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A friend, who was trained as an architect and who worked on AutoCAD software
for a long time replies:<br>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Hi Joanna,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">No easy answer
to this one. There are dozens, hundreds of self-teaching tools for AutoCAD.
But the right one for John will depend on a bunch of factors like previous
CAD experience, what discipline he is going to be creating drawings for (electronics,
architecture, piping, animation, etc.), does he need to learn 3D capabilities,
how much money is this worth to him (he can spend anywhere from $100 to thousands),
his baseline knowledge of drafting conventions, what learning mode is best
for him (step-by-step examples, online interactive, a book, video, whatever).
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Honestly, he can
hire a consultant to help find an appropriate tool. If he really doesn’t
have any AutoCAD experience at all, ANY how-to book from a good technical
book supplier will be a reasonable starting point (though it will probably
not be the only resource he’ll need). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">If someone is
contemplating developing professional-level AutoCAD skills and they intend
to go the self-taught route, they need to be thinking about a very disciplined
time commitment over many, many months. A good class will accelerate the
process a lot (or at least access to a very experienced AutoCAD technician).
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Hope that helps!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Jeff<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<pre><font size="2" face="Courier New"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></pre>
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