blindguarden

Hello everone,

I just thought I would post what I have found. For all those that are new or even not so new to Autocad and want to learn how to use it, all the way from the basics to advanced.
I have found it to be very usefull from time to time.

www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm
www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/level_1/1-1.htm

I hope is helps out All the peeps that want to learn Autocad and don't want to spend the money to take a course.


thanks,
blindguarden

Dr1Driver

Learning AutoCAD isn't that hard, and courses at the local tech school aren't that expensive. It's the actual BUYING of ONE copy of the program that bites big time.

Dr.1

greenskintau

Yeah, I'm using that site too for learning it.

I have been fortunate enough to avoid the bit of autoCAD cost, due to having an engineer father with autoCAD on his laptop.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

Here is the question....

Can you supply a diploma or certificate of some sort that indicates you took a course in Autocad such that you can obtain a job then?

Several offices around here are asking applicants to demonstrate an ability to follow a written set of instructions to produce their standard looking drawing. This can only be demonstrated with 1.) Experience, or 2.) a good hands on course given by an instructor. For those who learn via the book, or other source, cannot complete the simple task at the interview within the allotted time structure usually.

You can't learn most all the functions by just using it on occasion. You must use it everyday and apply what you have learned to the next task without referring to any aide. Perhaps number 1 noted above is best for the bank account funds increase instead of decrease every month.

Wm.

Dr1Driver

Coos,

I don't think anyone is suggesting an individual can learn AutoCAD just from a manual. They must have the program, also. The first thing they need is a concept of how to draw. I learned that by drafting manually in teh late 60s and early 70s, then switching to CAD. Without a good grasp of drawing concepts, AutoCAD is practically useless. Speed in drawing is like speed in anything else, it comes with practice.

Dr.1

PS I LOVE the advertisements I see - "CAD designed!" BS! Ain't NOTHING 'designed' by a CAD program. It's DRAWN.

dolanosa

Dr1D,

I think it can be designed by a CAD. In fact, I looked it up.

cad
n 1: someone who is morally reprehensible; "you dirty dog" [syn:
bounder, blackguard, dog, hound, heel]


Hey now! I resemble that remark.


B

Pilot352

Hey dolanosa,

[off topic]
Where bouts are you in ChiTown? N-S-E-W, well East is hard, you would be swimming!!

I'm West (Downers Grove area)

Good to see more Chitowners around....

How about them Bears last night!!! Kicked some royal rear-end. We finally got a team!!! Reminds me of '85!!!
[back to topic]

I started learning AutoCad with version 3.52 (back in '82/'83). It's not a program you can learn overnight and it's not one that you can learn without lots of practice. Especially the 3D functions. I just completed a design which was totally done in 3D (in Autocad). It definitely makes the building allot easier because you can se problems before they become real ones.

-Pilot

1/2Aandbeyond

Heres one about Turbocad thats packed with free videos and things

http://www.cadcourse.net/

blindguarden

I posted them links to help people out.
I see quite often people asking how to do things in Cad (IE: scaling and printing) So I thought I would put the links up that I found that could help with some of the questions people have about doing certian things in Acad. Sure it dose not explain everything that Acad can do but it can be a starting point for someone that is not very good with the program. Or for someone that does not know how and why of it but IMOP every little bit helps.

thanks.

Ps. if anyone has anyother step by step tutorials for any Cad program please post them so others will have it for reference.

ppljr

My Feedback: (94)

If you are in school, or have kids in school and want a copy of AutoCad (for a limited license) I suggest www.academicsuperstore.com . Big discount on the "educational" version of software such as Solidworks, Alibre, Inventor, TurboCad, etc...

dreadnaut

My Feedback: (5)

I had time to check out this tutorial, and it seems to be a pretty good one. In lesson one he states:

''Command line - When you type a command, you will see it here. AutoCAD uses this space to 'prompt' you for information. It will give you a lot of information and tell you where you are in the command. Watch this line while learning.''

