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Hand Drafting, Computer Drafting

JayCon

Why is there such an issue in the two?  How is there a disconnect in drawing a straight, nearly scaled line with a pencil, and a straight and perfectly scaled line with a mouse?  I never understood how creating in 3D is inhibitive to an artist where "sketching it out" with a pencil and paper is the end all be all...

 

I'll use a conversation with my dad as why the old goat way isn't better than the new age technological way...

Old Fogie speak:

"We need to get something over there and bring it to that place across town so they can fix the thing"

what!?

Technological age translation:

"You (son) need to get the Toro push mower over to El Mel in St Charles to have it's pull cord replaced."

"let me look up the directions and their hours on my phone"

 

Same goes for sketching...

"what the hell is this line? oh, it's a smudge... that squiggly line represents bark on a tree? Repeating a square over and over shows depth... shit, I screwed that up and need to restart... I got an idea, LET'S TRACE THE COMPUTER PRINTED IMAGE."

I see a need for sketching, and in many ways I think sketching within a printed document is the best way to describe to others what should change and how... I just don't understand why it's detrimental to start out making lines on computer.

 
May 23, 13 1:13 pm

You're a bit late to the party.

Is drawing dead?

May 23, 13 2:57 pm  · 
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JayCon

oops... it just always struck me as odd when one of the old buzzards would go on a rant about immediately drawing something up in CAD or Revit rather than pencil and paper.

May 23, 13 5:31 pm  · 
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TIQM

If you'd like an answer, I'd suggest you stop calling us "old goats" and "buzzards", sonny boy.

May 23, 13 5:57 pm  · 
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An old bull and one of his many sons were standing on a hill, looking down over a field full of cows.

The young bull said to his father, "Hey Pop, let's run down there and knock one off!."

The old bull turned to his son and said, "Let's walk down there and knock them all off."

For those who find this politically incorrect, please insert "cow" for "bull" and "bulls" for "cows".

May 23, 13 6:28 pm  · 
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boy in a well

whats offensive about cow tipping?

all sorts of hicks do it.

May 23, 13 6:45 pm  · 
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Gmatc

The cows can gt hurt!  My post probably made tipping cows attractive..

May 25, 13 12:23 pm  · 
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accesskb

hey ... sometimes when you're still in the conceptual phase, you don't need to draw out lines accurately...  Ideas should flow from your mind to the paper asap.  I bet I could finish drawing a line with a pencil while you're still getting your fingers settled on your keyboard and mouse xP 

May 25, 13 4:46 pm  · 
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amenapi

accesskb - nuff said!. 

May 26, 13 4:07 am  · 
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Maestro

I'll chime in, and you can call me an old fogie:

there is a physiological reason why hand sketching (not necessarily drafting) is important.  As Architects we are supposed to be trained to see. so the connection between eye, hand, and brain can best be achieved by using your eye hand and brain in a sensory manner.  that is not possible with a mouse as you hand on a mouse cannot determine intensity of the line or is sensitive to distance.  I was probably among the last 2-3 classes to graduate having only drafted by hand, and I have been drawing on CAD for over 20 years, I can attest that this is the main issue. 

With regards to drafting, the biggest issue is the concept of drawing to scale, which most students today have no clue (I also teach).  Lack of skills of understanding line weight and representation of depth in a 2D drawing (basic skills) and drawing composition are lacking all the way through thesis.  Forget about composing and designing in perspective.  It's assumed that the computer will generate that as a by product and its not really a means for design.   And from a "cad operator" mindset, I find most students don't have a clue as far a file management.

I have become accustomed to designing in both methods, but obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to both.  I also collect a lot of hand drawn sets of working drawings as hobby, and there exists today nowhere near the clarity and innovation and invention in drafting as it did when sets were drawn by hand.  Also, a proof that drawing in "actual size" is a problem is the amount of over-drawing that exists today.  I can easily say that a set of drawings for a say, 250,000 SF building is about 5 times as large.  The fact that mylar used to be expensive, that one knew how to limit information depending on scale of drawing, I believe made for a more efficient production effort. 

Now (in old geezer voice) get ur Rhino laden, Grasshopper jumpin, Maya singin, Revit crashing platforms outta my yard!

May 26, 13 10:28 am  · 
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^ Bravo, Maestro.

May 26, 13 11:28 am  · 
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