Autodesk Autocad Full 2012 User manual

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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ComparisonofUserProductivity Between

AutoCAD2008andAutoCAD2011

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Conductedfor

Autodesk®

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By

DavidCohn

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June21,2010

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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2 ©2010DavidS.Cohn

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ComparisonofUserProductivityBetween

AutoCAD2008andAutoCAD2011

ByDavidS.Cohn

ExecutiveSummary

Whiletheoverallperformanceofasoftwareprogramorhardwareplatformcanbemeasuredusingstandard

benchmarks,actualuserproductivityisamoredifficultmetrictogauge,sinceitoftenincludesperceptionsof

theoveralluserexperienceandmustaccountfordifferencesinthemethodsemployedwhileusingthe

software.

ordertoquantifythepotentialproductivityimprovementatypicaluserislikelytoexperiencewhen

upgradingtothelatestversionofAutoCAD®,wedevisedaseriesoftestsinvolvingtimingtherepeatedre‐

creationofaselectionofdrawingsusingbothAutoCA D2008andAutoCAD2011.Thedrawingsusedwere

judgedtoberepresentativeofthosethatwouldbeproducedbytypicalAutoCADusers.

ThetestswereperformedbyDavidCohn,widelyrecognizedasanexpertintheuseofAutoCAD,utilizingthe

featuresandfunctionshejudgedtobethemostexpedientmeansofproducingtheendresultineach

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respectiveversionofthesoftware.Thesoftwarewasrunoncomputerhardwareandoperatingsystemstypical

ofwhatwaslikelytobeemployedbyanactualcustomer.

0:00

2:24

4:48

7:12

9:36

12:00

14:24

Auto CAD2008 AutoCAD2011 AutoCAD2011and

newworkstation

Time(hours:minutes)

TimetoComplete

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Theresultsofthestudywerequitedramatic.Ittooknearly13.5hourstocompletetheeightdrawingsusing

AutoCAD2008comparedto9.25hourstocompletethesameeightdrawingsusingAutoCAD2011.This

representsanimprovementinoveralluserproductivityof31percentasaresultofupgradingfrom

AutoCAD

2008toAutoCAD2011,withoutanychangeinthecomputeronwhichAutoCADwasrun.Whenthe

workstationwasalsoupgradedtoamoremodernsystemrunningWindows®7,thetimerequiredtocomplete

theeightdrawingswasfurtherreducedto7.5hours,animprovementinoveralluserproductivity

of44

percent.

Whilenotconsideredinthequantitativeresultsofthisstudy,additionalfunctionalityavailablewhenrunning

Windows7couldfurtherimproveoverallproductivity.

Althoughtheresultsreportedinthisstudywouldlikelyvarydependingonthelevelofexperienceoftheuser

andthenatureofthedrawingsbeing

produced,similarimprovementsinpersonalproductivityarelikely,due

toimprovementsinthefeaturesandfunctionalityavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008.This

levelofimprovementinpersonalproductivityissosignificantthatmostuserswillfinditeasilyjustifiesthecost

ofupgrading.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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3 ©2010DavidS.Cohn

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Donewfeaturesresultinincreasedproductivity?

AutoCADwasfirstreleasedinDecember1982.Eachreleasesincethenhasofferednumerousnewfeatures

andfunctionsthathavecontributedtoimprovetheoverallproductivityandusefulnessofthesoftwarebeyond

eachpreviousrelease.

Onecouldarguethatbyupgradingtothelatestrelease,customerswouldactuallysavemoneybecause

the

featuresandfunctionsofthenewsoftwarewouldenablethemtocompletetheirworkfasterthanwouldbe

possiblehadtheyusedanearlierversionofthesoftware.Yetmanycustomersskipreleasesforeconomic

reasons.

Thequestionbecomesoneofquantifyingtheactualproductivityimprovementsausercould

reasonably

expecttoachievebyupgradingfromtheiroldversionofAutoCADtothelatestrelease.

DevelopingtheStudyCriteria

Inthespringof2010,AutodeskapproachedmetoconductaproductivitystudycomparingAutoCAD2008to

AutoCAD2011.IdevisedastudyinwhichanumberofdrawingstypicalofthoseproducedbyactualAutoCAD

customerswouldberecreatedmultipletimesusingbothAutoCAD2008andAutoCAD2011,utilizingfeatures

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andfunctionsjudgedtobethemostexpedientmethodforproducingthedesiredendresults.Thetime

requiredtocreateeachdrawingwouldberecordedusingastopwatchandroundedtothenearestminute.

