I get a fair amount of grief for still using AutoCAD release 14. Antiquated by any standards. I have always considered CAD an electronic pencil. The magic of CAD is that it allows you to manipulate objects after they are drawn and the automation provided by languages like AutoLisp.
To draw a large building and then have the client say they would like to make the center area 5' larger would make a grown architect cry if he drew it by pencil and that is one of the reasons architect state "Do NOT scale the drawings". It was also disheartening to start drawing and then run out of room as you approached the border of the sheet of paper. Can anyone say "Break Line?"
Back in the early CAD days there was someone who was always the "Cad Guy" in each firm by default. It was usually the guy who showed the most interest. I have been using a third party CAD system that was developed by a friend who worked for a different architect's office than the one I was in. He eventually even left the architectural field for a while and taught CAD and did custom programing on the side, but eventually ended back up working for an architectural firm.
The automation he provided really made my work easier. Over the years he upgraded his product, but eventually lost interest as he got back into the architectural profession. I have never found an acceptable replacement, so here I sit at AutoCad Release 14. My clients, contractors and developers, do not require any BIM with their projects, they mostly want permit drawings.
I have had people give me some grief for being on Release 14 instead of 2014, but when I ask them how this insert a door I hear the same process. They insert a block, scale it and then manually trim the walls. Below is an image of the dialog box I use when I want to insert a door. I typically pick a hinge point, opposite point on the same side of the wall that I want the door to swing in and the opposite side of the wall. Then the door is automatically inserted. I select the type of door and door size I want to use first and then my three points.
To draw a large building and then have the client say they would like to make the center area 5' larger would make a grown architect cry if he drew it by pencil and that is one of the reasons architect state "Do NOT scale the drawings". It was also disheartening to start drawing and then run out of room as you approached the border of the sheet of paper. Can anyone say "Break Line?"
Back in the early CAD days there was someone who was always the "Cad Guy" in each firm by default. It was usually the guy who showed the most interest. I have been using a third party CAD system that was developed by a friend who worked for a different architect's office than the one I was in. He eventually even left the architectural field for a while and taught CAD and did custom programing on the side, but eventually ended back up working for an architectural firm.
The automation he provided really made my work easier. Over the years he upgraded his product, but eventually lost interest as he got back into the architectural profession. I have never found an acceptable replacement, so here I sit at AutoCad Release 14. My clients, contractors and developers, do not require any BIM with their projects, they mostly want permit drawings.
I have had people give me some grief for being on Release 14 instead of 2014, but when I ask them how this insert a door I hear the same process. They insert a block, scale it and then manually trim the walls. Below is an image of the dialog box I use when I want to insert a door. I typically pick a hinge point, opposite point on the same side of the wall that I want the door to swing in and the opposite side of the wall. Then the door is automatically inserted. I select the type of door and door size I want to use first and then my three points.
I realize that there are multiple advantages of moving to later versions of AutoCAD. I also realize that for me to move forward the way I want to that I will have to do all the customization myself. So I need to learn how to program in AutoLisp. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but I'm not that old and the they aren't exactly new tricks, as I have dabbled in AutoLisp for years. I understand the process and structure of AutoLisp, I have just never really sat down and coded. After years of telling myself I would, I am finally at a point where I now want to change somethings to do it MY way. There are excellent resources for learning AutoLisp on the internet and it is just a matter of committing one's time to learn how to do it. An old but excellent book to start is "AutoCAD in Plain English" by George O. Head. I think I have read this multiple times.
Our tweaks, I think are what make us more productive. I have a certain way I draw and I have looked at other CAD packages and third party add ons for AutoCAD, but they never do it the way I do. My opinion is that in most computer software there are only a handful of commands you typically end up using, so if I can customize that handful for a later version of AutoCAD (or maybe even ProgeCAD) I will be heading in the direction I need to go. In some future posts I will update you on my progress and what I have learned and where I got my information from. The tweaking of AutoCAD has been one of the major things that has separated it from other CAD packages and has been extremely beneficial to architects.
RSS Feed