Engineers/Designers come in please!
Engineers/Designers come in please! I just finished installing a 36"x48" digitizer to my pc here at work. I am trying to learn the ins and outs of this thing but am looking for some books on how to's. It is a roll-up III made by GTCO CalComp. Can someone point me in a good direction on learning more on how to use this tablet?
Thanks
Thanks
I just finished installing a 36"x48" digitizer to my pc here at work. I am trying to learn the ins and outs of this thing but am looking for some books on how to's. It is a roll-up III made by GTCO CalComp. Can someone point me in a good direction on learning more on how to use this tablet?
Thanks
Thanks
CAD guy since 2001 here - What are you digitizing? There are a TON of programs out there that will scan in an image and convert the thing to a CAD file. I wouild suspect that having the machine do it would be more accurate than a drafter/designer/whatever hunched over a big ole tablet clicking the button...
Well, at least that's how I felt the few times I had to hunch over the stupid tablet. Scan and convert is your friend!!
As fas as learning it, you may check some of the CAD forums - Autodesk has a good one. The Solidworks one I think only lets you in if you own the software (they don't want you to see all the bitching untill after you drop several grand on their junk - don't ask me how I know!!)
Anyway, good luck. As a drafter for the past 7 years, I very highly recommend an engineering degree.
Well, at least that's how I felt the few times I had to hunch over the stupid tablet. Scan and convert is your friend!!
As fas as learning it, you may check some of the CAD forums - Autodesk has a good one. The Solidworks one I think only lets you in if you own the software (they don't want you to see all the bitching untill after you drop several grand on their junk - don't ask me how I know!!)
Anyway, good luck. As a drafter for the past 7 years, I very highly recommend an engineering degree.
I have been using AutoCad since R12. This thing is a large grid tablet that comes with a stylus and you put drawings on and trace. I will use it mostly for estimating purposes where I can do takeoffs of jobs on the computer much faster. I have designed an Excel spreadsheet that is rather automatic, I just need the numbers to insert. The drawing part of having this is more of just a bonus. Most of the things that I would draw with this would not work with AutoCad well, but more likely Paint or something similar. I just need to know how to adjust the settings to utilize the entire grid. It wants me to draw small things, moving the stylus only approx. 4" covers the whole screen.
Oh, there's a command to calibrate the thing. I'll try to think of it as I type this - what you do is get the command going, then you pick the corners of the actual drawing area. The kind I used at one job also had "menu buttons" all over the place and you had to define the corners of those, too (not each button, but the corners of each group of buttons - only they aren't reall buttons - its a coordinate - if you pick in a certain coordinate area the thing knows to start the line command, or the zoom command, or whatever).
On the one I used when you wanted to do actual drafting, you defined like a center drawing area that was NOT as big as the whole tablet, then you told the pointer where the menus were, then you went to town. When you had just a big drawing to trace, you could set the whole tablet as the drawing area.
The reason yours is acting goofy is that it thinks your defined drawing area is REALLY small.
The command you want is "tablet" and then the "cfg" option AND the "cal" option - you have to do one before the other and I can't remember which you have to do first. It's in the Autocad help file.
Even still, having used both a tablet and scanner, I'd MUCH rather go with the scanner - open ANY picture file in the conversion software and it turns everything into lines. You can then scale it if need be and drop dims all over it or whatever. I use that at my job now to take pictures from websites of purchased components like filters and pumps so I can make 3D models of them. And there's NO hunching over the damn tablet hoping you put enough tape on the stinking drawing so it doesn't move.
On the one I used when you wanted to do actual drafting, you defined like a center drawing area that was NOT as big as the whole tablet, then you told the pointer where the menus were, then you went to town. When you had just a big drawing to trace, you could set the whole tablet as the drawing area.
The reason yours is acting goofy is that it thinks your defined drawing area is REALLY small.
The command you want is "tablet" and then the "cfg" option AND the "cal" option - you have to do one before the other and I can't remember which you have to do first. It's in the Autocad help file.
Even still, having used both a tablet and scanner, I'd MUCH rather go with the scanner - open ANY picture file in the conversion software and it turns everything into lines. You can then scale it if need be and drop dims all over it or whatever. I use that at my job now to take pictures from websites of purchased components like filters and pumps so I can make 3D models of them. And there's NO hunching over the damn tablet hoping you put enough tape on the stinking drawing so it doesn't move.
Oh, there's a command to calibrate the thing. I'll try to think of it as I type this - what you do is get the command going, then you pick the corners of the actual drawing area. The kind I used at one job also had "menu buttons" all over the place and you had to define the corners of those, too (not each button, but the corners of each group of buttons - only they aren't reall buttons - its a coordinate - if you pick in a certain coordinate area the thing knows to start the line command, or the zoom command, or whatever).
On the one I used when you wanted to do actual drafting, you defined like a center drawing area that was NOT as big as the whole tablet, then you told the pointer where the menus were, then you went to town. When you had just a big drawing to trace, you could set the whole tablet as the drawing area.
The reason yours is acting goofy is that it thinks your defined drawing area is REALLY small.
The command you want is "tablet" and then the "cfg" option AND the "cal" option - you have to do one before the other and I can't remember which you have to do first. It's in the Autocad help file.
Even still, having used both a tablet and scanner, I'd MUCH rather go with the scanner - open ANY picture file in the conversion software and it turns everything into lines. You can then scale it if need be and drop dims all over it or whatever. I use that at my job now to take pictures from websites of purchased components like filters and pumps so I can make 3D models of them. And there's NO hunching over the damn tablet hoping you put enough tape on the stinking drawing so it doesn't move.
On the one I used when you wanted to do actual drafting, you defined like a center drawing area that was NOT as big as the whole tablet, then you told the pointer where the menus were, then you went to town. When you had just a big drawing to trace, you could set the whole tablet as the drawing area.
The reason yours is acting goofy is that it thinks your defined drawing area is REALLY small.
The command you want is "tablet" and then the "cfg" option AND the "cal" option - you have to do one before the other and I can't remember which you have to do first. It's in the Autocad help file.
Even still, having used both a tablet and scanner, I'd MUCH rather go with the scanner - open ANY picture file in the conversion software and it turns everything into lines. You can then scale it if need be and drop dims all over it or whatever. I use that at my job now to take pictures from websites of purchased components like filters and pumps so I can make 3D models of them. And there's NO hunching over the damn tablet hoping you put enough tape on the stinking drawing so it doesn't move.
Yea I do that also. What I am trying to get the company to purchase is an 11"x17" screen that I can draw directly on. I would also like some better software to play with but being at a construction company, they dont see the need for me to screw off much.
I got it to work right. On the control panel for the software, there is a mouse choice. Relative or absolute. Relative is like a mouse where you can use a small area. Absolute uses the entire grid. Thanks for the input guys.
Been using ACAD since like R9 or earlier (in school)...back when it took the pc 30 min to boot & 20 min to load CAD, lol. Never did much digitizing though. Joe, you need to get your tail into some CAD classes man.
