Recommendations for online CAD training

Hello all. I am new to the forum, and was hoping to get a little guidance. I would like to get into CAD drafting/design, and have access to AutoCAD. Does anyone have any recommendations for online training programs that would me get my feet wet and familiarize myself with AutoCAD and CAD design in general? I would like to get to a point where I can take on small projects like this and then eventually get a full time job as a CAD Draftsman. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**I apologize in advance if this has already been addressed in a previous thread. I did a search, and did not see one.

[quote][COLOR=#333333]online training programs that would me get my feet wet and familiarize myself with AutoCAD and CAD design in general?[/COLOR][/quote][COLOR=#333333]
Not that simple.. I do think many folks can learn design and CAD drafting with hard work however one cannot replace a formal education and mentoring.

I would look to purchase books on the [URL="http://engineersedge.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/295"]AutoCAD version[/URL] you have. As far as design I would think seriously about formal education to come up to speed.[/COLOR]

I second Kelly's advice. I taught myself Autocad AFTER A FEW YEARS of manual drafting experience. Then I taught myself AutoLisp, the program one uses to write customized Autocad commands. Then I taught myself BASIC programming. Then I taught myself Excel, WordPerfect, and DOS. I did it all with the help of books. Real, paper, hardback books. The ability to go back and look for a reference is invaluable. Also, when it comes to Autocad you should, as Kelly suggested, get a book on the exact version you will be working on.

[QUOTE=Kelly Bramble;8943][COLOR=#333333]
Not that simple.. I do think many folks can learn design and CAD drafting with hard work however one cannot replace a formal education and mentoring.

I would look to purchase books on the [URL="http://engineersedge.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/295"]AutoCAD version[/URL] you have. As far as design I would think seriously about formal education to come up to speed.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

My apologies if I insinuated in any way that it would be easy. I understand that it will take hard work on my end and time to absorb it. I have my own online business by day, so I have the flexibility to learn at an accelerated rate as time permits.That is why some kind of online CAD certification sounded appealing.

I hate to say it but unless you plan on going to engineering school, the future may be not-so-bright in drafting and design careers. More and more companies are opting to have the engineers do all the design and drafting. This allows them to have all the design and documentation done seamlessly by a single person! While there are some advantages with this approach, I don't agree with it. Rather that is what I see trending right now. Of course this is just one person's observations!

It really depends on the business area you are planning to go into. I started out self teaching myself AutoCad in 1990 when hurricanne Andrew wiped out south florida, and at the time Autocad was used for floor plans and elevations of new housing construction. I just picked up an autocad command reference book and weasled my way into a contract job.

Then in 2000, I changed careers and entered the automotive industry using NX (then called unigraphics). I was able to lie my way into a job, and then figure out the software, again with some command reference guides, before my employer figured out that I was totally incompetent.

I learned 3D cad back in the 90's at xerox. We had Intergraph 3D software and I already knew drafting and some design but is was tough without formal training. I did have some folks to ask questions which made my learning process better.

If you have time on your hands, you pick up basic CAD from Youtube (or other video uploading sites). What would be more useful, would be a technical drawing course. Learning a program is not the same as learning how/what to draught. Saying that though; a technical drawing course these days is probably all cad based anyway. Two birds with one stone.

You can try Youtube, there are hundreds of free tutorials about AutoCAD. Anyway it is sufficient only for the basic knowledge.