In a departure from the usual gift-buying office traditions such as "Secret Santa", the AVAware team has chosen to continue our tradition of celebrating the holiday season by purchasing children's toys to assist local families in need. This year, we're contributing to The Oakville Fire Fighters Toy Drive.
The Oakville Fire Fighters Toy Drive is an annual holiday drive held in coordination with the Oakville Professional Firefighters Association and numerous corporate sponsors. The campaign supports a number of community agencies including:
Halton Children's Aid Society
Kinark Child and Family Services
Big Brothers Big Sisters Halton
Salvation Army Oakville
Military Family Resource Centre
This is all in an effort to provide toys to families in need, enabling their children to share in the joy of the holiday season.
As the year draws to a close, many of us take this opportunity to look back on the past twelve months and reflect on the events that brought us to this moment.
This past year has seen numerous product releases, each with their own features and refinements, but all designed to elevate our software platform in service of our customers and the industry as a whole. To that end, AVAware constantly endeavors to expand the scope of our software products, making use of emerging technologies and innovations to provide the best possible solutions for our users.
AVAware has extended the reach of the AVAproject detailing and estimating system with the release of our AVAware Plugin forAutodeskRevit. This powerful tool allows users of AVAproject to seamlessly exchange project data with those of AutodeskRevit. By doing so, AVAware has brought architects, specification writers and project managers together in a single platform. The feedback from the first group of architects to use the product has been outstanding, and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the New Year.
In addition to new software products, AVAware has continued developing other projects as well. One year ago, AVAware launched a brand new media department responsible for creating high-quality videos in order to enhance product overviews and user training. After twelve months of successful releases, the team has prepared a retrospective video showcasing the growing library of videos.
I never cease to be impressed by the talent and commitment shown by all our people. Everyone from the software development and support teams, to the catalog group, and our new media and graphics department have done outstanding work. All of them continue to inspire me and cause me to look forward with excitement to what we'll accomplish together in the coming year.
All of us at AVAware wish to thank our valued clients, vendors and corporate partners for all their past and ongoing support. From our family to yours, we wish to extend our best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season and a very prosperous New Year.
All the best!
Paul S. Kirsch
President & CEO AVAware Technologies
One year after launching a new video production initiative, AVAware has released a retrospective showcasing the various instructional videos created for AVAproject and AVAcad users.
In the beginning of this year AVAware announced the formation of a new in-house production team, with the goal of producing high-quality instructional videos for our various software products. The ultimate objective is to offer a library of demonstration, training and advanced concept videos for current users as well as those interested in AVAware products.
Over the past twelve months, the production team has released twelve new videos; one each month accompany the AVAware newsletter. The focus this year has been on "AVAproject & AVAcad Tips", demonstrating unique and often overlooked features of the software to current users. Presented in the form of 3-5 minute videos, these first releases have allowed the production team to develop their distinctive look and experiment with the use of visuals such as 3D modelling to illustrate software concepts.
"Creating AVAware Tips" - A Year-End Retrospective
For those who have not yet experienced their work, the production team has prepared a year-end respective of the videos released throughout 2019. The video entitled "Creating AVAware Tips" offers a series of highlight clips from each month's video along with a brief glimpse into the process of creating them.
Coming in 2020
Moving into the New Year, production efforts will shift slightly into monthly "Feature Focus" videos. Each of these will provide a detailed overview of some of the most popular and useful features of AVAproject, AVAcad and AVAprojectFusion. These will supplement the full-length training and demonstration videos that are planned for all of them.
Visit AVAware's YouTube Channel
All of the AVAproject & AVAcad Tips are now available on the AVAware YouTube channel (accessible via the link below). AVAproject users are strongly encouraged to visit and view the videos for themselves. New content is posted monthly; subscribing to the channel will ensure that users are notified as new videos become available.
