Teaching myself autocad vs formal class

[jpgbexplorer85]

Hello everyone:

I am thinking of returning to school at some point to take mechanical engineering. In the meantime, I figured it would be wise to get good at AutoCAD. Now there are two ways I can do this.

Option A: Spend about $4200 on an AutoCAD program at a community college and get a certificate at the end (

http://camosun.ca/learn/programs/autocad-graphics/what-it-costs.html).

I took the pre-entry course during the summer to dip my toes in. I ended up enjoying it. I believe we used the newest 2018 edition. I suppose getting a certificate at the end would help when I am trying to find a job.

Option B: Buy the AutoCAD 2015 Bible (

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118880366/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1)

and an older version of AutoCAD off Amazon. Then teach myself. This would be a less expensive alternative.

So, my questions are

1) Is it worth paying this kind of money for an AutoCAD course? Would I be better off learning it on my own if I intend to return for mechanical engineering anyway?

2) If I go the Option B route, which versions of AutoCAD should I be shopping around for on Amazon/EBay?

Thanks!

James

 

[Sparweb]

Acquiring ANY skill is of value, it's just that some are worth more than others. Generally, CAD is a valuable one.

1) It's hard to answer the value question, since I don't know for sure yet which ultimate career path you are choosing (reference

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=446647).

If you choose a post-secondary program that includes CAD (either AutoCAD or something 3D like Solidworks etc.) then this certificate would have been a waste of money. If you choose a degree program that only vaguely introduces CAD to students, then you will be ahead of your fellow students in class, projects, and afterward when looking for work.

2) You definitely don't need the latest version of AutoCAD. There are only a few "pivotal moments" in the history of AutoCAD to be concerned about.
[ul][li]the transition from DOS to windows (~1994) [/li]
[li]the transition of "paper space" to "layout space" (~2001) [/li]
[li]the transition of the drop-down menu to the Microsoft ribbon (~2009)[/li][/ul]
All dates are extremely approximate (+/- 3 years) but it gives you an idea how long I've been using it.
I have a full version of AutoCAD 2009 at home and AutoCAD LT 2019 at work, and I can do the following things:
[ul][li]Draw anything I can imagine in ACAD 2019 at work, save it in 2019 file format, open it again at work, and see everything as I created it (obviously).[/li]
[li]Draw almost anything I can imagine at work, save it in 2007 file format, open it again at work, and see everything as I created it.[/li]
[li]Draw almost anything I can imagine at work, save it in 2007 file format, open it at home, and see everything as I created it (surprisingly).[/li]
[li]Draw anything I can imagine in ACAD 2009 at home, save it in any file format, open it at work, and see everything as I created it.[/li][/ul]

So clearly there has been very little change in AutoCAD in the past 10 years, even if the interface has changed and they've added a few nifty tools. 95% of the commands I type into AutoCAD today existed in 1994 when I started using it, and 99% since 2004 when I started using the version with layout spaces. Part of what I'm saying is because AutoCAD LT sucks, after you've used the full AutoCAD for 20 years.


No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
STF

 

[JuanBC]

Hi,

Option C for those who are poor: Watch youtube videos and look for free online courses. There are lot of them

JBC
.......
"The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing"

 

[DGrayPPD]

jpgbexplorer85,

In my personal opinion, I think you are just fine going with the option B route. When I first started my career, I had zero experience with AutoCAD. My first job using it was as a pipe spool detailer for a fabrication shop. They were looking for entry level detailers and they didn't any problem training guys up. My first couple weeks were spent just reading their standards and playing with the software. Once I became comfortable with it, I was able to begin working on spool sheets. Google and YouTube are great resources as JuanBC stated.

If you are looking to advance your qualification level with AutoCAD, Certiport offers a few different certification programs you can try. I took the exam for Autodesk AutoCAD Certified Professional. See the link below.

https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/Autodesk/Certifications/Certify#AutoCAD

I am also currently finishing up my coursework to obtain my bachelors degree in Industrial Technology. Part of that curriculum included a couple entry level AutoCAD courses, but with my experience and certifications I was able to test out of them. The professor said he didn't think I'd get much out of the courses based on my experience level and the level of information they taught. I will say that there are some areas of drafting and AutoCAD in general that I am not as familiar with, but I think with the AutoCAD Bible, Google, and YouTube you should be just fine. I wouldn't waste my money on the CC.

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

-Henry Ford

 

[BUGGAR]

If you teach yourself, what do you like to do? Use ACad to do it! I love off road vehicles so I learned AutoCad to help me design them. It can be a great motivation to learn.

