OT: anyone do AutoCAD?

[fini]

I am pretty close to deciding to sign up for vocational training. As an injured Journeyman carpenter with a BA in art, AutoCAD is starting to seem doable. We'll test the "Old Dog vs. New Tricks" theory. If anyone on the forum has any insights, please come forth...

[Rdmarsiii]

I was fixing to ask the same thing! Im getting a copy of it on Sunday. Maybe when you get the hang of it, you can tutor me... lol

[kenratboy]

I have Architectural Desktop 3.3 and it is fun.

I would rate myself a step above 'total novice', but as I am self-taught, I am sure I am missing a TON of fundamentals. I have lots of books, but books can only take you so far.

I am really into residential architecture, so I do lots of floorplans and rendering stuff.

[m00n]

It's been a while, but yes. I was in college to become a draftsmen specializing in architectual. It's not too difficult to learn. There is a LOT to learn but it's not difficult. I've forgotten about 98% of what I knew though, I could sure benifit remembering everything I forgot right now.

You will enjoy it, it's fun, what gets real fun in the 3d modeling. One of my instructors and I used to draw 3d space ships in class using AutoCAD then port them into other Autodesk 3D rendering and animation apps and make cool flyby animations and what not

Damn I miss those days.

[IB Slammin]

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On 5/5/2004 4:21:52 PM fini wrote:

I am pretty close to deciding to sign up for vocational training. As an injured Journeyman carpenter with a BA in art, AutoCAD is starting to seem doable. We'll test the "Old Dog vs. New Tricks" theory. If anyone on the forum has any insights, please come forth...

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Fini, AutoCAD and AutoCAD-LT are HUGE programs. There are many good CAD programs out there, but professionally speaking (not that I am one) the two above are more accepted. AutoCAD is like the internet....Don't expect to ever see it all. If you are young (very young) a "self-taught" posture could be in order. If you are good, you might know 10% in ten years,old dog.

There are many classes available and if you time it right, you could get a "one on one" with an instructor. Three or four eight hour days in that kind of environment can work wonders for old dogs. If one wants to go to work, "self-taught" can be very frustrating, time consuming, and lead to "I give up".

3D DesignCAD is a good one. Also APEX-CAD is an easy start. Just keep in mind, classes or no, most CAD softwares tend to be a constant, long term learning experience. But man its fun.

Terry

[Klipschfoot]

What do you plan to build? Furniture or homes?

[jt1stcav]

My dad started with Generic CAD for DOS (pre-windows) back in the late '80s. I don't know what he uses now at his job, but it is a huge AutoCAD program that he taught himself to use. Alas, I do not have the smarts (or the patience)...

[RFinco]

Not that I know much about this subject so do your own research...

I know a big alternative to AutoCAD that many companies are useing is SOLIDWORKS. you might want to investigate that as well.

This comes from people that I knew in the engineering and technology fields.

autoCAD-as mentioned is HUGE, and can get difficult to manage--definitely take some classes if this is what you wish to learn.

but--I wish you luck! I appreciate anyone that wishes to aquire new skills.

[WMcD]

I can't speak to what program is being used most, and therefore which to focus on. My guess is that they pretty much do the same things in the same way and that much can be carried over. Somewhat like the different spreadsheets and wordprocessors.

If the issue is old dogs, new tricks . . . there really is no issue. You must do it. And you can do it. Let me be a cheerleader for you. You'll probably find a lot of people like you in the classes.

I take some classes in law and in engineering from time to time. They are forced marches, and I'm older than the professor. None the less, a lot gets learned. Moreso than would be accomplished by self study.

People of every age are, now, getting themselves re-educated. In the old days only young adults took classes to prepare themselves for life's work. Now life's work is evolving so quickly that re-education is the norm.

Best,

Gil

[fini]

Well, it's a Worker's Comp thing, I'd be taking a 10-week class. Of course, I'd have to take a Windows class (since I have only used a Mac). The particular class I checked out teaches AutoCAD and Architectural Desktop. Turns out the instructor used to be my neighbor, and to his credit designed and fabricated the giant baseball glove and the Coke bottle slide at Pac Bell (now SBC) Park in SF. If you haven't seen them (in person or on TV) they're pretty cool.

As far as what I'd do with the training, I feel it would be natural to move into residential stuff, but you never know.

They will be paying for a computer, so input here might be appreciated. They recommend a local guy who puts them together. All I recall from the conversation about the computer is that it would have a 2.8 gig processor, and a 120 gig HD, cd-r, dvd (not a burner), souped-up video card? I wish I could use an emulator program (like Virtual PC) with a Mac, but, as mdeneen told me this morning, AutoCAD runs DREADFULLY slow this way. I'll have about $1500 to spend on a computer. Suggestions?

[Klipschfoot]

But enough of that. I use Chief Architect for all building design work. You can look at www.chiefarchitect.com for info. It's pretty easy (and expensive!) even on Windoze.

[m00n]

Fini, you will do fine. Don't let these guys scare you with how big it is. Sure there is a lot to learn but part of the battle you already have mastered and that's measuring and knowing about that kind of thing. Autocad will run blazingly fast on that processor. Unless you are working on some mongo sized drawing you will be set.

Have fun with it.

[Dale W]

FINI : CAD is huge and has never ending applications.

As you may already know i'm a licenced mechanic and a licenced auto body mechanic , i've spent the past 23 years in the automotive feild and currently manage a autobody shop at a chevrolet dealership.

5 years ago i decided i may want to explore another field so i went back to college at night and started a power enginering degree , as i stand right now i have a valid 4th class and half my 3rd . I need another 1500 hrs of high pressure steam time to finish off the 3rd and write the remaining exams.

ANYHOW !! All the pipe tracing and power plant design traceing was all done on CAD , we designed everything from valves to turbines using these programs . Sky is the limit when it comes to CAD programs, the deeper you want to get into a certain feild the further the CAD programs will take you.

I have a few older windows 98 programs laying around someplace that i never use anymore . If your not on XP , and " if " i can still find them i'll let you know . There all yours to play with .

[fini]

Don't worry, I'm not scared . Looks fun, actually.

[formica]

In terms of drafting software, AutoCAD is pretty much the industry standard for 2D drawings. The software can do a ton of things in a ton of different ways (options are repeated in several places and menus and including the classic DOS commands for those who like the keyboard shortcuts). The important part is getting the drawing done and not really how you get there... so it's not that complicated.

I work with architectural, mechanical, and electrical building drawing on a daily basis and the things I find important but often overlooked in professional practice are the classic drafting techniques. These include things like choosing correct line thicknesses, logical dimensioning, clear and easy to follow labelling, selective hatching, correct font sizing, etc... Drafting is an art...

Not sure if a screen or printer is part of the package, but I find 1500$US a little steep for a PC to run AutoCAD. I'm not much into 3D modeling... so I'm not sure how essential a souped v-card is, but I used to run it with Matrox G450 (very poor 3D performance) without any glitches.

In any case, if you enjoy a mix of art and science... I think you'll definitely enjoy yourself...

Rob

[Ray Garrison]

Fini,

If you have a lot of experience with a Mac and not a lot with Windoze, do yourself a favor and get as much time on a Wintell platform as you can prior to starting any specific application training.

The differences between a Mac and Windoze will drive you absolutely nucking futz for the first few hours. If you are trying to learn a new app at the same time, you will lose a lot of time that should be spent on the app trying to figure out what the hell Windoze just did. Or should have done.

As to AutoCad, do you have drafting experience outside of a CAD/CAM environment, or are you entering a completely new field?

[Seadog]

I ran AutoCAD 2000 on a 700MHz P3 (128MB ram) for a couple of years when I worked for a university in an industrial extention program (glorified consulting engineer). Although it was a little slow, it worked o.k. for 2D mechanical drawings. I saw a 2800Mhz eMachine with 512MB ram, an 80GB HD, DVD/CD read write, Windows XP, etc. at Frys for $619. For CAD, a 19" monitor is helpful (I bought a 19" Envision at Fry's for $129 with the rebate). If you are a registered student, you should be able to get the fully functional Acedemic verison of AutoCAD for about $300 (instead of $3000). The whole deal with software should not cost more than about $1250 including salestax.

AutoCAD is an excellent CAD package to learn (and to sell your skills to potential employers), however, I see many companies going to Solidworks for the heavy duty 3D design work. I am in the medical device industry, and our design people use exclusively Solidworks.

[tankhokie]

i learned INVENTOR by autodesk first, then stepped back and learned AUTOCAD.

from what i have seen, AUTOCAD is an older program and holds the basics for cad. INVENTOR is much more robust in its capabilities and is probably something like SOLIDWORKS (never seen it).

i believe it will be one of those skills that build you a good foundation to learn from...you learn AUTOCAD, then other programs will be slight variations from that.

my advice is to do a lot of "playing around" in the program, make whatever shapes you want, screw around with them and see what you can do. that helped me a lot in understanding concepts of the program.

and have fun, it is like "microsoft paint" on steroids, you will be amazed with what you can render with the program!

[gtDark]

Fini, you should have no problem picking up AutoCad if you're pretty well computer-literate. I think most Cad packages are like the saying for board game Othello, "a minute (well maybe a little more) to learn, a lifetime to master." I learned the basics of AutoCad in a semester class (about 4 months) and have no problem practicing it here at work. You just have to know that you aren't going to get it all at once; take it slowly one step at a time and remember that there are drafters who do this stuff their entire lives and never fully exploit the functionality of the software.

Regarding the computer, I'm using a P3 processor @ 866MHz and 318MB RAM and run a 2D CAD package with absolutely no issues (slowdowns). At home I run a 1.5GHz P4 with 256MB RAM and have some issues running the newest edition of SolidEdge (3D CAD package); the computer really slows down when doing some protrusions and rotating complex 3D objects in real-time. With this in mind, I would say put more cash into RAM rather than pure processor clock speed. I don't know if you plan on doing any 3D CAD in the future, but if you do I would get a decent video card too (FWIW, PC at work running AutoCad has integrated on-board video card, i.e. not powerful).

[Sanman023]

im using autocad 2004 as we speak....ive been using the autocad programs for about 4 years....our firm does commercial and some residential.........with autocad..there are so many ways of doing one thing that is hard to learn everything about it....somedays i just want to go back to hand drafting....but thats just me...