The Dirt

Trimble Link for Civil 3D 2009

Trimble Link for Civil 3D 2009 is now available.  That was fast!

Vote for the AU Classes You Want . . .

Something new this year—Autodesk would like you to help us select the best 500-plus sessions.

We have uploaded all of the sessions (that were submitted by the deadline) to AU 2008 Session site and we need your input. Topics are organized under 19 tracks, which are either an industry or a product.  If you are considering attending AU, please take a few minutes to vote for sessions that you absolutely want to see.

Over the next few weeks, we will review all those submissions and whittle them down to the number we can actually physically accommodate in the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Registration for AU will start on August 15th, and one week earlier for AU members.  Class schedules will be available for review by August 1st.

Thank you in advance for helping us select the most interesting classes. The deadline for voting is Saturday, May 3, 2008

Vote now!

Alaska Gas Pipeline

Check out this PROJECT featured in the New York Times . . . it's likely to become the largest construction project in North America.

3DConfig Setting For Civil 3D

I am in Dallas at Autodesk Tech Camp.  I just spent 10 minutes with the guys from Nvidia video cards at their booth.  My Dell Precision M90 laptop has one of their cards in it so I wanted to know if they knew any tricks for speeding up video performance, etc.

What I learned I have to share . . .

1. At the command line in Civil 3D type 3DCONFIG.
2. Toggle off ADAPTIVE DEGRADATION
3. Select the Manual Tune button
4. Toggle on HARDWARE ACCELERATION
5. Pick OK twice to exit the 3DCONFIG command

Now enjoy the difference.  It made such a big difference on my laptop I had to run up here to room to make this post.  Thank you Willy Ortiz with PNY.  3D Orbit and the Object Viewer are once again a pleasure to use!

Forgive me if this is old news and I'm the last to know - that has happened before.

A New Role for the Technical Evangelist

OK, I lied.  I may keep the blog up for a while.  I guess I have underestimated The Dirt's significance - so we'll keep it up and running.

I can now share a bit about my new position here at Autodesk.  The official announcement:

Pete Kelsey’s contribution over the past two years at Autodesk as worldwide evangelist for Civil 3D has provided him a unique perspective on customer needs and the transition challenges to model-centric workflows.   He contributed mightily to the success in building worldwide awareness of Civil 3D.   In his new role as AEC Key Accounts Technical Manager Pete will focus on the top AEC firms within North America.  With the adoption rate of Civil 3D really accelerating it is clear that Pete’s focus should now shift from evangelizing Civil 3D to helping some of Autodesk’s biggest customers maximize their return on investment.

Pretty exciting (and slightly terrifying) - eh?

BTW - Thanks for all the well wishes and the "commentary" on my recent haircut - some of it was hilarious!  Here's my favorite:

"When I recently saw pigs flying outside my office window I was totally baffled having no idea what the significance could be.  Now I know why."

One Last Post . . .

I know, I know . . . I'm long overdue for a posting.  Much has happened in the last six weeks.  Here are the highlights:

I fought and beat cancer

Not much fun.  I had two surgeries and five weeks of interferon therapy.  But I'm cancer free with an excellent prognosis and oh so happy to be back to work.  I was lucky that I caught it in time.  Any rumors of my demise are in fact exaggerated!

The Easter Island Project continues

Check out the site:  www.autodesk.com/easterisland  There is a lot of new material up there now and more to come.

I have a new job here at Autodesk

I have been asked to keep the details of this move under wraps until my orientation / training is complete . . . so I cannot share details.  I will say I am excited about it!

I cut my hair off

Yup, it's true - and it's all good too except now I have to go and get a new driver's license, passport and Autodesk ID.  They all have photos of me with long hair and a goatee . . . I keep getting questioned about my ID in the airport!

My last post

It's true.  My new job forces me to shut down the blog.  This will in fact be my last post.  My thanks to you all for your tuning in for the last two years.  It's been fun - truly.  A HUGE thank you to my editor Sandy for making me appear smarter than I am. Surround yourself with VERY smart people - I always have.

See you out there!

Pete