[Paul Stafford]

Thanks Goustan. I like Polyline – I’ll do a post about it and give the vote results soon.

Regards

Paul

[Paul Stafford]

Thanks Vincent. I hear you – that’s my workflow too.

Regards

Paul

[Paul Stafford]

Hi Rebecca

Thanks for your reply. Did you follow the link to vote? If not I can do it for you

VOTE HERE

Regards

Paul

[Paul Stafford]

Hi Tosh

If that’s how you work then vote for all of them. I don’t want to prejudice the vote with my views yet

Regards

Paul

[Paul Stafford]

Hi Andrew

I’m interested to hear what others use as their default AutoCAD linework tool. Which one do you typically choose for your everyday work? 

Regards

Paul

[Paul Stafford]

I think in an ideal world the LA professional bodies, the education institutions and a panel of LA’s should work together to determine what the requirements are for a particular region/city/country. They will obviously vary from country to country but possibly from city to city. This would maybe be an ideal outcome though probably hard to implement.

Just to play devils advocate…if you agree to the premise that the level of AutoCAD (or whatever software(s) is deemed necessary) class time is less than required in the LA courses, then should:

1. the length of the course (and cost) increases to accommodate more software time?

2. the length of the course stay the same but the ratio of LA to software class time change? ie LA decrease and software increase?

3. the length of the course stay the same but the class hours (and cost) increase?

From what I’ve heard from new grads in Australia the amount of AutoCAD class time is 5-10% maximum. So based on 20 hours class time per week is 1 – 2 hours AutoCAD class time. 

From my experience with training new grads in AutoCAD the class time should be 5-10 hours per week taught by someone from the LA industry who is still actively producing construction documentation on a regular basis.

Regards

Paul Stafford

http://cadsmarter.com

[Paul Stafford]

I guess it depends on your definition of “proficient” or “fluent”. From my experience I’ve not seen any new grads who are proficient to the point that they could start producing construction documentation from day one. I’m not an LA – I’m a CAD person working with LA’s. Part of it is learning their way around AutoCAD, part is learning what is required at each phase of documentation and part of it is learning what is actually needed to construct something in the real world. 

I think it’s a vast subject that could easily be 2 years full-time to prepare them for delivering AutoCAD documentation. Let alone learning how to design and the other subject matter required in the LA courses. I’m not sure what the qualifications are of the lecturers are who are teaching the AutoCAD courses. I would suggest that unless these lecturers are currently working in the industry producing AutoCAD documentation then they might not be up with the current methods.

[Paul Stafford]

The situation is similar in Australia. The level of CAD knowledge that new LA graduates have varies wildly and those that are pretty competent are largely self taught.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that the LA course will output LA’s who are also great at AutoCAD. LA is the primary focus of the course and so it should be. To also fit the amount of AutoCAD tuition into the course timeframe is not feasible.

We have employed a few graduates from an architectural drafting course that is 2 years full-time. They had the basics but still needed a lot of work getting up to speed with working to our CAD standards and what was required at each phase of the documentation process.

The best model in my opinion is for the students to get a good grounding in the LA course with some investment of their own time to learn as much as they can. Then when they graduate to learn on the job. Hopefully the firm has a CAD manager who can fast-track their CAD knowledge.

Regards

Paul Stafford

http://cadsmarter.com

[Paul Stafford]

I’ve been using AutoCAD to produce LA documentation for more than 15 years – and I’m still learning new things almost every day. AutoCAD is a very complex software and it’s a matter of learning what works efficiently and also how decisions made at the commencement of documentation will affect you through the whole documentation process. 

Happy to answer any questions you might have

Regards

Paul Stafford

paul@cadsmarter.com

http://cadsmarter.com

[Paul Stafford]

I think I’m going to stick with M-Color. Have found it more stable than Impression – and it seems to be well supported…unlike Impression.

The closed polylines aren’t a concern as I would be creating them anyway to use in the hatch plans when the project gets to documentation phase. Yes layering and draw order are key.

Paul Stafford

[Paul Stafford]

Hi Anne

I don’t have any US specific plant databases. I use PlantManager for my planting plans and this has a database of 6000 plants. It has a free version to try.

I’ve actually just begun compiling a list of free, open source and cheaper software that could be helpful for a design office. I’ve got 7 listed now but will continue to add to it as I go….

http://cadsmarter.com/members/software/ – it’s for members but you can go here to become a member

Regards

Paul Stafford

[Paul Stafford]

Hi Laurent

Have you tried progeCAD? I don’t use mac so not sure how good it is

Regards

Paul Stafford

[Paul Stafford]

Thanks Matthew. I know a lot of people that use Photoshop too. I’ve just found the process a little longer than I’d like, though gets great results.

Thanks Jason. Yes I know M-Color…I used it ages ago and had forgotten about it. I’ll have another look because my memory of it was it was pretty quick with good output.

Regards

Paul Stafford

[Paul Stafford]

Autodesk Impression seemed like it could be a great solution for quickly producing such graphics when it first appeared. I’ve tried it a few times over the years but never really got it to work consistently.

Paul Stafford

[Paul Stafford]

No problem Calico.

If you have any PlantCAD queries ask away. It can also do other items like furniture, lights, etc and schedule those as well.

Regards

Paul Stafford

[Author]

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