I use autocad. I learned it to get my BLA both because I do not have very good drawing hands and it is really essentaial to get internship jobs in order to get licensed as an LA. It happened to work out very well for me because I got my best employment opportunities because I had a pretty thorough training in ACAD. That got me jobs with civil engineers who trained me in civil site planning which opened even more doors for me. Not the least of which were doing public presentations at hearings which developed a lot of other skills such as being able to be pusuasive, to think on my feet under pressure, and to have become familiar to other professionals who attend or watch these hearings on TV. Those are all peripheral benefits that might not apply to others, but I mention for LA students who may not have interest in learning CAD.

The direct benefits to using CAD in my case are many. First and foremost, I can contact any engineer that has done site work for a client and request a CAD file to work from. They will email me the file as a professional courtesy at no cost (I've yet to be denied, maybe because I am a licensed LA). This saves me tons of time measuring certain things on site and gives me accuracy that my tape measure won't. I also get existing topography most of the time. In other words, from day one I have an accurate and precise base map before I lift a finger.

The next benefit is that I can exchange files with architects and/or engineers through the design and/or permiting process. It is also very easy to make pdf files to scale for clients or others to review that can be sent by email and printed on any printer to scale. A complex job might have several sheets showing (and not showing) various things on the same piece of land. It is very easy to have many many layers and save the various combinations of visible layers in a cad file without redrawing things over and over. You can also draw something once and print it out at various scales.

Another important thing for me is that some of my work has to be staked out accurately by survey crews. It is very easy for a survey company to add points to a cad drawing and then load them into the surveying equipment to stake out a job on site.

Autocad is a very complex program. You can easily draft using it with only knowing a few basic commands. The problem is that to do other things there is a very big learning curve. If you use other people's cad files, they may have used more advanced things within the program that are going to be very difficult for you to understand or deal with if you don't have a lot of training. I have been using autocad for twelve years and constantly run into things that I have not dealt with before.

If the intent is to use it as a drafting tool in your own office only, I don't think it is the most productive drafting program for you. If you are likely to do some of the things that I outlined above, it is an essential tool to learn.

I really appreciate the detail of your post, laag. i actually didn't tell all of the story; i wouldn't be using it just for fun as I'm considering seeking a design position with a larger company. CAD wasn't specified in the position description, and the company already knows I draw by hand, so it may not be an issue.

it is something i've been thinking about beginning to learn anyway; just didn't know if it was necessary. your post helped to clarify some of those questions in my head. Thanks!

Jenny

If you're thinking about, or planning to invest in AutoCAD classes, be prepared to invest heavily in your time, and, if you don't work in an office where AutoCAD is available to use and practice with, your money.

Back in the early to mid 80's AutoCAD was, on the scale of things, fairly simple to understand and learn how to use. Sure, there was a time investment, but the state of the art technology for both the software and computers in general was some lightyears simpler than it is today.

Today, even with a good working knowledge of computers, learning AutoCAD will take a fair amount of your time. And time not just for the classes, but time and equipment upon which to practice, for if you simply rely upon the classes without the benefit of constant and almost daily practice, you'll lose much of what you learn rather quickly.

Now, if the need arises to invest in the software, prepare for sticker shock. Today's AutoCAD works on a 'subscription' basis, meaning that even after purchasing the basic software package, which can cost somewhere around $3500.00, if one seeks to maintain a level of up-to-dateness with the software, one will be paying yearly to keep that up-to-dateness. The costs can be handsome, and without a professional justification for such costs, deep pockets might be necessary.

Of course, the software is quite techical, and for the uninitiated can present quite a challenge. But in the architecture/engineering/landscape architecture professions that deal with projects ranging in magnitude from small to large, it's almost a given that knowledge of and ability to use efficiently is a requirement of employment. In the one or two person office that deals strictly with small project not requiring large scale sharing of drawings and files, it may not be such an issue.

In the end, if your goals include the ability to function and participate in the design fields at both ends of the size and complexity spectrum, knowing AutoCAD is pretty much required. But if your intention is to stay in the small and more personal (at least to me) end of the spectrum, then justification for the time and monetary expense is something only you can decide. Will the projects you may be working on, and the offices you may be working in even be using it, or will hand drafting and presentation skills still rule the day?

Good luck.

I know a landscape architect who still draws by hand. It seems he is always under the gun, sometimes having to put new clients off for long periods. Maybe it is due mostly to him never developing a pyramid structure office, with apprentices working under him. But I do wonder how much he is also limited by not using modern software drawing programs.

Wow, treebeard, I seriously didn't know the software was that expensive. won't be investing in that myself!!

bboy, I know of a design company in town that really favors things done by hand. they're a really funky group: they do interior design, textile design, outdoor rooms/gardens and oddball projects like treehouses and potting sheds. They use local artists as much as possible in their projects.

