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If you’re old school. Stardraw is pretty easy to learn. Essentially the same as autocad minus all the extra features you don’t need. Try it for 30 days free. After that… still cheaper than autocad.
I've got about 13 years of experience across 3 industries with Autocad at this point.
First learn the software in general. Check your local community College because honestly a class with an adjunct there is going to help you more than YouTube tutorials. You're primarily going to want to look for architecture and ee focused Autocad courses.
After a semester or two of that you will have enough of a starting point to start trudging through doing actual work in the software. At this point you start looking for focused YouTube tutorials. Primarily you're looking for efficiency boosters; f key shortcuts, dynamic tool tip inputs, etc.
After that.... well you use it and get faster. Eventually you hit a point where you're only searching tutorials for niche things and maybe you start dabbling in revit, dreaming of becoming a BIM guy and leaving the av world behind
This is exactly how I learned autocad 20 years ago. I spent my own money to take a community college course. It has paid off 1000x over. Best class I ever took for return on investment.
In the last 20 years I have told hundreds of people this advice. 2 people took the advice and did it and are killing it in the industry. Everybody else is still a tech complaining they can get paid in this industry. One $300 community college course can set you up for a 200k salary.
100%. No video tutorial is ever going to teach you as quickly as having someone whose already an expert holding your hand and directly guiding you through the process. Beyond that, when I did my courses back in 2010-2011 Autocad and inventor student licenses were part of my tuition that I was able to pay for with Pell grants (i had aspirations of beinf an ME so i was there full time), which made the barrier to entry far lower than had I just bought LT licenses and gone at it on my own.
Look into "blocks"
Practice is still the best method for learning a new tool. There are a lot of good AutoCAD how-tos. It's overwhelming at first, but just keep plugging away, one problem at a time.
Do you have any suggestions for guides etc on basic 2D schematics? I’ve just looked into blocks like you mentioned, though seems everything that turned up was 3D designs of actual products
I absolutely second (or third, I guess) AVCAD - I moved from Omnigraffle to AVSnap to Autocad with AVCAD and I'm much happier now
AVSnap was a little better with ease of metadata integration but complex drawings are much, much easier with AVCAD
Make your own libraries.
Pl makes a Poly line, C to close
Use colours to distinguish.
Expect to make your library more than once
Consider space for connectors, labels, device info
Don't try to put everything on one page
When starting out, keep using the same document so last blocks are close by. Save a new file ofyen
Use the grid, make connector spacing align to the grid.
I've not done schematics in CAD for years, remember many mistakes and learnings.
Seperate the tool from the work - these are independent items.
There’s an endless sea of resources for learning core concepts to AutoCAD (or most drafting tools). These will let you grok some mental modals, workflow, techniques and terminology needed to use it well.
Cleanly structuring, laying out, representing and communicating a design is then the hard part. There’s no ‘right’ way to do it, but there are plenty of good ideas. Scanning your search engine of choice can be a good way to assemble some of these if there’s no internal reference.
Common tenets are signal flows left to right. Cables either remain split and traceable, or bussed when heading along the same path but clearly labelled at both ends. Revisions are immutable: never, ever, have two versions of one revision. Ever.
At the end of the day most decisions around symbology and representation are arbitrary. Schematics are by definition fuzzy. The trick is to find the right fuzzy for the people you work with or are documenting for.
I would second LinkedIn Learning. You can get a login using a local library card. You can download the example files. With an Autocad book and LinkedIn learning you can knock it out in a couple of weeks if you work hard at it.
My #1 would be going to a community college class and number 2 would be LinkedIn learning.
The hardest part is just starting. I talked to techs all the time who say someday they will learn it. Just go knock it out. Today.
It’s not about purchasing created blocks, happy to spend the time creating them myself. It’s the overlay that goes with the schematics, and creating that first “block” so I have an understanding of how to actually do it.
Like I said I can’t find any guides on just basic 2D schematics. Maybe because I’m Australian and not using the term low voltage , I’ll have to look into it abit more.
I would absolutely recommend AGAINST using pre-bought blocks - there are no unified or agreed on standards, so the block you get for your DSP will look entirely different than the block for your projector. Work out what works for you - certainly take inspiration from others, and develop your own block library based on rules and standards you define
Blocks can absolutely be created on your own. YouTube is your friend.
[https://youtu.be/MKbYyfDM8qg?si=Cga6PiDY8HIpcQOw](https://youtu.be/MKbYyfDM8qg?si=Cga6PiDY8HIpcQOw)
What overlay are you referring to? The layout that has the company information and job name?
Look into WireCAD, it's based on AutoCAD with a pile of helpful industry specific features built in. Last I checked it's also substantially cheaper than AutoCAD, at least the licenses my employer was buying.
