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2D and 3D
When AutoCAD starts up, you are presented with a dialog box shown below:
If this dialog box does not appear, select Tools Options System and select Show startup
dialog checkbox. The dialog box will be displayed the next time AutoCAD is started. So, shut down
AutoCAD and restart it. To shut down AutoCAD select File Exit or press the Close icon on the top
right corner of the AutoCAD window.
The options available in this dialog box are: (i) Open an existing drawing (ii) Start a new drawing
from scratch (iii) Start a new drawing based on a previously defined template or (iv) Start a new
drawing under the guidance of a wizard.
To start a new drawing. a beginner is advised to use the wizard. An experienced user can
choose either the “start from scratch” or “Use a template” options.
The AutoCAD User Interface
The AutoCAD user interface consists of the following components:
1. Main Menu: Contains the menu items File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Draw,
Dimension, Modify, Window, and Help. They can be accessed using the mouse or the
keyboard (Alt+hotkey).
2. Toolbars: Toolbars can be turned on or off. Usually the following toolbars are turned on –
Standard, Object properties, Draw and Modify. Toolbars can be turned on/off in one of two
ways:
a. View Toolbars…
b. Right click on any toolbar and select the toolbar to be turned on/off.
3. Drawing Area: Can be either (i) Model space or (ii) Layout (Paper space), depending on
the tab selected. You can create multiple layouts (paper space) but there can be only one
model space. Model space permits creation and modification of the model. Layout shows
how the model appears when plotted on paper of a chosen size.
4. Command window: Command window is located at the bottom and echoes all
commands entered through the keyboard or equivalent command for menu selections.
5. Status Bar: Displays the coordinate of the mouse pointer and the status of various
switches, such as Coordinates of mouse location, Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar, Object Snap,
Object Snap Tracking, Show/Hide Line weight, Model/Paper space.
Any operation in AutoCAD can be initiated in one of two ways: (i) Choosing the appropriate item
from the menu (ii) Typing a command into the command window. A command is terminated by
pressing <Enter> key or the space bar. Commands are case insensitive. Any command can be
terminated midway by pressing the <Esc> key.
Specifying Coordinates
Coordinates for a point can be specified in either (i) rectangular coordinates (x, y, z). When only
two coordinates are given, they are assumed to be (x, y) or (ii) polar coordinates (r, ). For either
coordinate system, coordinates of a point can be specified in absolute or relative coordinates.
Absolute rectangular coordinates are specified as x, y, z or x, y with reference to the origin of
the coordinate system. Relative coordinates are specified as @x, y, z or @x, y. If a reference point is
not specified, the previous drawn point is taken as the reference.
To use a previously drawn point as the reference, use the “from” keyword and use OSNAP to
choose the point.
Absolute Polar coordinates are specified as r θ . And relative Polar coordinates as @r θ.
Plotting
Before plotting, it is important to setup the paper size and orientation and the plotter device.
This can be done in File Page Setup Plot Device.
A model can be plotted from either the model space or the paper space. When plotting directly
from the model space, you can choose the rectangular are of the model that you want to plot, choose
a plotting scale, preview and then plot.
Using Layout (paper space) to plot will give grater control on plotting.
Layout
Advantages of using layout to plot are:
1. A drawing can have multiple layouts for the same model, so that you can define different
sizes and configurations of the plots prepared and choose the appropriate one while plotting.
2. Within a layout, you can define multiple viewports, control their size and position on the plot
and choose the position and scale of the model visible within each viewport.
3. Any border and nameplate can be drawn on the layout at a 1:1 scale
View Ports
A view port in a layout can be created with the command VPORTS. A dialog box assists you in
creating viewports with a number of pre-defined layouts. Simplest is the Single Viewport. Right
clicking on the edge of the viewport and clicking properties brings up the Properties window. Here,
choose the scale (Standard scale or Custom scale) for the contents of the viewport and other
properties such as Layer, Linetype etc.
All drawing commands are available in paper space just as in model space. To switch back and
fort between paper space and model space, click on the PAPER button on the status bar. The
border of the viewport changes to a thick line when you choose model space. In model space within
a viewport you can zoom and pan just as in model space. Then switch back to paper space by
clicking on MODEL on the status bar. Finally choose the scale to an exact number in the Properties
window.
Plotting
When plotting using layout, always plot at a 1:1 scale. The scale for each viewport must be
chosen separately, and it can be different for each viewport.
Working in Three Dimension
Objects can be solids or surfaces in three dimension. Like the two dimensional primitives such
as lines, circles and rectangles, AutoCAD has three dimensional solids and surfaces. The operations
that can be performed on solids are Union, Subtraction, Intersect, Extrude.
To view three dimensional objects, you will need to change the Viewpoint (VPOINT). Viewpoint
coordinates -1,-1,1 is a good choice. Other ways of choosing the view point are View 3D Views
Viewpoint presets or View 3D views Viewpoint.
In 3D, you can ask AutoCAD to remove hidden lines or render.
Creating 3D Solids
AutoCAD has a number of 3D solid primitives (Draw Solids) such as Box, Cylinder, Sphere,
Cone, Wedge, Torus. Another powerful technique of creating solids is to draw the cross section of
the solid and extrude (EXTRUDE) it along a straight or curved path or revolve (REVOLVE) it about
an axis. These options are available in the Draw Solid menu.
Modifying Solids
Solid objects can be modified to create new solid objects through operations such as UNION
(joining two or more objects which may or may not be touching one another), INTERSECT (retain
only the portion common to two or more objects), SUBTRACT (removing a set of solids from a set of
objects that will be retained). These operations are available from the Modify Solids editing
menu.
It is possible to Array, Mirror or Rotate in 3D from the Modify 3D operation menu.