Afterconsideringnearly100differentdrawingsproducedbyactualAutoCADusers,Iselectedeightdrawings,

mostofwhichIconcludedwouldrequireatypicaluseranywherefromanhourtohalfadaytocomplete.

Eachdrawingwaschosenbasedonanumberofcriteriadesignedtoshowcaseoneormorefeaturesofthe

softwarethatdidnotexistinAutoCAD2008butwereaddedin

subsequentreleases.Whileeachdrawingcould

certainlybeproducedusingthefeaturesandfunctionsavailableinAutoCAD2008,theadvancedcapabilities

addedinsubsequentreleaseswouldlikelyenableatypicalusertoproducethedrawingfasterusingAutoCAD

2011.

Sincethepremiseofthetestwastodeterminehowmuch

timecouldbesavedbyusinganewfeature,thetest

itselfwasalreadypredisposedtoshowthatusingAutoCAD2011ismoreproductivethanusingAutoCAD2008.

However,sinceeachofthedrawingsusedinthestudywasoriginallyproducedusingversionsofAutoCAD

predatingthe2008release,Iconcluded

thatthestudywouldpresentarealisticanalysisofthepro ductivity

gainsatypicalusercouldachieve.

Inordertoeliminateadditionalbiasesinthedesignofthestudy,suchasimprovementsinspeedsimplydueto

increasingfamiliaritywiththesampledrawings,someofthesampledrawingswereproduced

firstusingthe

2011releaseofthesoftwareandthenproducedusingAutoCAD2008,tiltinganysuchimprovementsinthe

favoroftheolderrelease.Eachdrawingwasalsoreproducedineachreleaseseveraltimesandonlythefastest

timeswereultimatelyincludedintheresults.

Inspiteoffocusingon

newfeatures,Iexpectedtoseeonlymodestreductionsinthetimerequiredtoproduce

thedrawingsinthenewerrelease.Ididnotexpecttoseedramaticimprovementsinoveralluserproductivity.

MostCADdrawingsconsistoflines,arcs,andcircles,andIreasonedthattherehavebeenvery

fewchanges

thatwouldimprovethespeedatwhichatypicaluserwouldbeabletocreateormodifytheobjectsthat

representthemajorityofatypicaldrawing.Afterall,howmuchfastercanyoudrawaline?

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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4 ©2010DavidS.Cohn

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DramaticResults

TheresultsofthestudyweremoredramaticthanIexpected.Ittook13hours,24minutestocompleteall

eightdrawingsusingAutoCAD2008,comparedto9hours,16minutestocompletethesametasksusing

AutoCAD2011.Thisrepresentsanimprovementinoverallproductivityof31percentona

collectionoftasks

representativeofworkthatisfairlytypicalofthetypesofdrawingscreatedandeditedusingAutoCAD.On

individualtasksthatfocusedonspecificaspectsofthesoftware,productivityimprovedanywherefrom15to

90percent.

Thefollowingchartillustratesthecumulativeimprovementinoverallproductivity,represented

asthetotal

timerequiredtocompletetheeightsampledrawingsinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008.



TimetocompletealleightdrawingtasksinAutoCAD2011versusAutoCAD2008.

AutoCAD2011versus2008Productivity

00:00

02:24

04:48

07:12

09:36

12:00

14:24

AutoCAD2011 Auto CAD2008

Timetocompletetasks(hours:minutes)

Tas k8:PulleyAssembly

Tas k7:3DMachineVise

Tas k6:SiteplanbasedonexistingPDF

Tas k5:3DConceptualDesignStudy

Tas k4:ReflectedCeilingPlan

Tas k3:3Dmodel

Tas k2:FloorPlanw/occupancy

Tas k1:3DWheelHub

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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5 ©2010DavidS.Cohn

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Thestudyindetail

TheAutoCAD2011productivitystudycomparedthetimerequiredtoproduceacollectionofeightdifferent

drawingsmultipletimesusingbothAutoCAD2008andAutoCAD2011,usingthefeaturesandfunctionsjudged

tobethemostexpedientmethodforproducingthedesiredendresult.Thetimerequiredtocreateeach

drawing

wasrecordedusingastopwatchandroundedtothenearestminute.

EachdrawingtaskrequiredmanycommonAutoCADcommands.Buteachwasselectedbecausecertain

aspectsofthedrawingwouldexposethepotentialtimesavingsthatcouldbeachievedbyusingfeaturesand

functionsnotavailableinAutoCAD2008

butaddedtosubsequentreleasesandthereforeavailableto

someoneusingAutoCAD2011.

