Project Based Courses

Well I'm just wrapping up another course on AutoCAD 3D and I just can't get over how much students get out of project based courses. This one is a 75 hour course where a student develops their own project in 3D. Each and every time I do a course like this it's amazing to see how all the theory they have learned in previous courses really sinks in while doing their projects. On top of that, problem solving really goes to a new level. Students regularly get stuck, and when I'm able to help them out of a jam this gets immediate retention.

Coaching a Summer Student

This summer I took on a One on One training gig with a student who was in Montreal for the summer. Recently we took one of Tom's class assignments which he had started in Revit and brought it into 3ds Max to do some rendering work. Although we are by no means finished I thought I would post some of the images which we have worked on. Last week we worked on creating geometry in 3ds Max for curtains and do some tests on how this might affect a mostly glazed exterior wall.

Article on BIM

I found this article on BIM which gave a great overview on the subject. It appears to have been written a number of years ago but has been updated over the years.

Good reference for terminology and software.

AutoCAD Training Still

I started teaching AutoCAD in 1986, almost 25 years ago. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that there would still be a need for AutoCAD training in 2010. Thinking back, I figured that it would take about 5 years for everyone to learn and adapt to this new technology and that all schools would have no problem with students having at least this basic knowledge.

It's amazing for me to be still teaching adults about AutoCAD, and some of the newer and more fun softwares like 3ds Max and Revit. Sometimes though I can't get over it when I get a young student in a class who has not learned AutoCAD properly in their design courses.

The longevity of AutoCAD has been astounding. I purchased with my first computer a version of AutoCAD, Wordperfect, Lotus 123, and dbase.... Hmmmmm.... at least one was the right choice... :-)

Revit to 3ds Max through FBX

Recently I looked into the FBX linking tool which has just been introduced in 3ds Max 2011. I ran into problems immediately when I went to link a file which had artificial lights.

It appeared that in the 64 bit version of 3ds Max Design that there was a single toggle that was off in the shipping version to import artificial lights. Simple fix just turn it on. That led to other questions. Suppose you are working on a Revit file and import your artificial lights. You will probably need to refine your lights in 3ds Max to do such things like add soft shadows. If you then make a change in Revit and reimport the scene with lights you lose your changes that you made in 3ds Max.

This can be quite anoying if all you wanted to do is move a floor lamp from one location to another. Would be great if you could retain the information you changed in 3ds Max and only import the changed location of the lamp.

New Portfolio Images

Image of a Modeling Project In Progress

Revit Family of a Wall Unit

Rendering of A Hotel Washroom

Courtyard Rendering

Model of an Office Building Used in Photomontage Rendering

New to 3D... ??

I started a course today with a group of students learning 3D for the first time. Since they are in an AutoCAD drafting program, I'm teaching them AutoCAD 3D. I took a few moments to explain to them some of the different Autodesk products that work in 3D for various industries.

3ds Max, Revit, Civil 3D, AutoCAD Architecture, Inventor, Navisworks. I'm just scratching the surface, some of the most popular and more heard about programs. Boy these students have a long way to go....