How do go about learning CAD?

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

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How do I go about learning CAD?

Computer Aided Design that is.

What is the best way to learn this?

Can it be self taught?

The college I was at for my IT HND has it as a course but I think you need an NVQ in engineering or some such first.

Looks to be a handy thing to have.
 
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My dad went and taught himself over the last few years. He did go to collage night-class for it, but got fed up with the pace of that and decided to do it on his own.

He's an architect though, and has been doing pen and paper drawings for 30 years prior to it, so I reckon it was just a matter of finding where the different settings and tools were for him, now I think about it.

Erm, yeah. Sorry, that didn't really help I guess.
 
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ash_scotland88 said:
what level of CAD?

orthographics etc can easily be self taught, could always buy a small a3drawing board and stuff and start teaching yoursel on paper, then transfer it over to computer?
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I honestly know very little about it.

It does sound interesting though and it appears to be in demand from employers.
 
I'm currently studying it at the highest level (2D CAD) - could be self taught if you grab some books and do some reading - but if you want a job in it, they usually require you to show some certificates.
 
Get a book. There are loads of them and all but the very best CAD courses are little more than an instructor paraphrasing from the class's chosen text for 15 minutes before cutting students loose to practice utilizing that day's lesson.

Autodesk AutoCAD is the most popular for drafting, SolidWorks is most common, in my experience, for use by engineers and designers in the field to do virtual prototyping. I recommend you become proficient in both.

Note: Autodesk made a knockoff of SW called Inventor that is a very poor copy. Steer clear. If you know SW you can pick up Inventor in a few hours. If you know Inventor it will take longer to pick up SW.

...Of course to get hired somewhere they will probably want to see some pieces of paper indicating that your instructors saw you as fit. In that case you'll need to take classes. If you want it as a hobby, or want to work in a field where it's not your main task, but knowledge of it would certainly help, you can probably get by without said papers.
 
Get a book. Look at it and pick up the software at your own pace.

My sister, who is only 13, is playing around with SketchUp and just went on YouTube and watched tutorials. She is doing absolutely incredible things with it - I just don't have the correct mindset for that sort of thing.
 
skippi90 said:
Can someone explain the different levels and usages?
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When I did it;

NVQ Level 2 was 2d drafting
NVQ Level 3 was 3d stuff (which I didn't do, hence calling it stuff :D)

If you do either course through official channels you get city & guild certificates. One of which will class your skills learnt as a "Trade".
 
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BillytheImpaler said:
Get a book. There are loads of them and all but the very best CAD courses are little more than an instructor paraphrasing from the class's chosen text for 15 minutes before cutting students loose to practice utilizing that day's lesson.

Autodesk AutoCAD is the most popular for drafting, SolidWorks is most common, in my experience, for use by engineers and designers in the field to do virtual prototyping. I recommend you become proficient in both.

Note: Autodesk made a knockoff of SW called Inventor that is a very poor copy. Steer clear. If you know SW you can pick up Inventor in a few hours. If you know Inventor it will take longer to pick up SW.

...Of course to get hired somewhere they will probably want to see some pieces of paper indicating that your instructors saw you as fit. In that case you'll need to take classes. If you want it as a hobby, or want to work in a field where it's not your main task, but knowledge of it would certainly help, you can probably get by without said papers.
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What about Catia?

I managed to teach myself CAD using AutoCAD, and I now use Solidworks at Uni.
I dont really like Solidworks much because I dont know where everything is, but its quite a capable program.
 
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I've only ever seen it used at very large companies who can afford to pay for its licensing. I've never used it myself, thought it is certainly a viable alternative. If I had to pick one more to learn in addition to the two I mentioned above, I'd choose Pro/E.

Perhaps its use is more common across the pond than here. You would know more than me and can thusly provide better advice. :)
 
I use microstation at work (2D) and i can teach someone the basics within 2-3 full days so self teaching to a very basic level shouldn't take long at all. It depends on how advanced you want to go. I was lucky and learned on the job.
 
I'm self taught, originally with Autocad when it was 2D only, then in 3D with 3D Studio Max and Unigraphics in my student placement. As said above Solidworks is very popular at the moment and I'm about to learn that one, but every few years it makes a shift and a different program becomes the one to use. Pro E was the last big one but it sees to have slipped out of favour, probably because it's such an utter bitch to use. Basically you have to be flexible.

There's nothing wrong with being self taught and there's nothing wrong with telling your employer you're self taught. They will want to see what you can do and you'll be taking some examples when you have an interview.

What you might want to do is brush up on technical drawing and dimensioning standards so if you have to take off 2D views you can do them properly. Lots of people can model in 3D but not many can dimension a drawing up properly.

So I recommend get your hands on a copy of either Solidworks or Autocad and model some stuff up. Get a book if you feel you need it, there are plenty in the library, there are plenty of tutorials online too. If you think you'll be doing more 3D visualisations then 3D Studio (now called 3DS) is the program to use.
 
Squark said:
What about Catia?

I managed to teach myself CAD using AutoCAD, and I now use Solidworks at Uni.
I dont really like Solidworks much because I dont know where everything is, but its quite a capable program.
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Use SolidWorks at uni on my engineering course as well sometimes. I quite like it, use it every now and then in my spare time modelling stuff. :p
 
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