In a message dated 97-10-14 12:17:24 EDT, you write:

<< Excellent information, David! Thanks a lot. Could you please tell us what
kind
 of usage a scientific illustrator can look at when using AutoCad in general.
One
 of the curators I work with asked me if I can reconstruct a Mayan village in
3D
 kind of environment having only floor plans as a starting point and only
verbal
 description of constructive materials, etc.

 Emil >>

Emil - While I'm sure you could do that in AutoCAD, I've heard that it's a
pain to use in 3D, compared to other programs. I also don't know if realistic
rendering of textures and so on is included in the package, or if that's an
add-on. It shouldn't be too difficult in AutoCAD to create a 3D model from
the floor plan and generate a perspective view, that you could then paint
realistically in Painter, Photoshop, or by hand. My experience with AutoCAD
has been mostly doing 2D drafting. It's a program more for engineers than for
illustrators, I think. If you need to be able to work from an AutoCAD file,
many programs can import DXF files, and some can read AutoCAD dwg files
directly. For a 3D project like the one you describe, I recommend form*Z,
which is a general purpose 3D modeler, though there are others out there that
would do the job as well. One reason I like form*Z is that it is also a CAD
program, giving you a higher level of control than many other 3D programs.
MiniCAD has 3D, but as I understand, it is not highly realistic. I've used
AutoCAD up to v.13, and I like it as a drafting program, but for most 2D
science illustration, I think Freehand or Illustrator are superior to it for
high quality line art, Painter or Photoshop for realistic color 2D art, and
form*Z, (among others), for 3D modeling and realistic rendering. And you
could probably buy all of the above for the price of AutoCAD. That said,
AutoCAD is an extremely powerful program, you could probably do just about
anything with it.  Hope that helps - David