Autocad 2007 3D Tutorial
AutoCAD is an example of a computer-aided design program, which architects, engineers and casual users use to create blueprints and schematics for precision structures such as buildings. Early versions of AutoCAD had little support for building virtual 3D objects. The 2007 version, however, lets users design such objects with an intuitive manipulation of mouse and graphical user interface, or GUI, tools. Users who prefer the pre-2007 approaches of building 3D objects can still use them; the entry of commands via the keyboard remains a key component of the application.
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Instructions
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Open AutoCAD and select a 3D view to work in: Click "View," "3D views," then "SW Isometric."
The isometric view is a type of orthographic view, which is the opposite of a perspective view. In perspective views, parallel lines going away from you appear to come together. In orthographic views, the lines remain parallel.
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Create an object via the keyboard by first typing "box" at the command prompt at the bottom of the screen. After you press "Enter," type "10" to specify the box's first coordinate, and another two "10"s for the remaining two coordinates. When you press "Enter" again, AutoCAD will display your completed box.
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Create an object via the mouse, beginning with displaying the 3D object toolbar: Click "Tools," "Toolbars," "AutoCAD," then "Modeling."
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Press the box icon on the new toolbar, then click anywhere in the main window to define the first point in the box's base.
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Drag the mouse to define the box's base, then click the mouse to end creation of the base.
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Drag the mouse upward to define the box's height, then click the mouse to complete the box.
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Experiment with creating the other primitives, or simple 3D objects, on the 3D object toolbar. Try making a wedge, torus (or donut), cylinder and cone. Once you learn to shape and assemble these simple objects, you can build complex ones more easily.
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Begin creating a 3D object from a 2D one: Click the "Draw" menu heading, then click "Polyline." A polyline is a chain of line segments that you can use to create polygons with arbitrary shapes.
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Click and drag to create the first line segment, then drag and click to complete the second segment. Right-click and select "Close" to complete the polyline, which is now a triangle.
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Make the polyline into a 3D object: Click the polyline, now a triangle, to select it. Then, click the "Extrude" tool on the 3D toolbar. AutoCAD will expand (or extrude) the triangle into a 3D object.
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References
- Photo Credit house plan image by Jon Le-Bon from Fotolia.com