DrawingTask#1

Thefirstdrawingrepresentsatypicalthree‐dimensionalmechanicalpartthatmightbeproducedusing

AutoCAD—awheelhub.Althoughrelativelysimpleatfirstglance,thewheelhubisactuallyquitecomplexand

includesanumberofcomplexshapesthatwouldrequireextrusions,lofts,chamfersandfilletsaswellasthe

use

ofmultipleBooleanunionandsubtractoperationsandmultipleusercoordinatesystemsorworkplanes.

Oncetheactualthree‐dimensionalmodelwascreated,thetaskscenariorequiredthecreationofapaper

spacelayoutonwhichtraditionaltop,front,andsideviewswouldbecreatedandproperlyorientedand

displayed

atastandardscale,alongwithanisometricviewofthemodel.Oncethisstepwascompleted,

dimensionsandnoteswereaddedtothewheelhubdrawing.Then,severalelementsofthethree‐dimensional

modelwererevisedandthevariousviewsupdatedtoreflectthosechanges.Figure1showsthecompleted



task#1drawing.

BecauseofthenewfeaturesavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedproductivity

improvementsinanumberofareas:

• SettinguplayerswouldbefasterinAutoCAD2011becausetheLayerPropertiesManagerisanon‐

modalpalettecomparedtoadialogbox

inAutoCAD2008.

• Actualdrawingandeditingtaskswouldbefasterbecausetheribboninterfaceismoreintuitiveand

putscommandswherethey’remoreeasilyaccessed.

• Navigatingwithinthe3DmodelwouldbemuchfasterandmoreintuitiveinAutoCAD2011thanksto

theavailabilityoftheViewCube,which

isnotavailableinAutoCAD2008.

• Manipulatingthevarious3DobjectstocreatethemodelwouldbemucheasierinAutoCAD2011

thankstotheenhanced3DgizmoscomparedtothoseinAutoCAD2008.

• EnhancementstovisualstylesinAutoCAD2011wouldmakeiteasiertoseethe

variousobjectsused

tocreatetheshapescombinedtocreatethewheelhub,comparedtothepredefinedvisualstylesin

AutoCAD2008.

• SelectingoverlappingobjectswouldbemucheasierinAutoCAD2011thankstothenewselection

cyclingfunctionality.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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6 ©2010DavidS.Cohn

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Figure1:Thetask#1modelandcompleteddrawing–a3Dwheelhub.

Thisdrawingtook1hour:5minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawingtookonly54minutes

tocompleteusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof17percent.



Task#1:3DWheelHub.

AutoCAD2011was17percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#1drawing,largelythankstothe

improvedaccessibilityaffordedbytheribboninterface,themoreintuitivenatureofusingtheViewCubeand

3Dgizmoswhenworkingin3D,andtheeasewithwhichobjectscanbeselectedthanks

tothenewselection

cyclingfunctionality.

DrawingTask#2

Theseconddrawingtaskwastherecreationofacomplexfloorplanforahospitalfacility.Thedrawingisa

designdevelopmentstagedrawingshowingallwalls,doors,windows,andplumbingfixtures.Eachobjecttype

wouldbecreatedonitsownappropriatelayer(forexample,awallslayer,adoorslayer,

andsoon).Wall

intersectionsneededtobecleanedsothatthewallscouldbefilledwithasolid‐fillhatchpattern.After

completingtheplan,alltheroomsneededtobelabeled.Then,areafillswereaddedtoindicatethe

occupancy/usageofeachspace.Sinceallplumbingfixtures,door

swings,andlabelsneededtoremainvisiblein

thefinaldrawing,theareafillsneededtobefadedsothattheydidnotoverpowertheappearanceofthe

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drawing.ThefinaldrawingneededtobepresentedonaD‐sizearchitecturalborderedsheetwhichwouldalso

includealegendidentifyingthedifferentoccupancy/usagetypesalongwiththesquarefootageforeach

occupancytype.Figure2showsthecompletedtask#2drawing.



Figure2:Completedtask#2drawing–afloorplanincludingoccupancyandareacalculations.

BecauseofthenewfeaturesavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedproductivity

improvementsinanumberofareas:

• SettinguplayerswouldbefasterinAutoCAD2011becausetheLayerPropertiesmanagerisanon‐

modalpalettecomparedtoadialogboxinAutoCAD2008.

