Beginner Classes or a book

[Anonymous]

I live in the NYC area.  Can anyone suggest a place where I might take a beginner Autocad Architecture class?

Or if not is there a REALLY easy book to help me get down the basics of drawing floor plans?

[ntellery]

Look in the help for tutorials, they are quite decent,

Check out the various blogs and youtube.

http://architects-desktop.blogspot.com.au/

Check his side bar for other links.

http://www.archidigm.com/classroom/adt_4_development_guide/adt_5_dg_cover.htm

I bought Mastering Autocad Architectural Desktop (old name) by Paul Aubin.

There's a few others out there.

[David_W_Koch]

I am not familiar with all of the classes offered in NYC.  Most (all?) of the resellers serving NYC offer formal instruction, although these days you may have a harder time finding a class on AutoCAD Architecture, as most will be more focused on Revit.

There are a number of books available, although most are no longer being updated every year, due to falling sales volume.  I have personal experience with Paul Aubin's AutoCAD Architecture books, having helped to update the two most recent versions* as well as having used earlier versions to help me learn the program.  The most recent version, done for the 2011 release, takes you through the entire process using two example projects, one residential, one commercial.  While it will not include the features added in later releases, the interface is still sufficiently similar (aside from cosmetic changes) that I think you will find that you will still be able to follow the tutorials and come away with a solid grounding in the use of the program.

* - Full Disclosure:  I was compensated for my efforts, but do not have a financial interest in sales of the books.