The Mouse That Made Me Faster in AutoCAD 🖱️
+ Autodesk’s new cloud-based planning and design tool
Hey All,
Happy Friday, I hope you had a great week and are getting ready to relax and recahrge over the weekend!
As designers/engineers etc.. we only have a few phyisical tools that we use in the office on a daily basis. And of the tools we use, not many of them will have the ability to change our productivity or the way we work with our software every day.
A few years ago I started using a CAD-specific mouse: the 3D Connexion CADMouse in my home/remote office setup. At first, it felt like a standard ergonomic mouse... but after using it for a longer period and really taking advantage of its unique CAD specific features, its become an essential part of my setup and I dread the days when I don’t have it with me.
Between the radial menus, custom macros, and dedicated zoom buttons, I can honestly say this small change made a big difference in how smoothly I work, especially when working on large civil layouts or flipping between multiple design windows and software.
Let’s jump into today’s email and video to start saving time every day!
Quick Tip:
Use CTRL + SHIFT + C in AutoCAD to copy with a base point, especially helpful when bringing objects or blocks from one drawing into another.
This ensures you maintain precision by pasting to original coordinates in your new drawing.
Even better: Combine it with "Paste as Block" to avoid layer/style clutter!
This Week’s Featured Video:
“Maximize AutoCAD Productivity with the 3D Connexion CADMouse”
In this video, I walk through how I’ve customized the CADMouse as well as all of the CAD specific tools that have helped me supercharge my drafting workflow, including:
Radial menu setups for common commands
Macros like PURGE + SAVE (one click!)
Faster zoom + pan functions
App-specific profiles for CAD, Fusions, Inventor, Chrom, and more design tools
Watch this weeks video now: Maximize AutoCAD Productivity with the 3D Connexion CADMouse
If you’ve ever felt like your classic mouse was more clunky than it should be, this might be the one that smooths it all out.
Want to get one now or check out their super helpful 3d Mice for modelling?
Get a CAD Mouse/Learn More: https://cadintentions.com/3dconnexion
Tool of the Week:
🔧 Autodesk Forma
Forma is Autodesk’s new cloud-based planning and design tool—created to help architects and engineers analyze, visualize, and iterate site layouts more efficiently using AI and environmental data.
Great for early-stage design and concept planning—especially if you're working on building sites or collaborating with planning teams.
Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/forma/overview
If you haven’t yet, check out the full AutoCAD Fundamentals & Workflows Course — it’s helped thousands of drafters and engineers level up their career and speed up their drafting by hours every week.
Check out the AutoCAD Fundamentals & Workflows Course here!
That’s it for this week.
Hope you're staying productive and finding little wins in your workflow.
If you try out the CADMouse or Forma, hit reply and let me know what you think!
Cheers and happy drafting,
Brandon
P.S. If you’ve got a colleague who’s still using that busted wired mouse from 2001, forward this email or send them a link!
They’ll thank you later.