•

Actualdrawingandeditingtaskswouldbefasterbecausetheribboninterfaceismoreintuitiveand

putscommandswherethey’remoreeasilyaccessed.

• AreafillsaddedashatchpatternswouldbefasterandeasiertocreateinAutoCAD2011becausethey

couldbepreviewedastheywerebeingadded,

whereasinAutoCAD2008,theywouldnotbecome

visibleuntilaftertheywereadded.

• InAutoCAD2011,theabilitytocontroltransparency,tosendhatchpatternstotheback,andtobring

texttothefrontwouldmakeiteasiertoensurethattheareafillappearedbehindotherobjects,



whereasinAutoCAD2008,thiscanonlybeaccomplishedbyusingDRAWORDERandthetransparent

appearanceoffilledareascontrolledbycreatingacolor‐basedplotstyletablethatusedscreeningfor

thefillcolors.

Thisdrawingtook3hours:5minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawing

tookonly2hours:

32minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof18percent.



AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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Task#2:Floorplanfloorplanincludingoccupancyandareacalculations

AutoCAD2011was18percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#2drawing,largelythankstothe

improvedaccessibilityaffordedbytheribboninterface,theabilitytopreviewhatches,andtheabilitytoeasily

createtransparentobjects.

DrawingTask#3

Thethirddrawingtaskwasthecreationofasmallthree‐dimensionalmodel.Thismodelisactuallyavariation

ofamodelusedduringtheAutoCAD2011productlaunchdemo.Thatdemoshowedhowimprovementsto

existingsolidcreationandeditingfunctionalitymadeiteasiertocreate3Dobjectsthanksto

theabilityto

selectedgeandfacesub‐objectsasprofilesorcurvesfordefiningnewobjects.Themodelingprocessforthis

objectbeganbycreatingasimplesolidbox.Asecondsolidboxwasaddedandthenvariousfacesandedges

wererevolvedandextrudedtocreatethemodel.

TheseobjectswerethencombinedusingBooleanunionand

thensolidcylinderssubtractedtocreatetheholes.Finally,filletswereadded.Figure3showsthecompleted

task#3drawing.



Figure3:Completedtask#3drawing–asmall3Dmodel.

BecauseofthenewfeaturesandfunctionsavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,I

anticipatedproductivityimprovementsinanumberofareas:

• Improvedcommandaccessibilitythankstotheribboninterface.

• Improved3DnavigationthankstotheViewCube.

• Improved3Dobjectmanipulationthankstotheenhanced3D

gizmos.

• Improvedsub‐objectselection.

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Thisdrawingtook15minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawingtook12minutesto

completeusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof20percent.



Task#3:Asmall3Dmodel

AutoCAD2011was20percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#3drawing.Themajorportionofthe3

minutedifferencewastheeliminationofseveralstepsrequiredtocreatetheflatverticalportionofthemodel

inAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008asaresultofthe

abilitytoextrudeacurvededgeofasolidto

createasurfacethatcouldsubsequentlybeusedtocutasolid.

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DrawingTask#4

Thefourthdrawingtaskwasthecompletionofareflectedceilingplanforarathercomplexofficebuilding.The

floorplanoftheofficebuildwaspreviouslycreated.Thetaskinthiscasewasonlytocreatethereflected

ceilingplan.Portionsofthefloorplanwereatoddangles,however,

andonewingofthebuildingcurves.The

ceilingtilepatterncouldbecreatedasauser‐definedhatchpatternbutwouldneedtobecentered

appropriatelyineachindividualroomaswellasalongacurvingcorridor.Blocksrepresenting24x48light

fixturesandrounddownlightsaswellas

HVACsupplyandreturnairdiffusersandsprinklerswouldneedtobe

addedtotheceilingplan.Figure4showsthecompletedtask#4drawing.

BecauseofthenewfeaturesavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedanumberof

productivityimprovements.Themostsignificantimpactonthe

timerequiredtocompletethisdrawingwould

beintheadditionofhatchpatternstorepresenttheceilingtilesineachroom.Inparticular,Ianticipatedthat

beingabletoseeandmanipulatetheangleofthehatchpatternandtheoriginofthepatternwithineachroom

wouldprovide

asignificantreductioninthetimerequiredtocompletethisdrawinginAutoCAD2011

comparedtoAutoCAD2008.



Figure4:Completedtask#4drawing–areflectedceilingplanofacomplexofficebuilding.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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Thisdrawingtook3hours:25minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawingtookonly2hours:

6minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof39percent.



