One day, I had an epiphany that was worthy of MacGyver.
I implemented it, and thus far it's been working well!
First I had to take stock of my assets.
I already have a script that backs up my Autodesk Vault database and filestore that contains my CAD data.
I have a Dropbox account that has more than enough room to accommodate my current backup
At my home, I have an old retired computer that I use as a data server, which also has plenty of room for my Vault database and filestore.
That's enough for me!
I created a new script that moves my backup file to a Dropbox folder. In turn, that folder syncs up with my online Dropbox account, which is stored in the cloud.
My Vault Backup in my Dropbox Folder
BOOM! Backup!
Then, I setup my old data server to sync with my Dropbox account, so now I have a backup at home, as well as on online!
BOOM! Redundancy!
I've been running this system for about a week now, and it's been working pretty well. I've restored from it once already successfully
But just like everything it's got good and bad.
First the good!
It's a simple and effective backup strategy, especially for the budget minded.
By using Dropbox, I can sync the backup to multiple machines, they just have to be syncing to the Dropbox account.
Now the not so good!
Since this is a cloud backup, there needs to be sufficient bandwidth to support uploading and downloading potentially gigabytes of data.
Online storage accounts, such as Dropbox, Autodesk 360, and SkyDrive have limited storage capacity (typically a few gigabytes until you purchase more). So monitoring usage can be important, especially as data gets larger.
Fortunately, my Vault data is about 750MB, so I have more than enough room in my Dropbox account (over 6GB), and I upload across a fiber optic line, so bandwidth isn't an issue for me, so this is effective for me.
In summary, this system probably isn't good for everybody, but for a small environment, with limited resources to purchase hardware and infrastructure, it may be exactly the ticket.
P.S. I'm sure there are those of you might be wondering why I didn't use my Autodesk 360 account. The reasons are simple. I tried my Dropbox account first, and I'm too busy (read too lazy) to switch it over. I could just as easily have used my Autodesk 360 account!
I hope this is a tip you might be able to use in your own environment!
Have another idea to create a backup like this on a budget, check out the comment section!
At long last! The final part of my little "iFeatures & Autodesk Inventor" series (at least for now)!
In this final post, I'll discuss taking and iFeature, and driving it via a table.
But first of all, why drive an iFeature with a table? What does a table do for us?
Well the single biggest reason to use a table driven iFeature is to create is to create a consistent series of choices for features that vary in predictable ways.
An Example of an iFeature Table
For example, lets say there's a mounting hole of three consistent variations. It may have two different size holes, but the holes all expand in intervals of a given increment (.125 inches for example).
An example of different holes (yes, I know the biggest one is 'too big'
If a non-table driven iFeature is used, the different diameter holes could be mixed and matched.
The 'standard' iFeature screen
In other words, a "create a combo" situation could arise, and a non-existant hole created.
If a table driven iFeature is used, then the mounting holes can be called out by a specific value, such as an "tool number", and a consistent set of holes can be placed.
Special fields can also be created, so institution specific criteria can be used for selecting an iFeature. For example, in my video, I use Tool Number.
But enough of the describing! Let's switch to the video, and see how these tables can be used!
And on a final note.... Who knows what an iFeature was called before it was named an iFeature? Hint: it's the reason an iFeature has the file extention "*.ide"!
During this weekend, there was no time to create a video for the blog I was hoping to create.
It was lost for one of the best reasons a weekend could be lost. I had friends come from out of town for a visit!
So this weekend was a blog free weekend (and even a mostly computer free weekend) that was consumed by catching up with life long friends, so part three of my iFeatures blog post will be delayed a bit.
In my last blog post on iFeatures (see that post here), I extracted and placed an iFeature, but that was all we did at that time. I did mention that dimensions could be added to the iFeature, but I stated we'd get back to that.
Well, we're back to it! In this blog (and its video), we'll add dimensions to the iFeature we used in the last blog.
The basic steps for this process are below:
Rename Parameters (okay, this isn't strictly necessary, but it makes the process easier, and I recommend it.
Parameters renamed
HINT! To rename parameters quickly, edit the feature, and type "Parameter_Name = X.XXX" to rename it in the feature. This will rename the parameter directly from the feature it drives.
