# Getting started with CAD



## Scottish Neil

Hi,
I had autoCAD 2005 and messed about with it, over the past few months i have been wanting to be able to use AutoCAD for addition work. How did you guys get started in it? where you self taught or did you do a short intro course? Im just struggling with the basics at the moment and will take my time to get good at it. Its mainly just a passtime at the moment.

Cheers


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## festerized

I have auto cad light. Never figured it myself.
I bought Better homes And Garden Professional. It has a simple cad built into it. I only use the cad aspect to draw elevation details.


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## Willie T

I taught myself AutoCAD R-12 many, many years ago with the help of a co-worker and a few videos. When we began needing 3-D views, we had progressed to using AutoCAD 2000i, and I signed up at the local Community College for some night courses for that part.

I've had various other Cad programs over the years..... maybe ten different ones.

Today, honestly, about all I ever use is the free version of SketchUp.


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## Jambruins

I use autocad quite a bit. If you have any questions or need any help let me know and I will try and help.


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## trickyjrp112

The first design program I learned was autocad 2000 back in high school around 2001-2003 where I learned 2D and 3D. I thought the program was amazing and eventually got a hold of the program and designed my first set of house plans at 16 for my dads construction company (under his supervision). 

Senior year of high school I interned for a local architect who was using chief architect 7. I tinkered with it a few times while I was there and watched the employees work and realized this program had potential. After obtaining the program with a tutorial I immediately started on a new set of plans and was able to make a complete set of plans within a week. From there on out I have been completely satisfied and haven't looked elsewhere for another program, just update the versions. The user interface is perfect and super friendly compared to Autocad.

As for Autocad it is not useless to me it's still a powerful software. I still use it to design complicated sections, details, or plot plans. But honestly if your designing residential or additions Chief Architect was very easy to pick up and does pretty much everything you'll need to produce construction docs in the residential field. 

In my opinion autocads learning curve is just way to long to learn and in time, all those commands you learn and use, slowly get forgotten if you don't keep up with it.


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## ScipioAfricanus

I am self taught on AC 2000 and it was quite a bear at first, then once you have the hang of it it goes much easier of course.
If you are thinking of getting a new version of AuotCAD might I suggest you get Revit instead? 
It costs only a little more than AC 2011 and you can do so much more with in the field of design than you can with AC.
The learning curve with Revit would be as difficult as AC or even easier actually.

I use Revit my self but not as much as I use Chief Architect. Revit is way more powerful than Chief but Chief does things that I need sooo much easier and quicker.

Crap! Now I sound like an advert.

Andy.


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## nailit69

I use AutoCAD14, self taught, although I can't draw 3D, I can/have used it to do plans, elevations, etc.. I've actually made quite a bit of money drawing plans over the last 8-10 years. It took about a year to get proficient at it and I still learn something new everytime I use it.

It was pretty difficult to figure it out at first, I only use a few of the hundreds of commands available but it gets the job done. I do need to learn how to control lineweights and some other things but overall I can turn out a set that looks like they just came from an architect. Judging by some of the other plans i've built off of and seen i'd have to say mine are actually better.


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## Willie T

As I have said, I'm partial to SketchUp. But no matter what platform you use, strictly 2-D is passe. You do not sell today to people not given to visualizing a finished product from merely viewing a set of flat, 2-D drawings.

You must do 3-D in today's market.

And never say you cannot do 3-D. Because you CAN. And a whole lot more easily than you might ever imagine. I would venture to say that there is not a person reading this that cannot turn out a respectable 3-D house plan within a matter of about two weeks, no matter which program they choose.

Please, please, please do not limit yourself by intending to only pursue 2-D drawings. In today's world that is akin to insisting on having an 8 track in your car.


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## olligator

Self-taught on autocad r10 from the dos prompt (take that old timers!), then learned acad r12, then acad 2000. In college I revisted autocad again, but my department switched over to Pro-E Wildfire 2.0, which was different in the beginning, but imho actually easier to use. Still, both suites are geared towards mechanical CAD.

For architectural cad, I admit that I'm lazy and tried the easy way out with Punch AS4000. Very simplistic and restrictive, with crappy renderings that take forever. Punch is CAD for "special" 12yo electricians. I upgraded my world to Chief Architect X2 this year and have been much happier.