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I would de-empasize the use of icons, and concentrate on learning to draw from command line input. The learning curve may be a little steeper that way, but the payback in speed is well worth it.

Bob101

I picked up a AutoCad manual in a bookstore in '91 and had no problems picking it up quickly. My father is a detailer (draftsman) and we made a deal, I taught him CAD (when few in our industry were doing so) and he taught me to draw in our field.

Other than that one book I've never done anything else other than experiement and pick up tips here and there. That was 15+ years ago and I make a hell of a nice living at it now. When I wanted to do Lisp programs I bought a manual and did those too.

The hardest part of learning from a manual is knowing what you want to do. If you know what your trying to accomplish - other than say "draw a plane" your halfway there.

Dr1Driver

Good point, Bob. AutoCAD calls tasks by certain names that may not always be logical to the user. I don't know what manual you picked up, but I've also found some independent manuals to be much better then the one by AutoDesk.

CAD drawing is easy, IF the user has a basic fundamental knowledge of the drafting process.

I started drafting manually in high school (2 courses), and got into CAD at a local tech college using v.10 with the tablet on IMB 8088 XTs. Talk about dinosaurs!!! While working with temp agencies in the early 80s, I got a couple of jobs just because I could draft manually. The companies had many hand-drawn sheets that needed updating and they couldn't find anyone who could do it.

Dr.1

dreadnaut

My Feedback: (5)

I did not work as a drafter back in ''the good old days'' of pencils and drafting machines, even though I had taken it in high school and community college. At that time - late '70's through the '80's - I was a machinist. I set up and ran lathes and milling machines, and around '84 started programming CNC machines in ''G-code''. I created 3d tool paths using a console with a 10key pad, a half dozen or so function keys (G, F, S, P, etc.) and an LED diplay.

When I first started using CAD (ACADv10), it was pretty easy to pick up. I believe that this was due to two factors. First, I was pretty familiar with one end use application of technical drawings. Second, I was working my way through school as a machinist, and by the time I enrolled full time at a 4 year college in 1990 (and took my first course in ACAD), I had taken math classes through calculus III.

The guys who wrote AutoCAD were not machinists, architects, or engineers. They were mathematicians. One example of how ACAD uses mathematical convention is the Rotate3d command. This command alows you to rotate an object around a user defined axis. (the Rotate command works on the same principle, by the way. It just defaults the rotational axis to the z axis.) When you rotate3d, you are prompted to enter a rotational axis. You can enter ''x'', then the x axis wil be the axis of rotation. When you enter the rotational angle, how do you know which direction it will go? This is determined by the ''right hand rule''

When using the 2d Rotate command, +angles are measured counter clockwise. Now, point with the thumb of your right hand in the positive ''z'' direction. (in the default view, this is pointing directly out of the screen towards you.) Your other four fingers are curling in a CCW direction. This is the +direction of an angle in the xy plane in a ''right hand'' system. In mathematics this right hand system is the universally accepted default system.

Now back to Rotate3d. Select the x, or y, axis, then apply the right hand rule by pointing you thumb in the positve direction of the appropriate axis. You are not limited to one of the 3 principle axies. You can define an axis by picking two points on an object. The positive direction of this user defined axis is determined by the order in which the points are entered. Positive is from first point to second point.


Hmmm.

To draw a line, the command is ''Line''
To draw a circle, the command is ''Circle''
Trim
Offset
Erase
Scale

Makes sense to me.

Villa

You need to learn the basics of drafting before you tackle AutoCad. Both are available at local community colleges as night courses. The college in my town only charges about $35.00 per course. Sometimes there is a book you have to purchase. I taught drafting at my college many years ago and learned AutoCad at my local community college. Then I taught AutoCad there.

Villa

I have to add this: Learning drafting is like learning a new language. It is a form of communication. I seem to recall that there are about 100 rules to drafting. The last one was something like this: You can violate any of the other rules if YOU HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR DOING SO. I learned drafting in high school, about 55 years ago. Seems like just the other day.

