Autocad & Revit Self-Paced Course Instructions
Getting Started
Awesome, you have registered for your course and set up payment – nearly ready to roll, here is a quick checklist, run through it, and get started!
- Download the Software (instructions below)
- Request a student letter, generally needed to download the student version of the software.
- Read through course instructions, and expiry details, (all below).
- All filter details and suggested computer specs are listed below.
- Register for an account on Design Alive’s exclusive Forum – the Jewish Design Forum. (Sign up for an account in the top right corner)
- Still facing an issue? Use our help page so we can help you.
Upon setting up payment you will be automatically directed to your course where all the course material is available to start learning. You will also have received an email with a link to your course.
Alternatively, you can log in to school.designalive.com with the login details that you received via email
Username: Email address
Password: Check your emails
You will find your course in the left menu under ‘my courses’ or on the dashboard
Teachers Details
Your teacher will be checking her email daily and will do her best to answer questions within 24 hrs. We suggest you create an email with all your questions as you listen to each class, and send it to your teacher when you finish.
Course Expiration
You have 12 months to complete each course program.
Course Extensions:
If you did not manage to complete the course within the time frame, there is an option to extend the course for a monthly extension fee of $25 from when the course expires. You can extend your course for up to 6 months.
To rejoin the course 6 months after the course expiry there will be a fee of $200.
Software Details
You will need to have either AutoCad / Revit functioning on your computer so that you can practice during lessons and do assignments. Please use the link below provided as its a free student version, do not download the 30-day free trial.
AutoCad and Revit Download Instructions:
Before you download:
- You will need to make an account with Autodesk.com
- You will need a student letter to download the software, please use this form to generate a student letter.
- Check your computer has the correct specs needed. An i5 processor minimum is needed as well as a graphics card. For more specific specs check here.
- Do not download the 30-day trial as you will have to uninstall the trial once your 30 days expire and reinstall the student version as per these instructions.
- MAC users:
- Use Chrome to download AutoCad NOT Safari.
- While AutoCad is available in both PC and Mac platforms since the interface on a Mac is different and the locations for the icons are located in different places, we don’t recommend learning on a Mac as the teacher uses a PC. We do give some cheat sheets to help you but it will take extra time until you are familiar with the differences. (Once you know AutoCad, you’ll be able to use your MAC)
- Revit is not available in MAC version so if you are a MAC user, you can try to install a virtual PC environment and see if you can install Revit there. Your computer technician may have to help you with this.
Instructions to download:
- AutoCad can be downloaded via this link. The product looks like this
- Please choose 2024 from the versions available to download under the AutoCad drop down options
- Revit can be downloaded via this link. For Revit Self-Paced, please download version Revit 2024
- The school location is in the UK
- The name of the school is Design Alive Manchester UK (or Design Alive) is listed under University/ Post Secondary school (institution type)
- You MUST choose the correct institution type or you won’t find Design Alive on the list and we do not know how you can correct it if you choose the wrong institution type
- Please use UK for school address (as opposed to USA) UK address 97 Singleton Road Salford M7 4LX UK, (if UK address doesn’t work) US address for Design Alive: 18 Village in the Woods Southern Pines, North Carolina 28387
- Course expiry is 1 year from the date you download.
- The area of expertise is architecture.
- Only select the current month of start date and NOT a future month or you will get an error message We’re experiencing some problems accessing your Autodesk account. Please try again later.
Common Autodesk software download Issues
- Autocad shuts down and a tab pops up saying that the product license is no longer available. This is likely due to a filter such as Techloq, especially if installed after Autocad was installed). Please contact Techloq to allow all Autodesk software fully.
- If you are experiencing general problems with Autodesk, please go to Autodesk support for more help. They don”t know about any potential filter issues
- For help to renew your subscription, please view this.
- A known error caused by Techloq filter is that when Autodesk ask you to select a school from a dropdown list, no schools show up, please contact your filter if this is the case.
- If you do not have a filter and Design Alive does not appear, you can try selecting any school and on a subsequent page it may allow you to add design alive and upload proof.
- If once you have downloaded AutoCad and it’s asking you for a serial number it is likely your filter is blocking the program recognising you have a student version. You will need to be in touch with your filter company to add Autodesk to the approved lists. Techloq and NativUSA have known issues and removing the filter whilst installing the program is advisable.
- If you are experiencing other error messages then you may want to try to download through the virtual agent https://ava.autodesk.com/ who will give you an alternative link to download the software.
- Autodesk does not have any phone support at all and their chat support is not always very helpful. If you experience issues with your download, we suggest you first contact Design Alive as we are VERY familiar with alot of known errors and should be able to assist you, please complete the form below and include a screenshot of your error and we will do our best to help you.