Ultimately for creating 3-space objects, I still think acad or pro-e is the way to go, but I've been pleased with putting all the parts and peices together in CAX2 for doing layouts and visualizations with customers. Plus I can get it to drop sketches into a shop drawing template with a fancy title block.

**Willie is right, you have to be able to do 3D in today's market, and you have to be able to do it fast. As long as it's clean and usuable, it really doesn't matter which CAD suite you use, as long as it works for you. Dimension your drawings properly, use a clean, uncluttered title block if you can. Customers (and building departments) notice these things too.


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## TrueBlueFlyer

one of my first AutoCAD experiences was shooting a Leica total station in a Manhattan penthouse, with values going directly into AutoCAD and rednering a 3D drawing on the fly... probably much easier than starting from scratch, but a cool way to start nonetheless (since you can visualize everything by looking at it in reality vs. what's on the screen... easy to see if you've made a mistake, or shot something wrong) 

currently in the process of learing Revit in the same manner

--Russ


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## Miero

I guess the easiest way to learn Auto CAD is with the help of someone more experienced or even a teacher. If you have any questions I would be glad to help you but I suggest taking a course, maybe get some tutorials.

Cheers//miero


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## Zendik

I've been loving Revit.
BIM is the future.

2 story commercial/residential
Far from done but its getting there.


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## Rio

Revit's great but has a steep learning curve and an even steeper price. Isn't it something like $6,000.00 for the license?

Depending on the complexity of your typical project, AutoCad Lt. and Sketchup might suffice. If you work with AutoCad try to get into a class on it or form a study group with other novices; maybe check out internet Forums. Once you get the hang of using the program it's a piece of cake but until then it can drive you crazy.

Sketchup is easy to learn on although some of the functions are hard to perform. Generally anything with curves is a lot harder to do in any modeling program, lol.


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## Zendik

The things Revit does is unbelievable.
It keeps track of all materials, for all trades.
Revit will alert venders when materials need to be delivered.
It does so much more than just design structures.

It was harder to learn AutoCad than Revit, for me. 
Curves?
Revit makes arches, curves, radius without any fuss.
Although the costs limits it to rather large design/build firms...


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## TsiGtp

Google sketchup is pretty slick. Im sure its dumbed down compared to autocad but I us it and its pretty good for what I need.


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## Rio

Couple of Revit questions; How powerful does one's computer have to be in order not to get bogged down when the file grows, and how hard is it to learn? 

A note on the above post also regarding Sketchup and AutoCad; They are really for two different applications unless you're using the Cad Architectural Suite to do your 3d's in. We use AutoCad for the 2d stuff, for details, elevations, sections, site plans, etc.. Once one gets the hang of it one can really produce top notch drawings with it and it's the industry standard if you're working with consultants. 

We import floor plans and the like into Sketchup and then use that program for doing the 3d stuff. If you have Sketchup 6 it will import .dwg files with the free version of Sketchup. Anything after Sketchup 6 and you have to buy the professional version, not a bad deal at four to five hundred dollars but a lot more than free.


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## ScipioAfricanus

For Revit 2010 or 2011 I would recommend a quad core processor with about 4 Gigs RAM. A nice video card 512k or bigger and dual monitors if possible as big as you can get.

64 bit Windows 7.

Andy.


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## Zendik

ScipioAfricanus said:


> For Revit 2010 or 2011 I would recommend a quad core processor with about 4 Gigs RAM. A nice video card 512k or bigger and dual monitors if possible as big as you can get.
> 
> 64 bit Windows 7.
> 
> Andy.


Sounds like what I have but I've used less and although it was slow it still worked. Obtaining the video card with the most memory you can afford allows your CPU and Ram resources to be better allocated.

Revit has a great render engine, same as 3D max I think...


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## DrewD

Revit really is the future. I'm currently in New Jersey participating in a Design/Build competition and the project needs to be done entirely in BIM format. The advantages with Revit are huge, doing pre-construction estimates, checking constructability reports and developing construction process videos synced to your schedule through Navisworks. Any large scale construction such as hotels, hospital, office buildings and educational facilities will really benefit from using an all BIM format. As others have said I would go to a local community college and take some night classes. Really the best way to learn is play with it, I've taught myself so much just from playing with it.


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## glenndacho

Revit is the future...All govt. project now require BIM and the whole industry will fall in line within the next 5-7 years autocad and 2 programs will be out the door..you can do 3-d and 2-d in revit....


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