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AutoCAD 2012 & AutoCAD LT 2012 Bible

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AutoCAD 2012 Bible

Tutorial: Create cool curves with splines in AutoCAD

Splines are mathematically-defined curves. They are an important basis for 3D modeling, but they are useful in 2D as well.

Note: Splines were significantly updated in AutoCAD 2011.

There are 2 methods for creating splines:

Fit Points: You specify fit points, which are on the spline (by default).
Control Points: You specify the control points, which usually are not [...]

How to cut out a groove to fit a tongue in a 3D model with the INTERFERE command

Bill Walker sent me the following tip.

Sometimes you need to cut out part of one 3D object to fit another object. For example, in tongue & grove construction, you need to cut out the groove to fit the tongue. You can make this process easy with an option of the INTERFERE command.

Follow these steps:

1. Create an [...]

3D viewing tips for AutoCAD

When you work in 3D, you need ways to view your drawing quickly and effectively. Here are my best tips. What are yours? (Leave a comment!)

Transparent 3D Orbit: Shift + Mouse wheel. This is my all-time favorite 3D viewing tip. If you aren’t using this, you’re wasting time. It lets you easily drag the view [...]

Switch to plan view when you change the UCS

When you create a new User Coordinate System (UCS) in AutoCAD, by default, your viewpoint doesn’t change. Here I used the 3 (3 point) option of the UCS command to create a new UCS.

Create a new UCS with the 3 point option

Sometimes, you may want to return to [...]

Create 3D shapes with the 3D command

AutoCAD’s surfaces have evolved over the years. First, you could add thickness to 2D objects. I’m not sure when that happened (let me know if you do), but it was in the mid-1980s, perhaps around Release 2.6. This is still the only type of 3D objects that AutoCAD LT can create.

Later (again, I’m not sure [...]

Tips on viewing your drawing

The faster you can display the section of your drawing where you need to work, the faster you can get started drawing and editing. With that in mind, here are some tips for viewing your drawing:

Use the mouse wheel

The mouse wheel is the key to fast view changes:

You can zoom in and out by rolling [...]

Tutorial: Draw a 3D threaded bolt – video tutorial

Some people prefer to learn from video, so I’ve created a video of a tutorial that I created on drawing a 3D threaded bolt. The video is 9 minutes long. You can find the text version at “Draw a 3D threaded bolt.”

Using 3D orbit for one object

Tharakesh of HOPE Technologies Ltd. in Mumbai, India submitted the following tip.

When using the 3DORBIT command, the portion that you want to see may be hidden by another portion. In that case, before invoking the 3DORBIT command, select the object in which you are interested. Then 3DORBIT displays only the selected object. It’s cool! This [...]

Use dynamic UCS to speed up 3D drawing

One of the awkward parts about 3D drawing is the fact that you need to constantly change the XY plane. In the past, the only way to do this was to create a new UCS using the UCS command.

Since 2007, however, you can use the dynamic UCS feature, which makes the process of [...]

Tutorial: Draw a 3D threaded bolt

A common, but difficult task, is to create a threaded bolt. I recently got a request for more 3D tutorials, so here you go. This tutorial assumes an intermediate knowledge of AutoCAD.

I rummaged around a box of miscellaneous junk and found this bolt. You can see that it’s about 3 inches long.

Follow [...]