the archiCADmonkey blog is a place find to great articles, reviews, tips + tutorials about some awesome architectural + design software, as well as other useful apps for iPhone + iPad.

In parallel the free video tutorial podcast is about everything CAD and beyond for mac + pc. Whether newbie or CAD veteran you'll surely find these tutorials useful. The show focuses on high quality tutorials, both video (HD) and audio while providing simple, fast, and effective ways of getting to grasp with the software covered.

Apollo proflie pic

I am an architect graduate who has a passion for technology, new media, and 3D design.

Though being a self-confessed mac geek, I have extensive experience with both mac+pc platforms as I use both personally + professionally, as there are a few essential architectural programs that are still not cross-platform. I do enjoy converting the uninitiated to the mac, mostly because I enjoy showing people easy + fun ways to work, play and live with technology. I use lots of programs at the same time - from working in 3D, jumping to rendering, then switch to Photoshop + back again. Multi-tasking is part of the 3D workflow.





So, I studied in the UK and graduated in 2009 from Manchester School of Architecture with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Architecture and a Bachelor in Architecture from Manchester Metropolitan University + the University of Manchester

Having been in the CAD world for over seven years now, I’ve had experience with a range of architectural, 3D visual and photo-manipulation software. I’vee been teaching design students privately for about four years and was even an external CAD tutor at Manchester University.

During my first years as a student I had experienced difficulty in learning CAD and Photoshop at first; they weren’t any good step-by-step tutorial sessions I could find which could hep me advance my skills fast enough to produce the quality work I aimed for. What made me finally dive deep into CAD was a non-stop 13 hour drawing session with my A1 drawing board to produce a detailed plan + elevation. Suffices to say I sold my drawing board after that! I have to say I truly admire anyone who can wave their magic Rotring pens and create stunning drawings, but for me they proved to be too much hassle for what they're worth.


.....enter CAD!


Thus I decided to learn as much as possible about the software I needed by scouring the internet, library and anything I could get my hands on. I was committed to learn anything that might prove useful, which led to me "inhaling" most of the Autocad Bible, studying it nearly 24/7 for two weeks. That was the first piece in my Jenga tower of CAD books. A few months later I was pretty confident with a few different CAD programs. Most of what I’ve learned has been through trial + error. It would have been immensely simpler if an expert had set next to me explaining everything step-by-step.

I started teaching by chance really, mostly by helping friends with
their projects while we were architecture school. It rapidly became evident that even though I was by far not an expert, I had an ability to soak up the software fast and transfer the knowledge to my work. Thus I started having private lessons for 1st + 2nd year architecture students, and even students a year or two ahead of me. It evolved into an opportunity to teach a group of fifty students of the School of Planning + Landscape at Manchester University for a semester as an external tutor, where I got some great feedback, though some students were thirsty for more. The archiCADmonkey podcast evolved naturally after that. The rest is RSStory...

Enjoy the shows!


apollo

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