Task#4:Reflectedceilingplanofacomplexofficebuilding

AutoCAD2011was39percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#4drawing.Themostsignificant

improvementwasindeedboththeabilitytopreviewhatchpatternsinAutoCAD2011andalsotheabilityto

usegripeditingtoquicklyandeasilymodifytheangleandoriginofhatchpatterns

aftertheywereaddedto

thedrawing.InAutoCAD2008,itwasmuchmoredifficulttogettheceilingtilestoalignproperlyineachroom,

particularlythoseroomsalongthecurvedportionofthebuilding.

DrawingTask#5

Thefifthdrawingtaskwasthecreationofaseriesofconceptualdesignstudiesforapavilionstructure.This

taskscenariowasdesignedtohighlightthenewconceptualdesignandsurfacingcapabilitiesofAutoCAD2011.

Conceptualdesignisadifficultprocesstoquantify.Inthistask,theendresultsofeach

designiterationneeded

tobethesame,althoughthetoolsusedtoachievethoseresultswouldvaryinAutoCAD2008andAutoCAD

2011.Figure5showsthefivedifferentdesigniterations.



Figure5:Completedtask#5drawing–3Dconceptualdesignstudiesforapavilion.

IneachversionofAutoCAD,thistaskbeganwithasetofpointsthatcouldbeusedasthebasisforsketching

thefootprintofthebuilding.Eachiterationofthedesignrequiredthatvariationsbemadetothecurvesused

asabasisforcreatingthewallsandroofs.After

creatingthethirdoption,askylightbasedonthefootprintof

thelowerroofwasaddedtothedesign,andthenportionsofthewallsandupperroofweremergedinorder

tobeginstudyingtheformoftheconcretewallsandroof.Then,anotherchangewasmadetothe

rooflinesto

createafifthdesignoptionthatalsoincludedtheskylightandtheformoftheconcretewallsandroof.

Materialswerethenaddedtothevariousbuildingcomponentsinthatfifthiteration.

ThankstoimprovedfunctionalityinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedsignificant

improvementsthanks

totheabilitytousecompletelydifferentworkflows:

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• InAutoCAD2008,thewallsandroofsofthepavilioncanbecreatedbyloftingtocreatesurfaces.

However,sincethereisnoassociativitybetweenthesurfacesandtheguidecurves,whentheguide

curvesaremodified,ifthechangesareminor,itispossibletoalsoselectandmodify

thesurfaces,but

inmostinstances,thefastestwaytoupdatethemodelistodeletetheprevioussurfacesandthen

createnewsurfacesbyloftingagainbetweenthemodifiedcurves.Inordertocreatetheskylight

opening,youhavetoprojectaplanviewofthelowerroofand

thenuseitsboundariestocreatea

solidthatcanbesubtractedfromtheupperroof.Whenadditionalchangesaresubsequentlymadein

thefifthdesigniteration,thisprocessmustberepeatedagain.

• InAutoCAD2011,thewallsofthepavilioncanbecreatedbylofting(asin2008)and

theroofscreated

aseithernetworkorpatchsurfaces.Thankstotheassociativitybetweenthesurfacesandtheguide

curves,whentheguidecurvesaremodifiedtocreatethesubsequentdesigniterations,thesurfaces

immediatelyupdatetoreflectthosechanges.Theskylightcanbecreatedbyprojectingcurvesonto

the

roofsurfaceandthenthosecurvescanbeusedtotrimtheopening.Whenfurtherchangesare

madeinthefifthdesigniteration,theassociativityagaincausesthesurfacestoimmediatelyreflect

thechangestotheunderlyingcurves.

Thisdrawingtook34minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawing

tookonly17minutesto

completeusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof50percent.



Task#5:3Dconceptualdesignstudy

AutoCAD2011was50percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#5drawing.Themostsignificant

improvementwastheimprovedworkflow.Insteadofhavingtodeleteandre‐createsurfaceseachtimethe

shapeofthepavilionwasmodified,curveassociativityinAutoCAD2011enabledthesurfacestoimmediately



updatetoreflectthosechanges.

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AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy

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13 ©2010DavidS.Cohn



DrawingTask#6

Thesixthdrawingtaskwastocreateafinishedsiteplanthatincorporatedinformationprovidedintwo

separatePDFfilesaswellasnewutilitylinesfromthestreettothehouse.OnePDFcontainedtheexistingsite

plan,includingcontours,propertylines,streetright‐of‐way,andutilities.Theother

PDFcontainedthefloor

planoftheexistinghouse.Figure6showsthecompletedtask#6drawing.



