The Autodesk Certification area opened Monday the 28. The first exam I took was AutoCAD Certified Associate to update the AutoCAD 2011 Certified Professional certification. The second exam I took was AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Associate. I passed them both. I'm happy I was able to get them out of the way early. I plan to take the AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Professional and maybe a 3D Studio Max exam.

I am checked in and registered. I'm waiting for the certification test area to open. I'm planning to update my AutoCAD and Civil 3D certifications this week and maybe take the 3D Studio Max exam.

Only a few more days.

Everything is set for AU 2011. It's going to be a fun week.

Third Day of AU 2010.

The final day of AU 2010 was a success.

• First class on me list was AutoCAD® Civil 3D® and Infrastructure Modeling Solutions: Practically

The speaker displayed a number of tips and tricks on modeling in Civil 3D. This should be very helpful in the work place.

• Second class of the day was AutoCAD® Civil 3D®: Beyond the Back of Curb

This was another corridor class. The speaker displayed a number of cool ways to create corridors for parcel and pond grading. It seems like it may take a little bit to setup but once it is setup, it should make grading a lot faster.

• The third class was Endless Corridors with AutoCAD® Civil 3D

Yet another corridor class. I can’t get enough of corridors. This class displayed how to create corridors for parcels with driveways using conditional subassemblies. Once residential work picks back up, I’ll be able to use these tools.

• The forth class of the day was See How It's Done: Visual Road Design

This class was one of my favorite of the conference. The speaker displayed how to render Civil 3D sites using the Dynamite VSP extension for Civil 3D and 3D Studio Max Design. There are a lot of options in VSP for adding everything from vehicles, trees, lamp post and a number of other items. I was very impressed how easy it was to get a nice rendering quickly. I can’t wait to use it on a project.

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  The fifth class of the first day was Every Building Has Its Price: Finding It with Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff

I hate to admit it but I skipped this class. It was for a good reason. I sat for the Civil 3D 2011 Certified Associate exam. I passed it so I don’t regret skipping the class.

• The last class of the AU conference was Bridging the Gap Between AutoCAD Civil 3D and Autodesk Revit Structure

This class was a two hour lab. It was about creating Civil 3D models and importing the model into Revit. The was a very helpful class because I deal with this on a lot of projects.

All in all, I had a great time at AU 2010. I met a lot of new people from around the world. I passed three Autodesk certification exams. Two AutoCAD and one Civil 3D. I had a great time walking around the exhibit hall talking to companies about new products.

As much as I didn’t want it to end. I was ready to go home after spending eight days in Las Vegas. I will be looking forward to AU2011. See everyone next year.

Second Day of AU 2010

Day two of AU 2010 was also a success. .

• I had to skip my first class due to a few work task a co-worker and I had to take care of.
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  Second class of the day was AutoCAD Renderings: Simplified Workflow for Architects

Since I use 3D Studio Max, I usually don’t render with AutoCAD much anymore. I thought this     class would be fun to take so I can share with friends and co-workers who know AutoCAD very well. I do like how AutoCAD uses the Mental Ray rendering engine and that some items can be carried over to 3D Studio Max.

• The third class was AutoCAD Civil 3D to the Limits and Beyond

The speaker displayed a lot of tips and tricks on Civil 3D 2011. Some I knew and some I did not   know. I think a tips and tricks class is always helpful because I walk away learning a lot of new things.

• Forth class of the day was 3D Airspace Design in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011

This speaker displayed how to create large concrete surface areas such as runways and landing pads in Civil 3D. The tips were very helpful.

• The fifth class of the first day was My Model Management Methods W/O Madness: AutoCAD® Civil 3D® and Autodesk® Navisworks

This class was very helpful. The company I work for is planning to purchase Navisworks to help with the large projects we work on. I think the clash detection tools will benefit us a great deal.

• The sixth and final class of the day was Targets, Targets, Targets: Corridors, Targets, and You

This class was all about targeting corridors in Civil 3D 2010. There are many different ways to create corridors and target corridors so this class was very helpful.

All in all, I had a great second day.