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Civil Engineer - Moving into Designing in the Construction industry.


Haffie

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Hello All,

 

I am an 18 year old from Scotland and I have acquired an apprenticeship with a large engineering consultancy which starts after the Summer. I do not have the slighest clue about Autocad but I have great knowledge with civil engineering as I have been out working since I was 16.

 

The reason for me joining this forum is for me to enable to get a head start before I start. If anyone could please help me in what I should be doing I would be most grateful.

 

Thanks a lot, Haffie.

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Congrats. In a time of scarce employment opportunities you should consider yourself fortunate.

 

First thing I'd do is download the 30-day trial of AutoCAD 2013 and while you are at it check out any program specific tutorials that might apply. You can also go through the tutorials here at CADTutor. You might want to pick up a good after-market book about AutoCAD and have it by your side for reference. Finally, ask questions. That's what we are here for.

 

Welcome to the CADTutor forum.

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Additionally you might verify that they are using vanila AutoCAD and not Civil3D, or some other software. Best to practice on the GUI, and Software Package you will actually be using rather than something different.

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Well, you can't be a civil engineer at 18.

 

What exactly does the consultancy specialise in? (i.e. geotech, structural, water, project management, transport etc)

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Definately download the trial I would suggest Autocad only CIv3d would only confuse at this stage. Start simple learn about the commands for Line Arc Circle Offset Trim maybe draw a floor plan of the house you live in draw it real size 1 unit = 1mm so a room 6mx6m would be 6000 x 6000 walls offset say 120mm. Use the zoom E to expand out to see all your house I think this is better than tutorials you get something tangable as a result.

 

Use the F8 key turns square off and on (ortho) pick a point drag line and enter a distance. Hey first side of a wall! Continue other walls. Use the OSNAP to make it easier to grab end of lines etc when adding walls.

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That's great, the first thing to do is to learn how the product you are drawing is designed, manufactured and installed. It sounds like you are well on the way in that respect already.

 

The next step is learning how to communicate your ideas. I recommend that you read up on technical drawing in general. AutoCAD is only one tool that you might use in your career to communicate your ideas.

 

To lean AutoCAD I always recommend:

http://www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm

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Get the latest AutoCad Bible by Finkelstein, use it as your ref book.

It saved me along with this forum when I started out.

Dodge

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Finkelsteins book is good as a reference for advanced users although I personally wouldn't reccomend it to a beginner.

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Welcome to the forum Haffie, and congratulations on your new job. Plenty to learn, but lots of available resources online, and plenty of folks who are happy to help here on cadtutor. When I started teaching myself cad I used we-r-here.com for about a week or 10 days along with a copy of The Autocad Bible, followed by a private 2 day basic, then pretty much hit the ground running. Not that there wasn't and isn't plenty yet to be learned, but that was enough to get started in 2D. About a month later started dabbling with some 3D modeling for a friend. I find it really entertaining, gratifying and challenging. There is always something more to learn, if you have a mind to. Definitely download a free 30 day trial, and get your feet wet. Enjoy the ride. :)

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Finkelsteins book is good as a reference for advanced users although I personally wouldn't reccomend it to a beginner.

 

I can't agree with that, this book should be in every AutoCad users kit.

It's a fantastic Ref book for Beginners and experienced users alike.

I would have been lost without it and this forum when I started out.

I have bought heaps of other books as well, but the Bible is always on my desk when you just need a quick answer on something.

Dodge

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It seems to me, having used it from the start with nothing more than a few days of online instruction, that it is quite appropriate at all levels. The chapters build logically from ground zero, and perhaps a beginner won't need more than the first 6 or 8, to get a good feel for the program, and the drawing process in general.

Special attention should be paid to the icon marked TIPS throughout. There is still plenty of great information for very advanced users too. In addition to the printed information there used to be (probably still is) a disc with the 30 day trial version of the software which it details, as well as additional information appended there. It is the only cad book I own, and I feel it is an excellent all around hard copy reference. Kudos to Ellen and those forum members who assist in writing and editing it. :thumbsup:

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I would definitely agree with the above about downloading a demo from Autodesk, however if possible I would suggest maybe not the absolute latest version. If you can obtain a demo from elsewhere of the 2010 or 2011 version, you will most likely be more at home with the software your employer will provide. Don’t know how different 2013 is but you don't want to go learning something that you later can’t find / use.

I recall using ADT 2007 at Uni as they were keen on being up to date. When I went into industry for a placement in the same year we used a cheap palm off of AutoCAD and most command shortcuts I had learnt had to be re-learnt as they didn’t apply to the software we were using. I work with a very large global construction consultancy and we are only just licensed up to AutoCAD 2011 at the moment. Not sure of the differences between 2010/11 and 2013.

Anyhow, there’s my 10 cents. Congrats on the apprenticeship... Good luck!

Ollie

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