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In many different disciplines, the advent of
computers has radically changed
the
way professionals work; this includes the field of garden design.
Most construction managers and (increasingly) clients, now expect that drawings describing
any sort of design work will be
created using some type of computer software. They also assume that the work
will be delivered in both printed and electronic format. In most
design professions, work on
paper drawings alone is no longer acceptable.
 In no way do we suggest that
designing with pencil and paper be outlawed. In many cases, 'doodling'
on butter paper gets the creative thoughts flowing and helps solve
design problems. But for detailed
presentation and construction drawings, nothing beats CAD!
We will assume that you are working in the Australian
construction and design industry and producing garden designs. The vast
majority of design professionals with whom you will work (architects,
planners, landscape architects, engineers etc.) use software called
AutoCAD to produce plans. It therefore makes sense for you to learn to use that
very same software because if you do, the electronic drawings that they
produce can be worked on by you without the need for conversion. In our
view, do not try to use other CAD software, even if vendors tell you
that it is compatible with AutoCAD. (In the interests of economy, we
will use a clone of AutoCAD for our learning, one called IntelliCAD).
We will introduce you to another CAD tool, GardenCAD, one that we
have developed ourselves.
As a first step, we
thought that you might like to see
a computer in action in the garden design/landscape field.
We have
made a short movie which will play on your computer screen and
illustrate this.
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Click here to play a movie which shows (very simply) what
CAD software and an Illustrative tool can do to generate a
garden design planting plan. In the movie, we 'dress up' a
(rather formal) design for a courtyard which was first produced in a CAD program
and subsequently imported into a vector based Illustration program. |
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Click
here to play a movie from our broadband learning web site (http://www.softwaretutor.net)
which show some other garden design software in action. |
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Part of a garden design plan developed in
a CAD program and then 'dressed up' in an illustrative
program. |
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Part of the very same
drawing viewed from a different angle. Design courtesy of Amy Reed. |
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Plant symbols
in IntelliCAD - a low cost CAD program. |
As mentioned, you
in order to take this course, you require a copy of either IntelliCAD or AutoCAD on your
computer so that you can complete the training exercises we set. If you
do not have either, upon enrolment, we will supply a copy of
GardenCAD,
our own software specially designed for ease of use.
However, you are
not left on your own when it comes to completing an exercise - we will
first show a movie showing you how to carry out a task and then get you to
follow along on your own computer using detailed instructions that we
set out in these notes.
Other software can be used to 'dress up' CAD drawings for
presentation of design ideas to clients. We favour the use of Adobe Illustrator
and/or Sketchup, so for best
results, you also need a copy of this software. Our advice is to delay
the purchase of this illustrative software until you have gained a moderate level of
skill with IntelliCAD and can confidently set out base plans.
We offer three different pricing models covering
the same material:
1.
group or one-on-one courses (Adelaide or Canberra - in our offices or
yours)
Each course takes one day and
costs $AUD750.00. A
comprehensive workbook on CD-ROM and sample files is provided
to each participant.
2. CD-ROM based distance learning -
Many courses are available via
our
distance learning program at a
substantial discount -$AUD280.00. Again, we provide a CD-ROM containing many instructional on-screen
movies. The whole course can be completed at home or at work, on
your own computer, at your pace. No Internet connection is
required.
3. Online learning via broadband - fast Internet connection required
Many courses are available by online
learning at $AUD250.00 - these courses feature rapid enrolment,
online forums, multi choice reviews questionnaires etc. Click
here to visit our online
learning site.
Experience over many years has taught us that adults learn best by
progressing through a course of study at their own pace and at times
that suit them. Wherever possible, they like to learn by working on
their own materials, rather than work through long practice exercises. Our courses are specifically designed so that this can
occur- we introduce a topic, provide a movie which shows you how to do
it and then give detailed step-by-step instructions for you to follow.
Courses may be taken at Thebarton in Adelaide, South Australia, in
Canberra in hired facilities, or by distance learning or
broadband learning.
If a course is taken 'in-house' at Thebarton, it normally runs for a
whole day
with a break for lunch. Starting time is 9.15 am and finish time around
4.15 - 4.30 pm. We usually work group or one-on-one, but can take up to 3 students
in our training room. **We only run groups if all students come
from the same organization.** A substantial discount (20%) is given for
groups from the same organization.
When courses are taken externally, students take
significantly longer to complete the course, primarily because they are
able to break up their learning into small 'chunks' as time permits. We
suggest allowing 20 hours for a distance course. This
includes the time taken to email samples of your work for review and
feedback.