 

[berkshire]

jpgbexplorer85
I believe you are in Canada, in California USA there is a program called the Regional Occupational Program ( ROP ) which runs courses to enable people to get into the work force or improve upon the jobs they already have, they are essentially free, or you just pay for class materials. I do not know if the Canadians have such programs.
Maybe people like Sparweb who live up in Canada can tell you if such programs are available or even exist in those far Northern reaches. I started off learning AutoCAD 14 like you are proposing, and got to where I could use the program after a lot of struggling and book reading. You also have to remember I was a draughtsman and already knew how to draw with paper and pencil. Some years later I took one of the aforementioned ROP courses in AutoCAD 2003, and realized how much easier and quicker it was to work with a teacher. Plus when I was done, I got a certificate to show that I knew how to use the program.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[chicopee]

So it seems that you are interested in ME from a university or college. ME courses do not involve CAD programs during your Freshmen thru Senior years. You should not bother with ACAD since there are many CAD people that have taken ACAD courses from institutions such as Porter and Chester. If I were you I would tune my talents toward math and the such subject as Calculus and Advance Math, Statics and Dynamics, Statistics for engineer, Strength of material, Material Science, Thermodynamics, Vibration, Heat Transfer. You'll be wasting you time learning ACAD as the subjects that I mentioned are rigorous and will require discipline on your part. There are plenty of ACAD technicians who do not have the ME subjects that I mentioned under their belts and would have no real need unless you become a design engineer. Once you have an ME degree, you could always go to an accelerated ACAD program from institutions that provides them.

 

[chicopee]

another program that you may be required to take from a college or university is computer programing. When I went for my ME courses, at the time, FORTRAN was a requirement for my BSME degree.

 

[jpgbexplorer85]

Thanks a lot for the responses everyone!

SparWeb: Okay that is interesting. I thought Autodesk did more updates. But it is nice to know that I can use an older version than what I was originally looking for. That would make life a lot easier when I am looking for a copy of the software.

JuanBC: I will definitely have a look at youtube for tutorials as well.

DGrayPPD: It seems that learning this on my own would be the best way to go. If I choose to get a certification later, it is nice to know that I have other options (like that site you linked to) and that the CC isn't the only game in town.

BUGGAR: I have some ideas on stuff I would like to design. One thing I thought of is some kind of paintball arena/funhouse complex of some kind. I need to learn to crawl before I can run though. When I did my intro course this summer, there were a bunch of practice exercises that I didn't get to finish. I would really like to finish drawing those as well.

berkshire: BC has their own government employment program (WorkBC). I am sure other provinces have their own version of this as well. I am not sure if they do any kind of training on this kind of stuff. I suppose it would worth a look.

chicopee: I am not sure if AutoCAD would be a waste of time. But I do agree with you about learning all the subjects you mentioned. I definitely need to brush up on that stuff. Fortunately I have textbooks for most of those subjects (except for thermo and vibrations).

 

[BUGGAR]

I have to praise AutoCAD because it lets me easily create .dxf files which can be used to make most anything, so it's not a total waste. Draw up the paintball arena and have your local shop cut out the foamboard patterns for the model. It's all 2d and a great start.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Speaking of 2D, you can get Dassault Draftsight for free.
It's nearly a clone of AutoCAD.
It can actually handle 3D files, and generate some 3D primitives, but the 3D Boolean operations are suppressed.

I learned AutoCAD 10 by myself, using a book called 'Inside AutoCAD' from New Riders Publishing.
They used to optionally sell a diskette with the book, but you learn more, faster, by doing all the exercises yourself and saving the resulting files (often).
For all of that to happen, my boss rented a computer in an architect's office for me to use for several weeks while we were figuring out how to get a computer of my own. Being off site in an unrelated office allowed me to concentrate on my studies.

By the second week, the old experienced drafters, mostly badly self-taught, were asking me questions about how to do their work better. Imagine a huge, complicated, E-size drawing, all in the default layer and the default color; that was about as well as most of them could do things.







Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[11echo]

IF money is an issue then I agree with the "You Tube" approach! Actually my wife went this way and was doing very well. BUT the other point I need to stress is ...Do you know how to Draft!!?? ...In just about every way they try to teach AutoCad, it's assumed that you know how to draft, alot of the nomenclature it drafting oriented!

 

[susylia]

Our local library offers free membership to

https://www.lynda.com/

which offers numerous courses including CAD, Civil 3D and GIS. They offer a free trial month otherwise there are two membership tiers 19.99/mo & premium at 24.99/mo.

 

[C. Chambers]

I would recommend both. First I would recommend to try an online course to get your feet wet. There are few good options:

http://www.lynda.com

(huge amount of course, thus a bit overwhelming

http://www.infratechcivil.com/courses

(mostly for civil engineers)

http://www.mycadsite.com/tutorials/

(strictly AutoCAD)

http://www.coursera.com

(very general)

My 2 cents
C. Chambers

 

[Lizard7709]

In auto cad what you must know is

How to draw lines to a specific size
How to draw shapes
How to dimension and scale dimensions
What paper space is and how to use it
How to use viewports
How to scale text
Offset command
How to do layers
How to do hatches.
The rev cloud command or button
How to plot

I feel like if you can do those things then you are good enough to work as a starting level cad person. Every other thing that you may need to know but don’t a google search can teach you. To get a job doing cad work is another story. You may need to draw out different things in order to have a portfolio to show or some places will give a cad test.

If the community college offers an autocad course you may want to consider it but I wouldn’t waste more money past that.