I'll commit to learning autoCAD if a potential employer wants me to, but I'll always favor drawing by hand. I think it's getting to be a lost art, and my clients really appreciate it. I had a client once that said she was going to mat and frame the plan I did for them because she thought it was like a piece of art.

Autocad Lt (lite version) is very functional and less expensive (~$850). It is still more than pocket change. It does not allow add on programs or lisp routines (don't ask). It does allow you to draft and use most every 2d command that full ACAD does. It works with the same file format, so exchanging drawings with other professinals is not a problem. It is still a very deep and complicated program.

I also believe, through experience, that a big design outfit that uses acad is not going to hire someone without formal education in landscape architecture with cad training. They know the learning curve and want only people that are pretty far along that curve. There ae plenty of people looking for entry level landscape architecture jobs. They are much stronger candidates for one of those positions than someone with a different educational background and a semester or two of acad training at a community college. I'm not saying these people are better at design, but they are definitely better for cad drafting and entry level positions in bigger design offices are for production people, not designers.

I agree with pretty much laag has had to say on the subject. I'll still occasionally sit down at the board to hand draw a plan (usually if I'm redoing a yard we put in fifteen years ago and I can put vellum on the original basemap), but 90% of what I do involves a blending of AutoCAD and hand-drawing. Layer management is the key- as was alluded to, you can have your pretty picture for the client to look at; turn some layers on or off, and have a grading and drainage plan; turn a few more on and off and have your irrigation, electrical, or what have you, all in one drawing. So for workflow efficiency as well as accuracy, I'm a huge fan.

You may be able to save money and pick up an older copy of AutoCAD somewhere. Our office still uses AutoCAD2002LT. Even though Autodesk no longer supports it, we have few problems and it does everything we need from a CAD program.

As regards the learning curve, it's well worth it! My instructor told us that once you know CAD, you can learn pretty much any other graphics program much more quickly. It's true; I picked up Photoshop and SketchUp really quickly, faster than I think i would have otherwise.

There are also some free CAD programs floating around, some of which I've heard are actually pretty good. I've just never tried them, because once you know AutoCAD, having to re-learn how to draw a line will drive you insane!

I say, if you'll have access to the program and you can make yourself use it frequently, go for it. There are great ways to integrate technology (for ease of use) and hand drawing techniques (because no software will ever have the soul of a hand render); Jim Leggit does a phenomenal job sharing techniques in his book, Drawing Shortcuts.

marcinde, i could already tell what you were talking about with the layers in autoCAD because I'm familiar with that in Photoshop. i can see how useful that would be when planning different phases/parts of a project.

I'm gonna check out the Jim Leggit book you recommended, too; sounds like a good one. Thanks!

Jenny

"You may be able to save money and pick up an older copy of AutoCAD somewhere. Our office still uses AutoCAD2002LT. Even though Autodesk no longer supports it, we have few problems and it does everything we need from a CAD program."

Using an older version of the software can, indeed, save one some money. But if one is seeking to take advantage of file sharing with other offices or professionals, an older version will, in short order, lead to problems of incompatability as files received from others using a newer version can not be opened by older versions.

Of course, if file sharing is something that you'll never be taking advantage of, then an older version can do the job just fine.

Actually, there are a number of freeware add-ons that have allowed me to open even 2006 and 2007 files, modify them, and then save them as 2002 files. Solidworks sent out one called DWGateway that works great, and I've heard of several others available if you just do a quick search on Google. It's allowed us to be cheap and still share across versions with engineers and architects.

Dave

I don't remember if Acad 2002 supports multiple layouts or just has paperspace/model space. I don't think it does. If it does not, you will get only one paperspace layout and not have any additional layouts. This can be a very big deal if the drawing is complicated and managed using the layout tabs. More and more people are finding that managing their drawings through layouts is much easier and has less disasters than by trying to manage layers with layerexpress or layermanager. If you can't import those layouts, you could have a mess.

I really believe that if you are going to use Autocad and sharing files, you should at least bite the bullet and keep current with the most recent ACAD Lt.

Nope, 2002 does multiple layouts. It's ACAD2000, which is on my home media server running Windows 98, that's the useless dinosaur. Honestly, I learned on 2004, had 2006 at my last job, and there hasn't been anything I do (using ACAD almost daily) where I wish I was on a newer version. The Match Properties button looks different in 2002 (it's a bigger paintbrush), but once I got used to that, no issues.

oh, and one more thing- if you're taking a CAD class at a community college or whatever, then you're a student. You can get ACAD 2006LT Student Edition for $150. So, if you can go that route, no need to not go with the newest and shiniest.