#@$%&^& Cad,

[MichaelH27]

If anyone out there knows why Autocad is so complex and stressfull, Could you let me know.

 

Thanks,

[tzframpton]

Really? This is your "first post"? This is not the forum for people with a first post such as this.

[ReMark]

Any particular feature that is complex and/or stressful or are you generalizing?

 

The more specific your question the more specific our answers.

[f700es]

If anyone out there knows why Autocad is so complex and stressfull, Could you let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

It is a complex engineering program made for many different applications. I honestly don't have many issues with it myself. Have you been trained in it's use?

[MichaelH27]

I'm a tad bit frustrated. I am working for a guy that is not interested in getting a licenced copy of Cad, He wants me to reproduce competitors plans using extremely limited resources. He had to call the guy that he fired a few years ago, To come into work and explain to me why and how the dwg's are messed up. Now I have to learn annotative text, which I have never had to deal with before. My days at work are not fun.

[f700es]

I can see that being frustrating I've worked with people that felt their job security depended making the cad system as complex as possible. Never an easy act to follow.

 

I'm a tad bit frustrated. I am working for a guy that is not interested in getting a licenced copy of Cad, He wants me to reproduce competitors plans using extremely limited resources. He had to call the guy that he fired a few years ago, To come into work and explain to me why and how the dwg's are messed up. Now I have to learn annotative text, which I have never had to deal with before. My days at work are not fun.

[ReMark]

There are at least three different tutorials about annotative scaling (which can be assigned to text, dimensions, hatches, and blocks) available online at AutoDesk University.

 

BTW, although I know enough about annotative scaling to get in trouble, I do not use it. I do all my dimensioning and text in my paper space layout. A lot less hassle in my opinion.

[MichaelH27]

I like your thinking, I am going to make things complex for myself when there is really no need to do so. Keep it simple and find work arounds,

[ReMark]

The method I describe is an option...not a workaround.

 

Annotative scaling does have its strong points and if I were working in a different discipline, like architecture, I'd probably be using it myself.

[CyberAngel]

Annotative text is not for the squeamish. My condolences.

 

The short answer is that AutoCAD has been around since the early days of office automation, the early 1980s that is. It has features that were tacked on in the early going and have never been revisited, mainly because of backward compatibility. An AutoLISP script that you wrote in 1992, say, should still work today, no matter how much stress and confusion the stasis causes. For some reason, backward compatibility wasn't an issue when they jettisoned everything in Land Desktop, so your 20-year-old script trumps my 5-year-old project.

 

There are errors and poor decisions that haven't been corrected in the 20 years I've been using AutoCAD. Try drawing a dimension where the text won't quite fit in the space you're dimensioning. Yes, you have several options for handling that situation, and all of them are bad. At this point I just explode those dimensions and plod onward. The list of similar items is a long one.

[Dadgad]

The method I describe is an option...not a workaround.

 

Annotative scaling does have its strong points and if I were working in a different discipline, like architecture, I'd probably be using it myself.

 

 

Welcome to the forum, now settle down.

It is definitely NOT for everybody, although there are many who swear by (as opposed to AT) it, such is life.

[nestly]

I use Annotative scaling anytime the model has to be shown at different scales (which is pretty much all the time) and IMO, it's less hassle than the alternatives once you get a firm handle on the concept, and the options.

 

To reiterate what ReMark said, the free online screencasts at Autodesk University are what I used to get up to speed.

[JD Mather]

If anyone out there knows why Autocad is so complex and stressfull, Could you let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

AutoCAD is a professional program and deserves (requires?) a professional level of preparation.

Would you take your car to a mechanic with the same level of training in car repair that you have in AutoCAD?

 

Trying to learn how to fix a car (insert CAD) on-the-job is time consuming and can be frustrating. But millions of people have done it very successfully and become experts. If you find that this isn't fun (learning how to do it right) then don't spend too much time giving it a try before you start looking for other employment.

 

If you do find some personal enjoyment in clearing the hurdles, the people here are a great resource. But I estimate it takes around 3 yrs of intense effort to start to really get comfortable. Every week I look back at something I did a year ago, last month, last week.... and shudder at the garbage I produced. And I've been doing this stuff since '87 of the last century.

But boy is it fun drawing pretty pictures...

[ReMark]

It's OK to get frustrated by AutoCAD. When you do then come here to CADTutor with your questions. We're here to help you. In the meantime, if you are going to continue to be the "AutoCAD tech" at your present place of employment look into taking a course or two either online, at your local AutoDesk reseller or a local community college.

