Wiley AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies Aug 2007 ISBN 0470097639 pdf

  ® 2008 AutoCAD

  

3D Modeling

Workbook

FOR

  ‰ DUMmIES

by Lee Ambrosius

  ® 2008 AutoCAD

  

3D Modeling

Workbook

FOR

  ‰ DUMmIES

by Lee Ambrosius

  ® ® AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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  About the Author Lee Ambrosius is a former resident of a cubicle community, which he resided in for about 8

  years until deciding to go into business for himself. In 2005, Lee decided to venture off into the CAD industry as an independent consultant for HyperPics, LLC in De Pere, Wisconsin, and on the Web at www.hyperpics.com. He has been using AutoCAD since 1994 when he was first exposed to Release 12 for DOS, and has been customizing and programming AutoCAD since 1996. Lee has been an AutoCAD consultant and trainer for over a decade, and is both an Autodesk Authorized Author and an Autodesk Authorized Developer.

  Over the last decade, Lee has authored a variety of works that include articles for CAD maga- zines, white papers for Autodesk, and has been a contributing author on a few occasions for AutoCAD books. Lee is a co-author of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT All-in-One Desk Reference For

  Dummies. He has done technical editing for the three most recent editions of AutoCAD For Dummies, and the four most recent editions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Bible. AutoCAD 2008

  3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies is his first solo venture as a book author.

  Dedication

  To my parents, for believing in me and being there when I needed them the most, especially when helping a broke college student purchase his first computer those many years ago (even though you thought it wasn’t the best thing to do at the time).

  Author’s Acknowledgments

  I have to give a special thanks to Kristina, my wife, and my three kids, Isaac, Amber, and Chloe, for letting me put in the long hours needed to complete this book. Thanks to all the great folks at Wiley for being supportive through this entire project and giving me this great opportunity to write this book.

  Thanks to Shaan Hurley, Bud Schroeder, and many of the other great professionals at Autodesk for taking the time to answer questions as they came up during this project. And following close behind, and picking up the loose ends for me, is my technical editor Mark Douglas. Mark is definitely not a stranger to AutoCAD, and is an up-and-coming individual in the CAD community who is always willing to help out a fellow user in need.

  Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

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  Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

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  Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

  Contents at a Glance

Introduction.................................................................................1

  

Part I: Introducing AutoCAD .........................................................5

Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface .............................................................................................7 Chapter 2: Working with Drawing Files ...................................................................................................25 Chapter 3: Customizing Your Work Environment ..................................................................................43 Part II: Going from 2D to 3D.......................................................59 Chapter 4: Transitioning from 2D to 3D...................................................................................................61 Chapter 5: Viewing a 3D Model.................................................................................................................79 Chapter 6: Taking the Plunge into 3D ....................................................................................................107 Chapter 7: Additional Exercises: Making the Transition.....................................................................133 Part III: 3D Modeling — Solid Modeling ....................................139 Chapter 8: Modeling with Solids.............................................................................................................141 Chapter 9: Modifying and Analyzing Solids ..........................................................................................163 Chapter 10: Creating Section and Auxiliary Views from Models........................................................185 Chapter 11: Additional Exercises: Modeling with Solids.....................................................................197 Part IV: 3D Modeling — Surfaces..............................................205 Chapter 12: Modeling with Surfaces ......................................................................................................207 Chapter 13: Complex Surface Modeling ................................................................................................223 Chapter 14: Modifying Surfaces..............................................................................................................235 Chapter 15: Additional Exercises: Modeling with Surfaces ................................................................245 Part V: Visualizing the Design ...................................................255 Chapter 16: Lighting.................................................................................................................................257 Chapter 17: Materials...............................................................................................................................273 Chapter 18: Rendering and Animating...................................................................................................287 Chapter 19: Additional Exercises: Visualizing the Design...................................................................299 Part VI: Model Interchange .......................................................305 Chapter 20: Plotting to a Hardcopy or an Electronic File....................................................................307 Chapter 21: Importing and Exporting 3D Models.................................................................................321 Part VII: The Part of Tens..........................................................329 Chapter 22: More than Ten New Features in AutoCAD 2008...............................................................331 Chapter 23: More than Ten Software and Professional Design Resources .......................................341 Appendix A: Glossary................................................................345

  Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................1

  

Part I: Introducing AutoCAD..........................................................5

Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface ......................................................................7 Launching AutoCAD...................................................................................................................7 Navigating the User Interface ...................................................................................................9 Drawing window .............................................................................................................10 Command Line window .................................................................................................12 Text window....................................................................................................................12 Status bar ........................................................................................................................12 Status bar tray ................................................................................................................14 Toolbars...........................................................................................................................16 Menus...............................................................................................................................17 Dockable windows .........................................................................................................17 Giving AutoCAD Directions.....................................................................................................19 It’s all in the name ..........................................................................................................19 Repeating a command ...................................................................................................20 Canceling the current command ..................................................................................20 Dynamic input.................................................................................................................21 Dialog boxes....................................................................................................................21 Sending an S.O.S. to AutoCAD ................................................................................................22 Online help ......................................................................................................................22 InfoCenter........................................................................................................................22 Turning to the World Wide Web ...................................................................................24 Answers to Practice Opportunities .......................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Working with Drawing Files ...........................................................................25 Creating a New Drawing ..........................................................................................................25 Drawing templates .........................................................................................................26 Starting from scratch .....................................................................................................27 Calling upon the wizard.................................................................................................28 Opening an Existing Drawing..................................................................................................28 Navigating Drawing Windows.................................................................................................30 Saving Drawings .......................................................................................................................31 Password-protecting your documents ........................................................................32 Attaching a digital signature .........................................................................................34 Closing Drawings......................................................................................................................36 Archiving and Backing Up Drawings .....................................................................................37 Recovering a Drawing..............................................................................................................39 Answers to Practice Opportunities .......................................................................................42 Chapter 3: Customizing Your Work Environment ............................................................43

  AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies

  Using Workspaces ....................................................................................................................53 Workspace settings ........................................................................................................54

  Customizing AutoCAD and Its User Interface.......................................................................56 Customizing the user interface.....................................................................................56 Other methods of customizing AutoCAD ....................................................................57

  Answers to Practice Opportunities .......................................................................................58

  Part II: Going from 2D to 3D .......................................................59 Chapter 4: Transitioning from 2D to 3D .............................................................................61

  3D Modeling Types Available in AutoCAD ............................................................................61 Wireframe model ............................................................................................................61 Surface model .................................................................................................................62 Solid model......................................................................................................................62

  Going Above the Plane ............................................................................................................63 Entering coordinate values at the command prompt................................................63 Object snaps ...................................................................................................................66 Object snap tracking......................................................................................................68 Point filters......................................................................................................................69 Elevating (not levitating) objects .................................................................................70

  Working with the Coordinate Systems ..................................................................................70 Understanding the coordinate systems .....................................................................71 Getting your bearings from the UCS icon ...................................................................71 Customizing the display of the UCS icon ...................................................................73 Modifying the UCS .........................................................................................................75 Manipulating the UCS dynamically ..............................................................................76

  Answers to Practice Opportunities .......................................................................................77

  Chapter 5: Viewing a 3D Model .........................................................................................79 Establishing the Point of View................................................................................................80 Orthogonal viewpoints ..................................................................................................80 Isometric viewpoints .....................................................................................................80 Using the Viewpoint Presets dialog box......................................................................81 Accessing the tripod and compass to find your way ................................................82 Standard Viewing Mechanics..................................................................................................83 Zooming and panning ....................................................................................................83 Orbiting............................................................................................................................85 Looking at a model from two different ways ..............................................................87 Advanced Viewing Mechanics................................................................................................88 Configuring Fly and Walk...............................................................................................89 Navigating with Fly and Walk ........................................................................................89 Setting the Stage: Cameras and Backgrounds ......................................................................91 Named views ...................................................................................................................92 Cameras ...........................................................................................................................94 Backgrounds ...................................................................................................................96 Giving Your 3D Models Style (Fashion Tips Not Included).................................................98 Controlling the Display Quality of 3D Solids ......................................................................102 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................105 Chapter 6: Taking the Plunge into 3D ..............................................................................107

  Table of Contents

  Blurring the Lines between 2D and 3D ................................................................................113

  3D polyline ....................................................................................................................113 Helix ...............................................................................................................................114 Making 3D objects out of 2D objects .........................................................................116

  Modeling with Regions ..........................................................................................................119 Creating regions............................................................................................................119 Modifying regions.........................................................................................................120 Getting information from a region..............................................................................122

  Modifying 3D Objects ............................................................................................................123

  3D Move .........................................................................................................................124

  3D Rotate .......................................................................................................................125

  3D Align and Align ........................................................................................................126 Mirror 3D .......................................................................................................................128

  3D Array.........................................................................................................................129 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................131

