Advance Steel | Essentials

Advance Steel | Essentials is a comprehensive three-day private course, which can be delivered either virtually or in person, designed for CAD users looking to explore the core tools required to produce 3D structural models and comprehensive fabrication drawings in Advance Steel. Led by a Certified Autodesk Instructor, this course offers a structured introduction to the user interface, guiding you through essential workflows for creating, managing, and documenting structural projects efficiently.

Throughout the course, you will learn how to configure key project settings, create grids, and model concrete footings to establish a solid foundation for your designs. You will explore how to design and modify core structural components such as beams, columns, and bracings, ensuring accuracy and alignment with structural requirements. You will practise applying features such as mitre bends, bevels, and corner cuts to enhance the precision and detail of your designs. As the course progresses, you will explore the connection vault to implement essential elements like base plates, shear plates, and gusset plates, while also modelling key components such as ladders, stairs, and handrails, with a focus on safety regulations and industry standards to ensure functionality and compliance. The course also covers the generation of detailed fabrication drawings, bills of materials, and assembly drawings, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in project documentation. You will explore advanced tools such as model checks, clash detection, and numbering systems, equipping you with the knowledge and confidence to effectively manage and deliver complex structural projects. You will work with grating, cladding, and portal frames to develop your ability to model complex structural elements with precision, while also exploring advanced workflows like revision management and the use of XRefs and special parts to efficiently manage large-scale projects and their associated documentation.

By the end of the course, you will have developed a strong foundation in using Advance Steel’s core tools and workflows. With these foundational skills, you will be well-positioned to take on more complex projects as you continue to build your expertise.

During this course, you will explore the following topics:

• Module 1 – Project Setup | Grids | Concrete Footings: Begin the course with the fundamentals of Advance Steel, starting with project initiation and setup. Explore how to create and manage grids and model concrete footings, ensuring the correct fundamental setup of your project from the outset. You will also be introduced to the project explorer, which allows for the efficient organisation and management of key project elements throughout the design process.
• Module 2 – Beams | Columns | Advanced Tool Palette | UCS | Connection Vault: Discover how to model beams and columns while setting up the project explorer for optimal management. You will learn how to work with the Advance Steel tool palette to apply features such as mitre cuts, bevels, and corner cuts to refine your designs. Practise using the UCS tool for managing complex geometries and explore the connection vault for base plates, shear plates, and other essential connections. These skills will allow you to model core structural elements with precision and flexibility.
• Module 3 – Advance Steel Tool Palette | Joint Groups | Selection Tools: Delve deeper into the Advance Steel tool palette, developing skills in creating and managing joint groups. You will practise using selection tools to display connected objects and identify shop-connected elements. This module will enhance your ability to assemble structural components correctly, streamlining the design process and improving the management of complex structures.
• Module 4 – Holes & Bolting | Plates | Bracings | Purlins | Gusset Plates: Gain a comprehensive understanding of how to model holes and bolting, including plate creation and manipulation. You will also model bracings and purlins, applying gusset plates using the connection vault. These skills will ensure the key connections, and the design intend are accurately represented.
• Module 5 – Ladders | Stairs | Handrails: Practise modelling essential access elements such as ladders, stairs, and handrails, focusing on both simple and complex applications. Explore properties of these components, ensuring that your designs reflect the design intend. This module will help you to integrate these elements confidently into your projects, ensuring compliance with BIM and industry standards.
• Module 6 – Grating | Cladding | Model Checks | Portal Frame Creation: Learn how to model various types of grating and create cladding for your designs, ensuring accuracy. You will perform model checks, including clash detection, ensuring that the model is connected as intended. This module will cover the essential tools needed to create accurate portal frames, including apexes and eaves haunches, to meet project requirements.
• Module 7 – Portal Frame Modelling | Workplanes | Add-ins | Gusset Bracing: Continue developing your portal frame modelling skills by focusing on creating workplanes and turnbuckle gusset bracing. You will explore Dynamo add-ins to expand your design capabilities and streamline your workflows, using search filters and other tools to enhance efficiency. This module will help you to confidently handle more complex design tasks with greater accuracy and control.
• Module 8 – Numbering | Drawing Styles | General Arrangements: Understand how to apply and manage numbering systems for various structural components, ensuring accurate assembly configurations in your models. You will explore different drawing styles for creating general arrangement drawings, ensuring that your project documentation is both clear and comprehensive. These skills will allow you to produce well-organised, accurate project documentation that supports effective project communication.
• Module 9 – Design Workflows | Labelling | Dimensioning: Dive deeper into design workflows, focusing on effective labelling and dimensioning techniques to create detailed, well-organised drawings that meet industry standards. Practise working with the core tools of Advance Steel to ensure clarity and precision in your drawings, ensuring project documentation requirements are met, and improving the overall quality of your deliverables.
• Module 10 – BOM: Learn how to generate material reports, and bills of materials. Learn how to extract accurate material data from your model and organise it into reports, ensuring that your project documentation requirements are met.
• Module 11 – Document Management | Assembly Drawings | BOM Templates | Model Views: Explore advanced document management techniques, focusing on the creation and organisation of single-part and assembly drawings. You will learn how to annotate and amend documentation, as well as create model views for gridlines to enhance project clarity. This module also covers the use of BOM templates to ensure your documentation remains accurate and up-to-date.
• Module 12 – Advanced Workflows | Revisioning | Xrefs | Special Parts: Discover advanced workflows such as revision management and how changes to your model impact documentation. You will explore xrefs for combining views and learn how to use special parts and xref commands to create federated models. This module will equip you with the essential skills needed to manage complex workflows efficiently, ensuring your documentation stays accurate and current throughout the design and fabrication phases.