One of the most popular and useful features of the AVAproject detailing and estimating system is the ability to quickly and easily produce submittal packages for architectural projects. Submittal packages are extremely comprehensive overviews of everything that is to be provided by a distributor in respect of a given project. Every opening, along with the frame, doors and hardware items installed on it are broken down in extensive detail. Material choices, finishes and construction specifications are all listed in this comprehensive document.
AVAproject allows this arduous task to be completed in a fraction of the time. The submittal package is generated automatically based on the information provided in the project. As information is added or "detailed", the submittal package becomes increasingly detailed as well.
To complete the submittal package, summaries of manufacturers, finishes and product nomenclature are added along with the preamble and of course... a cover page. Cover pages are generated using the information provided on the 'Project info' page in AVAproject. Several basic styles are offered, with the option to include a data block at the bottom of the page.
Some users may prefer a more detailed or graphical cover page. This can be achieved by taking advantage of another convenient feature of AVAproject - the ability to add custom PDF pages to the submittal package. Originally designed to allow details to supplement the submittal package with additional pages beyond those offered in the catalog library, this convenient feature can be used for so much more.
Once the submittal package has been generated, PDF documents can be added from the 'submittal package overview' screen. Each section of the document is listed, with the corresponding page count. To add a PDF, simply click on the 'Add PDF Document' button and browse for the desired file.
By default, the newly added PDF document is appended to the end of the submittal.
To reposition it elsewhere in the document, simply right-click on the PDF and select 'Change Position within Submittal'. This allows the PDF to be moved anywhere in the document, either immediately before or after any other section.
To substitute the PDF cover page for the standard AVAproject one, simply position the PDF immediately after the 'Cover Page'. Then, click on the green arrow to the left of the auto-generated cover page to disable it. A red 'x' replaces the checkmark to indicate that section will not be included in the submittal package, and the page counts are instantly updated to reflect the change.
The newly selected PDF-based cover page can be seen in the print preview. As with any other section of the package, it can be displayed in portrait or landscape, with or without a data block at the bottom of the page.
This same technique empowers AVAproject users to add PDF documents to the beginning or end of any section of the submittal package - not just the cover page. The submittal can therefore be supplemented with any additional text and graphics to create a truly customized package.
AVAproject maintains a consistent look throughout, scaling the PDFs to fit inside page borders and preserving proper page numbering from beginning to end. This ensures PDF additions are presented as integral components of the submittal package.
AVAprojectTips now feature accompanying overview and demonstration videos courtesy of the AVAware production team.
Click below to view the video for this month's Tip!
We all know that year end is an excellent time to catch up on the little chores that we all tend to procrastinate on throughout the year. One such task is the small bit of routine PC maintenance that can prevent a lot of headaches.
The following article was originally written for previous editions of AVAwire by a senior AVAware developer, and continues to be a favorite amongst our users and our staff alike. The fact that it remains every bit as relevant and important now, as it was the day it was written, has lead to it becoming somewhat of an AVAware tradition to re-publish it in each year's final edition of AVAwire.
Before heading off for whatever holiday tradition you enjoy... may we suggest spending a few minutes with your trusty PC, to ensure it will be waiting for you in top condition next year!
Ensuring your PC is Running Optimally
As another year comes to a close, many businesses and individuals alike take advantage of the opportunity to do a bit of housekeeping to get ready for the new year. A tidy desk, clean work space and properly organized paperwork are all wonderful things to come back to after the holiday break to maximize productivity and efficiency. But what about your PC? The following are a few basic PC maintenance tips and tricks to ensure your computer is performing optimally.
Visit The AVAware YouTube Channel and Connect on Social Media
In addition to the embedded links found on the AVAware website and with our newsletters, all our videos can be directly accessed through our YouTube channel. Our subscribers will have the opportunity to preview videos prior to their official release. Please don't forget to subscribe in order to be automatically notified as new content becomes available.
While you're at it, don't forget to connect, follow & like AVAware on all your favorite social media platforms to receive immediate notifications of newly published content and releases.
We welcome any questions, comments or suggestions about any topic mentioned in this edition of AVAwire. Please visit our website for more information, or contact us directly at (416) 239-9099.
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