AutoCAD - Complete

256 Hours / 12 Months / Mentor Supported

Course Overview:

AutoCAD Level 1 – Introductory 2D: Students will learn how to set up, create, and edit 2D drawings. Concepts covered in this course include: drawing setup, all 2D drawing and editing tools, navigation techniques, layers and properties, text and dimensions, layouts and viewports, as well as basic plotting procedures. Students will master these concepts through the creation of a variety of 2D technical drawings.  

AutoCAD Level 2 – Advanced 2D: Students will learn productivity-enhancing drawing techniques and team-based drawing features. New concepts include: presentation drawing using fills and color, advanced detailing methods using multiple views and layouts, blocks and symbol libraries, and advanced annotation techniques including tables, attributes, and fields. Students will also learn how to add colour images to their drawings and work with external references on large scale projects in a team environment. Students will master these skills through the creation of increasingly complex two-dimensional drawings culminating in a 12 part, multi-file building project containing external references, satellite photographs and hybrid raster images. 

AutoCAD Level 3 – 3D Modeling: Students will learn to create a variety of complex models in both Mechanical and Architectural disciplines. New concepts include: 3D coordinate systems, 3D Navigation techniques, visualization tools, solid modeling tools, surface modeling tools, automatic 2D drawing creation and layout techniques, assembly modeling, mesh modeling and an introduction to rendering. 

AutoCAD Level 4 – Rendering and Customization: Students will learn to create photorealistic rendered images of a variety of objects and environments including interior and exterior architectural perspectives and walkthroughs. New concepts include: render settings, working with cameras, setting up views and backgrounds, working with premade and custom materials, interior and exterior lighting techniques, landscaping and entourage, and setting up motion path animations.  Students will also learn techniques for customizing the user interface, creating custom tools, and defining custom commands and macros.

This course bundle includes AutoCAD Levels 1 - 4.

Course Outline:

AutoCAD Level 1 – Introductory 2D

• Introduction to basic AutoCAD concepts and the AutoCAD interface. Using the online Help system. Entering, canceling, and repeating commands. Line, Circle, Arc, Polygon, Rectangle, Erase, and Undo commands introduced. Starting a new drawing, saving a drawing and opening a drawing. File utilities and windows file management techniques.
• Introduction to the Cartesian Coordinate system, methods of point entry and Dynamic input. New concepts also include navigating a drawing with the Zoom and Pan commands, Drawing Aids, and Object Snaps. 
• Introduction to basic selection methods. (Pick, Window, Crossing, Previous, and Last).  Construction and Editing I – Erase, Move, Copy, Rotate, Offset, and Mirror.
• Creating and working with Polylines.Construction and Editing II – Trim, Extend, Fillet, and Chamfer.
• Discussion on drawing set up procedures.  Using basic template drawings. Introduction to Paper Space. Creating single viewports and setting viewport scales. 
• Construction and Editing III – Stretch, Scale, and Lengthen. Breaking and Joining entities.  Introduction to basic inquiry procedures with the List, Dist, ID, Area, and Measuregeom commands.
• Introduction to Layers and Object Propertes AutoCAD. Controlling linetypes with Ltscale and Celtscale. Students will learn how to set and modify properties through the Properties Palette. New commands include Layer, Properties, and MatchProp.
• Discussion on procedures for adding text to a drawing. Setting a style and following standards. Students will learn techniques for creating and formatting text. Various options of the Mtext editor will be discussed in depth.
• Introduction to grips and grip edit commands.  Working with Polar Tracking and Polar Snap settings. Using Object snap tracking and the Align command.
• Construction & Editing IV – Donuts and Spirals. Rectangular and Polar Arrays. Point, Divide and Measure. Creating Construction lines and Rays. Introduction to Splines.
• Introduction to fundamental dimensioning terms and dimension commands. Students will learn how to add linear, radial, angular, aligned, baseline and continued dimensions.
• Introduction to dimension styles and style settings and how they control the appearance of dimensions. Students will learn how to create and manage both mechanical and architectural style dimensions.
• Editing and fine-tuning the appearance of dimensions with Child styles, dimension edit commands (Update, Edit and Tedit), grip editing, and the Properties palette.
• Students will explore techniques for utilizing the Quick Dims feature and will also examine Multileaders and Multileader styles.
• Construction and Editing V- Students will learn how to create and work with Parametric Drawings and Geometric Constraints as well as techniques for working with Multilines.
• Students will learn basic plotting procedures and how to set parameters such as plot area, plot style and plot orientations. Techniques for recovering files and drawings with the Recovery manager and by renaming files will also be explored in depth.