This course includes 12 months of complimentary access to the course-related ASCENT Center for Technical Knowledge e-book (valued at 100 USD). This e-book provides comprehensive training notes that you can refer to after the training to further ensure your knowledge retention. Login details for the ASCENT platform will be issued a few days before the training. To learn more about ASCENT, please visit their website.

ARKANCE, an Authorized Autodesk Training Center, delivers high-quality training for Autodesk software users. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive an official ARKANCE Certificate of Completion, demonstrating their commitment to ongoing professional development.

Additionally, participants are encouraged to register their attendance with Autodesk Education to receive a Certificate of Completion from Autodesk. To obtain this certificate, participants must follow the steps provided in the confirmation email sent after registration and submit a post-training feedback survey within 60 days of completing the course.

To join the course, participants will need basic computer skills and a solid understanding of structural steel design concepts. No prior experience with Advance Steel is required, but exploring the user interface beforehand is recommended.

Participants joining this course virtually will need:

• Advance Steel '22 or higher installed on their computer, together with all recent updates (required). Please contact us if you need to purchase a software licence.
• The latest Zoom version installed on their computer (required).
• A stable internet connection with a minimum download speed of 10mbps (required).
• A secondary screen to follow instructions shared by the course instructor during training, along with a mouse for easy software navigation (recommended).
• A headset to ensure clear communication with the instructor, and preferably a microphone and webcam for interactive conversations (recommended).

Participants joining this course in-person will need:

• Advance Steel '22 or higher installed on their computer, together with all recent updates (required). Please contact us if you need to purchase a software licence.
• A large computer screen, along with a keyboard and mouse for easy software navigation (recommended).

Additionally, the training venue should be equipped with:

• Projector setup or a large screen enabling the instructor to connect their laptop, facilitating attendee visibility of the instructor's screen (required).

Our private training sessions are offered at a flat rate per course and accommodate up to eight participants. Delivered on request, these courses can be conducted virtually or on-site at your venue.

The training can follow a standard agenda or be customised to align with your team’s specific workflows, existing templates, and project requirements. Please note that in-person training will incur additional travel costs, and pricing may vary for customised curriculums.

Please contact us to discuss organising this training for your team.