Autodesk Architectural 2004

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am trying to figure out Autodesk 2004, and I don't even know where to begin. I am working for my dad, who is an old-school architect who stays glued to his drafting table, wants me to figure out this computer program (refuses to update, much to my frustration), and it's extremely difficult for me to find clear instructional information for Autodesk 2004, probably because it is so outdated. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Not having much luck so far. Currently working with an AutoCAD 2005 instruction manual, not going well. Thanks -Julia

[David_W_Koch]

The AutoCAD 2005 instruction manual (assuming it is for vanilla AutoCAD only) would be useful for AutoCAD commands, but will not be helpful for Architectural Desktop commands.  (Architectural Desktop was the program name prior to the 2008 release, when it became AutoCAD Architecture.)

You may want to look though the "online" (meaning, on screen, not on the web) Help that came with the program.  If you go to the Contents tab, you should see three top-level categories - one for using the Help, one for Architectural Desktop and one for AutoCAD.  You should find some overview material that may help you understand the basic concepts behind the Architectural Desktop features.  The program also ships with a tutorial; you may find working through that useful in learning the basics of Wall, Doors, etc and how they all work together.

If you need more than that (or have already read throught the Help and done the tutorials), there are third-party books that may be helpful, if you can find one for the 2004.  A search of amazon.com for "autodesk architectural desktop 2004" yeilded a number of hits, including those by well-known (in this Discussion Group, anyway) authors Paul Aubin, William Wyatt and Edward Goldberg.  My experience is limited to Paul Aubin's books, which introduce the basics through two parallel tutorials, one for a residential project and one for commercial project.  I found his books to be quite useful when I was first starting with Architectural Desktop.  [Full disclosure - I have helped Paul edit two more recent versions of his book and was compensated for my time.  I have read generally good things about the books of the other two authors mentioned, but have no personal experience with those books.]

If you are careful to make note of article dates - to avoid articles on more recent versions, you may be able to find posts on various blogs that cover a specific topic in more depth.  You can always post questions here, too - keeping in mind that some of us may have to hedge a bit on our answers as it will likely have been a while since we last used the 2004 version and probably do not have access to it anymore.