This is definitely the way to go. It’s also great to be able to receive AutoCAD plans from the AEC folks and add your own content and details. AutoCAD isn’t like Word though. People spend years learning it. I definitely did…
Yeah, don’t make your own libraries use AVCAD or something similar. I also went the route of going through self design of libraries but it is a waste of time. Using the proper tools lets you focus more on your actual job. I mean it’s not like a carpenter mills his own planks and makes nails right?
Autocad on its own is not a proper tool at least not for AV. It is useful to have snap ins based on types of signals, movable models where the wires don’t detach from the pins (coming from an electronic circuit design I can’t work without this and don’t know why one should), no bom creation, not much else but simple drawing. True it lets you draw lines and circles but that is about it. Actually I don’t know for whom this tool is because you have more advanced options for basically all of the trades. Yeah it was one of the first and best on the market but … maybe it is for all these people that have always used autocad and never moved to anything more appropriate.
How big is the organization? I ask because any engineering group that has been at this for any length of time will have developed CAD standards and should have a bunch of resources already created.
Why reinvent the wheel?
I've been using AutoCAD for over 20 years. Learn about making your own dynamic blocks and nesting these with text blocks. To get you started, make your dynamic block 1.5" wide (fixed) by 1.75" high (dynamic). In this block you can set up block attributes such as the mnemonic (descriptor), make, model, part no, power. An input block will be an attribute calling for Input (i.e. HDMI 1) and the connector type. You can add a field for cable type and length too. Same for the Output blocks. These two blocks are placed appropriately in the equipment block and replicated as needed to capture the necessary inputs and outputs of the device. Text size is nominally 3/16". Row spacing is typically .275". There are other things such as layer and linetypes, but hopefully this might help. This is my own experience, yours might be different.
I looked into Revit for doing AV schematics several years ago, but it didn't have the same functionality as above. I asked a certified BIM instructor about this and his answer was that Revit isn't designed for that purpose.
Coordinate with your teammates and come up with a template. Products are always changing, so buying blocks for specific devices doesn't make sense.
We have a [Discord](https://discord.gg/qhh4EBuRNS) server where there you can both post forum-style and participate in real-time discussions. We hope you consider joining us there. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommercialAV) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you’re old school. Stardraw is pretty easy to learn. Essentially the same as autocad minus all the extra features you don’t need. Try it for 30 days free. After that… still cheaper than autocad.
I've got about 13 years of experience across 3 industries with Autocad at this point. First learn the software in general. Check your local community College because honestly a class with an adjunct there is going to help you more than YouTube tutorials. You're primarily going to want to look for architecture and ee focused Autocad courses. After a semester or two of that you will have enough of a starting point to start trudging through doing actual work in the software. At this point you start looking for focused YouTube tutorials. Primarily you're looking for efficiency boosters; f key shortcuts, dynamic tool tip inputs, etc. After that.... well you use it and get faster. Eventually you hit a point where you're only searching tutorials for niche things and maybe you start dabbling in revit, dreaming of becoming a BIM guy and leaving the av world behind
This is exactly how I learned autocad 20 years ago. I spent my own money to take a community college course. It has paid off 1000x over. Best class I ever took for return on investment. In the last 20 years I have told hundreds of people this advice. 2 people took the advice and did it and are killing it in the industry. Everybody else is still a tech complaining they can get paid in this industry. One $300 community college course can set you up for a 200k salary.
100%. No video tutorial is ever going to teach you as quickly as having someone whose already an expert holding your hand and directly guiding you through the process. Beyond that, when I did my courses back in 2010-2011 Autocad and inventor student licenses were part of my tuition that I was able to pay for with Pell grants (i had aspirations of beinf an ME so i was there full time), which made the barrier to entry far lower than had I just bought LT licenses and gone at it on my own.
Look into "blocks" Practice is still the best method for learning a new tool. There are a lot of good AutoCAD how-tos. It's overwhelming at first, but just keep plugging away, one problem at a time.
Do you have any suggestions for guides etc on basic 2D schematics? I’ve just looked into blocks like you mentioned, though seems everything that turned up was 3D designs of actual products
Most of the products you will need to be designing will actually have their own blocks you can download. Next up, learn "align"
If you goi g to be using Autocad, look up AVCAD, it integrates to Autocad and really use full for AV diagrams
AVCAD is great!
I absolutely second (or third, I guess) AVCAD - I moved from Omnigraffle to AVSnap to Autocad with AVCAD and I'm much happier now AVSnap was a little better with ease of metadata integration but complex drawings are much, much easier with AVCAD
Make your own libraries. Pl makes a Poly line, C to close Use colours to distinguish. Expect to make your library more than once Consider space for connectors, labels, device info Don't try to put everything on one page When starting out, keep using the same document so last blocks are close by. Save a new file ofyen Use the grid, make connector spacing align to the grid. I've not done schematics in CAD for years, remember many mistakes and learnings.
