Week 2 of the course, and the focus switches to reporting what I have been learning by means of a first drawing assignment.
An orthographic drawing of a stove unit has proved to be a simple enough task, utilising tools and commands in AutoCAD which have become refamiliarised through this process. There were however a few surprises along the way.
Hooray for array
To create the 6 identical switches on the oven, I chose to use the Array tool. As per the assignment, the switch itself was a simple block. New to me though was that the Array command is much enhanced and can be adjusted afterwards too. In this instance, it was a perfect shortcut to copying out the block 5 times, and one which allows me to make changes afterwards if needed.
Title satisfaction
When it came to presenting the drawing on a title sheet I had to learn more about the Enhanced Attribute Editor in order to add the details of the drawing to the title block. A new feature (to me at least) which is incredibly useful for keeping blocks and drawing templates very standardised and clean. The editor itself was surprisingly intuitive and simple to use, contrary to my previous experience with AutoCAD!
Autodesk Design Review
I have to admit, I’m yet to fully appreciate what this extra piece of software is for and what it can do. I have though managed to export my finished drawing as a .dwf and open it up in Autodesk’s Design Review. A few things here that I wouldn’t be satisfied with in a professional context; lack of line-weight or plot settings, and a lack of dimensioning. I hope this will be covered in coming lessons, and which I am in need of time to refresh upon.
The first stage of the assignment was completed within a couple of hours, including researching these new features and report writing. This was in addition to the time spent on the various helpful daily tasks provided. With time to spare, and more to learn; onto the additional task!
Nick Walkley 