AutoCAD 2018 new features

[ingegnerizuccolo]

I just installed Autocad 2018 and watched the new feature video.

I just want to resume them all in one word:

NOTHING!

It's really a shame. I don't understand why I have to pay every year to maintain the subscription to have absolutely nothing new.

Shame shame shame!

[marcus.obrien]

Hi Alfred.NESWADBA,

As you know we recently changed how we do business at Autodesk. In the past we released AutoCAD to our customers annually. We would decide on a feature in advance and work on it for 12 months. This approach did not allow us to include our customers feedback in these features as much as we would like to, so for the past number of releases we have been working hard to ensure that we deliver value to you on a more regular basis. What this means is that when we work on a feature, we ship it when it is ready. We listen closely to you and then enhance or change the feature as necessary. 

Take PDF Import for example. You are absolutely right, we initially released this in 2017 as a new feature. Then we reached out to customers to better understand how to make this feature better. One of the top things we heard was to improve SHX font recognition when importing PDF's, so that SHX fonts could be converted to Mtext. So we delivered that in the 2017.1 update. In AutoCAD 2018 we have continued to work on PDF Import. In addition to bug fixes and performance enhancements we added better control over which font style to match to, to allow better accuracy in recognition. And this process was the same for 4K support and complex linetype selection also.

Finally, the DWG format has been updated to provide improvements in the efficiency of open and save operations, especially for drawings that contain many annotative objects and viewports. Additionally, 3D solid and surface creation now uses the newest geometric modeler (ASM) which has improved security, stability, and performance. 

I hope this helps to answer some of your questions and concerns.

Best Wishes,

Marcus O'Brien

Senior Product Line Manager, AutoCAD

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> Having worked with AutoCAD since Release 9, I remember when AutoCAD produced over

>> a hundred new features in a release, which was necessary at the time but it was very

>> time-consuming for customers to learn and to integrate

Does that mean that "customers should not need to learn something new" as a goal for software-development (I hope not, but it sounds like that).

Starting with AutoCAD 1.4 by myself I know that customers took classes for update training's. But it was worth as (by default) new functionality brings them new options to get their work faster done or with better quality done (in best case faster AND better quality). And it was always a win situation for the customer. There were functions added which saved many hours a week; I'm missing such new functions in 2018 (or later updates).

>> I will also assure you that I'm not satisfied.There's a lot more that needs to be accomplished

Then my wish for Autodesk's customers is that you get satisfied with the next release ... that seems then to be more functionality built in in the next release ;)))

- alfred -

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi @marcus.obrien

thank you for that detailed info!

There are some sentences which gives me hope 🙂

- alfred -

[zzz144]

So to sum it up ladies and gentlemen: 

A lot of work was put in - we cannot see any of it.

This was the case with 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 releases. 

Refining PDF import and 3D orbit and listening to FBI. How about you open a real collaborative improvement page rather than AUGI or these threads here...? But you wont - why? Why would you put effort into this software if you can get the upgrade money without upgrading anything. 

Those of you who are considering updating from 2010 or any release since - DON'T.

Save your money. 
Nothing was delivered in 2018 release. 

I will sum this up with every page here because long posts from AD detract from the fact that the release is basically a new dwg format to force older release users to upgrade.... 

So don't upgrade. 

[dieters]

zzz144,

Your comments are erroneous--AutoCAD 2018 doesn't force you to use the latest format. The features that you're disparaging have indeed come from AUGI, AU, and direct customer requests, along with extensive research. They have been extensively tested, critiqued, and praised by hundreds of members of the AutoCAD Customer Council over many months. Many of the participants are very experienced users, CAD managers, and third party developers. Additional input came from the AutoCAD Beta Gold program. I've had extensive conversations with many of our customers, including many of those previously mentioned, and I meet daily with our designers and software engineers. 

All this makes me wonder, why such hostility? If you have a bone to pick why not come out with it so we can consider it clearly and logically? 

Finally, I'd also ask that you maintain a level of civility and respect here, which is not unreasonable.

