How to Do 3D With Autocad LT
AutoCAD LT is a computer aided design (CAD) application that includes many of the tools drafters need to create precision graphics for engineering and architectural projects. Although its three dimensional (3-D) functions aren't as extensive as those of its parent program, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT does allow drafters to create, modify and view objects in 3-D space. One benefit of learning these functions is the ability to create views that convey an object's true shape more quickly and clearly than 2-D views like top, left or front can.
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Instructions
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Open AutoCAD LT. Display the program's full set of tools by clicking the down-pointing arrow next to the title bar's printer icon, then clicking "Show menu bar." The program will display the "Draw," "Modify" and other menu headings you'll use to work in 3-D.
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Click the "Draw" menu heading, then click "Rectangle" to select the rectangle drawing tool. Click anywhere in the drawing window (i.e. viewport), then drag to grow the rectangle to any size or shape. Click again to release the rectangle creation tool.
(The program displays the rectangle in "Top" view, which is represented by the upward-pointing "Y" and right-pointing "X" axes visible in the lower left of the viewport. The "Z" axis is invisible because it runs parallel to the viewport's line of sight--into and out from the screen.)
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Click the "View" menu followed by the "3-D Views" and "SW Isometric" menu items. AutoCAD LT now displays the "Southwest" ("SW") view of the rectangle, which you can see by the icon in the screen's lower left: the "Z" axis, mentioned in the previous step, now runs up and down the window instead of into and out of it. The visibility of all three axes ("X," "Y," and "Z") indicates the view is three dimensional, unlike the previous step's 2-D view.
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Right-click the rectangle and select "Properties" to display the object properties dialog box. Click the "General" tab to expand its properties, then click in the text area next to the "Thickness" label. The "Thickness" property determines the size of the rectangle's "Z" component, also known as its 3-D depth.
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Type "10," followed by pressing "Enter." The program will transform the rectangle's thickness from 0 to 10 units, making it a 3-D object, a box. AutoCAD LT displays the box in wireframe view, which means you can see through all of its faces.
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Right-click the box to select it, then click the "View" menu. Click "Shade," then "256 colors" to select a shading scheme that will hide the box's sides that aren't facing you. The box's sides now appear with shading, illuminated with a virtual light.
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References
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