2011

Table Of Contents
Mtext with new formatting that is edited and saved in previous releases loses
the new formatting when re-opened in AutoCAD 2008.
Tables in Previous Releases
Editing AutoCAD 2008 tables in previous releases removes AutoCAD 2008
table formatting. Also, AutoCAD 2008 table cells with long block and text
strings may extend outside of cell borders when opened in previous releases.
Data Extraction Tables in Previous Releases
For tables that were created with the Data Extraction wizard in AutoCAD 2008,
you cant edit or update the extracted data in previous releases.
Materials in Previous Releases
AutoCAD 2008 introduces new procedural maps for materials and luminance.
Drawings created earlier than AutoCAD 2007 that contain materials need to
be converted. AutoCAD 2008 provides a system variable,
3DCONVERSIONMODE, that is set to automatically convert old materials to
the AutoCAD 2008 format. However, there are some fidelity issues when saving
back to previous versions of AutoCAD.
Procedural maps Checker, Noise, Speckle, Tiles, and Waves are not available
in AutoCAD 2007 (and previous releases.) They do not appear when an
AutoCAD 2008 drawing is opened in AutoCAD 2007. Marble and Wood
are available but the material mayshow some variation.
The behavior of the Opacity map channel under the Realistic material type
has been corrected in AutoCAD 2008. In AutoCAD 2008, the Opacity map
channel behaves like a transparency map, where white is transparent and
black is opaque (this was how it behaved prior to AutoCAD 2007). In
AutoCAD 2007, white represented opaque areas and black represented
transparent areas.
The spherical map rotation is different in AutoCAD 2008. When you open
a drawing prior to AutoCAD 2008, the seam for the map is towards the +Y
axis. In AutoCAD 2008, it is towards the +X axis.
Lighting in Previous Releases
AutoCAD 2008 provides two options for lighting: standard (generic) lighting
and photometric lighting. Previous versions offered only standard (generic)
lighting. There is no explicit conversion required for lights from AutoCAD
2007 to AutoCAD 2008. Drawings from AutoCAD 2007 open by default in
AutoCAD 2008 in the standard (generic) lighting workflow. The additional
1820 | Chapter 37 Work with Data in Other Formats