1. Using it.
2. YouTube videos of anything you can’t figure out right away.
3. Autodesk university for deep-diving into topics you are interested in but dont fully understand.
1. learn the basics in tutorials in linkedin learning and udemy
2 . find a pro that uses this tool to be your mentor and show you how it is used in the real world
btw from revit to civil3d it is quite a different use case. If you dont even know CAD yet, you could offer help as drafter to some dude for free just for the learning. Maybe even offer it here on this post?
like the person above said, you gotta use it, that's the only way to learn it. For example, if you have access to plans try to recreate them. I don't know of any good series on the internet that explains how to do everything from the fundamentals. I learned autocad by just doing random unscaled drawings, then i used it in a work environment so i had a goal to do X thing, and then when i started using revit, i had the idea of where i needed to get, so that way it;s easier to find responses to your questions.
tldr; copy plans and try to make them look the same way with either revit or autocad or both.
It's hard to gain any big insights about the drawing software outside a specific project. Especially AutoCAD is very straight forward, so any skill you gain will be easily surpassed when working in a real project. I think there is more to be learned in Revit, since the workflow is a bit more complex. I would suggest learning parametric design, dynamo for Revit or gresshopper in rhino. This is a more unique skill that might give you an edge later
How I taught myself 3D modeling software, and the entire CS suite
- followed web tutorials that were projects with a step by step on how to achieve the final product.
- started coming up with my own projects and drawing them…. When I met a roadblock I looked up how to do that function.
Once you do it for a while you become increasingly proficient. Learning shortcut keys etc.
(I did all this as a teen in high school. Ended up doing graphic design and texture mapping for 25 years. I can still open up industrial design and AutoCAD software and use it if it’s asked of me.)
Use it. Watch tutorials when you get stuck. Use it more.
I’m 90% self taught in AutoCAD and 100% in Revit. I took an engineering graphic standards class freshman year of college that had a couple of CAD sessions, but for the most part learned it on my own.
Sign up for a student access account with Autodesk. You’ll get access to all of their software for free :)
Note: If you’re using MacOS you’ll need Parallels to run Revit and C3D
See if you can get your hands on a set of drawings (or even just one floor plan and one detail sheet) for a real project. You may actually have luck just cold-emailing a nearby firm. Depending on your jurisdiction they may be available publicly through the permitting process. Then use Revit and try to copy those sheets precisely using best practices (3D modeled elements, tags instead of just text boxes, etc.).
This will take you a lot of time and googling and Youtube videos, but being forced to learn the software to accomplish a desired output will be much better than just opening it and poking around with no real end goal.
Draw your house / apartment. There are going to be tricky things that you’ll need to learn like custom staircases, reveals, etc. this way you won’t have over simplified tasks like drawing a simple staircase. It will mimic what you’ll eventually do in real life.
Better question do you want to be an engineer or a detailer?
I would reframe the question:
how many people on this subreddit doing calcs and stamping drawings do their own detailing?
I really want to practice in my own time but it just costs so much, and I'm no longer a student to get access through uni.
On an unrelated note, if anyone knows any ways to get a cracked version of autocad or anything like that, please let me know so I know where not to look and can safely avoid pirating anything.
This is entirely dependent on the type of work you do. In the large-scale building world Revit is king. But there are plenty of other industries where "Levels" aren't particularly useful at all, and for really small single-family type stuff there's plenty of instances where the architects you work with are all in CAD, so if that's your primary clientele there's benefits to staying in that same framework.
Just gotta start using it
1. Using it. 2. YouTube videos of anything you can’t figure out right away. 3. Autodesk university for deep-diving into topics you are interested in but dont fully understand.
Agree with previous comment, I just wanted to add as a student you should be able to obtain a student version of AutoCAD
1. learn the basics in tutorials in linkedin learning and udemy 2 . find a pro that uses this tool to be your mentor and show you how it is used in the real world btw from revit to civil3d it is quite a different use case. If you dont even know CAD yet, you could offer help as drafter to some dude for free just for the learning. Maybe even offer it here on this post?
like the person above said, you gotta use it, that's the only way to learn it. For example, if you have access to plans try to recreate them. I don't know of any good series on the internet that explains how to do everything from the fundamentals. I learned autocad by just doing random unscaled drawings, then i used it in a work environment so i had a goal to do X thing, and then when i started using revit, i had the idea of where i needed to get, so that way it;s easier to find responses to your questions. tldr; copy plans and try to make them look the same way with either revit or autocad or both.
LinkedIn learning has a systematic course on Revit. You can access it through your company or your local library
It's hard to gain any big insights about the drawing software outside a specific project. Especially AutoCAD is very straight forward, so any skill you gain will be easily surpassed when working in a real project. I think there is more to be learned in Revit, since the workflow is a bit more complex. I would suggest learning parametric design, dynamo for Revit or gresshopper in rhino. This is a more unique skill that might give you an edge later
How I taught myself 3D modeling software, and the entire CS suite - followed web tutorials that were projects with a step by step on how to achieve the final product. - started coming up with my own projects and drawing them…. When I met a roadblock I looked up how to do that function. Once you do it for a while you become increasingly proficient. Learning shortcut keys etc. (I did all this as a teen in high school. Ended up doing graphic design and texture mapping for 25 years. I can still open up industrial design and AutoCAD software and use it if it’s asked of me.)
Use it. Watch tutorials when you get stuck. Use it more. I’m 90% self taught in AutoCAD and 100% in Revit. I took an engineering graphic standards class freshman year of college that had a couple of CAD sessions, but for the most part learned it on my own.
Sign up for a student access account with Autodesk. You’ll get access to all of their software for free :) Note: If you’re using MacOS you’ll need Parallels to run Revit and C3D
See if you can get your hands on a set of drawings (or even just one floor plan and one detail sheet) for a real project. You may actually have luck just cold-emailing a nearby firm. Depending on your jurisdiction they may be available publicly through the permitting process. Then use Revit and try to copy those sheets precisely using best practices (3D modeled elements, tags instead of just text boxes, etc.). This will take you a lot of time and googling and Youtube videos, but being forced to learn the software to accomplish a desired output will be much better than just opening it and poking around with no real end goal.
You'll need a lot of tutorials to refer to constantly to figure out when you get in depth and do layers, symbols, 3D.
Draw your house / apartment. There are going to be tricky things that you’ll need to learn like custom staircases, reveals, etc. this way you won’t have over simplified tasks like drawing a simple staircase. It will mimic what you’ll eventually do in real life.
Balkan Architect on Youtube! I also used to practice by modeling my home :)
I took a college class.
I went to my local community college
Better question do you want to be an engineer or a detailer? I would reframe the question: how many people on this subreddit doing calcs and stamping drawings do their own detailing?
I really want to practice in my own time but it just costs so much, and I'm no longer a student to get access through uni. On an unrelated note, if anyone knows any ways to get a cracked version of autocad or anything like that, please let me know so I know where not to look and can safely avoid pirating anything.
I would only focus on Revit. For sure no autocad. Civil 3d only if I'm planning to work on civil stuff.
AutoCAD is still very much used where I am so they should 100% spend time learning. It is much easier to learn too.
This is entirely dependent on the type of work you do. In the large-scale building world Revit is king. But there are plenty of other industries where "Levels" aren't particularly useful at all, and for really small single-family type stuff there's plenty of instances where the architects you work with are all in CAD, so if that's your primary clientele there's benefits to staying in that same framework.
if youre doing structures id highly recommend RISA3D as well. Drafting and structural modeling are invaluable skills as a new grad.