AutoCAD Level 2 – Advanced 2D

• Discussion on advanced techniques for creating and working with floating viewports, creating multiple layouts, and using the Maximize Viewport toggle. Introduction to the concept of Paper Space detailing.
• Students will be introduced to advanced dimension concepts including tolerances, ordinate dimensioning, and alternate unit dimensions. Students will also learn how to properly create a single dimension style for use in multi-scale drawings.
• Introduction to methods for adding and modifying hatching patterns, gradient fills, and solid fills to a drawing. Students will learn the Hatch and Wipeout commands.
• Inquiry II – Areas and drawing properties.  Students will learn how to use the Area and Boundary commands to calculate complex areas. Techniques for using the QuickCalc calculator and the command line, geometric calculator will also be discussed.
• Introduction to tables and table styles.  Students will learn how to create and modify tables, control the appearance of tables with styles, and add text and formulas to tables.
• Advanced selection sets. Defining Selection filters and using Quick Select. Defining Layer filters and working with Layer states.
• Introduction to Blocks. Applying the block, insert, explode, rename, and purge, commands. Using REFEDIT for in-place editing of blocks. Creating a library drawing of block symbols. Using the Wblock command to write blocks to the hard drive.
• Attributes. Students will learn how to create and work with simple attributes to assign information to blocks. Attribute extraction methods will also be discussed.
• Discussion on how to use the AutoCAD Design Centre to import named entities such as blocks, dimension styles, text styles, layers, layouts, etc, from existing drawings into a current drawing. Block tool palettes.
• Dynamic blocks. Students will be introduced to the concept of Dynamic Blocks and explore methods for adding intelligent parameters and actions to blocks.
• Xrefs I Introduction to methods for working with externally referenced drawings. Students will learn how to attach and overlay external references, use the Xref manager, and edit and update external references.
• Xrefs II Students will learn how to resolve external reference errors, clip external references, increase xref performance with demand loading, layer and spatial indexes, and archive drawings with external references with the Bind and Xbind commands. 
• Introduction to Raster Images. Students will learn how to attach, scale, and work with raster images. Techniques for managing raster images and tuning raster image performance will also be discussed.
• Fields and Drawing properties. Students will learn how to define custom properties for a drawing and how to define fields of text that will automatically update as the drawing properties change.
• Introduction to the Sheet Set Manager. Students will learn how to organize drawing layouts into named sheet sets.
• Introduction to Publishing. Students will learn how to publish a sheet set from the Sheet Set Manager as a set of paper drawings as well as a single, electronic, multisheet Design Web Format (DWF) file.

AutoCAD Level 3 – 3D Modeling

• Introduction to 3D Workspaces and the Ribbon control panels. Introduction to 3D object creation, 3D Navigation methods, and Visual Styles.
• Introduction to 3D Coordinates, basic User Coordinate Systems. Advanced UCS Options, and UCS settings. Working with model space viewports. Composite solid modeling and Boolean operations, Union and Subtract.
• Model Documentation I. Introduction to the Model Documentation commands. Discussion on techniques for generating Base Views, Projected Orthographic Views, and Projected Isometric Views.
• Applying AutoCAD’s solid modeling capabilities using the REGION, EXTRUDE and REVOLVE commands.
• Model Documentation II. Discussion on techniques for generating Section and auxiliary views. Press Pull command.
• Solid model edits with Slice, Section, Fillet, and Chamfer commands. Accessing Solids History. Model Documentation III.  Discussion on techniques for generating Detail views.
• Intersection Modeling. Students will learn how to create complex forms with multiple extrusions and Boolean intersections. Grip Editing Solids. Selecting and modifying 3D sub objects.
• Working with subobjects and Gizmos. Using 3D MOVE, 3DROTATE, 3D SCALE, 3DARRAY, ALIGN, 3DALIGNand MIRROR3D commands in the creation and layout of complex 3D models.
• Advanced Solid Editing I – Students will learn how to modify solid models using SOLIDEDIT’S face editing techniques.
• Advanced Solid Editing II – Students will learn how to modify solid models with SOLIDEDIT’S body and edge editing methods.
• Students will learn the Helix and Sweep commands and explore methods for creating complex swept models.
• Students will learn how to use the Loft command and modify loft setting such as surface normals, draft angles, and magnitudes. Lofting with Paths and Guide Curves will also be examined.
• Assembly Modeling. Students will learn to use external references to create an assembly model from multiple part files and then confirm the integrity of the assembly by checking for spatial interference with the INTERFERE command.
• Introduction to Sections and Live sections.  Students will learn how to create orthographic sections, face sections, and jogged sections.  Section settings and methods for generating 2D and 3D Section blocks.
• Students will learn how to create and work with meshes and mesh modeling tools.  Revsurf, Tabsurf, Rulesurf and Edgesurf commands will also be covered. True surface modeling and methods for converting surfaces to solids and solids to surfaces.
• Introduction to Rendering. Students will learn basic rendering concepts and will be provided with a demonstration of AutoCAD’s rendering capabilities.

