AutoCAD 2004: 3D Drawing and Solid Modeling

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Welcome to the exciting world of three-dimensional drawing. If you've never experienced this form of illustration, you're in for a real treat.

The study on which you are about to embark may change your entire approach to drawing. 3D drawing provides many advantages over a set of two-dimensional views that attempt to depict a three-dimensional object. With a single, 3D drawing you can project multiple views with very little effort. You can almost automatically produce sectional views, auxiliary views, and 3D pictorial effects, including true perspective views, from any angle.

As indicated by the table of contents, this book covers coordinate systems, viewpoints, layouts (paper space), three-dimensional surface models, solid models, and mass property analysis.

Solid modeling, a type of three-dimensional drawing, is most likely quite different from anything you've ever seen. The methods of construction are different and the resulting models are "solid" objects—they have volume and mass. In solid modeling we use preset, "primitive" objects (cylinders, boxes, etc.) to construct models of three-dimensional objects. Having a model, we can determine its volume and mass with a few clicks of a mouse.

AutoCAD® provides a user coordinate system, viewpoint commands, layouts, and viewport layers for three-dimensional drawing. With these and other features you can almost automatically create of a set of orthographic views, including auxiliary views and sectional views, from a single model.

Not a reference book, AutoCAD 2004: 3D Drawing and Solid Modeling presents a series of lessons and assignments that form a step-by-step approach to learning AutoCAD.

Included with this book is a CD with examples and problem setups. Examples are drawings for the reader to use as he or she reads the corresponding material in this book, and are so cited in the text. Problem setups are drawings to begin certain assignments. They may include preset features that have not yet been introduced.

• AutoCAD® 2004 : 3D Modeling, A Visual Approach
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