We take a quick look at some excellent training guides.

Let’s just face facts, it’s a tough world out there. If you are a CAD professional, or any kind of professional for that matter, you have to stay on your toes. That means keeping abreast of the latest developments in your field, keeping your existing skills up to date, and broadening your tool set to stay marketable. That is a whole lot of work and most of the time you are on your own to do it all. What a bummer.

We know how hard it can be. Not only are you trying to satisfy the weekly demands of the place you are punching the clock, but now you have to use your sparse off time to study and practice your craft. For those very reasons every bit of value that you can squeeze out of these few extra minutes matters. You can’t waste that time searching for great sources educational goodness. No, your time must be used wisely. That is why we are glad to bring to you information on several recently released books that will help you shape those skills.

by Boardman and van der Steen ...

Working hard on learning how to create masterpieces of 3D modeling and animation with Autodesk’s 3ds Max? Well then you need to check out “Rendering with mental ray and 3ds Max”. Ted Boardman and Joep van der Steen go through the concepts of creating superb renderings using the mental ray plug-in for Autodesk’s 3ds Max. If you are an intermediate 3ds Max user looking to take your work to the next level you should check this book out.

Next on our list of excellent reference and training materials is another fine publication from Catapult Software Solutions. “Digging into AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010” by Rick Ellis is the updated release of last year’s “Digging into …” title for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009. We have to tip our hat to Mr. Ellis because his books have a permanent spot on our desks here at the Kung Fu Dojo. Normally if we like something we say like “this is a must have for any bookshelf” but the fact is that this book gets passed around so much it never makes it to the shelf. Mr. Ellis explains concepts from the simplest to the most complex in a very casual, conversational tone that makes learning easy. We recommend Catapult’s “Digging into …” series to any new or intermediate user looking for a straight forward training reference.

For CAD professionals looking to expand their skills in areas outside of civil design and 3d modeling have some great options from ASCENT. New from the ASCENT – Center for Technical Knowledge come training guides for Autodesk Inventor 2010 and AutoCAD Electrical 2010. For users of Autodesk Inventor 2010 there is the Sheet Metal Design training guide covering all the concepts of designing, editing, generating and documenting sheet metal designs. AutoCAD Electrical 2010 users have the new AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Fundamentals training guide. This guide will help users understand the core fundamentals of schematic and panel drawings as well as the use of the automated tools provided in the application. Both training guides are updated to reflect the latest changes in tools and interfaces for both 2010 releases. Also be certain to take a look at ASCENT's full line of training material.

"The Unofficial Revit 2010 Certification Exam Guide" ...

All of the above are great references and training guides for beginner to intermediate users, but what about advanced users? If you are an experienced Autodesk Revit 2010 user looking to get your Autodesk Certification then look at SDC (Schroff Development Corporation) Publications’ new “The Unofficial Revit 2010 Certification Exam Guide.” This book should be an excellent reference for any CAD professional working towards either their Associate or Professional certification. Topics will give the reader an idea of the kinds of questions asked and the skills needed to successfully attempt either certification. Be sure to also take a look at the rest of SDC’s line of training manuals for CAD applications such as AutoCAD, Microstation, SolidWorks, Mastercam and many others.

We hope that our readers find this short list of recent training guides. It can sometimes be a lonesome and thankless task to be the person working late to learn new tools and skills, but the rewards can be great. If you have a recommendation for a good training manual leave us a comment. We’d love to hear about all of the great training tools our readers are using …

- KFD -