Renaming the parameter in the feature
Extract the iFeatures you want. Note in the image below, the renamed features automatically are made available to the iFeature.
Extracting the iFeature
Set any ranges or lists you need
Setting a range
Setting a list
Save the iFeature, and you're ready to go!
Saving the feature
Now the feature can be placed, taking advantage of the settings used!
Placing the iFeature. Notice the list being used.
So that will place the iFeature into the parts you intend to use it in, and now you've seen the steps to create this iFeature.
But it would be an Inventor Tales blog without a video. So here it is, a video showing the process!
Have a suggestion on how you might use iFeatures? Throw a comment!
As we head into a long weekend here in the states. I found a cool video produced Marion Laundry at Autodesk.
Why do I like this video so much? Marion showed a great tip that I hadn't taken advantage of yet! (Hint: Never stop learning!)
How to blur reflections! I've always thought that if a rendering looks "too perfect", it gives it away as being a computer generated image.
It's a fact of life, nothing is perfect.
Take a look at this Lockheed P-38 Lightning owned by Allied Fighters in California. It's got a pretty shiny paint job. Not fully polished, but pretty shiny.
The Allied Fighters P-38 Lightning "Honey Bunny"
Notice how the reflections are blurred however? It's not a mirror finish.
Marion's Video gives a great tip on how to create blurred reflections. So instead of talking about it, check out the video below!
One last note! While it should be obvious right away, I DID NOT CREATE THIS VIDEO! This is created by Marion Landry at Autodesk, and all credit belongs to her! Take a look at her channel here and check out more of her videos!
And just for the fun of it, here's a video of Honey Bunny in flight at the Living History Event at Planes of Fame Air Museum. With a unique camera perspective too!
Most of us are familiar with Autodesk Inventor's Parameters. It's where Inventor stores the dimensions that it uses to create it's components.
If you've used parameters before, you might even know that you can rename the parameters to give it more meaningful names than the defaults.
The Parameters used for this part
An additional capability of the parameters is the ability to build equations using Inventor's parameters. Many of us have seen those before too.
Equations in Parameters can help make a design much more intelligent
But what many may not know, is that there are many special fuctions that can be used. For example, the "Ceiling" function can round a number up to the nearest integer, while the "Floor" function will round a value down to the nearest integer.
For example, in the equation below : Maj_Dia_Ht / 0.4375 = 4.571 without an additional function.
Using the Ceiling function to round up to then next integer
But add the "Ceiling" function: Maj_Dia_Ht / 0.4375 in = 5.0 because this function rounds up to the nearest integer.
Why did I use this function? Because I'm calculating the number of holes in the circular pattern, and this number needs to be an integer (you can't have 4.571 holes in a pattern!).
This is just a quick example of what can be done, but there are several functions available/
The Autodesk Inventor iFeature. I've described it as Inventor's version of an AutoCAD Block. When there's a repetitive feature that needs to be placed multiple times with repeatability, this is a place to look.
First, Autodesk Inventor has several iFeatures that ship with it.
Inventor ships with several iFeatures built in
You can find them by clicking on the "Insert iFeature" icon. It's found on the Manage Tab.
Placing iFeatures
But the iFeatures Inventor has may not cover all the iFeatures that might be needed. In that case, new iFeatures can be created and added to the library.
In my humble opinion, I think this is one of Inventor's tools that gets overlooked. While it may be an answer for every solution, there are definitely some places it can make a job go by a lot more easily.
The iFeature has a lot of flexibility, among these are:
The ability to add variable dimensions that can be changed by the user
The ability to limit these dimensions to a list of numbers, or a range of numbers
The ability to create table of variants for different types of placed features
So there is a quite a bit to go over. So I'm going to break this particular blog into parts. So in the first part, I'll just show how we can create an iFeature, and place it onto a part.
A couple of suggestions before the video, I like to create an "iFeature generator". That is, I create a component to build the iFeature.
I do this because if I need to adjust the iFeature, I can return to the generator and make the adjustments I need.
My iFeature Generator for this post
Trust me, I learned this one the hard way. In this case the hard way wanted to make an adjustment to my iFeature, but having to rebuild it because I didn't save it the first time!
So to see how this iFeature was used, take a look at the video!
AU Image Courtesy of the Autodesk University Website.
For those who aren't aware of Autodesk University (commonly known as AU), it's a series of classes, seminars, and network sessions on all manner of Autodesk Technology. I've gone in the past, and I think it's well worth attending.
But as they say, "don't take it from me". Take a look at the class schedule HERE! Take a look at the classes that are available this year.
And on a final note, become an AU Member and become eligible for early registration!
It's back everyone! KETIV's Autodesk Manufacturing Academy returns to Lake Oswego in Oregon (October 10th), & Cerritos in California (October 25th)! Registration is now open!
I'll be there again, and so will all the techies from the KETIV team!
So if you need a reason for work to send you to Oregon, or Southern California, check out this link!
(nudge nudge) Check out the keynote speakers!
And look below for the "preview movie". If you look quickly, you can see me. It's like Where's Waldo for bald guys!
I was out of town this weekend, enjoying a short weekend excursion to Big Bear, Ca. with some friends.
It was a good weekend of hanging out, having a drink or two, and enjoying attending the local Renaissance Faire.
So this week, there isn't an Inventor or Showcase Video. But since last week I posted about the release of Autodesk Inventor Update 2, I thought I'd continue the theme of updates and point out that Autodesk Showcase 2013 has updates for it as well.
So if you're running Autodesk Showcase 2013, and you want to make sure you have the latest updates, check the following links:
While searching Google for information on a troublesome Material Library, I ran across something I hadn't noticed before.
Autodesk Inventor 2013 Update 2 is out, and can be downloaded HERE.
The readme describes what's been addressed by the hotfix, so if you're seeing any of these issues, Update 2 is likely a good one to install.
It's also important to note that Update 2 contains the updates from Update 1, so if you haven't installed Update 1, you don't have to go hunting in it down.
When the zip file containing the update is uploaded, there are two files named
DL20082900_32-bit.msp ==> Update for 32 bit systems
DL20082900_64-bit.msp ==> Update for 64 bit systems
In the zip containing Update 2 also contains a hotfix for Autodesk Vault; DL19384851, which fixes an issue with crashing when checking in files.
Today might be a good day for a little "Update Maintenance"! It prevents the more violent "Percussive Maintenance!"
As of May 2013, The Augmented Reality Plugin for Autodesk Showcase has been retired. I liked this plugin, and the post does state that it may be back at a later date.
My fingers are crossed!
Shame on me for not updating this sooner, but things sometimes go into the archives, and collect dust.
******************
This earlier this week, an email flew about the KETIV Technologies office with the subject: "Watch Autodesk Showcase blow your freaking mind".
The body of the email just said: "Watch the video!"
There's some text talking about "the ability to overlay semantically in context information", but my mind interprets this as "Blah Blah Blabbity Blah".
I click the link, and immediately feel like I've just taken the red pill in The Matrix.
With a help of a webcam and the plugin, a Showcase scene can be overlaid into the real world, so it can be interacted with.
A "marker" board is held in front of the webcam, and Showcase projects takes reality, and uses it to create an environment for your scene.
And it's all real time.
Now I feel like Neo in The Matrix when I say "Whoa."
Here's a link to the Autodesk Video. Lets see if you say the same thing I did when I saw it.
And by the way. It seems I may be in the market for a webcam soon. So if you have any recommendations, leave a comment! :-)
If we take notice Theo's comment below, he very astutely pointed out that Autodesk doesn't recommend this practice in thepost at this link, which frankly, I was not aware of.
In that light, I considered removing the post, but instead have opted to leave it in place, as in the spirit of "a lesson from the real world", this is indeed that life lesson.
To that end, I have used this .process with success in the past, in an installation this week it saved
me a great deal of difficulty by finding issues before I arrived on site
But I will also be more cautious where I use this process, I'll likely use it on new installs, where I know IIS isn't running other processes.
So yes, I leave this post up with a word of warning, but I leave it up nonetheless
***End Edit***
When getting ready for installing the Autodesk Vault Data Management Console (the server side of Autodesk Vault), a little prechecking can go quite a long way.
