Self-Taught or by others?

[bbacker]

I had posted here in the CAD Management forum about 3 months ago about being thrust into the position of CAD Chic (my unofficial title). I finished my ADT class just a couple of weeks ago. We barely even scratched the surface of ADT.

Now, I have been put into the position of Software Support Chic. But I know one class does not an expert make. So my question is...

Are you self-taught or did you seek outside training? If outside training, what type of training? And...did you use a nationwide ATC center? Who was it?

If you are self-taught, which book did you use? Do you feel it covered your needs? I purchased the Paul Aubin book on ADT 2005.

I called Imaginit this morning and wasn't too thrilled with the response I got.

Thanks for any help or insights!

Bridgett

[robert.1.hall72202]

Depends on how important it is for you to know CAD inside out..........I attended a vocational school for a CAD class. I walked away with over 400 hours of experience.
Definately better than any CAD training course, and even better than any CAD class
I had taken in college.

I just took a one week catia class and by no means am I volunteering my time to
create models. I am guessing any similar AutoCad training would teach about the
same.

[bbapties]

i took drafting/acad at a vocational school as well... two year class in high school... one of those deals where you go to high school half day and then vo-tech.....

but then I went into construction (framer - general contractor) for about 5-6 years and then went back to cad and self taught myself back into it.....no books, just the help files and really just doing it.......i think thats the best way to learn, jump right in.........you'll either sink or swim.....at least you'll know if it is something you'll be able to handle.....

[D_Driver]

the answer is Yes...Self-Taught and by others (but not quite the way you meant)
Personally I have been working with ADT since Day 1, so most of my learning has been seat of the pants. - I will say that as an instructor I am perhaps a bit biased toward classroom training because...

Get the training. The paradigm shift you go through transitioning to ADT (or Revit for that matter) is a shift taking you away from lines/arc/circles into the realm of objects. Within this transition, you have several learning curves happening simultaniously. You have the vocabulary curve..Property Set Defintions, Display configurations, representations etc. You have the environment curve ... where to I go to tweak that setting. You have the behavioral curve ... how do those walls behave or misbehave (red circles of death), and how do they interact with each other and other objects. So training in my book is a good jump start to take you from the unfamiliar level of "I don't even have a clue what to type into the help menu to start looking for help" to at least the beginning level of "OK, I understand this has something to do with the way ADT is sending the set of instructions to the graphics card, so must have something to do with the Display Configuration or style override"
Quality of training differs widely out there. The only thing I could say here, is watch this thread, and look for positive feedback. As a trainer myself, I will say most students come to my basic 2 day class expecting to be proficient and to be the "CAD chic (or CAD dude) for ADT" after 2 days. I think (and I think you will agree) this is a difficult expectation to meet. Most trainers/training centers will offer several levels of ADT training.

Equally important to training is having a good implementation plan. The best basic 2 or 3 day ADT class in the world cannot cover everything you need to know in all cases to use all of the ADT objects and features.
A basic class should give you the fundemental ideas behind ADT - WHY does ADT work the way it works, along with some ideas of where to go when it does not work the way you think it should. Tie this together with an implementation plan that takes the implementation one bite at a time.
I suggest in my classes that students come to the basic class and then work with ONLY walls doors and windows for a simple project. Get used to the ideas of working with objects, Get through the vocabulary and environment and behavior learning curves for a limited set of ADT objects.
On the next project, add the project navigator.
on the next project, add scheduling and tags. - and maybe at this point after you have the taken a good bit out of the paradigm shift, take an intermediate or advanced class and look at nailing down the standards for the office.
This is for some offices ok, for others, they need the standards up front. The difficult task for the CAD go-to person if they are responsible for the standards is that they need to dive fairly deep in the software to understand the implications to the choices they make in changing out of the box behavior to meet the needs of their office. - that is where having a consultant at hand is a fine thing - whether a reseller application engineer, or a independent.

so...Training...Implementation plan...mentor.
when we learned ACAD we were probably surrounded by people who had a whole bunch of knowledge about ACAD. These were the people passing by your workstation that looked over your shoulder and told you how to create a block properly. As you move to the object paradigm, find yourself a mentor that can virtually look over your shoulder. I think for most firms this take the form of as you are doing, posting to the newsgroups.

As I am a trainer, I would not venture to recommend, or dis any other trainer at any time, but if you have a local users group - ask them for their experience with the local resources.

to answer indirectly your question
Each of us learns differently. what some people will just plow into with hands on works for some of us. Others are more confortable getting parts and pieces from classroom or books. You as the resource for your office need to understand the nature of the office staff. Most offices I have been in have a mix - some folks need to be smacked (sent to class) others are internally motivated and will jump in and grind away until they figure it out.



good luck on your new role as CAD chic!

[Glenn Pope]

I purchased the Paul Aubin book on ADT 2005.

If you have any questions that you want to ask Paul about his book, check out the Cadalyst Discussion forums. He is an administrator there and frequents them alot. He is a great guy and is always happy to answer questions.


About training.
I did the same as bbapties. Half day at high school, the other half at the vo-tech for 2 years. The best place would be your local vo-tech. They will give a good foundation for the basics and then some. Then you can go on and teach yourself the more advance stuff. That is what I did, with a sprinkle of classes here and there. AU or the AUGI Cad Camps are good for this.

[bbapties]

... with a sprinkle of classes here and there. ..

I forgot to mention this.... I do also go to small seminars....Like the little "whats new" classes...Or like the One day Spring Training things...see here..... they help alot to keep up with the program.....with ACAD there is sooooo much you can do its good to see the bells and whistles to get your gears turning on the best way for you to utilize it.....

[Mike.Perry]

Or like the One day Spring Training things...see here.....

Hi "Bbapties"

Can you please correct the above link... thanks.

Mike

[bbapties]

Hi "Bbapties"

Can you please correct the above link... thanks.

Mike

sorry..... its been fixed

[Mike.Perry]

sorry..... its been fixed

Hi "Bbapties"

No sorry required... no worries.

Mike

[Mamma Jamma]

Self-taught. I started with AutoCAD 2 point something about a million years ago, and I'm not even sure if anyone was actually teaching it at that point. In the beginning there was this wonderful little bible - Inside AutoCAD - that helped tremendously.
I'm still learning, of course - online tips, forums, poking around on my own. I've found that many of the "kids" around me that learned AutoCAD in school remain fairly stagnant. They learned what they learned and have no inclination to search for newer or better ways. I, on the other hand, am inherently lazy and will search out an easier way to do just about anything.