Learning AutoCad.

[rmaki]

Hello,
Anybody knows,what's the best way to learn AutoCad on your own.It's there any CD, or...

Thank you.

 

[hemis]

rmaki

I taught myself AutoCAD and I have been working with the product for 10-years now.

1. Buy a good book:. The AutoCAD books supplied with the product are OK but a "how too" manual is better. And read it. Put it in the toilet, read it on the bus. You may not remember the detail but you will remember that you have seen it.

2. Check out this site

http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com.

It has superb tutorials and the best manual. This site is definitive for AutoCAD.

3. Play with the product. Learn the basic concepts (layers, view-ports, scales, etc) and then explore the manual.

4. Autodesk now do an accreditation scheme which gives on-line training.

Hope this is of help. The product is good and well worth the time learning. Good earning power too.

 

[WL123]

On youtube you will find a lot of video tutorials.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=autocad+2010&search_type=&aq=1&oq=autocad

Just do a search for Autocad and version number.

There are companies that sell video lessons, like Retreive Technologies

http://www.myvbooks.com/ac55jsp/stores/1/index.jsp

I got my start with Civil 3D 2010 watching them, a great help and then I bought a Mastering AutoCAD book. A Great help and reference with lots of examples and lessons.

Other sites:

http://lynn.blogs.com/

http://www.augi.com/home/default.asp

http://autocad.autodesk.com/

http://au.autodesk.com/

http://www.adskmedia.com/civilwebcasts/index.php

http://students2.autodesk.com/?nd=home

http://video.cadalyst.com/

http://www.eng-eff.com/eecasts.php

Hope all this helps!

 

[MechEng2005]

I used "Mastering Autocad 2000 for Mechanical Engineers" and wasn't disappointed. I found it pretty easy to learn. The book (despite it's thickness) was not very in-depth, but covered many topics and had problems to work through. And anything more in-depth should probably be can and will be learned through usage anyways. It provides a basic understanding of the features, and using them will make you better at the subtleties of how they really work and the best way to use them.

-- MechEng2005

 

[eng1ne]

Try recreating existing drawings if they are obtainable. A reasonable assumption would be that the sites and books above will provide as much in the way of examples.

Perhaps also look into drawing standards of the relevant field or part of the world you're in; try to set up your version AutoCAD to satisfy some of the simpler parts of the standards. Knowing how to use AutoCAD is great, but just the start!

 

[monkeydog]

I took Saturday classes at the local community collage.

 

[dik]

I used a book titled Mastering Autocad and spent an hour a night going over it from beginning to end... took about a month.

Dik

 

[hemis]

Dik
I used the same book - took about the same time. Found the 3D rendering and materials a bit weak though. Still haven't totally got on top of the 3D stuff. I think AutoCAD is very memory hungry so my computer stops!

 

[civeng80]

I'd love to be able to do more 3 d on Autocad. I've got Autocad 2008 Bible and am presently going thru the 3d stuff.
Not all that impressed with the 3 d in the book.

Anyone know a better ref for 3 d?

 

[dik]

Hemis:

and, I always thought you were smarter than me... should have only taken you three weeks <G>.

 

[MechEng2005]

civeng80:
I can understand "I'd love to be able to do more 3 d"

The "on Autocad" part baffles me. I typically work using AutoCad for 2d, but occasionally need to do an FEA and may make a simple 3d model in ACad. Why anybody would WANT to work on 3d in ACad is a mystery to me. ACad is horrible at 3d and very frustrating!

-- MechEng2005

 

[civeng80]

My thought is that autocad is much more than just for 2d work.

In my opinion if it has 3d capabilities then why not use them.

 

[hemis]

Dik

It only took two weeks really, including autolisp; but I was being modest.

 

[hemis]

I dug out a house I did in 3D. I am going to import it into photoshop and put it on my web site. All self-taught using the help files.

 

[civeng80]

Thats nice work hemis !

After that viewing I really want to do 3d bad ! real bad !

 

[dik]

See... I told you...

Dik

 

[TerryScan]

rmaki-

While this was not your specific question, I have an additional tip: learn about DRAFTING (independant of cad) in addition to your Autocad education.

If I had two job candidates:
Candidate A- has been hand drafting for 5 years, never used Autocad, but is proficient with computer programs like Word and Excel.
Candidate B- has just graduated top of his class in a certified Autocad course, but has no other drafting experience.

I would likely choose Candidate A. Of course someone who had both classical drafting knowledge as well as Autocad training would rank better than A or B. It's sort of like: being proficient at Word does not make one a writer.

 

[hemis]

Thank you for the compliments; they saved the wife from a beating.

I wanted to add materials and glass to the house - the roof was to be all PV - but my computer ran out of memory (I have a bigger computer now so not sure how far I could have finished the house). For 3D work, I think Revit might be easier (less memory hungry) but, I think, lacks the versatility and quality of AutoCAD.

My candidate for a draughtsman would have the ability to know what is being drawn - not sure how many drawings I have read where the wall thickness is less than a sheet of ply or all the doors are odd sizes because the door-frame was not considered - rather than on the abilities to draw. As dik said, an hour a night for a month with a book and AutoCAD is in the bag; knowing what to draw is harder.

As for using pencil on paper - its dead! Which is a shame but life.

 

[civeng80]

hemis

What sort of memory capacity, computer processor and graphics would be needed to do something like that ?

 

[hemis]

Not sure.

I have a dual core with 3.5 Gig memory and fast graphic card but there are a lot faster out there now. I did the house on a 64-bit Turion lap-top which stalled but I haven't worked on that house on this computer. I'll put some more detail to it and let you know.