- Some AutoCad error messages and solutions are provided here.
Course Instructions
Your class is under the left hand menu ‘My courses’
You have 12 months to complete the course. If you require an extension there is a $25 monthly fee.
Assignments:
- Each class has a recording, homework assignment, and a quiz. Some classes have files you will need to download for classwork.
- The recordings are at the top of each course topic.
- You should watch the class recording in one browser tab and open the moodle course in another tab so that you can practise and see the course work simultaneously to watching the class.
- Please do not proceed to the next class until you have completed the homework assignment.
- You do not have to wait until the teacher replies that the homework is acceptable before proceeding to the next class.
- It is to your disadvantage to merely listen to the classes without doing the assignments, as it is the practice that will determine whether you have grasped the concepts taught in class and help you absorb the material. However, please DO NOT practice AT THE SAME TIME as the teacher is teaching but rather pause the recording and practice after each new tool or section or when you feel you would like to.
- Homework files can be submitted using the ‘Upload your files here’ slot in your course. There is a separate place for each homework assignment. Quizzes can be also be answered this way.
- All your grades can be viewed online by checking the grade option in the left side menu.
Filter/Whitelist Info
Design Alive recommends the following filters as students have been very happy with these filter companies and the support they provide.
- Techloq
- Gentech
- Nativ USA
- Netfree filter has also be approved for Design Alive but please note that having a filter which blocks skin content may be frustrating at some point
Before you begin the course please ensure that all the following sites below are unblocked: You can copy the list and send it to your filtering company.
- designaliveschool.webex.com
- webex.com
- designalive.com
- school.designalive.com
- for cisco webex- exclude multiple EXE
- You will need the cisco webex app working.
- autodesk.com (for Autocad students)
For more information regarding filter issues and troubleshooting please use this link
Tutor Assistance
Design Alive offers tutor assistance if you need extra help and support with the AutoCad and Revit program. On the top of each course page there is this link to book a tutor.
Once you have been linked up with one tutor, you should please remain with that tutor so she can keep track of the hours used.
Tutoring is not unlimited, we offer a maximum of 5 hours and thereafter you can carry on privately. If you need additional tutoring outside Design Alive then the charge is $30-40 per hr paid directly to the tutor.
Please Note: If you book a tutoring slot and you do not show up, you lose 1 hr of your free tutoring allowance.
AUTOCAD TUTORS:
- Yitty Gluck: yg419319@gmail.com – (UK based/Isrl)
- Miri Lichtman: mirilichtman@gmail.com (USA based)
- Chavie Kain – chavikain7@gmail.com (USA Based)
- Soroh Reitze Lieberman – sorohreitze@gmail.com (Isrl based)
REVIT TUTORS:
- Esther Steinfeld: esthersteinfeld4@gmail.com (USA)
Computer Specs
Here is the link to the AutoCad and Revit specs from the Autodesk website.
Design Alive does not offer assistance with buying a computer suitable for the course, but below are suggested computer specs and details of a computer technician who can help you. Please be aware that you will need a high-end computer for (Revit) rendering.
Please refer to these computer specs that are appropriate for all of our courses ranging from Interior to the very robust 3D modeling applications (Autocad & Revit)
- An i7 or i9 CPU
- At least 16GB of RAM & 256GB of storage
- A 64-bit operating system
- A dedicated (internal) graphics card (ex. NVIDIA) – not integrated!
- Besides being more expensive, we do not recommend Apple especially because our instructors use a PC (and Revit is not supported on Macs.)
- While a 17 inch laptop is easier to see what you are designing, it would be too heavy to carry when visiting clients. Instead; we suggest a standard 15.6 inch screen and when working from home, you can opt for a secondary & larger 27” monitor (about $200).
- An (external) SSD drive to safely hold your projects and ensure that your computer does not get overloaded
Design Alive has partnered with B&H for all computer and technical requirements and queries. They are a well-known and established company and are up-to-date with current specs and performance. Our contact is Baruch Berman and he can be contacted at Boruchb@bhphoto.com. Mention Design Alive when you speak to him.
PLEASE NOTE: Do not call the company directly but email Baruch for a call back:
Here is a link to the type of computers he currently recommends although feel free to do your own research for comparison. (If this link becomes invalid then please let us know) It’s also worth checking the Dell outlet for deals.
Please be aware that all class recordings, classwork and homework assignments are the property of Design Alive. No materials may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, transferred, sold, used to create derivative works, performed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Design Alive.
All downloads (recordings and assignments) must be deleted from your computer within 6 months of completing the course.