How to Draw 3-D in AutoCAD 2002

Use AutoCAD to draw 3-D images.

AutoCAD is a computer aided design (CAD) program that architects use to design buildings and other structures. The program features tools for drawing 2-D shapes like lines, rectangles and curves to exact specifications. The 2002 version of AutoCAD also has functions for 3-D modeling, which you can use to create realistic images of the structures that you're designing. A key benefit of using these 3-D functions is the ability to clearly visualize a design, an essential step in evaluating it prior to building it in the physical world.

Instructions

1. Open AutoCAD, then type "-view o." Press "F" and then "Enter" to display the "Front" viewport, in which you'll begin drawing the front view of a barn. Drawing the barn will introduce you to several essential concepts and tools for 3-D drawing in AutoCAD, including creating, shaping and navigating around 3-D objects.

   (Note that you don't have to select a command line prior to typing. AutoCAD accepts keyboard input by default.)

2. Type "Pline" to enter the "Polyline" drawing mode, then click anywhere in the drawing window to define the polyline's first point.

3. Drag directly right for several inches, then click to define the second point. Drag upward and left until the pointer is positioned directly above the midpoint of the first line segment. Click again to plot the third point.

4. Right-click and select "Close" to automatically create the third line segment, which will join the second and first segments to create a triangle. This shape will form the barn's roof.

5. Type "Orbit" to enter 3-D orbit mode, which allows you to rotate around the objects that you're modeling to see them from different viewpoints.

6. Click and drag slightly left and downward to change the viewpoint, then press "Escape" to exit "Orbit" mode.

7. Type "Extrude," then click the triangle to select it and press "Enter." Drag until the triangle expands several inches into 3-D space, then click the mouse to complete the extrusion.

8. Type "Extrude" again, then hover your mouse over the object's bottom face. Press and hold down "Control," then press "Space" until the bottom face's edges become bold, indicating that the face is ready for selection.

9. Click the mouse, then press "Enter" to select the bottom face, then drag for several inches to expand the object's bottom face downward to form the body of the barn.

10. Type "Perspective," then "1" to display a perspective view in the viewport. Perspective is the visual phenomenon that makes an object's parallel edges appear to converge to a specific point in space.

11. Type "-visualstyles," then select "set current." Click "3-D hidden" to prevent the edges of the barn's back faces from displaying.

12. Type "render" to create an image of the barn with realistic shading.

References

• "AutoCAD 2002 Bible"; Ellen Finkelstein; 2001