Subtitles of the Movie

The AutoCAD 2009 user interface uses interface elements that are common to other windows applications such as Cut, Copy and Paste. However if you've used other Windows Applications these User Interface Elements are familiar but there are specific Interface Elements in AutoCAD such as the Command Line and the Ribbon that are specific to AutoCAD. Autodesk have developed a thing called Heads Up design and it's actually a trademarked methodology by Autodesk and what it does is it increases your efficiency while you're using AutoCAD. Whenever you turn your visual focus away from your design so whenever you're looking to locate a command or an icon or a tool that you want to use it can slow you down. So what the Dynamic Interface for example with Dynamic Input provides you with is a method of looking at the design while you're inputting the information. So with Dynamic Input on if I click on the Line Command here and start drawing a line you can see that I can input the information around the line, I don't have to look down at the Command Line, I don't have to look up at the Ribbon, that's where heads up design comes into its own and that's how it works, that's why its been defined the way that it has. Now the Ribbon itself is a special Tool Palette and it works in the 2D Drafting and Annotation Workspace and the 3D Drafting and Workspace, obviously you don't have a Ribbon in the AutoCAD classic because that works and the same with the older versions of AutoCAD work. So let's have a look at the Ribbon, the Ribbon is turned on by default when you first start AutoCAD anyway and you can turn the Tabs on and off. Now the way that you do that is you just right click over them, if I right click over the Home Tab, as you can see now I can minimize to Tabs, the Tabs there I can switch Tabs on and off. So if I switch off the Output Tab like so, you'll see it disappears. If I click on it again it comes back so I can switch the Tabs on and off. That I can also do if I go to the Panels here, I can switch off the Panels. So if I switch off the Utilities Panel you'll see it's now disappeared. If I right click and go back to Panels again and switch it back on it appears at the end of the Home Tab of the Ribbon there. So we can switch all of these things on and off and also as well you can look at the Menu Browser. Now the Menu Browser replicates the old way of working with AutoCAD, so the Menu Browser is up here, top left corner, the big red A there, if I click on that little Black Triangle there's the Menu Browser and you'll recognize all of these headings here, they're the original Pull Down Menus from the older versions of AutoCAD and as I hover over each heading like so you can see them appear, so there's Tools, Draw, so if I click on Draw and then go up to Line there and click on it, I'm in the Line Command. Exactly the same as if I was using the Pull Down Menus in an older version of AutoCAD. Now the other thing that you've got is you've got Commands on each panel. So there's our Draw Panel there, I can actually right click on the Panel here and I can customize that. So if I click on Customize, takes a few seconds to kick in because the CUI needs to kick in, the Customize User Interface, but as you can see there as I become an intermediate and advanced AutoCAD user I can go in and Edit all of those Commands in the Workspaces and on the Panels in the Tabs in AutoCAD 2009. I'm going to cancel that now, we're not going to make any changes there and what I can also do again if I right click as well, Tool palette group here as I can see look, I can bring up different Palettes and different bits of information. So I can bring in for example a Tables Panel on the Home Tab if I want to, I'm not going to but obviously I can if I need to. And again you just hit Escape or click away from it like so and they disappear. Now Panels, Panel Visibility, now you'll notice at the bottom of all of the panels here if I click on the Triangle they cascade out to show me more Commands and more Icons. I have a Pin, if I click on the Pin it locks that Panel out so when I'm drawing now I've got all my Draw Commands available to me. So for example if I wanted to draw a Spline, I just click on it now and there's my Spline as I go across the screen there. I'm going to hit escape there; I don't need the Spline it was purely to demonstrate that command. When I click on the Pin again the Panel goes back into the Ribbon, very useful if you've got a specific set of Commands to use, Modify is a very good one. If I click on there and click on the Pin as you can see I've got things like the Array Command which I may be using. I'll use those commands there maybe once I'm done again click on the Pin and it cascades back into the ribbon again. So the benefit you have there is the Panel Visibility on each tab. Now the other thing that has changed quite dramatically in AutoCAD 2009 is the Status Bar. Now looking at the Status Bar down at the bottom of the screen lots of different changes here. You'll notice I've got my Drafting Settings set the way that they were in the older versions of AutoCAD, if I right click on there though and go to use Icons on the Shortcut Menu you'll see now that there are Icons rather then the buttons with the names of the specific Drafting Settings. The Icons appear by default, so if you don't want to use those in AutoCAD you right click over an Icon, click on the Use Icons Option on the Shortcut Menu and as you can see it goes to the Buttons with the Word on like the older versions of AutoCAD. Lots of settings available on the right hand side of the Status Bar, notice you have Model, notice you have Layout, that's the same as AutoCAD 2008. if I click on those and click on Display Layout in Model Tabs that's a right click by the way on the Shortcut Menu, there's my Model Tab and my Layout Tabs. If I right click over the Model or Layout Tabs and click on the Shortcut Menu there, hide Layouts in Model Tabs, it goes back down to the Status Bar. So lots of different settings that you can tweak and basically make your own. So the idea is that you're customizing here, making your User Interface more comfortable. Now two new features in AutoCAD 2009 are these here, you've got your Quick View Layouts, if I click on this here, takes a few seconds to come up but I can now hover again, its this heads up design, I don't have to look for Layout Tabs, I don't have to look down at Status Bar, I click on there I'm in the Model Tab, I click on there I'm in the Layout Tab, I click on there I'm in Layout 2, its that's easy and to close it I can click on the Cross there, notice its got a Pin, I can pin it open so that I can go through lots of drawings if that's what I'm doing at that particular time. If I click on Cross it closes the Quick View Layouts, same with drawings as well. I've also got a Quick View Drawings Icon here. If I click on Quick View Drawings it actually shows me the drawings I've got open, I've only got Drawing 1 open right now but when I hover over it, look, heads up design again, Model Tab, Layout Tab, Layout Tab. I can go back to the Model Tab and then close Quick View Drawings. Very quick heads up design personified.