Key details

AutoCAD 3D training course teaching existing users the concepts behind 3D modelling, and skills for producing 3D parts and models in AutoCAD.

You’ll learn about the fundamental concepts behind 3D modelling, and techniques for:

• Creating 3D models from your 2D designs.
• Creating full working drawings of your 3D models.
• Producing visualisations of models.
• Using lighting and materials to enhance your designs.

This course is ideal for users proficient in using AutoCAD to produce 2D drawings who now want to take advantage of AutoCAD’s 3D modelling capabilities.

As with all of our AutoCAD courses, when you attend AutoCAD 3D training you receive:

• A comprehensive training guide.
• An e-certificate confirming successful course completion. This is emailed to delegates directly from Autodesk. Click here to see an example of the certificate you receive.

In-class or live online training

In-class AutoCAD courses are available at our centres Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Reading, and Sheffield. Click here for further details.

Our live online AutoCAD 3D training option lets you participate as a ‘virtual delegate’, from your place of work or home. For a limited time, we’re offering discounts off the usual course price. See Live online training for details.

Accredited AutoCAD training

Armada is an Autodesk authorised Training Centre (ATC), and our AutoCAD 3D training courses are accredited by Autodesk.

AutoCAD training is hosted by Autodesk Certified Instructors, with vast experience of using the application professionally. See Expert trainers.

How will I learn?

AutoCAD 3D training is hands-on and practical.

Our trainers teach the necessary theory then demonstrate techniques step-by-step. You then practice the techniques taught on a computer running AutoCAD.

There is plenty of time to ask questions, and you can keep all the files you create.

Training guide and certificate

AutoCAD 3D course delegates receive:

• A comprehensive AutoCAD 3D training guide, to refer to throughout the course, and to use as a refresher afterwards.
• An e-certificate confirming successful completion of an accredited AutoCAD 3D training course. This is emailed to delegates directly from Autodesk. Click here to see an example of the certificate you receive.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the fundamentals of AutoCAD, i.e. have attended AutoCAD Essentials training or have equivalent knowledge through other means.

Ideally, you will be proficient in some or all of the techniques taught in our AutoCAD Intermediate course, but this isn’t essential.

Our guarantees to you

We offer:

• a price guarantee that you’re getting the best value for money;
• a training guarantee that you’ll learn the skills you need.

On-request AutoCAD 3D training available

As well as our scheduled courses, AutoCAD 3D training is also available on-request, i.e. one-to-one training or a ‘closed’ course for your group.

On-request courses can be hosted at one of our centres, your venue, or online. Your training can be tailored to take into account any existing knowledge you have, and the work you’re going to be doing in AutoCAD. See On-request AutoCAD training for details.

General information

Course times

9.30am–4.30pm.

AutoCAD version

Training is based primarily on AutoCAD 2025, running on Windows. It is relevant to all recent versions of AutoCAD, from 2020.

You must have access to full AutoCAD to be able to carry out the techniques taught in this course. AutoCAD LT does not support 3D modelling.

Please contact us if you’re going to be using AutoCAD for Mac.

After course support

Following AutoCAD 3D training, delegates are entitled to 30 days’ email support from their AutoCAD trainer to help with any post-course issues.

Payment

Payment for AutoCAD training can be made by bank transfer or card.

We accept purchase orders from UK-registered companies and public-sector organisations.

For further details, see training course payment options.

Terms and conditions

Training course bookings are subject to our terms and conditions.

Expert trainers

AutoCAD courses are hosted by Autodesk Certified Instructors, with vast experience of using the application professionally:

• Andy Roe
• Carl Portman
• Lee Brown
• Martin McCann
• Peter Jones
• Philip Madeley
• Rod Cleasby
• Simon Oliver
• Stewart Cobb
• Wendy Sprakes

Andy Roe

Andy has worked in CAD for over 30 years in roles including Draughtsman, CAD System Manager, Project Manager and Design Engineer.