Figure6:Completedtask#6drawing–asiteplanbasedonseveralexistingPDFfiles.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy



14 ©2010DavidS.Cohn



Again,thankstoimprovedfunctionalityinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipateda

significantimprovementinthetimerequiredtocompletethistaskthankstotheabilitytousecompletely

differentworkflows:

• InAutoCAD2008,inordertoutilizethePDFfiles,theuserwouldhaveto

firstopeneachPDFfilein

thefreeAdobeAcrobatReadersoftware,performascreencapturetograbthelineworkinthePDF

file,savetheresultasanimagefile,andthenattacheachimagetotheAutoCADdrawingasan

underlay.OncevisibleinAutoCAD,eachimagecould

bescaledsothatitwasatapproximatelythe

correctsize.Theuserwouldthenhavetotraceoverthelineworkintheimagefileusingstandard

AutoCADcommands.

• InAutoCAD2011,eachPDFfilecouldbeattacheddirectlytothedrawingasanunderlay.ThePDFfile

couldthenbescaledtothecorrectsize.Aclipboundarycouldthenbeappliedifnecessarytoremove

extraneousinformationinthePDFfileandthePDFframehiddensothatitwasnotvisibleinthe

drawing.

• Theutilitylineswerecreatedusingcomplexlinetypesthatincorporatedsymbols

andtext.Ifcarewas

nottakentoalwaysdrawtheselinesfromlefttoright,theresultingtextwouldappearupside‐down.

InAutoCAD2008,thiswouldrequirethelinestobeerasedandredrawn.InAutoCAD2011,any

upside‐downlinescouldsimplybereversed,orifthe

complexlinetypewasdefinedwiththenew

“upright”orientationoption,complexlinetypeswouldalwaysberight‐readingregardlessofthe

directioninwhichtheywereoriginallycreated.

Thistasktook1hour:5minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008comparedtojust4minutesusingAutoCAD

2011,animprovementof94

percent.



Task#6:SiteplanbasedonseveralprovidedPDFfiles

AutoCAD2011was94percentmoreefficientinthecreationofthetask#6drawing,themostdramatic

productivityimprovementinthestudy.Thecapabilitiesdemonstratedbythisparticulartaskhavewide‐

rangingapplications.ItisquitecommontoobtainPDFfilesofexistingconditions.Theabilitytoincorporatea

PDF

fileasanunderlayinanAutoCADdrawingandtothencropoutunwantedportionsofthatPDFfilecan

significantlyreduceunnecessarydrafting,particularlywhenworkingonrevisionsoradditionstoexistingwork.

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DrawingTask#7

Theseventhdrawingtaskwastomodeltheeightmajorcomponentsofamachinevise.Oncetheindividual

partsweremodeled,theywerepositionedtocreatethefinishedmachineviceassemblyshowninFigure7.



Figure7:Completedmachineviceassembly.

Aftermodelingthecompleteassembly,nineseparatelayoutswerecreated.Acustomborderandtitleblock

wascreatedandsavedasablock,withappropriateattributestofillinthetitleblockwithdatasuchasscale,

partnumber,andsheetnumber.Thistitleblockwasinsertedontoeachlayout,and

thenappropriateviews

werecreatedforeachoftheeightmajorcomponents.Thefirstlayoutshowedanisometricviewofthe

completedassemblywitheachpartlabeled,aswellasabillofmaterialsshowingthepartnumber,quantity,

andpartname.Eachoftheremainingeightlayoutsshowed2D

orthographicviewsofanindividualpartatan

appropriatescale,completewithdimensions.SeveralofthesesheetsareshowninFigure8.



Figure8:Completedtask#7drawing–a3Dmachineviceassemblywithseparatesheetsforeachpart.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy



ThankstotheimprovedfunctionalityinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedproductivity

improvementsinanumberofareas:

• Thenon‐modalLayerPropertiesManagerpaletteinAutoCAD2011wouldmakeiteasiertocreateand

controllayersforeachpart.

• Actualdrawingandeditingtasks

wouldbefasterthankstothemoreintuitiveribboninterfacein

AutoCAD2011.

• Navigatingwithinthe3DmodelwouldbefasterandeasierinAutoCAD2011thankstotheViewCube.

• Manipulatingthevarious3Dobjectsbothduringtheircreationandlater,whenmovingthemintothe

properpositionwithin

theassembly,wouldbeeasierthankstotheenhanced3DgizmosinAutoCAD

2011.

