Saving files for others using AutoCAD ?

[fishtruk]

Hi,

I had to send files to a customer who uses AutoCAD. She said it was LT. Here I am in an Autodesk product, saving and sending a file to someone using an Autodesk product, and she said she couldn't open it. (I sent a .stp first since they're pretty universal)

She couldn't open it. So I saved an .igs, and an .f3d.   Tried and tried, Found out some email sniffer doesn't like f3d...failed each time, then I tried sending them one file at a time.

Anyway, the .igs didn't open properly either.

I had to fire up my previous Cad program (which I HATE) and make a .dxf for her which worked.

She said her AutoCAD is cloud -monthly subscribed so should be totally current.

Any ideas on this? She said she'd been using since 2000 but not on a daily basis but I can't say operator error on this.

And I thought .dwg would be available in Fusion and universal with Autodesk but no   ?  quite odd.

[I_Forge_KC]

LT is limited to 2D only. That's why.

[fishtruk]

wow  I never knew that. I just thought it was LighT. When I started with AutoCAD V12 it had 3D which I never used but just assumed that anything AutoCAD would have 3D.

Thank you!

[I_Forge_KC]

Haha, Autodesk doesn't like people thinking LT = LighT. In reality it stands for "Limited Technology."

AutoCAD LT = 2D Drafting only

Inventor LT = Part modeling only (no assemblies and beyond)

Revit LT = Simple(ish) architectural design (no MEP, no slanted beams, etc.)

While LT is built on the same kernel as it's bigger brother application, it is intentionally limited to offer the greatest number of tools at the lowest cost. If the lens you're looking through is 3D design, R12 of real deal vanilla AutoCAD is more powerful than AutoCAD 2017LT. If the lens you're looking through is 2D drafting, a modern LT will cream the old stuff.

[fishtruk]

okay so riddle me this Batman, after using version 12 for Years (collegiate version no less), since my little company couldn't afford to stay current, then suffering thru an unnamed 3D cad/cam package and their sales calls for 4 years, why can I suddenly afford this beautiful 360 package?   Scares me to think what might happen.

[I_Forge_KC]

You're hopping on board at the very birth of a new paradigm in design. One of the reasons Fusion 360 and OnShape are priced the way they are is that the industry at large is still a long ways off from on-boarding to cloud-centric platforms. It's coming - by way of attrition of desktop systems over time - but it isn't here yet.

While there are tons of problems and concerns right now, the entire software industry is moving away from desktop applications and towards Platform/Software as a Service operations. I have no idea what the cost structure of Fusion will be in the future - and I would surmise that Autodesk doesn't either. In fact, they are leading the charge into the new paradigm here, so they're kind of making it up as they go. When AutoCAD came out in the early 80s it wasn't the first CAD system... just one of the most user friendly. When Inventor came on the scene, it wasn't the first solid modeler, just a really good one. Fusion, is different. Fusion is first in this space and there are no rules or expectations for how it will go. Think about it... the user base has driven much of the development. The road map for it doesn't extend out 5 or 10 years the way plans for desktop applications can.

What does the future look like? I have no idea. What I do know is that the design industry is becoming democratized. CNC machines and 3D printers are living on people's desks now. Consumers demand "design" in the products that they buy now (thanks iPhone!). The maker movement is bringing the concepts of design, engineering, and fabrication into people's homes. All of that points to a more accessible ecosystem of design tools. Autodesk has some really wise people who see this and they've been the first mover with bringing high-end design tools to anyone who seeks them.

As for the cost for a business? I'm not fretting about it. The landscape is moving so fast that no one knows where these things will land. Besides... a new computer today costs the same as they have for a decade... and now you get a 3D scanner, a touch screen, and a robot lady that listens to your commands.

[fishtruk]

Thanks. I've been here maybe 2 years. All in all I haven't had reason to much reason to think this is so much a beta version. I was so amazed that something which is considered betaish has let me run so many cut cycles with thousands of lines of code and trust those lines not to include something which breaks a tool, eats a vise, or puts new holes in the machine bed.

There've been bugs but not very many.

Thanks for the clues!

Nelson 

[HughesTooling]

You can export your 3d model as a DWG\DXF from the dashboard in your internet browser. Don't know if it'll be usfull in Acadlt though. Your other option is to make a 2d drawing in Fusion and export as a DWG. Here's a link to making 2d drawings in Fusion.

Mark

Edit here's a link to the Dashboard. https://myhub.autodesk360.com/g/all_projects/active