,-3 

LD Assistant 2010 Unleashed - Thumping and Bumping With the Best!

Using 100% of the i7 cores and 8 threads, LD Assistant 2010 renders unbelievably fast. To see if your program is working as hard for you as LD Assistant does for its users, before rendering open the Windows Task Manager and click on Performance, then watch as you start your rendering. 
    
The picture below (left) is the Windows Task Manager showing that the processors are running at 100% during rendering... 
Below right is LD Assistant's open rendering window showing each of the 8 threads being used to reduce rendering time.








With faster, intelligent, multi-core technology that applies processing power where it's needed most, Intel® Core™ i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough, and LD Assistant takes full advantage of that power.
  
With LD Assistant 2010 and an i7 processor you'll experience maximum performance for everything you do. The i7 Integrated memory controller enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth.

Will you or someone you know be going to Autodesk University 2010?

The Autodesk University conference and exhibition brings together Autodesk users, developers, executives, solution providers, and strategic partners from around the world this year at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Click here to learn more about AU 2010.
  
CAD-N-Lighting Needs Your Help...
Are you or someone you know planning on attending AU2010 in Las Vegas this year? Click here to give us your answer.

October 2010 Articles

• AutoCAD for Apple Mac is here. Not only that, the scaled down version, AutoCAD WS, is here for the iPhone and the iPad. We’ve not got the brief, video or screenshots of what it looks like yet, but needless to say, this has been a longtime CAD on the Mac fiend desire. The OS X version releases October for $3,995. Free mobile versions for iPhone, iPad and iPod to follow. Josh Mings, SolidSmack
• AutoCAD for Mac and AutoCAD WS for iOS Devices Announced by Autodesk - AutoCAD returns to the Mac after an ~16 year absence. Customers have made the request, Autodesk listened and responded with a native Mac AutoCAD named (appropriately) AutoCAD for Mac., Shaan Hurley, Between the Lines
• What is AutoCAD WS? - mobile version of AutoCAD for iPad/iPhone, working same way as Project Butterfly for desktop, Deelip Menezes, Deelip.com
• Things Are Getting Better - AutoCAD for Mac Has Arrived - re-birth of AutoCAD on Mac OS X platform, combination of native Mac application and drafting/modeling power of AutoCAD 2011, AutoCAD WS for Mac iOS platforms, Lee Ambrosius, Hyperpics
• Blocks 16 - Scale Units in Blocks - entering BLOCK to open block defining window, redefining block by selecting name of block to be edited, Erhan Toker, Daily AutoCAD
• Copying Layers Between Drawings Using AutoCAD Design Center - selecting Layers, right clicking to select Add Layers, Orhan Toker, Daily AutoCAD
• ARRAY Command in AutoCAD 1 - Creating Rectangular Array - carrying out linear/polar copying, better than DIVIDE/MEASURE commands in AutoCAD, Erhan Toker, Daily AutoCAD
• Backup and Restore AutoCAD System Variables - using system variable editor, Edwin Prakoso, CAD Notes
• Reverse the direction of a line, polyline, spline or helix - Many people use linetypes with words built-into them like "GAS" or "CW". When drawing with these linetypes the words sometimes appear upside down or in the wrong direction. To fix this issue, AutoCAD 2010/2011 has a new command called "REVERSE"... Michael Rotolo, The Mad Cadder,
• Does 64-bit Computing Matter for CAD Users? - The reality is that it has not delivered much yet. This transition has been happening very slowly because there are three separate 64-bit transition steps which need to occur in series. The first step is the processor and motherboard hardware, second is the operating system and hardware drivers, and last are the programs. The big benefits of the change won’t start to come until all three steps are complete. ,John McCullough, Kubotek

October 2010 Reviews

• The Toughbook C1, the world's lightest 12.1-inch convertible, barely flinched. Then we did it again. Nothing. And that's not all this multitouch tablet can take. The C1 (starting at $2,499; $2,829 as configured) can shrug off 6-ounce liquid spills and up to 225 pounds of pressure. Just as important, demanding healthcare and field sales workers will appreciate that this Core i5 notebook performs like a champ and lasts up to 10 hours on a charge--if you pay for the second battery. • CPU: 2.4-GHz Intel Core i5-520m • OS: MS Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) • RAM: 2GB • RAM Upgradeable to: 6GB • Hard Drive Size: 250GB • Hard Drive Speed:5,400rpm • Display: 12.1/1200x800 resolution - Price as Reviewed: $2829 
Review by Mark Spoonauer

Building a Killer Computer for Under $1,800.00

Shuttle is a leader when it comes to small form factor computer kits. Their new SX58J3 pushes the limits of what one can do with a very small space. The SX58J3 is based around the new Intel X58 chipset that supports the new high performance Core i7 processors. This gives it extremely strong performance thanks to the quad core processors and the triple channel DDR3 memory controller. 
  