Thanks,

Dieter

[Discussion_Admin]

---

@zzz144 wrote:

So to sum it up ladies and gentlemen: 

A lot of work was put in - we cannot see any of it.

This was the case with 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 releases. 

Refining PDF import and 3D orbit and listening to FBI. How about you open a real collaborative improvement page rather than AUGI or these threads here...? But you wont - why? Why would you put effort into this software if you can get the upgrade money without upgrading anything. 

Those of you who are considering updating from 2010 or any release since - DON'T.

Save your money. 
Nothing was delivered in 2018 release. 

I will sum this up with every page here because long posts from AD detract from the fact that the release is basically a new dwg format to force older release users to upgrade.... 

So don't upgrade. 

---

Please remember these are professional forums and as such deserve a professional decorum when participating.

Thanks
Discussion_Admin

[nrz13]

Again with the blanket statements.  Just because there was nothing useful for you in 2013-2017 doesn't mean there weren't useful improvements for others.  There was nothing compelling enough in 2013 to make our firm upgrade to 2013, but we did find improvements in 2014 that were worth it, so we did.  We upgraded to 2015 and 2016 as well.  We skipped 2017, but the more I read about the improvements of 2018, the more I think we'll upgrade to that.  If we had 4K displays, we would have upgraded to 2017, though.  I know that was a feature many, many people were looking for, as evidenced by posts on these forums.  As 4K becomes the norm, more people will appreciate support for it in 2017.1.1, 2018, and beyond.

I'm looking forward to seeing if the long list of bugs I've reported and tracked over the years is reduced any in the 2018 version.  I was surprised to see a few long-standing bugs fixed in the 2016 version.  And I'm sure I'll have my fare share of bug reports for 2018, like I do for every version our firm has used over the years.

[mw111368]

Autodesk really need to drop the annual upgrades.

Downloading, cutting in license file, updating Flexnet, distributing to hundreds of users, and for what!

With such small updates why don't they adopt the Microsoft approach of continually distributed updates.

I personally will not be distributing this version as I cant justify the time.

[KlausGründlinger4095]

Every morning i tell my wife she looks like "new" ;)...

The "User Interface Enhancements"...(-> https://youtu.be/ReaHOzhP8Mw?t=64 )

For everyone with an earlier version who want's THAT "NEW" feature too (uploaded 2014!!)

-> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgCMNn7OjjM

I fully agree with Alfred!

greetings from a very annoyed customer

(annoyed because of the really new PRICE-performance ratio)

Claudio

[GilesPhillips]

I'll be distributing as we need to stay current with the file formats. It also gives us a chance to consolidate our users as we've a mix of 2016 and 2017 - 2017 was only put on due to the update that improved UHD monitor performance.

To be honest I'm a little underwhelmed by this update - Autodesk do seem to be trumpeting a lot of the work done in the 2017.1 patch as new and original.  From my point of view the only interest comes from improvements to the X-ref repair. As others have said, touting performance improvements without any real-world metrics is a bit cheap -one line of code removed could be considered a performance improvement, but would anyone notice??

This is all the more bitter due to Autodesk's impending changes to licensing - but that is not for this thread.

[JoeVernice]

I always thought the off-screen selection issue was a bug... Glad that is fixed now!

The REGEN3 command has been around for a while, do a google search. It works in 2016 & 2017.

JMV

[lsegeleon]

I deal with a lot of PDF files and the PDF SHX TEXT function is great. EXCEPT, it is having trouble with the "V" and "w".

[dieters]

Giles,

>> As others have said, touting performance improvements without any real-world metrics is a bit cheap -one line of code removed could be considered a performance improvement, but would anyone notice??

No, our engineers are not dishonest. However, the "real-world" metrics part is tricky--it depends a lot on the size and content of the model. We did indeed measure performance changes on a variety of models--mostly 3D solid models from large civil and piping projects with a lot of blocks and faces--and our engineers worked hard on trying and testing different approaches to speed up 3D Orbit. Our test engineers ran tests against the work and reported the statistics.

