The following full-day course is intended for professionals who rely on DataCAD for producing design-development, contract, and presentation drawings. Note: This course is not intended for beginners.

Course Outline

Morning Session (8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)

Production Drawing
The morning session focuses on using DataCAD's new features such as Smart Entities, Paragraph Text, Entity Properties Editors, Symbol Tools, and Snapping, Dimension, Clipping, and Plotting enhancements for as-built and production drawing. The instructors will also cover critical shortcuts and drawing organization techniques designed to streamline the documentation process.

Introduction
- Overview of important settings
   ● DataCAD’s interface
   ● “Global” program preferences
   ● “Local” drawing preferences
- Default drawings
- Auto-recover saves versus backups
- Session backups

Smart Entities
- Key terms and concepts
   ● Type
   ● Control line
   ● Node
- Smart walls
   ● As-builts to production
   ● Creating and managing types
   ● Drawing and cleanup
   ● Combining with ‘Classic’ walls
- Smart doors and windows
   ● Creating custom types using 2D symbols
   ● Placing and editing
- Using Search and replace
- Extracting 2D
- Exporting to DWG

Sections and Elevations
- Creating elevations and sections from smart entities
- Using hidden line removal
- Using XREFs

Site Plans
- Plot plans
- Importing data

Text
- Stringline text
   ● Alignment
   ● Text Scale
   ● Fix Text
   ● Using with clip cubes
- MText and PText
   ● TrueType versus SHX
   ● Formatting and resizing
- Symbol attribute text
   ● Drawing notation

Dimensions
- Text Scale
- Lock Scale
- Dimension Styles

Hatching and Fills
- Associative hatch
   ● Contour search
   ● Locking origin, scale, and angle
   ● Using the Entity Properties Editor
- Fills
   ● Solid, pattern, and bitmap
   ● Display and print order
- Working with voids, text and symbols

Symbols
- Symbol Browser
- Symbol Scale
- Dynamic Flip
- Rotate by center
- Reload and replace
- Clipping
- Editing
- Exploding
- Translating to/from DWG

XREFs
- Nested
- Self-referencing
- Circular
- Managing
   ● Highlighting
   ● Naming
   ● Binding
   ● Binding to symbols
- XClips

Printing and Plotting
- Choosing and Installing Printer drivers
- Using Check Plot
- Multi-scale Plotting
   ● Details and GoTo Views
   ● Binding sheets for DWG export
- Pen Tables
- Creating PDFs
- Batch Plotting
- Plot Files
   ● Working with service bureaus


Afternoon Session (1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

3D Modeling and Rendering
The afternoon session focuses on using new features such as Smart Entities, 3D Booleans, 3D Edit Planes, Entity Properties Editors, Rendering Settings, Symbol Tools, and SketchUp Import for design-development and presentation drawings.  The instructors will also cover fundamental modeling techniques designed to streamline the visualization process.

Smart Entities
- Smart walls
   ● Preliminary design to presentation
   ● Creating and managing types
   ● Applying materials for rendering
   ● Combining with 3D entities
- Smart doors and windows
   ● Creating custom types using 3D symbols
   ● Applying materials for rendering
   ● Placing and editing
- Using Search and replace
- Extracting 3D
- Exporting to DWG

Roof Modeling
- Creation methods
   ● Working with 3D polygons
   ● Surface of revolution
- Using RoofIt
- Using 3rd party tools

Stairs
- Using 3D Stairs

SketchUp
- Inserting SketchUp files
- Exporting to SketchUp

Working with other 3D Formats
- o2c, 3DS, and STL

3D Modeling
- Object normals
- Working with covered polylines
- 3D Power Tools
   ● Using Sweep
- 3D Boolean operations
- Modeling with symbols and XREFs
- Using Drop Mesh and the TIN modeler

Shading and Rendering
- Key terms and concepts
- Material by color versus layer
- Managing materials
   ● Assigning
   ● Creating
   ● Texture origin
- Using the Object Viewer
   ● Navigation
   ● Background color/image
   ● Saving an image
   ● Saving an object
- Material Properties
   ● Shiny and metallic
   ● Transparent (glass and water)
   ● Texture mapping
- Lighting
   ● Interior versus exterior
   ● Using XREFs
   ● Color and intensity
- 3D Signage
- Creating a final rendering
   ● Enhancing final output
   ● Color printing
- Using o2c Interactive
   ● Views and schemes
   ● Batch rendering
   ● Creating an animation
   ● Creating a web page

Where to get help
- Web sites
- Books and Publications

Resources
- Web sites
- Hardware and Software