Hi all,I'm a newbie on here so please take it easy with me. Basically, I am due to start a Level 2 CAD course in college in a few weeks and I would love any tips or help that anyone can offer? Any reading material/Youtube clips or links would be greatly appreciated! I am very keen to learn.Thank you in advance,Bob

What ever CAD your deciding to learn broaden your abilities do not learn just one kind... Learn multiple ones... Mastering books are pretty good.. (Good example books are: Mastering Civil 3D 2013, Mastering Map 2013, Mastering AutoCAD 2013)  These types of books are pretty good. Learning different types CAD can broaden your learning curves and teach you more than you realize. I hope this answers your question..

That is fantastic advice, thank you. Yes, I am planning to cover as much as I can in the next few years and am willing to study (evenings) for at least the next five years so hopefully in that time I can cover quite a bit.

What is your ultimate goal?  Why are you studying CAD?

You can learn enough from Ascent study guide materials to pass the Autodesk certification exams.  You may learn more from them, and faster, than any college course.  They get right to the point.Have a look Here.  Lots to choose from depending on your specialty.Dave.

Apologies Dave and John, and thank you both for your help.To be honest, my primary 'goal' is just to be competent enough at CAD to gain employment. I am currently a full time Welder in the manufacturing trade but would like to make the progression to using CAD. Ultimately I want to be as qualified as I possibly can. I hope this is not too vague?

You don't need a college degree to do that.  A couple of good AutoCAD/Inventor college courses is enough to get you started.  Community colleges offer courses at fairly reasonable prices.  Books are a bit outrageous though. 

The Ascent manuals will get you very competent... no question.  They are a little pricey ($75-100/ea with shipping) but are very well suited to learning what you need to know to be proficient all the way up to becoming fully certified in a product if that's a goal.  Personally I struggled with the, "Mastering...", and "Using...", etc AutoCAD books for years.  It wasn't until Ascent came along that my learning curve really took off.  Ascent publishes very much a home study, at your own pace, type of learning system.I should add that I went this route because there are no college or community college options available near me.Dave
heinsite2013-09-05 00:05:31