What is the one thing that makes your drawings come to life?

The thing that truly makes your drawings come to life is 3D rendering. Rendering adds materials and really makes your drawings look like they would in real life.

The tutorials I have provided so far in the 5-day AutoCAD Secrets are somewhat basic. This has been so that the users new to AutoCAD wouldn’t get left behind. Well, a lot of you have told me in the surveys that you want 3D tutorials.

I am going to give them to you!

If you have been following me on Twitter you might have seen me tweet to mark June 4th on your calendars. If you haven’t already done this, do it now. Something BIG is coming.

If you have anything specific you want to see in the 3D tutorials leave a comment below.

What are Layers?

Layers can be accessed in AutoCAD by typing “layer” or selecting it on the toolbar. A good way to think about layers is like transparent sheets that you can draw on. Basically, you can chose to show or not show certain layers. You can also chose not to print cetain layers and you can change the properties of a set of objects according to the layer they are in.

What are the benefits of using Layers?

As you can probably see layers are a huge timesaver when it comes to drawing in AutoCAD. They also allow you to leave certain elements out of your plotted drawing. This is HUGE.

Ok, there is a quick overview of layers. For more details on how to use the command check out the layers tutorial.

How to use AutoCAD Blocks/Symbols

The first in a series of AutoCAD Video tutorials. This one details how to use the block command.

Watch it Fullscreen to see better!

Blocks are basically templates of objects for you to use and reuse. Don’t forget, to save a block for next time save it in a .dwt (template) file. For more on this stay tuned.

If you can’t wait check out the 5-day AutoCAD Course