Archinect
anchor

slow at CAD

RValu100

I'm slow at CAD. The only thing that helps is caffeine, which has its own negative effects. It's not a question of content knowledge; I'm just slow. What helps? Exercise more? Meditate? 

 
Jul 25, 16 6:35 pm
tduds

What do you mean by "slow"? 

How long have you been using CAD? What program? Are you aware of keyboard shortcuts?

In my experience, the only way to get faster is to practice. Eventually you'll get familiar enough with the flow to fly through it. It's like speaking a language.

Jul 25, 16 6:41 pm  · 
 · 
Non Sequitur
There are no negative effects to caffeine.
Jul 25, 16 6:56 pm  · 
1  · 
gruen
Keyboard shortcuts are huge. My top 20 common commands are all at the left side of the keyboard so I can keep my right hand on the mouse.

Even better? Get a keypad and do all commands as 2 or 3 digit numbers. Then you can input dimensions and commands w one hand.

Then, group operations so you use a command as much as possible before switching commands.
Jul 25, 16 10:00 pm  · 
 · 
Jeep

caffeine is the best thing for us who spend more than 10 hrs in an office !

Jul 25, 16 10:45 pm  · 
 · 
archiwutm8

shortcuts and practice, it slowly becomes routine. I'm slow because I fucking hate setting shortcut files every time I change computers.

Jul 26, 16 4:34 am  · 
 · 
poop876

And then there are people out there that know all the short cuts but their thinking process is off when it comes to drawing and not utilizing all the tools. 

Jul 26, 16 9:11 am  · 
 · 
JonathanLivingston

Wait till you get to the ARE vignettes 

Jul 26, 16 11:27 am  · 
 · 
proto

i've been doing it for over 20yrs and i'm slow too

 

 

 

(holy shit, i've been doing this for over 20yrs!!!)

Jul 26, 16 1:24 pm  · 
 · 
JonathanLivingston

Slow can also mean thoughtful and precise. It's not always bad if you're doing good solid work . 

Jul 26, 16 2:15 pm  · 
 · 
Non Sequitur

I remember back in... 2001-02 and I took autoCAD at a community college in the evenings following 1st year. The teacher praised speed above all else. I finished the final exam under 1hr when 3hr was the target and felt pretty good. No one else was even close to me and I finished with 100% in the class. hurray....

Now, some 15 years later, I don't value speed because actually "cadding" is not as time consuming as figuring out what you need to draw/detail. Kids don't need to learn to draft faster, they need to draft efficiently while being smart about what they show. But perhaps this is not the case if you're stuck in an environment that copies old details constantly.

Jul 26, 16 2:22 pm  · 
 · 
Non Sequitur

Proto, thanks for making me feel old.

Jul 26, 16 2:22 pm  · 
 · 
tduds

Non ++

I'm coming up on 17 years in CAD... and I'm not even 31 yet. No wonder I'm such a cynic, I started young.

Jul 26, 16 2:27 pm  · 
 · 
Non Sequitur

^ 15yCAD and 32y old.

Damn this boat is sad.

Perhaps we can sail it to the nearest bar.

Jul 26, 16 2:31 pm  · 
 · 
Wilma Buttfit

My first CAD experience was in high school where we did mechanical drafting, gears and stuff. It was work at your own pace and I finished by the 3rd week of September... Yet I'm still certain I'm fairly slow because you have to add thinking into the mix when doing it for real. So I'm trying to speed up thinking, which comes with experience. 

Jul 26, 16 2:43 pm  · 
 · 
proto

sorry, non sequitur!

 

my first cad experience was in undergrad in 1991; i pretty much still use the same commands; altho i will admit to wishing we could afford to use revit right now on this whole house remodel i'm working on...fuck drawing every side of the building!

Jul 26, 16 3:15 pm  · 
 · 
sameolddoctor

This is good (and sad) survey-

38 years old, and pumping cad for 19 years.

Jul 26, 16 3:15 pm  · 
 · 

tintt, my first experience with CAD was in a high school drafting class as well (mostly mechanical drafting with a little architectural). The first half of the class was all hand drafting. The second half was CAD. We were working through a tutorial book for the class content. Our teacher didn't care what we did, as long as we did at least one task from the book every day. So, most of us ended up finishing the task as quickly as possible then playing first-person-shooter video games the rest of the period. Every once in a while the teacher would sign into our networked game and compete with us.

My badge of honor isn't the number of years I've pumped CAD, it's the number of years I haven't had to pump CAD. Going on 3 years now and loving it.

Jul 26, 16 5:09 pm  · 
 · 
sameolddoctor

Quondam, are you seriously using Autocad 2.0?

Jul 26, 16 6:10 pm  · 
 · 
s=r*(theta)

@Non Sequitur, I agree but you still have to update old details every once in a while, to match the ever evolving codes, ansi

I started my career as a drafter in Chicago, the only reason I was hired at just about every job was because I was fast. I learn to be fast by what most people here have said already,

• learning shortcut keys

• manipulating pgp file

• watching and asking questions of people who were fast

• setting goals to bet my times on similar drafting assignments

• Also, imho, its easier to be fast at picking up redlines and producing preliminary work, than

 producing details and construction documents.

Jul 26, 16 6:24 pm  · 
 · 
tduds

My badge of honor isn't the number of years I've pumped CAD, it's the number of years I haven't had to pump CAD. Going on 3 years now and loving it.

Fair point.

Most of my time is in BIM now. 

Jul 26, 16 6:26 pm  · 
 · 
3tk

Agreed with above comments:

1. some comes with time and learning the best workflows (which is to say think about how you're doing the task and if there's a better way)

2. short cuts, lisps, settings should be customized to your workflow

3. speed tops out at a certain point - understanding that each line means something in the real world during construction is very important

4. having comfortable desk/chair and mouse/keyboard set up can help with comfort

5. autocad help tutorials and help threads can provide some insight into work flow efficiency

Learn how the software 'thinks' (most design software operates similarly - the base code language is similar-).  It can be helpful to see what causes file bloating, etc - at the end of the day you want to be ahead of the software.

Jul 26, 16 6:32 pm  · 
 · 
tduds

As far as I can gather from quondam's image posts here, he only uses MS Paint.

Jul 26, 16 6:36 pm  · 
 · 
tduds

You could easily have proven me wrong by explaining your cryptic bitmap collages.

But glad you went for the ad hominem. Great job.

Jul 26, 16 7:19 pm  · 
 · 
gruen
If the op keeps changing computers that could be the problem. Takes me half a day to set up a new machine to my liking and if I have to do this more than once every two years it makes me nuts.
Jul 26, 16 7:33 pm  · 
 · 
sameolddoctor

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

Jul 26, 16 8:55 pm  · 
 · 
awaiting_deletion

RValu - you must become the commands. I imagine you can type without looking at the keyboard right? after a few years its like driving a car, you could go fast if you felt like it. since I am always behind I have developed over the years insane speed when under pressure, so much so that sometimes CAD can not keep up. This is as simple as imagining the final drawing and what it represents and just flying on the commands. always good to have in your head the library of details you will copy/paste/stretch and edit in seconds.......i find people that are slow can not imagine the drawing they are making. they are actually figuring out the drawing by drawing. but if you can imagine the drawings its a matter minutes for a plan, an elevation, or wall section.

Jul 27, 16 7:03 am  · 
1  · 
Non Sequitur

"...become the commands..."

genius. I'll use that line next time another employee asks me for CAD advice.

Jul 27, 16 8:31 am  · 
 · 
chigurh

where is balkins?  the expert on incompetence.

Jul 27, 16 10:05 am  · 
 · 

My CADing life changed the day I reassigned the F1 key to be the 'cancel' command. Nothing worse than quickly reaching up to hit ESC and the Help menu opens instead.

Jul 27, 16 11:24 am  · 
 · 
Wood Guy

^Brilliant. 

Jul 27, 16 11:26 am  · 
 · 
tduds

Just admit that you have no idea as to how I created the images that I've posted.

You're right. I have no idea.

Your turn.

Jul 27, 16 11:28 am  · 
 · 
tduds

Can I buy drugs from you?

Jul 27, 16 12:45 pm  · 
 · 
sameolddoctor

Me too (drugs)

Jul 27, 16 5:05 pm  · 
 · 
AdrianFGA

I'm just slow. What helps? Exercise more? Meditate?

I can only give some general advice, usually you can be more productive by automating your most repetitive tasks. Assuming you use Autocad.

Figure out the tasks, and start building blocks or libraries of smart details (dynamic blocks, parametric). Get some programming done. There are tons of routines and programs out there, especially Autolisp routines, ready to be used or tweakable enough to match your specific needs.

Autodesk regularly uploads free extensions, some of them might apply to you.

Go on forums like AUGI or Autodesk's own forums, and start asking questions, they are usually very helpful.

If you need specific tasks, go on freelancer sites and hire a programmer to automate some of your work. There are good programmers at very reasonable prices. It's money well spent.

Jul 27, 16 5:09 pm  · 
 · 
awaiting_deletion

taught CAD so have tons of assignments and lecture notes, so i drop it on the person asking questions and tell them to get back to me once they read everything.

Jul 27, 16 7:40 pm  · 
 · 
shellarchitect

First thing I do at a new computer is pull off the f1 key

Jul 27, 16 10:19 pm  · 
 · 
awaiting_deletion

first thing I tell someone that asks me a question about CAD - "Press F1"

Aug 2, 16 12:08 am  · 
 · 
tduds

Oh God. The number of times I accidentally hit F1 instead of ESC.

I just had a war flashback from my AutoCAD days.

Aug 2, 16 12:13 pm  · 
 · 
JonathanLivingston

I legit removed the F1 key back in the day. 

Aug 2, 16 6:12 pm  · 
 · 

Block this user


Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?

Archinect


This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.

  • ×Search in: