Hi!, Good day this time I will show you how to "Loft" a 2D object to 3D.
1. Create a circle with a diameter of 20mm and copy that exact same circle 30mm above the original.
2. Create a vertical line on the side of both circles as shown below.
Note:
Make sure to connect the two circle to the line by using snap command.
3. Type"Loft" at the command prompt. If it ask "Select cross section in lofting order:" select the bottom circle and the upper circle respectively then hit enter.
Note: You may select the upper circle first depending on your drawing preference.
4. When AutoCAD asks you to enter an option, type "Guides" or the letter "G" then hit enter.
Note: We prefer to teach you the guides command first in order for you to fully understand the "Loft" command.
5. Select and click the line connecting both circles.
6. Now we have a 3D object from circles and a line.
I remember when I was starting AutoCAD, what I only knew is how to draw a line. But how did I learn? I was trying to draw for many hours of the day, and night and can't even sleep, or eat. And I think it was wrong, I coudn't learn, until I deviced my own guidelines in learning at my own pace. Now, what i'm going to share to you are the steps to learn AutoCAD.
1. THE PURPOSE-
I sometimes could not get anything done without a clear purpose in mind. In AutoCAD you should have a vision in what you want to achieve. In doing so you focus yourself on your work and you can think much clearly how you want it all to come out. Lets say, I want to draw a house, and I want my house colored green with a clear 360 degree view of the outside. Without a defined vision you can draw a house, yes, but you can't draw the details because you did not anticipate how it would look like. You just can't think and draw simultaneously.
2. CONQUER THE COMMAND-
Know all AutoCAD commands? No? Me too. But I can draw. Why? Because I appreciate, and before I appreciate the command, I understand. See, simple. But not that simple as you think it is. First, know what the command can do or cannot do then determine what the result would be. Sometimes other commands perform multiple tasks, and a single tweak to a command could result in a disaster and you dont know what hit you.
So before using a command, understand and appreciate. One more thing, hitting F1 will help you.
3. THROW THOSE GARBAGE AWAY-
Keeping the drawing area clean can be of great help especially when you are using much if it. You don't want those annoying lines to bother you, would you? Or those unneeded toolbars which can really make life difficult for you?
Well, here's my tip, remove unwanted toolbars, delete those extra lines by "Trim", minimize the command prompt, standardize text spacing and float properties window.
Now, when you do this, your drawing area will be much bigger. Thank me.
4. CONNECT THE UNCONNECTED-
Always connect lines especially when drawing 3D. this will greatly reduce rigorous repetitions to your work. When drawing 2D, unconnected lines could result in hatch overflow, dis-continuity between two drawings and rigorous conversion from 2D to 3D.
5. BE UPDATED-
Be updated on my latest post to learn AutoCAD the FREE AND EASY WAY. Contribute to this community by asking and answering questions.
On behalf of CADTools, this has been TheGroupOfThree serving you.
In this extension of the "Plot" tutorial, you will learn how to specify a window for printing / plotting.
1. After hitting plot on the file menu, a window will pop-up. Go to "Plot Area" clikc the drop down arrow and select "Window".
Click "Window" and the drawing area will be shown.
2. AutoCAD will instruct you to click the first corner and the opposite corner to complete the window command.
You will see a box like area on the screen that specifies your plotting area.
The "Plot" window will again pop-up. Hit enter and your specified drawing area will be printed.
BDV-27249-BDV
In this tutorial, an extension of the plot tutorial, you will learn how to set-up limits on you drawing window.
1. Type in the command prompt "Limits" and hit enter
2. After hitting enter, AutoCAD will ask you to "Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF]"
as shown in the picture below. (Numbers show in here are coordinates of the original 'Limits" data).
Then specify in the drawing area the lower limits like this:
3. After clicking on the lower limits AutoCAD will again ask you to " Specify upper right corner or [ON/OFF]". Click on the upper right of your drawing limits and AutoCAD will automatically set your limits area. Now you can plot using your Limits settings.
In this tutorial we will show you how to plot and what are the steps need to plot a drawing.
1. Go to "File", then choose and click "Plot"
2. A "Plot Window" will pop-up and you will see different types of buttons and drop down boxes.
Here is a little bit complicated one but I will show you the steps to ploat a drawing.
2.1 The plot window:
This is for advanced users. This is a predefined setup for plotting a drawing. If you work constantly on the same drawing area this is good for you. Set-up the plotting preferences and it will greatly reduce the workload from you.
On our later tutorials I will discuss how to set-up plotting for you but for the meantime, lets go to the basic.
Printer Name-
This is where you will select the printer name. If you are in a corporate environment and you have multiple printers installed, click the drop-down arrow to see the majority of the printers. If not, it will automatically select your default printer.
Paper Set-up-
This is the area wherein you can select the paper type the suits your printing preferences.
Plot Area-
There are four types of plot area to choose from:
Display:
It will print using your current drawing area.
Limits:
Use this setting if you want to print the area within your current limits settings
Window:
You specify the window area on your drawing to print.
Extents:
It will automatically plot all objects in the drawing whether or not it is in the drawing limits.
