As editor of Acronym Online — a source of news and information about CAD and related digital design technologies for public-sector professionals in the fields of AEC, manufacturing, and GIS — Caron Beesley of knows that government agencies are committed to accountability and doing more with less. That's why it is important for these organizations to use software efficiently and cost-effectively — and in ways that aren’t always the same as those of private-sector users.

Topics: AutoCAD, Connectivity

The big news for HSMWorks 2015 is its support for SolidWorks 2015, which was released in September of 2014. Since the Service Packs released frequently by HSMWorks are notably beefy, adding new features and improved functionality in between annual version releases, support for SolidWorks 2015 is the most notable update. However, version 2015 also has some other features and benefits to consider if it's time to upgrade your software.

Topics: Workstations, SolidWorks, Hardware, Processors, 3D, Connectivity

Jimmy Bergmark of JTB World has decades of experience in the AutoCAD industry. That's why he started his own business to help fellow CAD users.

Topics: Workstations, AutoCAD, Connectivity, CAD

Proper disposal of electronic data stored on a large format printer’s disk drive is imperative to preventing inadvertent disclosure of sensitive or confidential information.

Data-sensitive environments are no longer limited to defense agencies, power generation firms and related contractors, but include any enterprise that places a high value on its intellectual property. These environments require specific security precautions to ensure the security and integrity of sensitive and confidential information.

Topics: Data Security, Wide-Format Printers, Printers, Plotting, Connectivity, Large Format Printers, CAD

In Part 3 of this series, I showed you some of the collaboration functionality of Autodesk 360. We are now going to look at how we can synchronize our documents and drawings using Autodesk 360, using a fixed location (PC on a network) and a mobile location (iPad on a remote site with Wi-Fi), like in Part 3.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, Hardware, Facilities Management, AutoCAD, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Laptops, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hardware, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Processors, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Video Cards, Intel, CAD

In Part 2 of this series, I showed you some of the functionality of Autodesk 360. We are now going to look at how we collaborate using Autodesk 360, using a fixed location (PC on a network) and a mobile location (iPad on a remote site with Wi-Fi).

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, Hardware, Facilities Management, AutoCAD, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Laptops, CAD

Reality capture is a boom business for the building industry. With roughly 5 million existing commercial buildings in the United States alone, it’s easy to understand why. Laser-scanner-based reality capture is the dominant methodology used today to accurately capture the 3D state of an existing building. However, the typical laser-scan-based point cloud is in the hundreds of millions of 3D points, sometimes even going into the billions of points. With this additional data overhead on top of an already dense Building Information Model, it’s important to optimize your workstation hardware to deliver a productive user experience.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hardware, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Processors, Revit, SSD Drive, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, Connectivity, Backup System, Video Cards, CAD

When people think of cloud computing, benefits such as convenience and portability often come to mind. After all, the cloud may or may not deliver a faster experience for users of CAD solutions when compared to desktop processing. With this in mind, why then is cloud computing garnering so much attention these days?

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Hard Drive, Processors, Operating Systems, Building Information Modeling, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Operating System, Laptops, Vectorworks, CAD

In Part 1 of this series, I introduced you to the new cloud-based collaboration tool from Autodesk, called Autodesk 360. In Part 2, I am going to show some of the functionality of Autodesk 360.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, Hardware, Facilities Management, AutoCAD, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Laptops, CAD