F/X CAD 2018

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro/TOC
• What is F/X CAD?
• What F/X CAD 2018 Can and Can’t Do
• How F/X CAD varies from AutoCAD
• What’s New with F/X CAD 2018
• Comparison of F/X CAD 2018 interface vs. AutoCAD 2018 Interface
• Ribbon-by-Ribbon Comparison
• New File Type & Features

0:00 – 5:09: Intro/TOC

5:10 – 11:49: What is F/X CAD?

F/X CAD is:

• Only for Land F/X users (requires a Planting F/X or Irrigation F/X license)
• Powered by CAD technology (command limited)
• Similar to AutoCAD LT
• Sold and supported by us
• Requires us to change the name
• PC only (run on Mac through Parallels)

What F/X CAD 2018 Can and Can’t Do (7:47)

Can’t:

• Run AutoLISP scripts
• Install third-party add-ons (such as M-Color or Carlson) – only works with Irrigation F/X or Planting F/X
• Rendering, lighting, 3D
• Autodesk 360, Cloud, Seek, Content. App Manager, Material Library, Inventor Fusion, Cloud services

Can:

• Open/save any DWG version
• View Civil3D Proxy Objects
• Any AutoCAD command you use regularly
• Customize interface & shortcuts (+import exporting)
• Tech support through us!

11:50 – 18:59: How F/X CAD varies from AutoCAD

The installation process (12:00)

The Autodesk Desktop app and why we didn’t include it in the F/X CAD installer (14:40)

18:59 – 55:54: What’s New with F/X CAD 2018

ACAD ribbon improvement 2.0

More tools organized more clearly – plus bonus Quick Access Toolbar 2.0 & Hotkeys

New 2018 file type

Off-screen selection

Zoom and pan to select exactly what you want, while still capturing the stuff off-screen.

Incremental auto-saving

Every 10 minutes, skip the freeze – just keep working!

Linetype gap selection and snapping

Requires High Quality Geometry turned on – DirectX needed.

Xref layer overrides

See your overrides, change them back to default.

Fix broken Xref and attachment paths

Easier to change a path, plus bulk update paths.

Comparison of F/X CAD 2018 interface vs. AutoCAD 2018 Interface (23:10)

• Sign-in interface removed from the top bar in F/X CAD 2018, allowing you to see more of your file path. (24:06)
• Quick-Access toolbar moved to below ribbons in F/X CAD 2018, which also opens up the file path in the top bar. (24:38)
• Several tools added to Quick-Access toolbar, including plotting tools, Layer Properties, Layer module, Match Properties, Properties panel, Layer Freeze, Layer Previous, Explode, Xhair Angle, Draw Order (25:00)
• Command line is docked by default in F/X CAD 2018. (27:03)

Ribbon-by-Ribbon Comparison (28:00)

• Buttons made bigger and easier to access in F/X CAD 2018

Home ribbon (28:00)

• Multiline tool added to Home ribbon (in a flyout from the Polyline button)
• Other tools added to Home ribbon include Layer Properties, Make Current, Set to ByLayer

Insert ribbon (31:50)

• Insert ribbon has been cleaned up and streamlined in F/X CAD 2018.
• PDF Import made more prominent & drops down to a flyout menu full of Import and Attach options; PDF Import now recognizes SHX text
• Some Land F/X tools have been brought into ACAD ribbons in F/X CAD 2018. Examples include Xhair Angle (in the Quick Access toolbar), and fxREF & Geolocation (both on the Insert ribbon)

Annotate ribbon (34:53)

• Annotate ribbon has also been dramatically streamlined in F/X CAD 2018.
• Land F/X Dimension tools added

Note: We’ve also added a new “Soft Stop” feature, which asks you if you want to set the plot scale if you haven’t done so already and you open a Land F/X tool that requires a scale. (36:50)

• We’ve also added the Land F/X Text tools, Express Tools, Center Mark, Centerline, Leader tools (including leaders with text and Mtext), and Annotation Scaling tools to Annotate ribbon in F/X CAD 2018.

View ribbon (40:35)

• Parametric tool removed from F/X CAD 2018 because it’s underused and difficult to use.
• 3D tools also removed (these tools are not available in F/X CAD).
• Viewport tools added
• Palettes added (including Properties palette, Xref Manager, Sheet Set Manager)

Manage ribbon (42:33)

• Styles & Units tools added (including Text, Dimension, Multileader, Table, and Units Styles)
• Cleanup panel added (includes our Nuke tool, a link to our Manual Drawing Cleanup steps, Thaw All Layers, All Layers On, Delete Duplicates, All ByLayer, Delete RegApps, Audit, Instant Purge/Regular Purge, Clean Export, and Cleanup Help)

Output ribbon (45:20)

• ACAD 360 removed
• Export to Land F/X Support added

New File Type & Features (46:05)

Need to give a drawing to someone who isn’t on AutoCAD or F/X CAD? Use Save As and save the file as a 2013 DWG.

Incremental Auto-Saving (47:00)

The Incremental Save Percentage setting, available in the Options dialog box, Open and Save tab, allows you to set a percentage of potentially wasted space in a drawing file, which can reduce the time required for auto-saving.

Off-screen selection (48:57)

This feature allows you to select objects and linework that you can’t necessarily see when drawing a selection box. You can also fine-tune your selection, grabbing the exact portions of your drawing you want to select.

Fix broken paths (50:00)

This new feature allows you to repair broken Xref paths quickly. Just right-click an Xref in the Xref Manager and choose the “Select New Path” option from the menu. Re-navigate to the correct path. Then select “Yes” when asked “Would you like to apply the same path to other missing references?” All Xref paths will be repaired.

New keyboard shortcuts (52:10)

See a full list of our new keyboard shortcuts.

Customizing the ribbons (53:30)

Using the Customized User Interface (CUI) feature to move tool buttons around on the ribbons, Quick Access toolbar, etc.