• EnhancementstovisualstylesinAutoCAD2011wouldmakeiteasiertoseethevariousobjectsused

tocreatetheindividual3Dparts.

• SelectingoverlappingobjectswouldbemucheasierinAutoCAD2011thanks

tothenewselection

cyclingfunctionality.

Whileallofmyassumptionsprovedtobetrue,thedifferenceinproductivitybetweenAutoCAD2008and

AutoCAD2011wasnotaslargeasIexpected.Thistasktook3hours:20minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD

2008comparedto2hours:50minutesusing

AutoCAD2011,animprovementof15percent.Therewasa

significantimprovementinthetimerequiredtomodelthe3DpartsinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD

2008.ButthisadvantagewasthenreducedbydifficultiesencounteredwhenusingtheSectionPlanetoolto

create2Dorthographicviewsofthe

individualparts.WhencreatingtheseviewsinAutoCAD2011,the

softwarecontinuouslyreportedthat“Thesectioncreationoperationdidnotgenerateanygeometrybecause

ofthepositionofthesectionobject,”amessagenotencounteredinAutoCAD2008.Asaresult,inAutoCAD

2011Ihadtorepeatedlyrepositionthesection

planesinordertocreatetheseviews,whichprovedtobea

timeconsumingprocess.



Task#7:A3Dmachineviceassemblywithseparatesheetsforeachpart

AutoCAD2011was15percentmoreefficientinthecompletionofthistask.Theoverallimprovementwould

havebeenmuchgreaterifnotforthedifficultiesincreatingthetwo‐dimensionalviewsinAutoCAD2011.

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DrawingTask#8

Intheeighthandfinaldrawingtask,standardAutoCADcommandswereusedtomodeltwovariationsofa

pulleyassembly,includingallofthedimensionsandthecalculatedlengthofeachpulleybelt.First,eachpulley

wheelsizewasmodeledasaseparateblock.Then,theappropriateblockswereinsertedand

positioned.

Finally,thepulleybeltwascreatedandthentextaddedalongwithafieldthatreportedthelengthofthebelt.

Figure9showsthecompletedtask#8drawingwithbothvariationsofthepulleyassembly.



Figure9:Completedtask#8drawing–twovariationsofapulleyassembly.

BecauseofthenewparametricfeaturesinAutoCAD2011,Ianticipatedsignificantproductivityimprovements:

• InAutoCAD2008,thevariouspulleywheelsmustbeinsertedatormovedintotheprecisepositionas

thedrawingiscreated,andthendimensionsadded.Then,tocreatethesecondvariation,thefirst

pulleyarrangement

canbecopied,thenecessaryblocksreplaced,andtheneachofthepulleywheels

movedtoitsnewposition.

• InAutoCAD2011,thevariouspulleywheelscanbeinsertedattheirapproximatepositionsandthen

dimensionalconstraintscreatedbetweeneachwheel.Byspecifyingthecorrectdimensionwhen

theseconstraints

arecreated,thewheelsautomaticallymoveintotheircorrectposition.Bycreating

thesedimensionalconstraintsasannotationalconstraints,thereisnoneedtoadddimensions;the

constraintsserveadualpurpose.Then,tocreatethesecondvariation,thefirstpulleyarrangement

canbecopied,thenecessaryblocksreplaced,andthedimensional

constraintsmodifiedtomovethe

wheelsintotheirnewpositions.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy



Thistasktook35minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008comparedto21minutesusingAutoCAD2011,an

improvementof40percent.



Task#8:Createtwovariationsofapulleyassembly

AutoCAD2011was40percentmoreefficientinthecompletionofthistaskthankstotheabilitytouse

parametersandconstraintstomodifythedrawing.Thistaskscenarioisactuallyarelativelysimplebut

commonexample.ManyAutoCADuserstypicallycreatemuchmorecomplexdrawingsthatcouldgreatly

benefitfrom

theuseofconstraints.Inactualuse,manycustomerscouldexpecttoachieveevenlarger

productivitygainsinsituationsthatcanincorporatetheseparametrictools.

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AbouttheSystemsUsedforTesting

Theeighttaskdrawingscenarioswerecompletedonthesamecomputerplatform,usingbothAutoCAD2008

andAutoCAD2011:

• AnHPxw4600workstationequippedwithanIntel®Core™2Duo3.16GHzCPU,4GBofRAM,a

7200rpmSATAharddrive,andanNVIDIA®Quadro®FX570graphicsaccelerator,running Windows®

32‐bit.Thisworkstationdidnotbecomeavailableuntil2008;nearlyayearafterAutoCAD2008

wasreleased.