AutoCAD Level 4 – Rendering and Customization

• Introduction to Rendering and the Rendering Workspace. Render Presets, Procedures and Destinations. Preparing a Model for Rendering. Assigning Premade Materials. Starting the Exterior House Project. Assigning Materials in Assemblies.
• Introduction to Named Views. Creating Cameras. Modifying Camera Views. Setting Custom View Backgrounds. Creating Views in the House Project.
• Working with Materials. Modifying Finishes with the Material Editor. Modifying Texture Maps with the Material Editor. Material Hierarchy and Sub Object Materials. House Project - Texture Mapping the Driveway.  House Project - Texture Mapping the Walls.
• Cropped and Fit to Object Materials.  Mapping Coordinates and Box Mappers.  Other Mapping types. House Project -Texture Mapping the Roof. Saving Rendered Images.
• Lights I – Overview of Lighting. Working with Sunlight Systems. Shadows and Shadow Types. Using Viewport Specific Sunlight.
• User Lights Overview. Working with Distant Lights. Faking Indirect Lighting with Point Lights. Custom Sunlight with Distant Lights.
• Attenuation and Light Intensity. House Project – Working with Point Lights. House Project – Working with Spot Lights. House Project – Completing the Night Lighting.
• Custom Color Materials. Custom Fit to Object Materials. Custom Fixed Scale Materials. Tinting and Scaling Custom Texture Maps.
• Introduction to Bump Mapping – Brick and Concrete. Bump Mapping – Pebbled Glass.  More Bump Mapping – Tiles and Textures.  Introduction to Opacity Mapping. Starting the Retail Kiosk Interior Project.
• Introduction to Landscape Objects – Interior Project. Landscaping the House Project Plants. Landscaping the House Project -People. Landscaping the House Project –Trees. Landscaping with View Specific Layer Groups.
• Direct and Indirect Illumination Theory. Setting up Global Illumination and Final Gather. Global Illumination – Interior Project.  Global Illumination – Exterior Project.
• Working with Premade Realistic Metals.  Working with Chrome Finishes. Reflections and Ray Tracing – Polished Copper. Glossy Reflections and Reflection Mapping. Creating a Custom Advanced Metal – Gold.
• Introduction to Advanced Glass Materials.  Working with Realistic Glass Materials.  Working with Advanced Liquid Materials.  Mapping Stone with Advanced Materials.  Advanced Mapping for Water Features.  Working with Self-Illumination Materials.
• Walk and Fly Navigation Settings. Creating Preview Animations. Creating Motion Path Animations.
• Customizing Basic Interface Options. Task–Based Work Spaces. Saving and Restoring Interface Settings with Profiles. Customizing Startup.
• Overview of Customization with the CUI Editor. Customizing the User Interface and Existing Tools. Custom Commands and Macros. Custom Toolbars.

All necessary materials are included.

System Requirements:

• Cable and DSL internet connections are recommended for the best experience.

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 2 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone (Webinar / Live Online sessions)

• Microsoft Windows 7 or 10 (Home, Pro)
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is denoted in the above course outline.