Best YouTube Cad tutorials?

[NewGunPlumber]

I have a basic understanding of CAD but would like to learn more including 3D drawing. I don't have time to take off work to do official training and like to have something to refer to while I'm working on real projects.

Can anyone recommend some good YouTube channels for learning basic through to advanced CAD that hopefully have clear English?

 

[guythatbrews]

Decide what program you want to use and go through their tutorials.

 

[Digital Factory]

Do you have access to the software at home? Fusion for example?

Best way to learn is by doing. Decide what you want to draw, find a tutorial on it and follow along - one monitor for the video, the other monitor for Fusion. Pause/rewind as necessary. You'll learn so much faster this way than sitting through hours of instruction.

Here's one:

Aaron's a member on this forum.

 

[EmGo]

Best way to learn is by doing. Decide what you want to draw, find a tutorial on it and follow along - one monitor for the video, the other monitor for Fusion.

Most of the well-known cadcam programs have actual text tutorials. So much better than some half-ass youboob .... agree with "learn by doing" though. Many (most ?) have student or trial versions.

 

[guythatbrews]

I agree formal classes are sometimes taught at the pace of the slowest learner. If you are not that guy classes can really drag.

IMO your first resource should be the comprehensive on line tutorials a good CAD program provides. They are designed to steer you down the right path for  their software with no ridiculous Boob Tuber's agenda.

No tutorials from the vendor look for something else.

If you wanna be entertained then by all means watch a video.

 

[FJsapper]

I tried fusion360 a while back, it was brutal (for me) and my time was limited, I could not stand the YouTube videos. Just picked up a 3D printer and was forced to search for software to 3D model. I found Shapr3D to be super easy to use and wayyyyy more intuitive than fusion. I was off and running after the 15min tutorial built into the program. It was a build-as-you-go lesson so very functional. I’m doing basic stuff so YMMV but I’ve done like 20 parts in the last week and struggled to make one with fusion360.

 

[memphisjed]

People draw/model in fusion?
Surprising for a company that has does 3d modeling software at its core.

There are lots of cad programs out there, try lots on their free trials before picking one to invest real time into. It is not easy to switch later.

If to pick on today, I would go rhino. Shark/viacad #2
Solidworks #3
Oneshape #3
....
Wax tablet and stylus #88
....
Autocad#102
....
Fusion # 349

 

[gregormarwick]

I have practically zero patience for watching youtube tutorials on anything. Way too much time wasted compared to following a written or interactive tutorial. If the creator of the video talks quickly and doesn't pad the video with unrelated crap then it's bearable, but that is basically never the case, and in particular most of them talk so f*****ng sloooooooooowly that I just can't bear to listen to them.

There is also the low barrier to entry to consider. Any man and his dog can make a video on youtube, and it takes a LOT less effort to do than writing a book. As a result, the content of youtube tutorials is usually massively lower quality than what is included with the software by the people who made it, or by someone who took the effort to write a book about it.

If the software you are trying to learn doesn't have built in tutorials, buy a book. You will get proficient in a fraction of the time compared to learning from youtube.

 

[Clive603]

+1 for what gregomarwick says about the superiority of books over boobtube videos for learning things. Not only can you go at your own pace you can flip back to exactly the right page when you hit the "hang on, WTF" moment. Very important capability when working through tutorials as you can pause then use the book to clarify what you are doing and why.

Great thing about good tutorials is that things happen on your own screen giving an element of monkey-see, monkey-do allowing you scramble over the rocks of things you don't really understand until you hit that light bulb point where it all falls into place.

Once you have a book you've got a desktop reference too. So important now that the idea of putting a manual in the box with the software is deader than a dodo. Online searchable help is all very well for specific things. If you can remember what the thing you need to know about is called! But they are generally pants for context. No equivalent of flipping through thinking probably something like "this" or the random "I didn't know it could do that" find. I'd been using VectorWorks (ex MiniCAD) for around 16 years before stumbling on something that would have saved me weeks of time. A thing I didn't even realise would be included. Or why.

Worst point about books is writing style. A book written in the wrong way for how you think is much less helpful than one that follows your mindset. Doesn't help that far too many are basically annotated lists of commands and functions with very little of the contextual information so essential for proper understanding.

