Drawing 3D Headers & Sills

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This lesson is continued from the previous tutorial. In this exercise, you specify a default thickness, then use the LINE command to draw a 3D door header and a 3D sill.

Tip:
AutoCAD's ELEV command lets you specify the default elevation and thickness for new objects. If you use ELEV to specify a new elevation and thickness, lines and many other objects you draw after that time will be at the Z-height (elevation) and Z-depth (thickness) you specified.

1. Press ESC to make sure no objects in the drawing are selected.
2. In the Properties window, in the Thickness spinner, type 3' to specify the default thickness of new objects.

   

3. From the layer list, choose Walls.

   

4. From the Draw menu, choose Line.



5. Select OSNAP on the status bar, if required, to turn the feature on. This has already been set up to search for Endpoints.



6. Select the lower-left corner of the window opening, as shown in the image.



7. Select the remaining corners to create the window sill.
8. Press ENTER to exit the LINE command. Note that AutoCAD has created a 3D line.



9. Press ESC to make sure no objects are selected.
10. Type -1' in the thickness box. Make sure you put in the minus sign to give a negative thickness.



11. From the Draw menu, choose Line.
12. Select the points required to draw the 3D header shown in the image.



13. Press ENTER to exit the line command.
14. From the View menu, chose Hide to see your model with the hidden lines removed.



15. Using the techniques demonstrated previously set the default thickness to 0.

    

As you can see, there is a gap between the top of the sill lines. This can present a problem when you render, because it will allow the gap between the walls to be visible in your images and animations. In the next lesson you learn how to fix that gap.

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