Solved! Go to Solution.
Solved by Bob_Zurunkle. Go to Solution.
As a lead-in, do you own Revit? Autodesk now sells Revit LT alone ($1200 USD) or bundled with AutoCAD LT in a "suite" ($1500 USD). It sounds like the perfect fit for your size of one-man project.
Revit has a Project Browser window that starts off on the left side of the screen, but can be moved anywhere you like. In it you will find everything listed that exists in your current project. Everything you add to the project gets added to the list in the browser. This is where you can scrol land see your various plan views, elevation views, seciton views, 3D views, sheets, families (similar to blocks), etc. Now on to a project...
What one does in Revit is they start somewhere, by placing an element. You have to pay attention to what level the element is placed on, and how it relates to other elements. You might be seeing what appears to be a plan view, but instead of drawing lines, you are literally building a 3D digital "building", by placing entire floors, roofs, walls, doors, windows etc. You can create section views, elevation views and 3D views anywhere in and around said "building".
That's an oversimplification of the creation process. When it comes to annotation, you have to think ahead by creating new sheets (click of a button), pull in selected views onto a sheet, and then start in (similar to annotating in AutoCAD). You'll find you can add dimensions or convert the exisitng ones that drive the model, into viewable ones. Some things can be set to be added automatically as you create the model, such as door tags. If you create what is known as a Room Area, it too has a tag that will report anything from room name to area, depending on the tag you use. Schedules are another easy thing to create (click a button), and you get to choose what to display in the schedule. But text and leaders for example are almost as easy to do as in AutoCAD. There are elements you can bring in called Detail Components. You can also bring in Symbols. What you don't see you can either find on line or create yourself in the family editor. You can create both the 3D content and the components and symbols.
The thing is, if it seems like working in a foreign country, you have to decide if you want to "learn the language" -- some of it requires setting aside what you might already know in AutoCAD, but it's not as "daunting" as you might think. Nobody in their right mind would model what you're doing right down to the last nail, and that's where the detail components come in -- for giving a more finished look to the sheet set. And that's where things start to seem like AutoCAD again. I suggest you look at youtube, and/or online training, even what's available through subscription (also highly recommended). Take a course or two at your local CC. Search these forums for recommended resource books. Good luck! 🙂