Not "new" but trying to refresh my memory.

I've not used CAD in over 8 years. My current job seems reluctant to let me do any of the design process and I'm sort of stuck. At the same time, it really has been a while and I'm not terribly confident in my knowledge. This is a manufacturing company and my last job was in a University Architect's office. Kinda different. LOL

I'm looking to find some tutorials to refresh my memory. The community college here has some courses, but they are at the north campus whereas I'm located near the main campus which is south. I also have two elementary age kids that have activities.

I need to do something. If my company won't entertain the possibility of me advancing, then I need to do something. There have been two designers who have been hired and a third position is in the interview process now. I was unaware of any of it until candidates started showing up to interview.

Any recommendations on tutorials or a point in the right direction would be appreciated.

If we're talking about AutoCAD you can find tutorials right here at CADTutor. Another good source of tutorials would be something called mycadsite.com.

What sort of work do you do?

I'm an engineering assistant at a small manufacturing company. We specialize in cooling equipment for the poultry industry as well as ice machines. I run the work orders to the shop so things get done in a timely manner. I'm also the QC Inspector for ASME pressure vessels that we make. So I work with DOL inspectors often. I'm both up in the office at my desk as well as down on the shop floor for various reasons...mostly to see what the welders are doing and get their butts in gear.

Maybe you should be looking at something a little more robust like Revit MEP or Inventor then. Both are nothing like AutoCAD and you would definitely benefit from a good training class (3-day minimum).

We use Inventor for some of our equipment drawings, but we do also use AutoCAD.

Some companies will stick with AutoCAD long after its demise so I won't say forget it but Inventor is the one I think you should be using. Just my personal opinion; feel free to ignore it.

AutoCAD is still basically the same with new bells and whistles. Much of the old way of doing things is CAD still work. The change as i can gather over the years is the branching into the vertical suits (the things remark mentioned)

I second doing one of the crash courses. There is no sense in going through a community college if you have some knowledge about the program... unless you want to spend the first week learning how to turn the computer on. Many resllers also offer these sorts of course for many of autodesks products. what part of the world are you in?

Small size, product specific training classes for AutoDesk products are offered by many resellers. Contact your local authorized AutoDesk reseller and see what they have to offer and what the cost is.

I'm in Raleigh, NC.

I'm in Raleigh, NC.

all my contacts are closer to gulf coast. id google some of the local resellers and see what they have in the way of training. Here is a link to Autodesk Autohrized Training centers http://www.autodesk.com/cgi-bin/dblookup.pl?COUNTRY=US&dbname=usatc&OP=dbquery&STATE=NC&PRETYPE=

To get the cert you'll probably have to pay a decent amount for certs but certs are always good when it comes to bargaining with the boss man.

I'm in Raleigh, NC.

Wake Tech classes are so cheap, I would find the time to make it out to north campus.

Thank you!

Before paying anything extra to be "certified" I would check to see if there is any financial incentive on the part of your company. Most of the time a certification means your title gets longer but your pay doesn't get any greater.

I have been creating a comprehensive set of youtube videos as a training course for AutoCAD. It is very detailed and I'm confident you will find all the information you need.

The playlist for the videos is here