2011

Table Of Contents
photometric properties available in AutoCAD 2008 are available as soon as
the photometric lighting workflow is enabled in the drawing.
There is a conversion process required for drawings with lighting prior to
AutoCAD 2007. You can use a system variable, 3DVCONVERSTIONMODE,
to automatically convert drawings with lighting from previous versions to the
AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008 lighting format. 3DCONVERSIONMODE
has three settings. If set to 0, no conversion takes place. If set to 1, the default
value, the conversion takes place automatically. If set to 2, then you are
prompted when lights need to be converted and will have the option to convert
or not to convert.
Other lighting fidelity issues include
Lights in blocks. Lights in blocks created in AutoCAD 2008 do not always
display in AutoCAD 2007.
Texture illumination. In AutoCAD 2007 (and earlier releases), you cant
add lighting to textures. In AutoCAD 2008, you can.
Ground Shadows. The intensity of ground shadows in AutoCAD 2008
depends on the brightness of the light and angle of incidence.
Multiple-Language Support in Previous Releases
Drawing properties in AutoCAD 2008 are saved with Unicode characters. For
instance, if you save the latest format drawing containing multiple language
drawing properties to a 2004-format drawing, the drawing properties are
converted to the native characters of the current Windows language. If text
cannot be converted to the native characters, it is saved to CIF codes
(\U+nnnn) or MIF codes (\M+nxxxx).
When saving the latest format drawing to a 2004-format drawing, any new
symbol or dictionary names (for example, layout name, text style name,
dimension style name) created in AutoCAD 2008 are saved in the language
that was used when the symbol names were created.
In order to view and edit drawings with characters that are not included in
the languages specified for your operating system, make sure supplemental
language support is installed in your computer operating system. You can
specify the language in the Regional and Language Options dialog box,
available from the Windows Control Panel. (You may be able to view text
that uses SHX fonts without specifying extra language support.)
Text styles for Asian languages that use SHX and Big Font can support
characters only from the same code page. For example, text styles that use a
Japanese Big Font cannot support German or Korean characters. (English
Work with Drawings in Earlier Releases | 1821