TheAutoCAD2011testswerethenrepeatedonamoremoderncomputerplatform:

• AnHPZ200workstationequippedwithanIntel®Core™i53.47GHzCPU,4GBofRAM,a7200rpm

SATA

harddrive,andanNVIDIA®Quadro®FX1800graphicaccelerator,runningWindows®732‐bit.

ThisisarelativelynewworkstationreleasedshortlybeforeAutoCAD2011beganshippingand

targetedattheentry‐leveltomid‐rangeCADmarket.

Ineverytestscenarioexcepttask#6,thetimerequiredtocomplete

thedrawingwasreducedwhenAutoCAD

2011wasrunonthenewerplatformcomparedtoAutoCAD2011ontheolderworkstation.Thetimerequired

tocompletetask#6remainedthesameonbothcomputers.Thosetimesaresummarizedinthefollowing

table.



AutoCAD2008onHP

xw4600(WindowsXP)

AutoCAD2011onHP

xw4600(WindowsXP)

AutoCAD2011onHP

Z200(Windows7)

Improvement

ACAD2008to

ACAD2011on(bothon

HPxw4600)

Improvement

ACAD2008onxw4600

toACAD2011onHP

Z200

Task1 1hr:5min 54minutes 45minutes 17% 31%

Task2 3hr:5min 2hr:32min 2hr:5min 18% 32%

Task3 15minutes 12minutes 11minutes 20% 27%

Task4 3hr:25min 2hr:6min 1hr:50min 39% 46%

Task5 34minutes 17minutes 16minutes 50% 53%

Task6 1hr:5min 4minutes 4minutes 94% 94%

Task7 3hr:20min 2hr:50min 2hr:30min 15% 25%

Task8 35minutes 21minutes 18minutes 40% 49%

TOTAL 13hr:24min 9hr:16min 7hr:29min 31% 44%



Werecordedthesetimesavingsinspiteofthefactthatallofthetaskscenariosconsistofdrawingandediting

typicalAutoCADmodelsratherthancompute‐boundoperationssuchasrenderingoranalysis.Thereductionin

thetimerequiredtocompletethesametaskswhenrunningAutoCAD2011on

thenewerworkstationunder

Windows7comparedtotheolderworkstationunderWindowsXPislikelytheresultofseveralfactors:

• ThefasterCPUandNVIDIAgraphicsacceleratorlikelyresultedinfastermanipulationofthree‐

dimensionalmodelsandlargesolidfilledandhatchedareas.Thisenabledtheusertopan,

zoom,and

orbitmorequickly.Overatypicalworksession,thiscansaveaconsiderableamountoftime.

• AutoCAD2011seemedmoreresponsiveontheZ200workstationrunningWindows7thanAutoCAD

2011onthexw4600runningWindowsXP,mostlikelythankstoWindows7’suseofDirect3D®.

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy



Althoughthetestsdidnottakeintoconsiderationanyoftheotherdifferencesbetweentheoperatingsystems,

oneshouldalsonoteseveralotherfeaturesandfunctionsavailablewhenrunningWindows7.AutoCAD2011

leveragestheLiveTaskbarPreviewfunctionalityinWindows7.WiththeWindows7LiveTaskbarPreview,

when

youmovethecursorovertheAutoCADiconontheWindowstaskbar,youseeapreviewimageofeach

drawingcurrentlyopeninAutoCAD2011(asshowninFigure10).Youcanclickonapreviewimagetoquickly

workonthatdrawingorevenclosethedrawingusingthepreview

image.IfAutoCAD2011appearsinthelist

ofrecentprogramsintheStartmenu,italsostoresa“jumplist”ofmostrecentlyopenedfiles.Youcanthen

loadoneofthosefiles(orstartAutoCAD2011andloadthefile)bysimplyclickingonitinthelist.

Youcanalso

pinfilessothattheyremaininthislist.Thejumplistalsoappearswhenyouright‐clickonthetaskbaricon.

ThesejumplistsareshowninFigure11.ThisadditionalfunctionalitywhenrunningWindows7couldfurther

improveoverallproductivity.



Figure10:TheWindows7LiveTaskbarPreviewletsyoupreviewandswitchtoanopendrawing.



Figure11:Windows7“jumplists”enableyoutoquicklyloadrecentlyaccesseddrawings.

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