My preferred style is a basic introduction in storybook form followed by a bit about how the "first part we are going to learn" works followed by a bit of splicing around to get the basics of that bit settled then move onto the next bit. Once a sensible amount has been covered that way then go back for the details. Incredibly hard to write and you need the manual of what the instructions do as well as the book. But it's very effective. Its the way I used to teach when I was instructing as part of my job, earning a totally undeserved reputation for knowing stuff.

To me context is the key. Once you have context you can usually figure out pretty much what you don't know / understand then make like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

Clive

 

[jhov]

While all CAD generally does the same things, different CAD software can do them very differently. You really need to decide on a CAD software before you can sit down an learn one. What do you need to do with it and what is your budget?

If you just want some general intermediate/advanced guidelines on how to improve your 3D modeling, I've found time lapses to be a quick way to pick up some tips. The channel linked below mainly showcases KeyCreator, but often does comparisons of different CAD packages so you can see the modeling process for the same part in each one. He doesn't talk and the videos are sped up, but you can slow them down using the playback controls to examine something closer.

https://www.youtube.com/@TOOLENGAGED/videos

 

[Screwmachine]

If to pick on today, I would go rhino. Shark/viacad #2
Solidworks #3
Oneshape #3
....
Wax tablet and stylus #88
....
Autocad#102
....
Fusion # 349

Wow, first time I've encountered someone who knows Shark!

 

[memphisjed]

Wow, first time I've encountered someone who knows Shark!

I like it, my daily driver and for when the going gets complicated. shh, do not tell anyone you can get a real modeling/cad program with no maintaince and for a reasonable price.

 

[Screwmachine]

I like it, my daily driver and for when the going gets complicated. shh, do not tell anyone you can get a real modeling/cad program with no maintaince and for a reasonable price.

I like it too, I need to update as mine's V7 from around 2010 (Jesus), it installed on my desktop after being forced to Windows 10 but won't work on the laptop with 10- but they'll give me the latest version for 500, which is my annual fee for Fusion, hahaha. I do use Fusion, but I'm faster with Shark.

 

[kenton]

On YouTube you can increase the playback speed of the video by clicking on the "gear" in the bottom right corner. I usually use 1.25 to 1.5 on tutorials depending on how much info I need to process and the pace of the person.

 

[updatedsecurity]

Hello
Wolfgang Walden is good. He uses a bunch of cad software and shows how to do the same thing on all of them so you get to see the differences.

Biz learn for nx is great. Andy Schafer at acuity for nx cam is great too

Then there is an English cocky guy for inventor and a guy named Lars for fusion

 

[SD&M]

Without knowing what s/w you're learning it's hard to recommend a "best", but here is some excellent content for Solidworks users:

SolidWorks Tutorials Topical Index — Spanner Product Development

www.spannerpd.com

This is perhaps a bit advanced for beginners, but maybe it's good for further learning once you're up and running....

Cheers, Brian

 

[goldenfab]

Most of the well-known cadcam programs have actual text tutorials. So much better than some half-ass youboob .... agree with "learn by doing" though. Many (most ?) have student or trial versions.

I learned CATIA in a college classroom. I then learned Rhino 3D and Alibre by just by going through their free tutorials. I learned more from the tutorials and faster.

Edit: Rhino 3D

 

[wheels17]

I just went through a start from scratch learning experience with Fusion 360. It was very difficult until I realized the differences between bodies and components. Only one of the videos I found actually focused on this and it was the key to my understanding. I've been successful in preparing drawings for my manual machining and exporting g-code for my 3D printer. I concur with the two-monitor approach for learning, one for training resources and one for the application.

 

[NewGunPlumber]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Autocad is probably the standard around here but I'll see where I end up and find out what specific program they use.

Agreed with some comments above. I like to have a project in mind so the learning process is useful and run 2 monitors. One for the project and one for the reference.

Is there anything out there free that is close to autocad to play with at home to learn concepts that can be applied at work?

 

[rootsandstones]

Agreed with some comments above. I like to have a project in mind so the learning process is useful and run 2 monitors. One for the project and one for the reference.

Is there anything out there free that is close to autocad to play with at home to learn concepts that can be applied at work?

Having a project is the best way to learn.

Siemens NX has a free student version. Or Fusion 360. Once you learn one software it's easy to learn another (mastering a tool is a different story...)