In recent years, Andy has focused on developing and delivering training courses. He is a long-established Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), and he focuses primarily on Autodesk applications including AutoCAD, Inventor, Fusion 360, 3ds Max and Sketchbook. He also hosts courses in SolidWorks.

Andy continues to undertake project work to keep up-to-date with the latest technologies and practices. He specialises in modelling complex 3D designs from prototype to production, including the development of visuals and animations for a range of engineering projects.

Industries in which Andy has significant experience include aerospace, defence and automotive.

Carl Portman

Carl Portman has been an Autodesk-accredited instructor for 25 years, and a CAD consultant for 35 years. He lectures in 3D modelling at a local college (City and Guilds).

Carl’s background is in engineering. He has vast design experience in a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and medical. Projects that Carl has completed include designing complete car plants for Jaguar Land Rover.

Carl has expert knowledge of a wide range of 3D design applications. As well as AutoCAD, he hosts courses in Autodesk Alias, Fusion 360 and Inventor, and Dassault Systemes SolidWorks.

Until recently, Carl raced motorbikes. He knows Silverstone and Brands Hatch like the back of his hand, and he has the scars to prove it.

Lee Brown

Lee Brown is an Autodesk Certified Instructor with 25 years’ experience working as a Draughtsman and Electrical Design Engineer.

He has achieved numerous City and Guilds qualifications in subjects including AutoCAD 3D Design, Advanced AutoCAD System Management and Electrical Engineering.

Lee splits his time between training, and working as a Consultant. He specialises in the implementation, configuration of AutoCAD Electrical to company’s specific requirements. Industries in which Lee has implemented AutoCAD Electrical include Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Defence, Aerospace, and Building Services.

Lee has developed a range of courses for AutoCAD Electrical, and written the accompanying training guides.

He remains hands-on, carrying out regular Electrical System design and Control Panel design projects. Other tasks and project’s he’s undertaken include the administration of CAD databases, creation of drawing office standards, review of existing operating practices and workflows, and the management of a team of eight draughtsman.

Martin McCann

Martin McCann qualified as an Architect in 1986, and he holds a teaching certificate (further and adult education).

He is a long-established Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), a capacity in which he has taught thousands of professionals, including Architects, Structural Engineers and Mechanical Engineers, for over 20 years.

Martin has been commissioned by Autodesk on multiple occasions to host sessions for them at locations including New York, Chicago, Moscow, Milan and Munich. He has trained Autodesk’s staff and many other Autodesk Certified Instructors, and has operated as a visiting Lecturer at the University of Northumbria and Cambridge School of Art.

Martin is the author of the McCann’s BIM Guides series of published Revit training manuals.

Peter Jones

Peter has over 25 years’ experience working with AutoCAD in a variety of roles that have included Draughtsman, Salesman, Consultant and Support. He has specialist knowledge of GIS systems.

These days, Peter concentrates on training. He is a long-standing Autodesk Certified Instructor, and Armada’s longest-serving AutoCAD trainer, having first hosted courses for us in 2000.

Feedback we receive from delegates who attend Peter’s courses is invariably excellent.

When explaining how to use AutoCAD, Peter places a great emphasis on explaining the additional benefits of faster and easier drafting techniques, drawing on his own drafting experiences.

Philip Madeley

Philip’s background is in Civil Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors, and has worked as a Consultant in this industry for many years.

Philip is also a long-standing Autodesk Certified Instructor, with specialist knowledge of AutoCAD and related GIS applications such as Civil 3D, AutoCAD Map 3D and InfraWorks.

Philip’s approach to training is practical. He loves to utilise his knowledge and experience to show delegates how they can make best use of the software on their own projects.

Away from training, Philip’s interests are photography, and watching rugby and cricket. He also does voluntary work, and describes himself as an all-round lover of life.

Rod Cleasby

Rod has over 25 years’ experience working as a designer, visualisation expert and artist. His specialist areas include architecture, interior design and the production of photorealistic 3d virtual environments. 