SoCal GliderGuider

One of the first design and drafting jobs I got out of college was working for an SOB of a supervisor. One of the other starting designer drafters was a bit perplexed as to why he wanted a certain section and view "his way" on the construction drawings. The super asked where he got the idea that is was wrong. The shop kept a small library of older text books so the new designer/drafter went over and pulled the drafting one out, turned to a page (I think he had already looked it up) and showed it to the super. The super took a bit of a look at it and said' "Oh I see..." then proceeded to tear the page out of the book, wad it up and throw it in the trash. Handing the book back to the be whittled designer he said; "Do it the way I told you."

Bob101

I've been doing it 15+ years and my father 40+. There is no right way or wrong way. We can't draw a single sheet till we talk to the shop that will be fabricating what we draw. You draw it the way they can build it and are used to or your just wasting your time. Your job after all is to convey an idea to where it can be built - not look pretty or follow some textbook.

SoCal GliderGuider

As the beginning designer/drafter found out. I did get to know the supervisor. One of the best designers/engineers I have ever met. That is till a little after lunch when his five or six shots of Wild Turkey kicked in. I learned more during the two years I worked for him than all of college. I found myself "teaching" entry designers/drafters the same way he did.

Dr1Driver

The drafter draws the views according to what the customer needs. However, there are standard conventions for ANY drawing that should be followed so others can easily read what you drew. The absolute FIRST thing a potential drafter needs is the ability to look at an object and SEE it. To be able to tell what is visible and what is hidden in different views. If he can't draw what he sees, he sure can't draw what someone tells him.

Dr.1

dmcmike

My Feedback: (14)

dreadnaut,

.....then you're gonna LOVE Acad 2007 ... they did away with the command prompt! Dumb *****... guess you can still get it back through some largely hidden variable. I've been running Autocad since you had to swap out 5 1/4" floppy discs whenever you gave it a different command, and regens were a smoke break. Ah for the good old days.

Actually, the best way to learn it is to use it. Grab a demo copy, load it up, start drawing. You'll find that you'll learn the commands you need the most right off the back. Save the 3d and rendering stuff for down the road. I've been using it for 20+ years as a consulting engineer doing HVAC design, still the best smoke in town.

Dr1Driver

True, the command line isn't needed by an EXPERIENCED AutoCAD user...however...a visual text backup of a menu or icon command is ALWAYS good!

Dr.1

dmcmike

My Feedback: (14)

might not need it, but i sure WANT it! Actually, what I really want is my 16 button digitizer back! (remember Release 9?)

Dr1Driver

I never used 9, Mike, but I got in on the ground level of 10. 5.25 floppys, IBM 8088 XT w/math coprocessor (optional then), 13" monitor 15" digitizing pad with pen. I was on the support team at our local tech school. I helped straighten out the program when the novice students messed it up. They never learned that command prompt line DOS is dangerous. Hey, what does "format c: formatting..." mean? LOL!

Dr.1

PS The supplied picture of the space shuttle took 25 minutes to regen!

dreadnaut

My Feedback: (5)

I have seen 2007, and did not like a lot of what I saw. Much that goes into new releases of software has more to do with planned obsolesence, than with improoved functionality. It's like the auto industry in the fifties changing the size and shape of the fins. After all, who wants to be seen driving last years Caddilac.

I still use the instructors copy of 2000i that I got when I was teaching for that nationaly famous chain of diploma mills that shall not be named. Threre were two really great improvements. First was the ''properties'' dialog was changed to emulate that of v-basic. I dock it on my desktop and use it all the time. The other was the addition of multiple layout tabs. There were also improvements to the layer manager and plotting, the latter related to the layout tabs. Every release I have seen since just added bigger fins.



Hey, I worked for that guy! In fact, I've worked for several of him

My early experience was in manufacturing/aerospace where the gospel is according to ANSI 14.5. After college, I found myself working in the civil/structural/mecanical engineering field where standards are much looser and based on ''industry practice'' (another word for custom). Of course, when you talk to that SOB, his way IS the industry standard, and everyone else is an idiot. You just nod your head and do it.