Customer Reviews

AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010: No Experience Required

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received a copy of "AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED" on a Saturday and sat down with it and a free trial version of AutoCAD 2011 (a full working version and can be downloaded from Autodesk and used for 30 days) on Sunday. After my first day, I am now in Chapter 6 - Using Layers to Organize Your Drawing. This is an excellent book! The instructions are very clear and the pace of the book is just right. The author does not assume that you know anything about AutoCAD (the title is accurately named "NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED"). As I moved through each exercise I gained confidence and was able to draw faster as I mastered a new command. The book teaches you most of the features of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT by using a continuing project, a small cabin. You will learn to build a set of drawings that document your progress throughout the project. Chapter 1 begins with `Getting to Know AutoCAD' while the last chapter, Chapter 17, finishes with `Rendering and Materials'. I am very pleased with my purchase by this author. I plan to purchase Mastering AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 by George Omura after I finish Jon McFarland's book.

I'm learning CAD for the first time, and this book has step-by-step instructions on how to create things....VERY VERY helpful.

I had zero cad experience prior to buying this book. After about 9 full days of use I finished the Autocad LT portion of the book and feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the Autocad Basics.

I would have given this book 5 stars, however; about half way through it appears the Author should have taken a break and gotten some sleep, or at least read and ran through the finished product before releasing the book. Some measurements are wrong, file name associations are off, and steps that can't be done in Autocad LT are not noted as being Autocad Only amongst a few other minor problems. This makes it very confusing, especially around chapter 13 or 14 when utilizing the layouts and sheets. These problems shouldn't be enough to keep you from buying the book though, and the mistakes actually present a challenge to test your skills.

I don't think this would be a good book for anyone with experience, but it is a great book for people like me with no previous experience.

This book is exactly what I was looking for to refresh and learn Autocad again after 15 years without using it. It covers the main 2D commands to draw lines, shapes, trim, fillet, zoom, copy, mirror etc, as well as covering 3D. It works through examples that you follow on your computer and builds knowledge by drawing a small cabin. I am not an architect but the book is really easy to follow and I believe it will help me to draft some construction ideas I have because of my job even though I am not an architect. The examples are easy to follow and the author did a very good job in putting images in the book so you can compare the work you do in the computer and follow it screen by screen.

I started using AutoCad with version 2.1 more than 20 years ago. Back then, there was no LT or 3D AutoCad and it cost around $2500. LT has far more capability than that early version at about 1/3 the cost. All of the original input commands, the command line, general format and look are pretty much the same. Those old drawings I created back then pull up just fine. Most of the changes deal with tool tips and dialog boxes to help the new user. Long time users will find them annoying but it is fairly easy to modify to turn them off. Since most construction and fabrication drawings are 2D, LT is adequate for most applications. If you truly need 3D modeling, there are much better programs other than the full version AutoCad. Don't expect much support out of Autodesk for any of their products, LT included. In my experience, they have always offered little to none. Their focus is on the next release to generate income from changes that are of little to no value to most experienced users. In the early years, you could upgrade any previous version to the latest release. Now, they only let you run one or two versions back and if you don't upgrade, you will have to purchase a new copy. Why does this matter you ask? Well, if you are working with other businesses and they have a newer version, you cannot pull up their drawings unless they save it to an older format. Most folks don't want the hassle for several legitimate reasons. They however can still load your older format drawings. Trust me, it gets to be a mess, so if you are in business, every 18 months or so, Autodesk will come out with a new release and you will need to upgrade.
Overall, LT is a very good program and AutoCad is the defacto standard for 2D CAD. If there was something better, I would probably be using it just because Autodesk has such an arrogant anti-customer attitude. They are the Microsoft of CAD.