[JD Mather]

I am working for a guy that is not interested in getting a licenced copy of Cad, ...My days at work are not fun.

 

When it comes time to change jobs this url might come in handy http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=340446

just tell your current employer you expect a severance settlement.

[MichaelH27]

you guys are funny with your replies, My back ground, I have been drafting for 10+ years. I work in the land surveying industry in Canada. I have drawn wellsites, pipelines and as-built drawings of existing sites. Wherever I worked, No matter what company, the way the drafting was done was very similar to each other. Linetypes had already been established, blocks had already been created, text styles had been in place. CTB files were built. It was all set up and ready to go because the drafting departments had already been developed for 20+ years. I could walk into any of those companies drafting departments and within a month I could be producing a final product because I was very familiar with my routine and the way I had to go about creating a dwg.

 

Two months ago I had moved, Found a different job and was asked by the owner if I would like to set up a drafting department. I agreed to it, thinking it would be much simplier than survey drafting. From day one I knew I was in trouble, the existing dwg's are all done in mm, which means 1000x out to lunch. there is 5 versions of Cad here and not one licence on them. there is no blocks, no line types, no guidance and no one to ask for help.

 

Because the owner has used TurboCad in the 90's, he feels that he is quite qualified to comment on Cad and the way he wants the plans to look. I have never heard of turboCad so I am assuming is is a dumbed down version of Autocad. To come into work and stuggle with Cad and the owner every day is very bothersome. And yes.... To answer both of you fellows, Looking for new employment has been underway for a month now.

 

Thanks,

Frustrated Michael.

[SWfangirl]

Michael, I went throught the very same thing. I came from a well structured engineering firm to creating everything from the ground up 3 years ago. I still giggle when I see some of the stuff that was created in visio of all things before I got here! LOL

It is very frusturating but it gets better. Good Luck

[Lee Roy]

On the Annotative front ... I use Annotative text and dimensions exclusively. It took me a while to learn how it worked, but as soon as I figured it out, it's actually been very useful! I much much prefer it than setting 6" text heights in model space.

 

I can dimension in model or paper space without a second thought; even in an activated viewport in paperspace, it's great.

 

To the OP about AutoCAD being difficult. Decide what exactly is giving you issues, Google it, move on to the next issue. You'll get going quickly.

[tzframpton]

you guys are funny with your replies, My back ground, I have been drafting for 10+ years. I work in the land surveying industry in Canada. I have drawn wellsites, pipelines and as-built drawings of existing sites. Wherever I worked, No matter what company, the way the drafting was done was very similar to each other. Linetypes had already been established, blocks had already been created, text styles had been in place. CTB files were built. It was all set up and ready to go because the drafting departments had already been developed for 20+ years. I could walk into any of those companies drafting departments and within a month I could be producing a final product because I was very familiar with my routine and the way I had to go about creating a dwg.

 

Two months ago I had moved, Found a different job and was asked by the owner if I would like to set up a drafting department. I agreed to it, thinking it would be much simplier than survey drafting. From day one I knew I was in trouble, the existing dwg's are all done in mm, which means 1000x out to lunch. there is 5 versions of Cad here and not one licence on them. there is no blocks, no line types, no guidance and no one to ask for help.

 

Because the owner has used TurboCad in the 90's, he feels that he is quite qualified to comment on Cad and the way he wants the plans to look. I have never heard of turboCad so I am assuming is is a dumbed down version of Autocad. To come into work and stuggle with Cad and the owner every day is very bothersome. And yes.... To answer both of you fellows, Looking for new employment has been underway for a month now.

 

Thanks,

Frustrated Michael.

Well after this post now it explains everything clearly. The question is, how is this AutoCAD's fault? Seems to me you've been a victim of having the privilege of working at companies that did all the grunt work up front so guys like you could come on in and get right to work. Which trust me, isn't a bad thing. But to fault AutoCAD just because you landed a job where there is not standard in place? And then to register on a forum to make your first post cursing the name of the program this forum supports and loves?

 

Hmmm.

[Lee Roy]

I skipped the wall-o-text.

 

Yeah, if you accepted a job at a place knowing you would be building the drafting department, you had to have some idea that standards didn't exist. At least you have a clean palette to start from. Many of us that are CAD Managers or that have been tasked with developing standards, had to inherit what was left in shambles by someone else and bring it all together, all the while staying productive and not getting killed by the draftsmen.

 

I'd love to be in your shoes right now.