AutoCAD and 3ds Max have been the mainstay of Rod’s professional work for 20 years. He is also an expert in various related tools and technologies, including SketchUp and Photoshop, and he has expert knowledge of a wide range of renderers, including V-Ray, ART, Arnold and LightUp.

Rod has extensive experience training experience. He has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster on their Computer Visualisation course, and he is a long-established Autodesk Certified Instructor.

Away from his professional work, Rod is an accomplished artist and musician, and a prolific writer of novels, novella, poetry and prose.

Simon Oliver

Simon studied Building and Civil Engineering and worked for a short while in a shop fitting drawing office. This gave him a good background for when he started to work with AutoCAD and Autodesk’s architectural add-on programs like AEC and AutoCAD Architecture.

Simon became a CAD operator at one of the first Autodesk main dealers in the UK in the mid 1980’s. They sold AutoCAD software and provided drafting, training and support services to their clients. He progressed to carrying out sales demonstrations, training and support to the companies’ AutoCAD client base in a wide range of industry sectors.

Since 1992, Simon has concentrated on carrying out training and support services to AutoCAD users. He has achieved Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI) status along with previously gained City and Guilds qualifications in training.

Stewart Cobb

Stewart began his working life as a junior draughtsman, and progressed through to Design Director leading a studio of designers working on both 2D and 3D projects.

He then worked for himself for over 25 years, completing around 100 design projects per year for a myriad of clients, including household names such as Vauxhall and McDonalds.

As well as AutoCAD, Stewart is an expert user of Revit, 3ds Max and AutoCAD Plant 3D. He also specialises in the production of photorealistic rendered images and visualisations.

More recently, Stewart’s focus has been on training. He has been an Autodesk Certified Instructor since 2010. In between courses he continues to carry out project work, keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies and practices.

Outside of work, Stewart enjoys music (he runs the sound desk for a number of local bands), reading and playing with any new piece of technology he can lay his hands on!

Wendy Sprakes

Wendy Sprakes is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and a qualified teacher (QTS).

Wendy began her working life as a CAD operator, using Medusa, MicroStation and AutoCAD.

Working through the ranks of trainee draughtsman, graduating as a professional Mechanical Engineer, she worked in the Mechanical Handling industry on site and in the drawing office for ten years. She became a Project Engineer then moved into the CAE Industry, working as an engineer in the Fatigue Analysis software industry for clients such as Ford Motor Company and Jaguar Cars.

She then went on to qualify as a teacher, and has been hosting AutoCAD courses since 2000.

Away from training, Wendy is an accomplished jazz musician. Her music enjoys regular airplay on both regional and national stations including BBC and JazzFM.

Course content

Navigating the 3D space

• Changing workspaces
• Using the Viewcube
• Understanding the view controls and User Co-ordinate Systems (UCS)
• Using Dynamic UCS
• Using perspective and parallel views

Solid modelling

• Primitive creation
• Boolean construction – Union, Subtraction, Intersect and Interfere
• Creating Lofts, Sweeps and Revolves
• Solid models with the Presspull tool
• Solid model editing
• Sub objection selection and manipulation within a solid

Surface modelling

• Splines and their use in surface models
• Creating Lofts, Sweeps and Revolves
• Sub objection selection and manipulation within a surface
• An introduction to NURBS
• Conversion to a solid model

Mesh modelling

• Primitive creation
• Sub-object selection and manipulation within a mesh
• Smoothing and creasing a mesh model
• Conversion to a solid model

Model manipulation

• Moving, rotating and scaling using the Gizmo
• Using the Rotate3D tool

Drafting in the 3D environment

• Lines, Polylines and 3D Polylines

Viewing 3D models and the paper space environment

• Viewport creation
• Creating a section and using the clipping planes
• Using the base tool to create a detail drawing set
• Annotation

Printing

• Using visuals styles and hidden line removal
• Output to a 3D printer for fast prototyping

Rendering

• Camera settings
• Task and environmental lighting
• An introduction to materials
• Applying materials
• Render settings and output types

Live online training

Live online training lets you participate in a real AutoCAD 3D course from your place of work or home.

