Tutorial for AutoCAD Rendering
AutoCAD is an application for designing buildings and other structures requiring precise measurements. It was first released for the PC in 1982, making it one of the first PC computer-aided design (CAD) programs. Early versions of AutoCAD offered users only basic shapes to make designs with, and had no rendering abilities. Rendering, in digital imaging terms, is the process of converting a mathematical model of an object to a digital drawing of that object. Today's AutoCAD has a full set of 3D modeling tools and tools for rendering photorealistic images from user models.
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Instructions
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Open AutoCAD and choose a 3D workspace to work in by selecting the "3D Modeling" item from the "Workspace Switching" drop-down list on the right side of the status bar.
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Click the "View" panel's "3D Wireframe" view to enable you to see a 3D view of the object you'll make.
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Notice the View Cube that appears at the upper right corner of the window. This cube lets you orbit in 3D space around an object. (You'll define the object in the next step.)
Click and drag on the cube so that it displays portions of the "Top," "Front" and "Right" cube sides.
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Create a 3D object to render by selecting the "Home" tab from the main toolbar, then clicking the "Modeling" panel's "Box" icon.
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Click and drag anywhere in the main window to define the box's base.
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Click again to end the base sizing and begin the height sizing. Drag to define the box's height. Then, click again to end height sizing.
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Render the box by clicking the main toolbar's "Render" tab. Then click the "Render" panel's "Render" button. AutoCAD will display a new window with a shaded view of your box.
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Change render quality and speed by selecting any of the items in the "Render" panel's "Render Presets" drop-down list. This list has options for rendering a range of qualities, including Draft," "Medium" and "Presentation." The higher the rendering quality you choose, the longer rendering the box's image will take. Experiment with the items on this list.
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Change the size of the rendered box by pressing the "Render" panel's "Render" label---not the button, but the label at the bottom of the panel. Then select any of the preset window dimensions from the "Render Output Size" drop-down list, such as "320 x 240," or "1024 x 768." Click the "Render" button to re-render the box at the new display size.
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References
- Photo Credit house plan image by Jon Le-Bon from Fotolia.com
