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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Using the UCS Command to Draw on 3D Walls

DO NOT DUPLICATE. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

You may wish, from time to time, to draw objects on your walls. For example, you may want to add signs, planking or hatch patterns.

In this lesson you learn how to use the UCS command to draw on any plane in 3 dimensional space.

From the Tools menu, choose New UCS, then 3 Point.
Select the lower left corner of the wall. You are defining the 0,0,0 for the coordinate system.
Select the lower right corner of the wall indicated in the image. You are defining a point on the X-axis of the new coordinate system.
Select the upper left corner of the wall indicated in the image. This is a point on the Y axis of the new coordinate system. Note the change in the UCS icon located in the lower left corner of the screen. This is showing you the orientation of the X, Y and Z axes.
From the Color list choose Red.
From the Draw menu, choose Polyline.
Select the point indicated in the image.
Type W to indicate that you want to specify a width for the polyline.
Type 2" to specify the starting width.
Press ENTER to specify the ending width.
Select points to define a rectangle as shown in the image.
Use the techniques just demonstrated to create rectangles around the windows.
From the Draw menu, choose Hatch.
From the list of hatch patterns, choose Brick.
Select Pick Points.
Click on the wall elevation you just traced in the area you want to fill with a hatch.
Right-click to finish the hatching process.
From the Tools menu choose New UCS, then choose World. This will return the coordinate system to its normal X,Y & Z orientation.
From the View menu choose Hide.

You will find our version of the finished drawing in 7602d.dwg.

TIP:

The technique just demonstrated can be very useful for generating 2D elevations from a 3D model quickly.

TIP:

Turning objects drawn on one user coordinate system into a block, then switching to another user coordinate and inserting them is a quick way to move objects from one coordinate system to another.

Using the REGION Command to Close Gaps

This lesson is continued from the previous tutorial. There are a variety of commands you can use to fill the gap over the sill and under the header. You can use AutoCAD's 3D face command to close this space, if desired. In this exercise, we use AutoCAD's REGION command to create flat planes.

Tip:

This technique is very useful for models that will be taken into 3D rendering application. It lets you close up gaps in the model as required.

From the View menu, choose Regen to regenerate the screen.

From the Draw toolbar, choose 3D Polyline.

Select three of the four the corners of the window sill.

Type C to close the 3D polyline.
From the Draw menu, choose Region.

Type L at the command prompt to indicate that you want to use the polyline you just drew to define the region.

Press ENTER again to indicate that you don't want to select any more objects.
From the View menu, choose Hide. Note that the gap between wall lines is no longer apparent.

Repeat this procedure to use REGION to fill in the bottom and top of the header. You need to fill in this space, or when you render this room from a normal camera height you'll see the gap in the wall again. Note: Don't forget the REGEN step at the start of this exercise. This will display the hidden lines.

Now that you know how to create 3D walls, sills and headers, you should feel comfortable to creating 3D doors and windows as well.

Drawing 3D Headers & Sills

DO NOT DUPLICATE. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE. Content is Watermarked.

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.

Press ESC to make sure no objects in the drawing are selected.
In the Properties window, in the Thickness spinner, type 3' to specify the default thickness of new objects.
From the layer list, choose Walls.
From the Draw menu, choose Line.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Giving 2D Walls 3D Thickness in AutoCAD

DO NOT DUPLICATE. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

In this exercise, you learn how to change 2D wall lines into 3D wall lines by changing their thickness. The techniques demonstrated in this project can be used to turn almost any 2D entity into a 3D object.

Tip:

People often use the term extrusion for the process by which a user can increase the Z-depth of an object, but in AutoCAD, there is a command called EXTRUDE that extrudes a closed entity to create a solid. In order not to confuse you, we usually use the term extrusion only when referring to the process which requires the EXTRUDE command.

Tip:
AutoCAD refers to the distance between wall lines as the width of a wall, and the Z-depth of a wall line as the wall's thickness.

Open the 7602a.dwg file.
From the View menu, choose 3D Views then choose SE isometric.
From the Standard toolbar, choose Zoom Window.

Select two points, as shown in the following image, to define a window around the gap in the 3D building.

From the Modify menu, choose Properties. This will launch the Properties window.
Select the 2D wall lines indicated in the image. Make sure you get the small ones at the end of each window opening.

In the Properties window, in the Thickness box, type 8'.

Press ESC to remove the grips from the objects.

In the next tutorial you create 3D sills and headers.

Creating Text in AutoCAD

DO NOT DUPLICATE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE. Content Watermarked

Introduction

In this tutorial you learn how to create and edit four kinds of text and tables in AutoCAD. This is a great tutorial for anyone you needs to understand the text creation and editing commands AutoCAD users have to choose from.

You master:

Creating and editing single-line text
Creating and editing multi-line text
Creating and editing leaders
Defining Text Styles and associated Fonts
Creating and editing tables

By the time you complete this tutorial you should feel comfortable creating and editing most kinds of text.

For exclusive use of Registered User

Creating Text

In this lesson you learn how to create and edit single and multiline text.