You can try a distance leaning
course before you buy. Click
here, check out the
syllabus for a course by clicking on the blue information icon.
In this course we want take you on a
journey through the complete CAD process; from an initial design idea to
the generation of a detailed CAD drawing which describes and documents the design.
We want to do this as rapidly as rapidly as possible and ask that you
stay focused on the 'big picture'
- the CAD and illustrative process itself and not get too hung up on
detail. Polishing specific skills can come later.
We
will concentrate mainly on the generation of two dimensional (2D)
CAD drawings. We
will not cover designing and drafting in 3D, even though all versions of IntelliCAD
and AutoCAD software
are certainly capable of it. 3D work will be covered in our course
Advanced Garden Design using CAD and Illustrator.
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Module |
Description |
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The
CAD process
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A review of
some drawings from garden design, landscape design and architecture.
Opening a
drawing showing some quite 'dressy' plant symbols. Some theory -
drafting on paper vs.
using CAD software? Some advice for learning. Real world units;
handling scale. Speeding up CAD by using the AutoLISP
programming language. The
importance of understanding that AutoCAD/IntelliCAD are command driven
programs. What
are the advantages of a 'command driven' CAD program? Setting up
the drawing environment and
adjusting preferences. Creating an intelligent desktop shortcut,
setting drawing preferences. A simple garden design - a small
copse of planting. Learning the underlying command
sequence in IntelliCAD/AutoCAD, selecting commands. A detailed look at the CAD interface,
including title bar, standard and formatting toolbars,
the command area, the status line etc. Learning to float and
dock toolbars. Controlling your view of drawings - the ZOOM command.
Controlling layers in CAD drawings. Drawing LINES of given
length and angle.
The value of making enquiries of
drawing entities and the text screen
window. Saving files. Creating your own logo. Experimenting with different CAD file formats.
Exploring 3D visualization techniques.
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The CAD interface |
A detailed look at the
CAD interface, including title bar, standard and formatting
toolbars, the command area, the status line etc. Learning to
float and dock toolbars. The ZOOM command. Layer control. The text screen
window. Saving files. File formats. Learning the underlying command sequence
in IntelliCAD/AutoCAD, selecting
commands. Creating your own logo. 3D visualization techniques. |
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Viewing
Drawings
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A comprehensive look
at the different methods of controlling your view of a CAD
drawing. The use of ZOOM, PAN, HIDE, VPOINT,
REGEN and REDRAW commands in drawings of domestic houses and
courtyards. Getting
help in IntelliCAD and AutoCAD. The importance of
recognizing the underlying sequence in all AutoCAD/IntelliCAD
commands. The value of a proper printed manual. Examining drawings which
have 3D information. 'Spinning designs in 3D space using SketchUp software. 'Moving between the
presentation space - paper space and model
space. The importance of the UCSICON. Using the TILEMODE command
and layout tabs.
Preparing a design for a courtyard. Attaching raster images
(photos from your digital camera) to a design. Adding to our list of shortcuts for individual commands.
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Precise
Geometry
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Experimenting with
some of the more esoteric drawing commands in AutoCAD and
IntelliCAD. Compound lines with the POLYLINE command, the
SPLINE command, the RAY command, the ELLIPSE
command, the POLYGON command, the POINT command.
The ERASE command. Setting up a 400mm GRID.
Building a design for a courtyard by snapping to grid points to
demonstrated that drawing with precision can be a simple
process. The COPY command - using the multiple option.
Some simple editing commands - ERASE, TRIM,
EXTEND.
Using CAD to create a
very simple design - we will take a design for a rose garden as
a simple example. The CIRCLE and OFFSET commands.
Using the entity snap functions - calling the Endpoint,
Centre, PERpendicular, Quadrant options from
the command line. The value of setting up and using a template
drawing. Using the DISTANCE command. The RECTANGLE
command. The ROTATE command. The DTEXT command
with a hand lettered font.
Building a base plan
- creating site plans ready for laying out garden design. Setting out boundaries for a rectangular shaped
site, a polygonal shapes site and a block using surveyor's
coordinates (from deposit plans). Creating site plans by
triangulation. Locating buildings on a site.
Creating the footprint
for a building - 'running
around' a building, drawing walls locating windows and doors etc.
Adding symbols representing existing tress and shrubs on the
site. Adding symbols for new plantings.
Previewing a plot of the
drawing on a suitable size sheet.
Adding text to a drawing -
the importance of selecting fonts to give a 'hand lettered' feel.
Adding a planting schedule generated in Microsoft Excel to a
design.
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Click here
if you would like to examine the syllabus for part 2 of the course.
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