AutoCAD 2011

I got my hands on a copy of AutoCad 2011 and just got a chance to install it the other night.  Beside all the fancy 3D rendering tools, there  were some other nice features I noticed right away.  One thing I like with the more current versions is they make it easy to revert your layout back to the classic buttons, which I prefer.

In the new 2011 version a new transparency object property appears in the dialog box. This allows you to set transparency by object or by layer.  I read that it slows down your rasterization when printing, but I haven’t had the chance to try a print. Here’s what it looks like:

Another noticeable thing is the way hatching was improved.  Overall it processed much faster with larger areas and there’s a on-the-fly preview of the hatch displayed. Mirrored hatching is also supported in this new version…

I haven’t put the software to use for any projects or had enough time to mess with the 3D enhancements, but I think its worthy. It seems AutoCad continues to merge and connect all the functions of Autodesk’s products.

-Nick