Prior to starting this tutorial, open the 7120.dwg drawing file. Remember to right-click on the link and choose Save Link Target or Save Target As to save it to a folder on your local hard disk.
From the Draw menu choose Text then Single Line Text.
Select a point in an empty area in the lower left corner of the drawing.
Type 2' to specify the height of the text. You are specifying that you want the text to be 2' tall, and when the drawing is plotted the text will be scaled like the rest of the geometry.
Type 0 to specify the scale of the text.
Type Train Overpass to indicate the text that should be added to the drawing. Press ENTER to go to the next text line.
Press ENTER to indicate that you don't want to add any text on this line.
From the Draw menu choose Text, then Multiline Text.
Select two points to create a box under the geometry.
In the Text Height box, type 1'.
In the text box type Highway I-93 overpass for the Southern Pacific railway. Project scheduled for completion in 2055. Contracts to be awarded by open bidding and public auction. Right of way currently runs through Emerson Cemetery. Scheduled for clearance. You can type other text if you prefer.

TIP:

Double-click on either text object to edit it. If you prefer, from the Modify menu choose Properties, then select the text you want to edit.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Learn AutoCAD - Get Started Now

This tutorial provides a fast introduction to the AutoCAD user interface. It will be of particular interest to new AutoCAD users, but it provides information that experienced users may be unfamiliar with.

Topics covered in this tutorial include:

Creating a new architectural or mechanical drawing.
Locating menus
Working with toolbars
Drawing lines with precision
Typing commands and responding to heads-up and command line prompts
Finding and using the tool pallette
Inserting and modifying dynamic blocks
Saving drawing files

By the time you complete this set of tutorials you should be able to find and use many AutoCAD commands.

Creating a New Drawing from a Template

In this tutorial you learn how to start a new AutoCAD drawing. In order to follow the steps in this tutorial, you need to have AutoCAD already installed and working on your computer.

Launch AutoCAD. In this tutorial we use AutoCAD 2006, but the tutorial will work for most versions.
- TIP: Remember that you click by tapping the left-most button of your mouse. You right-click by tapping the right-most button.
By default, AutoCAD displays the New Features Workshop. The next time you launch AutoCAD you can click Yes, then OK to see this overview of new features. For the time being, click Maybe Later then choose OK.
From the File menu, choose New.
Select Architectural, English units -Color Dependent Plot Styles from the list of drawing templates. A drawing template is a "sample drawing" which has the most commonly used settings (like units) already set. AutoCAD has many template drawings to choose from.
Click Open to open the template.
Click Model to toggle into Model space which is where you should always create design geometry. What is design geometry. It is all geometry related to what you want to build. Draw all objects in Model space at full scale (1"=1" or 1mm=1mm). Just imagine you have the worlds largest (or smallest) piece of paper. You create scaled views in layouts. You never draw scaled geometry in Model space. Model space has a black background in AutoCAD.
From the Format menu,choose Drawing Limits. This lets you tell AutoCAD how much room you need to draw in.
Take a moment to study the prompts. The "heads up" display near the cursor and the prompt area at the bottom of the screen are both asking you for the same information.
Type 0,0 and press ENTER to specify the lower left corner of your drawing area.
Type 60',40' and press ENTER to specify the upper right corner of your drawing area. Note that you are specifying the area you need in order to draw the outline of a small house.
From the View menu, click Zoom, then click All. This tells AutoCAD to show you the entire area you have to draw in.
On the Status bar, located at the bottom of the screen, right-click GRID and choose Settings.
Select the Snap on and Grid on check boxes. Snap makes your cursor move in even increments, so its easy to select a point like 1',1' rather than 1'3/16,1'3/4. Grid puts dots at even increments all over the area defined by drawing limits.
Type 6" in the Snap X Spacing check box.
type 5' in the Grid X Spacing check box.
Choose OK to exit this window.
From the File menu choose Save.
Type my-architectural-drawing in the file name box. This will name this drawing so you can use it later.
Choose OK.

Drawing Lines & Inserting Dynamic Blocks

Now that you've created a drawing with the right units, limits, grid and snap, you can easily draw a floor plan.

TIP:

The techniques you have used up until now will work just as well for metric mechanical and architectural drawings. You just need to select the right template drawing and specify the desired limits, grid and snap settings.

From the Draw menu, choose Line.
Type 5',5' and press Enter to specify the start of the line.
Move your mouse to the right until the prompt tells you it is 40' long.
Move your mouse up and type 10' then press ENTER. IMPORTANT: From now on we won't tell you type ENTER after you enter something at a prompt. Pressing ENTER is how you tell AutoCAD you are done typing. You can remember to do it on your own.
Move your mouse to the left and type 10'. If you move in a given direction, then type a distance, AutoCAD will set the end of the line at the specified point.
Use the techniques just demonstrated to finish drawing a floor plan.
On the Tool Palette, select the Architectural tab. (If you have closed the Tool Palette, from the Tools Menu choose Tool Palettes Window to display it again.)
Click on the Trees-Imperial symbol and drag it into the drawing.
Click the tree you just inserted. Select the blue triangle.
select one of the other tree plan options.
Press the ESC key on your keyboard to indicate that you don't want to modify the tree any more.
Use the techniques you've just experimented with to create more objects in the drawing using commands found on toolbars, tool palettes and menus. Try moving toolbars around. You can right-click on any toolbar to display a list of toolbars to display and hide.
From the File menu choose Save As and type experiment in the file name box. Choose OK to exit this window.
From the File menu choose Close to exit AutoCAD.

Now that you've learned how to create a new drawing, issue commands and respond to prompts, you should try creating a new drawing of your own and drawing a very simple object.