AutoCAD

AutoCad is a design and drafting software which allows you to build 2D and 3D architectural designs. I'm a new user and just getting to learn all about the massively powerful features available. I want to learn AutoCad because it's the industry standard and has been around a long time. It's going to be easiest to communicate it's language in the industry once I'm prepared to do so. Drafting and designing my own home has always been a dream and I'm willing to learn this software in order to best communicate with the architect and contractors I will use one day to make it a reality. It syncs with other AutoCad software too which will help those professionals expand upon my initial work. I find AutoCad to be quite user friendly though it helps I have good knowledge of Photoshop because there is a correlation between the interfaces even though the feature sets are very different. There is a definite short hand possible using AutoCad. With keyboard shortcuts and the like available to streamline your workflow. Once I learned this in Photoshop it sped up my productivity enormously. My first suggestion for the new user is to first get to know the language of the software. File types and processes and such. Next, I would strongly suggest learning the keyboard shortcuts because they are directly linked to the core functionality in every way and allow you to revisit the features moving forward much quicker. AutoCad has a large user base and community online. There are lots of resources available on the AutoCad website and with a quick Google search for tutorials or other keywords. I find searching images for keyboard shortcut maps a useful thing to do. If my inclinations took a step towards becoming a professional in the design industry I wouldn't hesitate to take a class on AutoCad, and there are lots of them in major cities though available elsewhere for hands on guided help and the video tutorials available on Lynda.com are great as well.

There is a serious learning curve with AutoCad. It's not for the faint of heart. I've used several beginner design programs in the past which utilize drag and drop technology essentially to draft and design much easier, but I respect AutoCad is a professional solution. It's like photoshop in the sense that once you learn how to use the functionality it can really speed up your efficiency and workflow. But the learning involved to get to that point is real and there is a time investment required. It's quite a large software; almost seven gigabytes. And my relatively new laptop with 8B ram and core i5 cpu apparently does not have a sufficient video card to run the hardware acceleration feature. So I'm not certain what functionality I'm missing out on exactly but everything seems to be working fine. I've begun using this software for 2D designs mostly and so far it is awesome for this purpose. I've read the 3D capabilities are not so good compared to other 3D softwares but I haven't crossed this bridge yet myself so can't say for sure. I hope it's fine for a basic 3D rendering at least. I've heard it's possible to get good results but that it's unnecessarily complex which creates some redundancy and it can get a bit cumbersome. I've also read this program can be buggy and crash a lot by several reviewers. So far though I have not experienced this at all and can only remember to backup every couple minutes and hope for the best.

There is a free trial available which is great. You can download the complete program and give it a test run. It's a large file so make sure you're not running low on your hard drive and it's probably best not to be running any other programs while installing especially if you have an older computer. AutoCad is pricey. The software is only available with an annual license which can range from a few hundred to a few thousand for the year. I like the AutoCad LT version currently on sale at $299 so if you're a new user consider this and watch for a special offer.