imdb.com says Star Wars IV (A New Hope) was released in 1977. I was a mere whippersnapper of eight years old back then, and I remember a group of us were escorted by some of our parents to the Palace cinema in Aldershot, UK, to see what was one of the most iconic movies ever. The Force, lightsabres, the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, the droids you weren’t looking for. It was all in there, and as a person of Hobbit stature, the quote, “Aren’t you a bit short for a stormtrooper?” always resonated with me.
The Palace cinema disappeared a long time ago, but the incredible momentum of the Star Wars franchise has stood the test of time. I am in my mid-fifties and STILL get excited about Star Wars Lego sets. In fact, anything Star Wars-related catches my interest. Disney’s continuation of the Star Wars canon has created such an incredible universe of diverse storylines that it is often hard to keep up.
At eight years old, I did not know where my career would take me, but in 1988, I started as a drainage technician in a local government engineering department, and I was exposed to both a drawing board and AutoCAD for the first time. I learnt the necessary skills to draft on the board and use AutoCAD. My career eventually took me to becoming a CAD manager, looking after twenty-five seats of AutoCAD, and here I am now, writing my own blog with an associated podcast. If you had told me at eight years old what I would be doing now, right?
You can imagine my delight when Autodesk recently asked me to work on a secret project involving Star Wars and AutoCAD. It ties in with the Disney+ release of the Star Wars series, The Acolyte, due for release on June 4th. I had to create a Star Wars ‘themed’ set of drawings for a structure, and that structure had to look like a certain droid from a certain movie. I’ll let you look at the drawings to figure that one out.
I also recorded a video explaining some of the AutoCAD drafting concepts used to create the drawing.
You can find it all here on the AutoCAD blog: https://www.autodesk.com/blogs/autocad/celebrate-the-drafters/.
Creating the drawing for the interplanetary observatory (in imperial units, no less) was great fun and gave me the opportunity to enjoy the satisfaction I used to get when drafting full-time on AutoCAD back in the day. It also allowed me to take a few moments to think about and recognize drafters and everyone who uses AutoCAD to help design and make the world we live in. The design and make industry has come a long way from my first experiences on AutoCAD in 1988!
Every day, people worldwide use AutoCAD to bring their designs to fruition. Whether engineers solve complex design problems or architects are the hidden heroes of our urban landscapes, shaping the spaces where we live, all their designs and solutions improve our quality of life. AutoCAD is more than just a piece of software—educators and their students explore and innovate with incredible design workflows and processes that now utilize the cloud and AI, too!
I hope you have as much fun with the observatory drawing as I did, and maybe watch the tutorial to see how it was all created. You can see the trailer for the new Disney + Star Wars series, The Acolyte, here: https://youtu.be/6tzur6JrUEA?si=KHUqVLmq5iihjjuI`
I don’t know about you, but I am most definitely looking forward to watching the two-episode premiere on June 4th!
Enjoy!
SCB.