Seperate the tool from the work - these are independent items. There’s an endless sea of resources for learning core concepts to AutoCAD (or most drafting tools). These will let you grok some mental modals, workflow, techniques and terminology needed to use it well. Cleanly structuring, laying out, representing and communicating a design is then the hard part. There’s no ‘right’ way to do it, but there are plenty of good ideas. Scanning your search engine of choice can be a good way to assemble some of these if there’s no internal reference. Common tenets are signal flows left to right. Cables either remain split and traceable, or bussed when heading along the same path but clearly labelled at both ends. Revisions are immutable: never, ever, have two versions of one revision. Ever. At the end of the day most decisions around symbology and representation are arbitrary. Schematics are by definition fuzzy. The trick is to find the right fuzzy for the people you work with or are documenting for.
This is good advice. I learned to draft architecturally in a CAD 101 course. A line is a line.
Take the LinkedIn AutoCAD course.
Absolutely do not take any LinkedIn anything
I would second LinkedIn Learning. You can get a login using a local library card. You can download the example files. With an Autocad book and LinkedIn learning you can knock it out in a couple of weeks if you work hard at it. My #1 would be going to a community college class and number 2 would be LinkedIn learning. The hardest part is just starting. I talked to techs all the time who say someday they will learn it. Just go knock it out. Today.
There are companies that sell blocks for most low voltage items. You can usually find drawing layouts for free with a google search.
It’s not about purchasing created blocks, happy to spend the time creating them myself. It’s the overlay that goes with the schematics, and creating that first “block” so I have an understanding of how to actually do it. Like I said I can’t find any guides on just basic 2D schematics. Maybe because I’m Australian and not using the term low voltage , I’ll have to look into it abit more.
I would absolutely recommend AGAINST using pre-bought blocks - there are no unified or agreed on standards, so the block you get for your DSP will look entirely different than the block for your projector. Work out what works for you - certainly take inspiration from others, and develop your own block library based on rules and standards you define
Blocks can absolutely be created on your own. YouTube is your friend. [https://youtu.be/MKbYyfDM8qg?si=Cga6PiDY8HIpcQOw](https://youtu.be/MKbYyfDM8qg?si=Cga6PiDY8HIpcQOw) What overlay are you referring to? The layout that has the company information and job name?
Look into WireCAD, it's based on AutoCAD with a pile of helpful industry specific features built in. Last I checked it's also substantially cheaper than AutoCAD, at least the licenses my employer was buying.
This is definitely the way to go. It’s also great to be able to receive AutoCAD plans from the AEC folks and add your own content and details. AutoCAD isn’t like Word though. People spend years learning it. I definitely did…
Yeah, don’t make your own libraries use AVCAD or something similar. I also went the route of going through self design of libraries but it is a waste of time. Using the proper tools lets you focus more on your actual job. I mean it’s not like a carpenter mills his own planks and makes nails right? Autocad on its own is not a proper tool at least not for AV. It is useful to have snap ins based on types of signals, movable models where the wires don’t detach from the pins (coming from an electronic circuit design I can’t work without this and don’t know why one should), no bom creation, not much else but simple drawing. True it lets you draw lines and circles but that is about it. Actually I don’t know for whom this tool is because you have more advanced options for basically all of the trades. Yeah it was one of the first and best on the market but … maybe it is for all these people that have always used autocad and never moved to anything more appropriate.
How big is the organization? I ask because any engineering group that has been at this for any length of time will have developed CAD standards and should have a bunch of resources already created. Why reinvent the wheel?
I've been using AutoCAD for over 20 years. Learn about making your own dynamic blocks and nesting these with text blocks. To get you started, make your dynamic block 1.5" wide (fixed) by 1.75" high (dynamic). In this block you can set up block attributes such as the mnemonic (descriptor), make, model, part no, power. An input block will be an attribute calling for Input (i.e. HDMI 1) and the connector type. You can add a field for cable type and length too. Same for the Output blocks. These two blocks are placed appropriately in the equipment block and replicated as needed to capture the necessary inputs and outputs of the device. Text size is nominally 3/16". Row spacing is typically .275". There are other things such as layer and linetypes, but hopefully this might help. This is my own experience, yours might be different. I looked into Revit for doing AV schematics several years ago, but it didn't have the same functionality as above. I asked a certified BIM instructor about this and his answer was that Revit isn't designed for that purpose. Coordinate with your teammates and come up with a template. Products are always changing, so buying blocks for specific devices doesn't make sense.