By Scott Grub

We've got a BONUS AutoCAD® tip for Inventor users!

Does your scrollwheel zoom backwards in AutoCAD?  Want it to match Inventor? 

Set AutoCAD variable ZOOMWHEEL = 1. 

This will reverse the direction of the zoom to match Inventor. 

​Have you ever Wblocked geometry from a layout drawing only to find that you have duplicate lines, or several line segments making up one line?

You can use the “OVERKILL” command to quickly remove the extra lines or segments.

1. Type the Command: OVERKILL
2. Select objects by window, crossing, or “ALL”.

​
​(Or, you can also access the command from the Modify tab > Cleanup panel.)

3. AutoCAD returns the number of objects selected and opens a dialog box with options.

4. Select the criteria to ignore, if any, then select “OK”. 
​
5. AutoCAD then returns the number of duplicate objects removed and the number of overlapping objects or segments deleted.

Sometimes renewing your subscription isn't enough...

Regular renewal of your Autodesk® software subscription is important. It means you’ll always have access to the most current version and can keep your company and team competitive with others in the industry. However, in some cases, renewing your subscription is not enough to avoid interruption. If you have multi-user licenses on your contract, we’re talking to you.

Multi-user (or “network”, as some of you may know them) license files will expire 30 days after your contract expiration date, regardless of whether you have renewed your subscription. If your license file is not updated before those 30 days have passed, your software will cease to work. You will need to have a new license file generated in order to use the software.

Autodesk® sends you a new license file once you have renewed your subscription. Whoever is designated as your company’s contract manager will receive an email stating that your licenses have been renewed. He or she will ALSO receive an email titled, "Update your license files". Follow the instructions in the email in order to update your license file.*

The good news? If you have a MESA Support Contract, we will gladly help you get your new license file proactively, or even after your software has stopped working… though it works out better for everyone involved if you get in touch with us before that 30 day mark!

If you’re our customer and you’re not on a MESA Support Contract, but need our help, please call us anyway. We WILL help you.
 
*It IS possible to generate the new license file yourself, but if you’ve never done that before, we can show you how. If you have more than one type of industry collection on your contract or are running different server configurations, it can be a bit more challenging.

​We suggest taking a look at the wider variety of materials available in the Autodesk® Material Library. If you like those materials, it is possible to set the Autodesk® Material Library as the active Material and/or Appearance Library in any Autodesk® Inventor® Project.
 
It is also possible to copy those materials to your Inventor® Material Library, or a custom Library, specific to your company’s standards. 

​Part of the modernization of the Autodesk® Inventor® User Interface, is that some feature dialog boxes are now tabs that can be docked in the browser. 
 
The dialog boxes will only show when the command is active, or a feature of that type is being edited. Once a box is docked, all the features that use the more modern style will show docked as well. This works with Extrude, Revolve, Sweep, Hole, and others. It is likely we'll see this approach happening more often because the key benefit is that it gives users more screen “real estate” for their model view. Below is a screen shot: