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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
@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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
slow at CAD
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?
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.
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.
caffeine is the best thing for us who spend more than 10 hrs in an office !
shortcuts and practice, it slowly becomes routine. I'm slow because I fucking hate setting shortcut files every time I change computers.
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.
Wait till you get to the ARE vignettes
i've been doing it for over 20yrs and i'm slow too
(holy shit, i've been doing this for over 20yrs!!!)
Slow can also mean thoughtful and precise. It's not always bad if you're doing good solid work .
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.
Proto, thanks for making me feel old.
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.
^ 15yCAD and 32y old.
Damn this boat is sad.
Perhaps we can sail it to the nearest bar.
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.
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!
This is good (and sad) survey-
38 years old, and pumping cad for 19 years.
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.
Quondam, are you seriously using Autocad 2.0?
@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.
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.
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.
As far as I can gather from quondam's image posts here, he only uses MS Paint.
You could easily have proven me wrong by explaining your cryptic bitmap collages.
But glad you went for the ad hominem. Great job.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
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.
"...become the commands..."
genius. I'll use that line next time another employee asks me for CAD advice.
where is balkins? the expert on incompetence.
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.
^Brilliant.
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.
Can I buy drugs from you?
Me too (drugs)
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.
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.
First thing I do at a new computer is pull off the f1 key
first thing I tell someone that asks me a question about CAD - "Press F1"
Oh God. The number of times I accidentally hit F1 instead of ESC.
I just had a war flashback from my AutoCAD days.
I legit removed the F1 key back in the day.
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