AutoCAD Joystick Control

A different way of navigating AutoCAD, but instead of panning you could use Joystick. To do this simply press CTRL and hold the Mouse Wheel down, you will be taken into Joystick mode.

3ds Max Design Interface Colour Scheme

Like us, you may want to change the appearance of 3ds Max Design to make things clearer to work with.

If this is something of interest, please follow the steps below:

• First go to the Customize menu > Custom UI and Defaults Switcher...

Autodesk Inventor Interface - Give Autodesk your Feedback

Autodesk want to know what you think of the Ribbon Bar interface, Marking Menus, Mini-Toolbars and how you interact with the interface and how it helps you. This is your opportunity to tell the Product Managers and Developers of the product what you think and influence the future development of the Autodesk Inventor user interface.

To help collect your thoughts, the Autodesk Inventor team have put together this quick on-line survey for you to provide your thoughts and opinions. Click on the link below to provide your feedback and thoughts:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autodeskinventorUI

Thanks for your time.

Mix up your AutoCAD Ribbon Panels

The whole AutoCAD interface is highly customisable, but mostly requires users to delve into the CUI (Custom User Interface) to make changes. An easy, quick change that everyone can use is to move Panels off the Ribbon when you need certain tools or even move Panels onto a Ribbon TAB where you use them more often (more of a drag and drop affair).

• Simply click on the dark bar along the bottom of any Panel, then drag down onto the workspace. This will detach the Panel and create a Floating Toolbar.

Workspaces

Workspaces are sets of menus, toolbars, palettes and ribbon control panels that are grouped and organised so that you can work in a custom, task-oriented drawing environment.

When you use a Workspace, only the menus, toolbars and palettes that are relevant to a task are displayed. In addition, a Workspace may automatically display the ribbon or a special palette with task-specific control panels.

You can easily switch between Workspaces. The following task-based Workspaces are already defined in the product:

• 2D Drafting & Annotation
• 3D Modelling
• AutoCAD Classic

For example, when you create 3D models, you can use the 3D Modelling Workspace that contains only 3D-related toolbars, menus, and palettes. Interface items that you do not need for 3D modelling are hidden, maximising the screen area available for your work.

To change Workspaces either select from the drop down at the top or the list at the bottom:

Activate the Old Menu bar in AutoCAD

Most of you will be aware that AutoCAD has been using a Ribbon interface for a number of years. On the whole, people have moved to using this, helping integration across different applications, such as Inventor, which also runs a Ribbon interface.

If you are still using the old Classic interface and want to transition to the newer Ribbon interface, or perhaps already using the Ribbon interface, but from time to time you are unable to find the exact tool you want. There is a neat interface tool you can utilise:

• If you go to the Quick Access Toolbar along the top of the AutoCAD window, then click on the small black down arrow at the end you will find a list of tools you can turn on/off by default. Scroll down a little further and there is an option to Show Menu Bar.