Cadalyst - March 2008 - (Page 34)

cadmanager selectable region. It supports multiple hot-key assignments and is a steal at $39. Camtasia Studio 5. This program is the best audio/ video capture tool I’ve found thus far. Recording with Camtasia is no harder than using a standard video camera. For Microsoft operating systems, I recommend rendering all video output to Windows Media Viewer format (WMV) because most users already have Windows Media Player on their machines, so there will be no need to install custom video players. If you have to stream your training sessions via low-bandwidth Internet connections, you may want to consider using the Flash output format, which is optimized for such environments. But be aware that all users will have to install the latest version of Flash Player before they can use your materials. Camtasia isn’t free — or even cheap — but the variety of audio/video formats supported and its substantial editing functionality make it well worth $299. Capturing CAD programs for written and video documentation is the best way to reduce questions because users will actually see what you’re talking about. with key files on your laptop, and it may not backup your own office workstation. To solve these problems, I’ve begun using a Web-based backup service called Carbonite, which performs an encrypted backup of any amount of data you designate on your machine to a remote Web site. Retrieval of data is then performed from any Internet browser–based machine using your Carbonite user account. Carbonite uses a background software utility to perform backups incrementally when idle system time is detected. I’m no longer messing with backup disks, tapes, or portable hard drives. At $50 per year, Carbonite pays for itself almost immediately in time savings and gets your backups off site. Personal Backup Given how often CAD managers juggle programming, configurations, CAD files, and everything else, it’s easy to lose valuable files. Of course, your IT department (or perhaps you) backup the network periodically, but that doesn’t help File Security and Encoding I’ve seen so much written about file-security complexities that it seems as if vendors are trying to make security Looking for 3D Design Software? Looking for 3D Design Software? Join us in the 3D revolution and discover the power of the time- and money-saving CAD-based software from Carlson: Carlson Survey, Carlson Civil, Carlson Hydrology and Carlson Takeoff. “Streamline the steps to get even the biggest jobs done quickly and easily.” Authorized training by: Carlson College Free Technical Support By Phone, Email, and Web 800-989-5028 www.carlsonsw.com ® Works Simply Simply Works 34 March 2008 | cadalyst | www.cadalyst.com http://www.carlsonsw.com http://www.carlsonsw.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - March 2008

Cadalyst - March 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Thicker than Water Safe Keeping — Backup Software Secures Your Designs AMD’s ATI FireGL Graphics Cards AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 — Surveying, Civil Engineering, and Land Development Software Cool Software Utilities for Your Job History, Nonhistory, or Both? In the Eye of the Storm Builders’ Information Modeling CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes CAD from the Streets

Cadalyst - March 2008

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