All the parts below are available at newegg.com. We at Design & Drafting make no guarantees but we have built and used Shuttle computers for years and have had no problems. The Shuttle is so small you can take it on the plane and store it under the seat in front of you. A complete support list and QuickGuide for the SX58J3 can be found by clicking on this link.

Computer: Shuttle SX58J3 Size: Very Small in Size 13.11" x 8.46" x 8.03" (w/foot rubber) South Bridge:ICH10R PCI Express: 2.0 x16:2 Serial ATA: 4 x SATA 3.0Gb/s Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC888 Memory slot: 4 x 240Pin Memory Type Supported: DDR3 1066/1333/1600 Max Memory Supported: 16GB SATA RAID: RAID 0/1/5/10 $530.00

1st Hard Drive : 80GB Barracuda Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380215A 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Using a 80GB drive for OS and programs will make it easer to back or mirror your drive. $39.00

2nd Hard Drive : 500GB Barracuda Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive    If you prefer a 1TB drive add $20.00 or $95.00 for a 2TB drive. The amount of time it takes to defragment a 1 or 2TB drive is very long. $54.00

DVD: LG Blu-ray LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe LG WH10LS30 Blu-ray burner brings you 10X BD-R & 16x DVD±R write speed, LightScribe creativity, and LG quality. The drive connects your motherboard via SATA, and is capable of reading and writing BD/DVD/CD! $109.00

CPU: i7-930 Intel's Core i7 processor not only makes it possible, it makes it easy. The Core i7 930 has four cores that run at 2.8GHz and shares 8MB of L3 cache. With Intel Turbo Boost technology and Intel Hyper-Threading technology, the Core i7 enables highly threaded applications or demanding applications to work in maximum speed without any extra effort. Another $755.00 buys you the i7-975 Extreme Edition 3.33GHz Quad-Core. $284.00

Video Card: Quadro FX 1700 PNY VCQFX1700-PCIE-PB Quadro FX 1700 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card Next-Generation Vertex and Pixel Programmability Shader Model 4.0 Fast 3D Textures, High Performance Display Outputs, NVIDIA PureVideo Technology Rotated-Grid Full-Scene Antialiasin $459.00

RAM : Kingston Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) XMP Tall HS Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3T1K3/6GX Triple Channel Kit  $157.00

OS: Win 7 32 bit or Win 7 64 bit Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM LD Assistant is a 32bit program that will install on a 64 bit OS but runs as a 32 bit program. $139.00

Cost to build a killer computer ......................... $1,771.00

Going To The LDI 2010 Trade Show in Las Vegas?

• Take The LD Assistant Training and Stay For The Show
• LD Assistant Ac & AutoCAD w/LD Assistant PL CAD Training
• Oct. 18-20 Las Vegas
    
 LD Assistant Las Vegas CAD training is being hosted by Pat Bash of In-House Production.
    
 The class is full but if you would like to be put on a stand-by list click here.

October 2010 News

• Performance Monitor for AutoCAD Now Available - Use the Autodesk Performance Monitor to gauge the virtual memory utilized by running versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD-based vertical products. The Performance Monitor for AutoCAD provides you with feedback on how your system resources are being used as you work with your designs. The technology preview supports Windows 7 and Windows Vista at this time. Both 32-bit and 64-bit systems are supported. Click here to keep reading.


• Autodesk Leads $6M Investment in Vela for Mobile AEC Apps -Vela Systems, Inc., a provider of mobile field software for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, today announced it has closed a $6 million Series B round of equity financing led by new investor Autodesk, Inc. Click here to keep reading.


• AutoCAD® Coming Soon to Your Mac®! 
Because it’s AutoCAD, you’re working natively in DWG™ format, so you can easily share files with clients, suppliers, and partners around the world, regardless of platform.
  
AutoCAD for Mac software will be available later this fall in both Europe and North America. For system requirements and supported hardware, operating systems, and peripherals click here. To Get Your Trial Version or to Pre-order click here.

LEDEase - LED website

www.ledease.com is a professional global marketing place for LED products.

Link Site Name:
LEDEase

Link Address:
http://www.ledease.com/