visualization. Be prepared to spend some additional time wading around in the AutoCAD online help system and experimenting if you want to become proficient at 3D modeling. And if 3D CAD makes you feel a little wobbly at first, Figure 8-1 shows that you’re not alone.
Figure 8-1: Leaning toward 3D.
Full 3D support is one of the main differentiators between full AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. If you’re using AutoCAD LT, you can look at and plot 3D models created in AutoCAD, but you can’t do much 3D object creation or editing yourself. Also, viewing 3D models is less flexible in AutoCAD LT because it lacks AutoCAD’s 3DOrbit command.
Is 3D for Me?
The concept of 3D hardly seems to need introduction. We live in a threedimensional world, and most of the objects that you represent in your 2D AutoCAD drawings are three-dimensional.
Traditional 2D drawings provide clues to help the viewer’s mind construct a 3D model from the 2D image on paper. Multiple views from different viewpoints in 3D space give experienced designers, drafters, and builders the information they need to make 3D sense of 2D drawings. Design and drafting have succeeded pretty well by using 2D representations as the guide to creating 3D objects. But at some point, nothing can replace a true 3D model, such as in helping someone understand how a building will look when constructed or how two parts fit together.
What does using 3D in CAD mean? Fundamentally, it means creating models instead of views. Rather than create cross sections of an object or individual views of it from certain perspectives, you create a fully three- dimensional model of the object. This 3D depiction of each object includes all the necessary information for AutoCAD to create a view from any point of view. With a properly constructed 3D model, AutoCAD can output commands to machines to create actual 3D objects, whether plastic prototypes carved from a tank of jelly by lasers or an actual bolt, valve, or piston created by computer-controlled machine tools. AutoCAD, like most 3D CAD programs, enables you to create three different kinds of 3D models of objects:
? Wireframes: A wireframe model is like a skeleton of a 3D object; it shows the edges of the object, not any of its surfaces. You create a set of 2D objects that represent an outline of each part of the object and then connect them three-dimensionally to make the wireframe. It’s like building a model from wire coat hangers. One of the biggest limitations of wireframe models is that you can’t shade them; there aren’t any surfaces “inside” the wire edges to catch the light — imagine shining a flashlight on a coat hanger.
? Surfaces: A surface model represents the “skin” of an object but not the solid mass inside. AutoCAD uses objects called
Surface meshes are just the thing for some 3D modeling tasks, but they have limitations:
• Some 3D objects are awkward to build by pasting surfaces together.
• You can’t check mass properties or interferences of a surface model. (AutoCAD doesn’t recognize that there’s any solid mass inside the surfaces.)
? Solids: A solid model is as close to true 3D as you can get without whipping out some Play-Doh and building a real-world model yourself. You build solid models by constructing basic 3D shapes and then combining them — adding, subtracting, or finding their intersections — and modifying them. It’s like using lots of fancy saws, drills, and glue to build a model made out of wooden blocks. You can render a solid model, as well as check mass properties and interferences.
In most practical applications of 3D, you select one type of representation — wireframe, surface, or solid — for all or most of the objects in the drawing, based on ease of construction and intended use of the model. However, AutoCAD doesn’t prevent you from mixing all three types of 3D objects in the same drawing.
Using 3D takes time to master, creates additional work, and slows down your computer. Why bother using it? Here are four key reasons why anyone in his or her right mind would bother with 3D:
? It’s the wave of the future. As CAD pursues greater realism and production efficiency, 3D is becoming important for more tasks in more professions. Drafters and designers who want to keep up with how CAD is likely to be used in the future should become familiar with 3D now.
? Sometimes it’s nice. Drawing in 3D is useful for several tasks, including creating shaded renderings to help sell a design to a client, and fit-and-finish testing to find potential problems before a design is put into construction or manufacturing.
? Sometimes it’s needed. Drawing in 3D is required for a small but growing number of tasks. Many mechanical designs are done in 3D or converted into 3D at some point in the design process. 3D perspective views make drawings easier to understand. And the shaded renderings used for both designing and selling are becoming a practical necessity in some fields.
? Sometimes it’s faster. The fastest way to create a single view of something usually is to draw that view in 2D. If you need multiple views, it may be faster to create a 3D model and then slice and render it as needed for the views you want to create.
After you determine the type of 3D representation to use, you decide on the appropriate level of detail and construct the model, using the commands and techniques introduced in this chapter. Finally, you create the required 2D and/or rendered views for plotting or viewing on the screen.
You can do some experimentation with 3D on any computer system that can run AutoCAD. If you want to pursue serious work in 3D AutoCAD, pay attention to the following prerequisites:
? Know AutoCAD well. You need to be pretty comfortable using AutoCAD for 2D work before doing much with 3D. You should be able to control object properties, use precision techniques, draw and edit 2D objects, and zoom and pan — in other words, all the stuff covered in Chapters 4 through 7 of this book. If you aren’t comfortable with these techniques in 2D drafting, you’re likely to find 3D modeling in AutoCAD a real struggle.
? Get a fast computer. For beginning 3D work, any AutoCAD-adequate system will do the job. For serious work with 3D models, you need a fast computer, lots of memory, and lots of disk space.
? Get and master additional software. In addition to AutoCAD, you may need other programs — either AutoCAD add-ons or separate packages — to do work that AutoCAD isn’t as good at. Specialized 3D modeling and rendering programs are among the tools of the trade of most people who do a lot of 3D work. Illustration packages can help you jazz up the appearance of your drawing.
Many of Autodesk’s newer software products — AutoCAD-based ones like Architectural Desktop and Mechanical Desktop and non-AutoCAD ones like Revit and Inventor (see Chapter 1 for more information) — use 3D modeling as their fundamental approach to CAD. If you intend to use 3D on real projects, you’ll probably use 3D-centric programs such as these, not plain AutoCAD. The information in this chapter will get you started on the right track, especially if you eventually use one of the AutoCAD-based applications.
? Do a real project. Real work is the best motivation for discovering 3D. If you don’t have an actual work assignment, create a task. Something as “simple” as creating a 3D model of your chair will make the difference between really finding out something useful about 3D and just reading about it in the manuals.
