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In many different disciplines, the advent of CAD has radically changed
the
way professionals work.
Most project managers now expect that any drawings describing
design work, will be
created using some type of CAD software. They also assume that the work
will be delivered in both printed and electronic format. In most
professions, design work on paper drawings alone is no longer
acceptable.
This change in attitude has major implications for many
of us. If you are working, or intend to work, in the Architecture, Engineering or
Construction industry, you need to be able to produce CAD drawings if
required. If you want to use a
computer to generate accurate drawings describing your design work, then
you need to learn how to operate (use) CAD software to create the
drawings that you currently prepare on a drawing board. Our CAD courses help
you do that. You can start with a modest investment in an introductory
course and if you like the way we present our learning materials, progress along a path which
leads to CAD competence.
The aim of this set of notes is to provide some 'in-depth'
guidance for those considering undertaking CAD training
and who are contemplating taking one or more courses with us. It is written with potential students of ours in mind,
but should apply to anyone contemplating learning CAD.
Although the user
interfaces in modern CAD
software are very intuitive, learning to use CAD software to produce professional
drawings is not a trivial exercise; it is not difficult, but you need to commit to CAD and allocate
sufficient time to 'come up to speed'. Producing CAD drawings using CAD software is certainly not as simple as using Microsoft Word where with minimal
instruction, raw beginners can 'knock out' an acceptable piece of work,
such as a
letter or report, in a very short space of time.
We offer
comprehensive tuition in the use of IntelliCAD and AutoCAD software (and
in a CAD tool of our own called
GardenCAD, which mimics the AutoCAD environment).
IntelliCAD, AutoCAD and GardenCAD software 'speak' the same command language - a set of instructions
used to
place entities and edit in the drawing space. AutoCAD and IntelliCAD also share a common file format
(called DWG) although we have used a proprietary format for GardenCAD.
 This means that what you
learn in one environment can be directly translated and applied to the others.
IntelliCAD is a true clone of AutoCAD and if you
want to learn more about this CAD software, click
here.
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In your offices (Adelaide or Canberra, ACT)
- all we need is a small room, we bring computers with us and can
teach up to three students at a time,
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In-house in our
design studio at Thebarton, South
Australia or
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By distance learning
which can be
delivered either on CD-ROM or via our
broadband learning site.
Once you are enrolled for a course, you can take advantage of our
support forums.
The most cost effective method
of learning is to use the broadband site.
Note that there are opportunities there to try before you
buy.
We have spent many years developing a learning
system which mimics a personal one-on-one approach. Our
distance students tell us that it nice to know that there is
someone on the other side of the computer screen, no matter how
far away they are from a major centre. We also support you by email, a
support section on this web site
and if broadband eLearning is chosen, by Q&A forums
associated with the individual course.
We have successfully taught students
in remote areas of all Australian states (and Christmas Island) in Hong Kong, Singapore,
South Korea, South Africa, New Zealand, Dubai, the United Kingdom and the United States.
You first step in determining a
suitable training program for
your needs should be to make sure that you understand what it is
that you want to achieve i.e. you need at the outset to define your aims.
There are many possible
scenarios:
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You may simply want to know what CAD programs can do
for your own interest. If that is the case, then read some of the more
general articles on CAD in the support
section of this web site. We have for example, published articles on
choosing the
correct CAD software, working in 3D, sending CAD drawings to laser cutting
firms etc. You can also get a feel for what CAD entails by playing some of the movies from the syllabus pages
of our CAD courses on our broadband learning site.
As mentioned, we have developed an AutoCAD clone and you can certainly get a feel for
how CAD works by visiting http://www.gardencad.net,
download a copy of our GardenCAD software, install it and try it
out. We provide some sample drawings for you to play with and have also
set up a free course on the use of
GardenCAD CAD software.
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Alternatively, you might be
interested in CAD because you have been asked to manage a team of
drafting staff involved in a major project, but do not necessarily want become CAD proficient yourself. If
this is the case,
we suggest that you enrol for our
QuickStart CAD course
($250.00 by broadband learning).
This course, 'QuickStart CAD
- An Introduction to Computer Aided Design', focuses on the overall process of taking a design idea to a
CAD drawing (model) in the computer and finally to print
of that design on
paper. Please note that the course does not go into any detail about the mechanism of performing each
step in the process. Thus QuickStart CAD is suitable for those who
want to know what CAD is all about, i.e. architectural, engineering and
other managers and professionals who want to understand what the CAD
process entails and what they can expect from CAD drafting by
their staff and consultants. It is also suitable for those who might be
contemplating a career in CAD drafting, or apprentices who must complete a
certain amount of exposure to CAD as part of their training. It is a low
cost first step to 'put your toe in the water' and sample our materials. QuickStart CAD can be taken as a broadband course costs ($AUD250.00) and requires
about 20-30 hours of your time, (and more if you take advantage
of the Q&A and submit exercises forums). Experience shows us that many students do better with
this form of training than they do with group or one-on-one training as
they can take their time and there is no sense of competition. Finally,
if you do not have fast broadband access, QuickStart CAD can also be
taken by CD-ROM which we post to you. The cost for this
option is $AUD280.00. Please allow 3-4 days for delivery.
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Finally, you may have
decided that you want to acquire professional CAD drafting skills and
earn at least part of your income by producing CAD design work. If this
is the case, you will need
to do more study. We
suggest that you take
the QuickStart CAD course first, perhaps by broadband learning to keep
your learning costs low, confirm that you like our learning system and
then enrol in three more courses which follow one after the other. These
courses are: Basic CAD 1, Basic CAD 2
plus Paper Space & Model Space
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courses which will take > 100 hours of study and lead to CAD competency.
You can certainly take these course by
distance learning but might
prefer to take some or all of these latter courses in our design studio
in Adelaide or Canberra. The cost is $AUD 750.00 for a day's
training (one day per course), but if you can get two colleagues to take
the course with you, the cost can be shared among the three of you.
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We then offer discipline specific workshops and for
those for which it is appropriate, a course in how to produce
design work in 3D.
This latter step -
enrolling in full scale CAD learning requires a major commitment of your time and effort and should not
be entered into lightly.
Enrol in our QuickStart CAD
plus
Basic CAD 1, Basic CAD 2
plus Paper Space & Model Space
courses which lead to CAD competency.
This
series of courses will cost $AUD3000.00 ($AUD750.00 per course) when taken
one-on-one
in-house for up to three students at a time and $AUD1000.00 when taken as a
broadband distance student or ($AUD1120.00
if taken by CD-ROM based learning).
Please note that you do need to allocate
considerable time if you choose this option (>100 hours practicing skills
that we have taught you) in addition to the formal course
instruction (approx 20 -30 hours per course). The figure below shows a
schematic outline of the course sequence.
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Sequence of
courses leading to CAD competence. Prices are those for
online broadband learning |
When you have completed these and begun
creating a reasonable number of working drawings, it's time to take some
more courses, particularly the CAD workshops.
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Don't forget, visit
the Online eLearning site
http://www.softwaretutor.net
and examine the syllabus for each course.
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Play at
least one of our sample movies embedded within the course syllabus.
These movies are in WMV format and will play in Windows Media Player on
most Windows based computers. Our courses contain many
instructional movies. These are an integral part of or learning model and we want to be
assured that your equipment works with the movies that we make before
you enrol. These
movies provide comprehensive instruction on the use of CAD commands to build
drawings. t
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Obtain a copy of the
(free) trial
version of IntelliCAD
software and establish that it works on your computer before ordering a course.
You can a free copy of IntelliCAD from http://www.siacad.com. Alternatively, make sure that you have a
working copy of AutoCAD on your computer.
We offer several advanced
modules for those drafters who have been working with CAD for some time. Various
CAD workshops (covering Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Instrument, Process &
Instrumentation Drawings,
Civil, Survey, Landscape disciplines etc.) follow QuickStart CAD and Basic CAD 1 and
2. These workshop courses are usually taken some time after a student has
been working professionally as a CAD drafter and are designed to enhance
your skills. We like you to come to us with some 'real work' so that we
can work on it together.
Courses will also be available
at a later stage in the programming languages supported by AutoCAD &
IntelliCAD - AutoLISP and Visual Basic for applications.
The most commonly used CAD software
in Australia (and in many other parts of the world) is
AutoCAD. It is general purpose software and is used by
professionals in fields as diverse as surveying, landscape architecture,
circuit board design, mechanical engineering, architecture,
electrical
engineering, boatbuilding, monumental masonry and so on. There is really
no limit to the use to which the software can be put; it is even used by
some graphic designers to create logos.
AutoCAD is quite
expensive (approx $AUD6,500.00), and the company that makes it (Autodesk)
encourages you to pay an annual maintenance/upgrade fee to them. This
annual fee can be as
high as $AUD750.00).
Even though our company
owns several AutoCAD licenses, we sell and
support IntelliCAD, a
much cheaper alternative to AutoCAD
which we sell for ($AUD385.00). We can do this because the commands that you use in AutoCAD to
produce drawings are replicated in IntelliCAD.
Note that there are different
versions of AutoCAD and IntelliCAD and also other CAD software, so
obtain some expert advice before 'putting your money down'.
As mentioned, we produce out own CAD
software and you can certainly use it to get a feel for Computer Aided
Design. Please visit
http://www.gardencad.net for more details.
If you
would like more information on your choice of CAD software, click
here to visit
our support pages where the topic is discussed.
Yes. We provide all
students with a "Certificate of Achievement". A statement that
a student has reached a satisfactory standard and completed a competent
set of working drawings can also be added on request. This endorsement
is subject to satisfactory submission of exercises. We are not endorsed by the University of Adelaide (our
erstwhile landlord) and this certificate carries no official weight, but has been
used by students in Australian TAFE colleges to claim prior learning.
Yes. As mentioned, we provide a
trial version of IntelliCAD if you do not own a licensed
version of IntelliCAD or AutoCAD. This trial version allows you to
practice creating drawings, but will not allow drawings to be saved or printed.
We would expect that anyone embarking on Basic CAD 1 or Basic CAD 2 to own a copy
of IntelliCAD or AutoCAD.
A. No. As long as you have a
printer attached to your computer, that will do. The principles involved
in preparing a drawing on an A1 sheet (which measures 801mm by 566mm) are the same as
those used to prepare a drawing on an A4 sheet.
Online enrolment at
http://www.softwaretutor.net
is available 24/7. Pay by PayPal or credit card and start straight away.
If you take a course as a
CD-ROM based distance student, on receipt of an official
order from your company (a purchase order) or email note from you if you
are studying privately, we will enrol you. We will ship a CD-ROM (with a personal password to unlock
modules in the course) and
a set of course notes. An invoice will be included in the package. Payment
can be by direct deposit to our bankers. Details of our bank
account is included on the invoice.
As mentioned, if you wish to pay by credit card, we use the
PayPal system (www.paypal.com). PayPal
offers a very secure system for processing payment across the
Internet and takes all major credit
cards. PayPal acts as an intermediary between you and Design Cad. They
will hold payment to us until you notify PayPal that you have received the
course materials in good order.
More information on the
philosophy behind our distance learning program can
be found by clicking here.
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