You participate in the same course as in-class delegates, and we do everything possible to make your online training experience as close as possible to actually being in the classroom…

• Your training is instructor-led, and hands-on – you’ll practice and carry out exercises throughout. No sessions are pre-recorded.
• You can see and hear your trainer and the other course delegates. Our trainer and the other delegates can see you (via your webcam) and hear you.
• You can choose from a printed training guide that we’ll post to you, or a PDF.
• We’ll make the course files and resources available for you to download.
• If you don’t have access to AutoCAD, we can usually provide a link to fully-functional trial software that you can download and install. For Autodesk applications, such as AutoCAD and Revit, we can lend you a license.
• If you need assistance, you can share your screen with our trainer, and pass control to them.
• Your course is an Autodesk-accredited course.
• Should you want to send a private message to your trainer, you can do so using chat.
• You’re entitled to 30 days’ email support from your trainer.

When you attend live online AutoCAD training, you’re participating in a real course, hosted by a real trainer, in real time.

Hardware recommendations

As a minimum, you’ll need an Internet-connected computer with:

• Audio capability: a headset, or microphone and speakers, so you can hear and be heard.
• A webcam.
• The software on which you’re being trained installed. This must be in its default, out-of-the-box state (not customised).

For further details about computer setup, and to read our Ts&Cs relating to online training, see www.armada.co.uk/onlinets&cs.

For the best experience, we recommend:

• You use a real mouse. If you’re using a laptop, we advise against using its trackpad. For CAD and related courses, your mouse should have a scroll wheel.
• Two screens – one to follow the training, and the other to practice using the software you’re learning, carry out exercises, etc.

If you’re not able to use two screens with the same computer, a fallback option is to use two separate devices. The device you use to follow the training can be a Windows computer, Mac, iPad or Android tablet.

When you attend live online AutoCAD 3D training, you’re participating in a real course, hosted by a real trainer, in real time.

Discounts and bundles

To make your AutoCAD training as affordable as possible, we offer:

• A range of training discounts on our scheduled (public) AutoCAD training courses.
• Bundle prices if you attend AutoCAD 3D along with other courses.
• A price guarantee that you won’t get introductory-level AutoCAD training for less.

Training discounts

Multiple places

If you book multiple course places, we can offer you:

• 5% discount if you book two places.
• 10% discount if you book three places.
• 15% discount if you book four places.
• 20% discount if you book five or more places.

This can be for several people attending one course, one person attending several courses, or a combination.

These discounts are available for both classroom-based courses and remote training.

Concessions

We offer a 10% discount on scheduled AutoCAD course places to:

• Students, teachers and lecturers.
• People who work for a registered charity.
• ISTC members.
• Delegates self-funding their training for career progression purposes.

Please call us if you qualify for a discount. Evidence of your status that entitles you to a discount may be requested.

Terms and exclusions

Only one of the above discounts can be applied to any booking. If you qualify for more than one of the above discounts, choose the one that saves you the most.

The above discounts are not available for training bundles or on-request course bookings (one-to-one training or a course for your group).

Bundle prices

AutoCAD training bundle. Attend:

• AutoCAD Essentials (3 days)
• AutoCAD Intermediate (3 days)
• AutoCAD 3D (2 days)

for £1,145 + VAT (classroom-based) or £995 + VAT (live online training), saving £240 + VAT in both cases.

The bundle price is applied automatically when you book these three courses online.

Price guarantee

When you book training with Armada, we want you to be certain that you’re not paying over-the-odds. So, if you book a place on any scheduled (public) course and then find the same course at a lower price elsewhere, we will match that price.

To qualify for the price match:

• The course you find must be comparable. By this we mean it must:
  • • Cover the same subject.
    • Be the same duration or longer.
    • Hold the same accreditations as our course, i.e. it must be provided by an Autodesk Authorised Training Centre (ATC).
    • Be in the same region, i.e. within 50 miles of our centre.
• The lower price must be advertised on the other company’s website.

To claim a price match, just call any time before attending your course and tell us where you saw the price.