AutoCAD 4 - Rendering and Customization

In this 56 hour, online CAD course you will master the powerful Rendering capabilities of the latest versions of AutoCAD. This course has been developed and recorded using AutoCAD 2007 but AutoCAD 2008 or AutoCAD 2009 can also be used to complete all of the exercises.

New concepts include: Render Settings and Procedures with Mental Ray, Camera views and Custom Backgrounds, Materials, Textures and Finishes, Sunlight Systems and Shadows, User Lights and Attenuation, Faking Indirect Illlumination, Advanced Mapping techniques, Landscape and Entourage, Global Illumination and Photon Mapping, Final Gathering, Reflections and Raytracing with Metals, Glass and Liquid Materials, Motion Path Animations, Customizing the User Interface, Custom Toolbars, Custom Commands and Macros.

Detailed Course Description

Students will create photo-realistic rendered images of both Exterior and Interior, Architectural Environments, utilizing cameras, custom materials, sunlight systems as well as custom, daytime and nighttime lighting solutions for both projects.

The course begins with an exploration of the rendering environment and a discussion on model preparation. Students will begin their Exterior project, assembling the part files and assigning their first materials. After placing cameras to obtain architectural style perspectives, students will specify custom background images and discuss layout procedures and view controls. Students will continue to create and assign materials to their exterior project learning to control texture map placement and orientation with UVW mappers.

The next phase of the project is to design daytime and nighttime lighting conditions using a mix of Sunlight systems and User lighting. Students will continue to refine their materials with advanced mapping techniqes and learn how to create custom landscape objects with opacity mapping techniques. The final project is a set of Interior renderings for a Kiosk in a larger retail environment. Students will create several camera views, create and assign custom materials including landscape objects, advanced metals, glasses, water and neon lights. Students will design custom lighting solutions for their project and learn to use Global Illumination and Final Gather to create realistic lighting.

The final phase of the Interior project will involve the creation of a 10 second, architectural walkthrough rendered with realistic texture mapped materials, and full lighting with shadows. To end the course, students will learn a series of basic to intermediate level customization techniques. Interface options, Workspaces, Profiles and Startup routines will be explored in depth. Finally, students will learn how to use the Customize Interface Editor and work with CUI files. Students will create a custom dimensioning toolbar including a new, custom, macro command with a user defined button image.