  Chapter 7: Additional Exercises: Making the Transition ............................................133 Navigating a 3D Model...........................................................................................................133 Taking a 2D Drawing and Creating a 3D Part ......................................................................135 Part III: 3D Modeling — Solid Modeling.....................................139 Chapter 8: Modeling with Solids .....................................................................................141 Working with 3D Solids..........................................................................................................141 Primitive solids.............................................................................................................141 Complex solids .............................................................................................................142 Solids that Follow the Straight (And Narrow) ....................................................................143 Box .................................................................................................................................143 Wedge.............................................................................................................................144 Pyramid .........................................................................................................................145 Polysolid ........................................................................................................................147 Solids with Curves .................................................................................................................148 Sphere ............................................................................................................................148 Cylinder .........................................................................................................................149 Cone ...............................................................................................................................150 Torus ..............................................................................................................................151 Nothing Complex about These Solids .................................................................................153 Add some of this and remove a little of that ............................................................153 As the model revolves .................................................................................................157 Sweeping........................................................................................................................158 Lofting around ..............................................................................................................159 Converting objects to 3D solids .................................................................................161 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................162 Chapter 9: Modifying and Analyzing Solids...................................................................163 Modifying 3D Solids ...............................................................................................................163 Properties palette.........................................................................................................164 Grip editing ...................................................................................................................165 Selecting a subobject ...................................................................................................167 Working with the history of a 3D solid ......................................................................170

  AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies

  Branding (imprinting) your 3D solids........................................................................179 You don’t have to get pushy .......................................................................................180 Exploding solids ...........................................................................................................181

  Putting Your Model under the Microscope ........................................................................181 Getting information from your model........................................................................181 Analyzing your model ..................................................................................................182

  Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................183

  Chapter 10: Creating Section and Auxiliary Views from Models..............................185 Creating Section and Auxiliary Views..................................................................................185 Ready, set, section........................................................................................................185 Viewing, drawing, and profiling solids.......................................................................190 Flattening a Model..................................................................................................................194 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................196 Chapter 11: Additional Exercises: Modeling with Solids ...........................................197 Modeling with Primitive and Complex 3D Solids ...............................................................197 Modifying a 3D Solid ..............................................................................................................201 Part IV: 3D Modeling — Surfaces ..............................................205 Chapter 12: Modeling with Surfaces ..............................................................................207 Working with Surfaces ...........................................................................................................207 Primitive surfaces ........................................................................................................208 Complex surfaces .........................................................................................................208 Controlling the smoothness of a surface ..................................................................209 Putting the Face in Surface ...................................................................................................210 Meshes with Straight Edges..................................................................................................211 Planar meshes...............................................................................................................212 Boxes and wedges ........................................................................................................213 Pyramid .........................................................................................................................214 Curvy Meshes .........................................................................................................................216 Sphere ............................................................................................................................216 Dish and dome ..............................................................................................................217 Cone ...............................................................................................................................218 Torus ..............................................................................................................................219 Planar Surfaces and Surface Objects...................................................................................220 Planar surface ...............................................................................................................221 Complex surface objects .............................................................................................221 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................222 Chapter 13: Complex Surface Modeling.........................................................................223 Creating Complex 3D Meshes...............................................................................................223 Irregular-shaped 3D meshes .......................................................................................223 Revolved meshes..........................................................................................................227 Tabulating meshes .......................................................................................................228 One mesh to rule them all...........................................................................................229 Edgy meshes .................................................................................................................230 Creating Complex Surfaces ...................................................................................................231 Extruded surfaces ........................................................................................................232

  Chapter 14: Modifying Surfaces.......................................................................................235 Editing Surface Models..........................................................................................................235 Editing 3D Faces .....................................................................................................................235 Editing 3D Meshes..................................................................................................................238 Smoothing a mesh ........................................................................................................239 A mesh no more............................................................................................................239 Editing Surface Objects .........................................................................................................240 Reshaping a surface .....................................................................................................241 Surfaces to wireframe ..................................................................................................241 Slicing through 3D solids.............................................................................................242 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................244 Chapter 15: Additional Exercises: Modeling with Surfaces ......................................245 Modeling with Meshes...........................................................................................................245 Modeling with Surfaces .........................................................................................................249 Part V: Visualizing the Design....................................................255 Chapter 16: Lighting............................................................................................................257 Overview of Lighting .............................................................................................................257 Default lighting..............................................................................................................258 User-defined lighting....................................................................................................258 Lights in blocks.............................................................................................................259 Creating User-Defined Lights................................................................................................259 Point lights ....................................................................................................................260 Spotlights.......................................................................................................................261 Weblights.......................................................................................................................261 Distant lights .................................................................................................................262 Sunlight..........................................................................................................................264 Using Predefined Lights from Tool Palettes .......................................................................266 Modifying Lights.....................................................................................................................266 Global Lighting .......................................................................................................................269 Turning Old into New ............................................................................................................271 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................271 Chapter 17: Materials.........................................................................................................273 Creating and Modifying Materials........................................................................................273 Common material properties......................................................................................275 Maps...............................................................................................................................276 Previewing materials and maps..................................................................................278 Scaling, Tiling, and Offsetting Materials..............................................................................278 Accessing Libraries of Materials ..........................................................................................280 Attaching and Removing Materials......................................................................................281 Adjusting Materials................................................................................................................284 Converting Old Materials ......................................................................................................286 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................286 Chapter 18: Rendering and Animating ............................................................................287 Rendering Your 3D Model .....................................................................................................287 Cropping before a render ............................................................................................288 Table of Contents

  AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies

  Setting Your Model in Motion...............................................................................................296 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................298

  Chapter 19: Additional Exercises: Visualizing the Design..........................................299 Lighting the Way.....................................................................................................................299 Creating and Attaching Materials ........................................................................................301 Rendering the Model .............................................................................................................303 Part VI: Model Interchange........................................................305 Chapter 20: Plotting to a Hardcopy or an Electronic File ............................................307 Plotters and Plot Styles .........................................................................................................307 Plotters ..........................................................................................................................307 Plot styles ......................................................................................................................309 Laying Out Models .................................................................................................................309 Layouts ..........................................................................................................................310 Floating viewports........................................................................................................312 Plotting and Publishing .........................................................................................................314 Plotting ..........................................................................................................................314 Publishing......................................................................................................................316 Publishing Your Models to the Web.....................................................................................317 Answers to Practice Opportunities .....................................................................................319 Chapter 21: Importing and Exporting 3D Models ..........................................................321 Exchanging 3D Models ..........................................................................................................321 Vector file formats ........................................................................................................321 Raster file formats ........................................................................................................324 File Translators.......................................................................................................................325 Harnessing 3D Models in Non-CAD Applications...............................................................326 Part VII: The Part of Tens ..........................................................329 Chapter 22: More than Ten New Features in AutoCAD 2008.......................................331 Chapter 23: More than Ten Software and Professional Design Resources.............341 Appendix A: Glossary ................................................................345 Appendix B: About the DVD .......................................................347 Index .......................................................................................351

  Table of Exercises

  Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface Exercise 1-1: Launching AutoCAD ............................................................................................7 Exercise 1-2: Customizing a Desktop Shortcut with Command Line Switches ..................9 Exercise 1-3: Navigating the Drawing Window .....................................................................11 Exercise 1-4: Using the Status Bar..........................................................................................13 Exercise 1-5: Controlling the Display of Controls on the Status Bar .................................14 Exercise 1-6: Controlling the Display of Icons and Notification Balloons .........................15 Exercise 1-7: Displaying, Hiding, and Repositioning a Toolbar ..........................................16 Exercise 1-8: Manipulating the Display of a Dockable Window..........................................18 Exercise 1-9: Starting and Canceling a Command ................................................................21 Exercise 1-10: Searching for Information Using InfoCenter ................................................23 Chapter 2: Working with Drawing Files Exercise 2-1: Creating a New Drawing from a Template ......................................................26 Exercise 2-2: Creating a Custom Template............................................................................26 Exercise 2-3: Creating a Drawing from Scratch ....................................................................27 Exercise 2-4: Creating a Drawing with the Use a Wizard Option........................................28 Exercise 2-5: Opening a Drawing File.....................................................................................29 Exercise 2-6: Arranging Drawing Windows ...........................................................................30 Exercise 2-7: Switching between Open Drawings.................................................................30 Exercise 2-8: Saving a Drawing File ........................................................................................31 Exercise 2-9: Password-Protecting a Drawing File ...............................................................33 Exercise 2-10: Opening a Drawing File That Is Protected by a Password .........................33 Exercise 2-11: Obtaining a Digital Signature .........................................................................34 Exercise 2-12: Attaching a Digital Signature to a Drawing File ...........................................35 Exercise 2-13: Opening a Drawing with a Digital Signature.................................................36 Exercise 2-14: Closing a Drawing............................................................................................37 Exercise 2-15: Closing All Open Drawings.............................................................................37 Exercise 2-16: Creating a Transmittal Package of Your Drawings ......................................38 Exercise 2-17: Recovering a Drawing .....................................................................................40 Exercise 2-18: Auditing a Drawing..........................................................................................40 Exercise 2-19: Using the Recovery Manager .........................................................................41 Chapter 3: Customizing Your Work Environment Exercise 3-1: Changing the Display of Interface Elements .................................................46 Exercise 3-2: Enabling Hardware Acceleration and Adjusting Adaptive Degradation ....48 Exercise 3-3: Creating a User Profile ......................................................................................51 Exercise 3-4: Setting a User Profile Current and Making Changes .....................................52 Exercise 3-5: Exporting and Importing a User Profile..........................................................52