The raw numbers themselves can easily be misleading. For example, a 100x speed improvement on a process that takes 0.1 seconds is insignificant. The only performance improvement that matters is what you experience.

Having said that, I did see some enormous models that seemed to freeze up after each frame, improve to a smooth orbit.

Dieter

[lsegeleon]

I guess it all depends on what you do that will result in if there are any significant changes in 2018 for you.

I deal with converting a lot of PDF's to CAD and the new "PDF SHX Recognition" that converts imported SHX geometry from a PDF file into Text is a great time saver for me. No more retyping General Notes, Removal Notes, Test Notes, Lists of Material, etc.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> I deal with converting a lot of PDF's to CAD and the new "PDF SHX Recognition" that converts

>> imported SHX geometry from a PDF file into Text is a great time saver for me

No doubt, that's a great feature ... but not for AutoCAD 2018, it was available already in 2017 Update 1.1

From my first tests I can't see a difference between 2017.1.1 and 2018 with that function, but maybe I'm missing that special case that might run better in 2018.

- alfred -

[dieters]

mw111368,

>> Autodesk really need to drop the annual upgrades.

What most of our customers have been telling us is that they want to reduce disruption as much as possible--they want us to create fewer features at a higher level of quality. The PDF Import feature is a good example. The basic import capability was first introduced in AutoCAD 2017, SHX text conversion to Mtext was added in 2017.1, and best-font matching option was added in 2018. Each increment was thoroughly tested by us and by the participants in the AutoCAD Customer Council.

Many customers told us that stuffing everything into an annual update was too much to keep up with, but they appreciate smaller, more frequent releases that are focused on just a few areas.

Dieter

[dieters]

Isegeleon,

Exactly.

Your experience is precisely what Autodesk is focused on achieving, namely a lot of bang for buck in a limited number of areas and with a minimum amount of disruption to your operation.

I'd suspect that the most likely culprit with the w and v issue that you're running into is actually due to the precision level (dpi) that the PDF was generated. If set too low, the geometry of the SHX text can become ambiguous. For example, when you plot to PDF, click the PDF Options button and see what vector dpi you're set to (the default is 600 with DWG to PDF.pc3). Try bumping that up to see whether the problem goes away. Let me know if it doesn't.

Dieter

[nrz13]

I think it's a bit unfair to compare AutoCAD 2017.1.1 to AutoCAD 2018 in terms of features.  Personally, I'd rather have the version I currently have installed updated with improvements and bug fixes if it will save me from having to go through the full upgrade process.  You make it sound like you would rather not have had the patches to 2017 and instead just have them released all at once in 2018.  It's like punishing Autodesk for supporting older releases in addition to the current one.  Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your intent.

[ParishSouthBdx]

the "new modeler" or "shaper" is a bang!  no degradation adaptation to be found.  full speed solid jousting.!!  bravo...thus far.

Autodesk ShapeManager is a 3D geometric  modeling kernel used by Inventor and other products.

interesting read...

There are two major geometry kernels offered for license: Spatial’s ACIS, which is owned by Dassault, and Siemens’ Parasolid. Both modelers were built in 1985 or so and were widely adopted by CAD companies through the nineties.

Parasolid is the core modeling engine for Dassault SolidWorks as well as Siemens NX and Solid Edge, Bentley MicroStation, and Nemetschek Vectorworks.

ACIS is used in a variety of products. It was the core modeler in AutoCAD, and it still is used for a variety of products. As it was developing Inventor, Autodesk was working on its ShapeManager (ASM) kernel. Autodesk now builds its products on ASM. 

whatever the technical jargon is, I'm working it and it's working!!

[dieters]

Thanks, drafting2.

The ACIS-based ASM modeler is pretty robust--now more than ever--considering what I sometimes throw at it. For example, the intersection of a torus and a cylinder is not trivial. (See http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1675074/torus-cylinder-intersection). And then I fillet the result with a relatively large constant radius to get this:

What used to be impressive is now expected.

Dieter