CUSTOM PATTERN MAKER IS DESIGNED BY A PATTERN MAKER FOR PATTERN MAKERS

SPEAKS AND THINKS pattern maker LANGUAGE

Effort has been made to design the program to work the way a pattern maker thinks, as opposed to the way engineers and computer programmers think. (Of course, this is within the structure of AUTOCAD® which was designed by engineers and computer programmers.) Commands have been chosen that should make logical sense and therefore it will not be necessary to learn a new language or a new problem-solving thought process. The SEW MENU is designed to provide for a combination of logical thought process and minimum of movement.

COMES WITH A TEACHING MANUAL

The program designer spent 3 years teaching with C.P.M. in an effort to devise a manual which will allow people to learn to use the program quickly without having to separately learn to use AutoCAD®. The manual contains several formats to accommodate the needs of different learning types. Unfortunately, it cannot accommodate those who prefer to be shown through demonstration. The HELP files are fairly good as visual demonstrations. If you are planning to teach with the program we suggest that the site license is an economical deal since it also includes the rights to reproduce the manual for class use.

We recommend that student pattern makers experience pattern making through draping and flatpatterning in the traditional real time and real space methods before they are allowed to work within the computer. It is important that they develop a spacial 3 dimensional vision in their minds of how a flat shape becomes a sculptural shape around a body.

MENU FORMAT

The CUSTOM PATTERN MAKER command menus for the stand-alone and the add-on's for versions 12, 13, and 14 use the classic Windows style popdown menus. The menu structure has been carefully worked out to facilitate the work flow as much as possible. Many of the commands, which appear to be standard AutoCAD® commands, have been customized to automatically perform sequences of choices as is appropriate to the pattern making process.

The version 14 menu includes a number of additional useful functionalities that were not available until version 14.

If you are running an add-on version you can easily switch to a standard, or your own customized, version of the AutoCAD® menus simply by typing the work "menu" in the command line and then doing a "browse" select to the AutoCAD® menu of your choice. To return to the Custom Pattern Maker menu is the same process.

The earlier DOS versions have been designed to run with either a side screen menu (SEW) of commands that stays visible all the time or pull down menus (POP SEW) that disappear from the screen after the command has been SELECTed. The side-screen menu provides constant visual reference reminder of commands so you do not have to worry about memorizing commands and exactly where to find them. You will want to use the side SEW MENU while you are learning to use the program. At the top of each menu is the ACAD command which will take you to the standard AUTOCAD® MENUS. You shouldn't need commands from these menus as all the commands you need should be on the SEW MENUS.

After you use the program for a while, you automatically know the commands you want to use. You may find that the additional screen space gained by eliminating the on-screen side-menu and using the popdown menu is advantageous. (You can have AUTOCAD® reconfigured without the side-menu space on the screen.) The location of the commands on the POP MENUS is different than the SEW MENU because the structural workings of the popdown menu system is different. You may find that using these menus increases the speed of operation in flat pattern manipulation and marker layout.

PROGRAM RUNS WITH CURSOR DEVICE

Almost all the commands you need can be given to the computer by pointing to it on the menu and clicking with whatever cursor device you are using. The program was developed using a common 3 button "mouse" cursor. A puck digitizer gives you more control because there is more friction when you move it. The stylus has proved to be the most economic of movement and the easiest for new computer users to handle. A few commands will need to be typed in. In these cases the computer will ask for the command and give you the choices at the bottom of the screen in the "dialogue" area. All numbers will have to be typed in. All commands can be ENTERed either by TYPEing or by SELECTING with a cursor from a menu.