Autocad how-to guides???

[zzsprade]

Quick question guys... could anyone put me in the direction of some how-to guides for drawing up a cabinet in autocad, how to create 3D models of the cabinet in autocad and how to be able to change the colours and design etc. As in does anyone know any good links for how to use autocad properly? Or does anyone have any other suggestions on programs to use?

Its been 3 years since the last time I used it and I have to say I cant remember anything... including what perspective to start drawing the cabinet in the first place. Cheers!

-Alex

[Frostillicus]

Autocad was never my thing, it's kind of intimidating to me.  What I did was to draw my cab outlines to scale in Illustrator, and import the vectors into 3dsmax.  Then I lofted each one .75 inches (width of plywood), and just assembled the pieces.  I got a pretty good feel for what fit and what didn't.  

[Pungo76]

You can try the Autodesk Support site, they have some online training and q&a type stuff that might help you.  Good Luck

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?
siteID=123112&id=3017771&linkID=2475176

[zzsprade]

Pungo76,

That was bloody brilliant!!! Thank you!

My next question I have to ask would be whether it would be better to draw the cabinet from the aspect of front view, top view, side views or whether to draw it as an isometric (like a side on view at an angle so it looks complete, kind of like 3D)?

-Alex

[tmasman]

tmasman (AutoCAD guru) to the rescue... J/K  (kinda)...

I'd first open up the "View" toolbar & set the view to Left.
Then start drawing the left side of your cabinet.
That way, when you change the view to any of the isometric views (or any other view for that matter) you get what you'd expect.

Any other AutoCAD question? Please ask. I like feeling smart. AutoCAD is the one thing I can actually say I know pretty well. (I program AutoLISP programs for AutoCAD almost all day long when I'm not doing Network admin stuff)

Unfortunately I have never gotten to work with versions newer that 2000i though. (maybe soon... we're talking upgrades...)

[tmasman]

In fact... Here is a rendering of my first draft of the cabinet I wanted to build...
Loosely based off of Lusid's design... I've since decided not to go this route though...
If you want the drawings, let me know... You could use them as a starting point maybe.

~ tmasman

[zzsprade]

Tmasman,

Mate if you would not mind sharing... which I realise is a big ask then that would be fantastic. I am really curious to see how you have put all the drawings together from start to finish because being able to break it down by single view, isometric view to the final 3D rendered image is exactly what i am trying to achieve and to learn. Cheers mate!

-Alex

[tmasman]

I don't plan on leaving this file on my server for more than a couple of weeks, so grab it while you can...  

arcade-dwg.zip

The zip file containing 5 files in it...
1) arcade2.jpg (the rendered image attached to this post)
2) arcade-smaller.dwg (the AutoCAD Drawing)
3) Control-Panel.jpg (The rendered background image on the CP)
4) marquee.jpg (Rendered image on Marquee)
5) mspacman.png (Image on screen)

I added a few things since the last image above... T-molding, marquee retainers, new CP overlay...

This is just a 3D drawing of all the wood in this cabinet design. (Including the inner support pieces).  The one thing(s) I left out were the wood strips to attach the back/top to the sides.
It has a very simple KB tray as well... eh... It was a project I abandoned a while back.  But I could do more with it if there is a desire from the community.


____________
For a little perspective:
The cabinet is 2'-0 to the insides of the sides... 5/8 thick wood. That's a 19" monitor screen shown to scale. With the wheels it's 6'-4 tall. The body is 3'-2 deep (w/o CP). The CP is 2'-8 wide X 1'-6 Deep.

[zzsprade]

Tmasman,

Cheers mate for that... I will have to take a closer look, but I have to thank you very much for all the insightful information that you have shared. Once again cheers mate!

-Alex

[GSXRMovistar]

To be honest I wouldn't recommend AutoCAD for drafting an arcade cabinet, maybe an office block or fighter jet, but i reckon its serious overkill/complication for a simple cabinet made up of several primative objects.

I use 3DS Max but this is also major overkill for this job,  only reason I've used it is because I use it for work.

You would be better off picking up one of the smaller packages, maybe even a shareware app.  A hell of a lot easy to learn and it will still produce what you need.

Then once you have mastered that, you can then look at some of the bigger packages without feeling lost in them.

But thats just my two pence worth  

[zzsprade]

GSXRMovistar ,

Mate you are right it is a serious overkill... there is a lot that AutoCad can do that is not required. However, its more out of curiousity... I used it whilst at school years and years ago. It was a subject that was only offered for a year. So in saying all that I am hoping it will be like riding a bike.. that you never forget. It just I haven't used more of the most recent versions, which now seem to feature more 3D orientated functions. So I am very curious to jump back in the saddle.

-Alex

[tmasman]

I use/manage AutoCAD at work...
I don't have access to any of the other apps to play with, and I'm very proficient with AutoCAD.  I wasn't neccesarily pushing it, but I am always eager to help anyone who wants to tinker around with AutoCAD. It's a fun program once you have the hang of it.

eh...

I was just excited that I got to help somebody out.

~ tmasman