by Geoff Alder
I have been delivering training on Autodesk software for thirty years and during that time I have seen many developments and changes to the way industries adopt the software.
AutoCAD was and still is excellent at modifying the geometry. Therefore, AutoCAD became a tool very proficient at editing in the developing progression of a project. I use the word “tool” here because the technical drawing was an evolving document and a tool to edit changes was needed. “I need to change what I have to what I want”. As a carpenter, I would use a plane to smooth sawn timber to have a smooth surface. It is a specific tool to do a job. I selected a plane to smooth the rough sawn timber.
The AEC Collection has many “tools”. AutoCAD has evolved unrecognisable in the last thirty years. We also have 3ds Max, we have Revit and Revit Live. We also have 3ds Max Interactive. These are excellent Autodesk software solutions and perform very specific and capable tasks. Many clients I visit and indeed train are looking for greater understanding of the full AEC Collection. They say that they have AutoCAD operatives, Revit operatives and 3ds Max visualisers however, the focus should be on being a professional designer not a software operative. We need the Autodesk software to edit the design so we need to select the correct tool to edit and achieve our design.
In interior design the toolset can be quite comprehensive. Much of the design will utilise a great deal of the AEC Collection and other software with regards to image manipulation.
I believe- getting back to my early training- that using the best tool for the job leads us to focus on workflows. The AEC Collection is an excellent set of Autodesk software tools. You don’t need a comprehensive understanding of each software in the collection. You need to know the correct tool to do the job.
My workflow training for Interior design to VR really must look at the best tool for the job. AutoCAD, Revit, Revit Live, 3ds Max and 3ds Max interactive are the primary tools in the Collection. Let’s look at the design and choose the correct tool to evolve the design. A rather famous quote says “When you only have a hammer everything is treated as a nail”.