One of the tools Autodesk has provided for us is the Autodesk Server Diagnostic Tools. During the installation, the Vault installation runs these checks to make sure that it's ready to accept the Vault installation.
If it finds something wrong, it tells you, and provides possible solutions to help rectify the situation.
An example of a precheck screen. Clicking on the link will show possible solutions for this error.
In my experience, the tool does an excellent job of helping fix the issues by providing possible solutions. Granted, it can't solve every last little thing, but it does get several issues you might encounter.
If it has any drawback, it's that the installation has to be started before the precheck runs. This isn't a huge problem, but it can take a little while to step through the installation screens before you get to the precheck.
Then if the precheck finds a problem, you may be stuck repeating the process again.
So what do you do if you're not quite ready for the installation? Maybe you're local reseller is going to perform the installation next week, or perhaps you want to minimize potential server downtime. Wouldn't it be convenient to quickly run the precheck and see if you're ready for the ADMS install?
Fortunately there is a way. If you know where to look, you can run the prechecks without having to start the installation!
It's pretty easy to locate.
Whether you've downloaded your media from the Autodesk Subscription site, or you have physical media in your hands, the location is.
So this week if you're looking for the usual CAD tip or video, that's not to be found here. I'm going "off topic" today.
Those of you who follow my Twitter account have probably noticed that I'm on vacation in Lake Tahoe this week. It's the longest vacation I've taken in about five years. It's been a much needed rest and recuperation.
Between work, volunteering at Planes of Fame, and maintaining Inventor Tales, I have much of my week planned. While I enjoy them all, during a hectic week, I might only have a portion of Sunday to "not do a thing". So when I came up to Tahoe, I decided my plan was to "not have a plan", and simply enjoy my days as they came, and not rush to cram in as much as I could.
I made a point of bringing up my bike, and so far, I've ridden about 30-40 miles around South Lake Tahoe.
My truck and bike
It's been well worth it. Cycling around, I've been able to stop and see things I never would have noticed at 50MPH in a car. Slow down and smell the roses, so to speak.
Cold Creek. I only saw this while pausing on a bridge. Something I would have passed if I hadn't ridden my mountain bike
Another view that never would have been seen by speeding car.
So what's the point. Why put this in my blog post here?
Perhaps there is no point. But I've had a chance to see things from a different perspective, meet some great new people, and clear my cobwebs, so to speak.
And cruising a bike path on a gorgeous day is a great way to clear cobwebs!
So in our fast pace world of CAD, Digital Prototyping, 3D Printing, and so on. Slow down and enjoy things once in a while. You never know what you might see out there that will give you some inspiration!
Sometimes the best thing you can do with a situation, is walk away from it for a while. This week off has given me a chance to come back to my tasks with a new energy.
And after putting the bike back on it's rack, I feel the urge to map the suspension of my mountain bike has made me a bit curious. Perhaps I'll map it in Autodesk Force Effect...
How do you unwind from the pressures of your day job. Feel free to drop a comment.
This week is only a brief post, as I've taking this entire week for a holiday in Lake Tahoe. This time I've brought my trusty mountain bike up with me, so I'm hoping to get some good riding in, even though I'm about 6000 ft (roughtly 2000 meters), higher than my usual riding altitude.
My truck and my bike. Both better prepared for working at this altitude than I am!
I hope I don't end up gasping like a landed fish.
But now, the post!
Most of the time when I'm using Autodesk Showcase, I can pick what on want by choosing the part, on screen, right in the scene. It's there, it's simple, and it's easy.
But there are also those scenes that aren't so simple. They have a lot of parts that aren't easy to find on screen, making working with the model a tedious and frustrating affair.
Not every component in this scene can be easily selected
But Showcase provides a tool that can help out with that. It's called the organizer, and it lists the parts by in a list type of format that you can use to, well, organize your information!
The Organizer can help locate and organize your scene!
It's my personal belief that this tool doesn't get the credit it deserves, and is probably underused since I think many users get accustomed to picking on screen, which lets face it, probably covers most of our needs.
By using the organizer, data can be moved into folders that make it easier to select, move, hide, change materials, etc.
But why describe it when I can show it. Here's a quick video on using the organizer.
And by the way, have a suggestion on how you use the organizer? Throw a comment (it's down at the bottom).
