Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021

By : Yasser Shoukry, Jaiprakash Pandey
Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021

By: Yasser Shoukry, Jaiprakash Pandey

Overview of this book

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are one of the most versatile software applications for architectural and engineering designs and the most popular computer-aided design (CAD) platform for 2D drafting and 3D modeling. This hands-on guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, starting from a simple tour of the user interface through to using advanced tools. Starting with basic drawing shapes and functions, you'll get to grips with the fundamentals of CAD designs. You’ll then learn about effective drawing management using layers, dynamic blocks, and groups and discover how to add annotations and plot like professionals. The book delves into 3D modeling and helps you convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. As you progress, you’ll cover advanced tools and features such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs, and you'll learn how to implement them with the help of practical exercises at the end of each chapter. Finally, you’ll get to grips with rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD. By the end of the book, you’ll have developed a solid understanding of CAD principles and be able to work with AutoCAD software confidently to build impressive 2D and 3D drawings.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)

Introduction to 3D Modeling

This is an introductory chapter to 3D modeling in AutoCAD, but before we start creating 3D models we need to set up AutoCAD properly for 3D modeling. In fact, AutoCAD has already done that for us by including the workspaces that are designed for working in 3D. We will learn about the concept of the workspace and will explore the 3D modeling workspaces offered by AutoCAD. Another mandatory skill that we will cover is how to navigate the model efficiently and how to quickly switch between view angles. In addition to that, we need to learn how to configure the objects' visual styles, as the style and the amount of details used in displaying objects will directly impact both the model visibility and PC performance. After that, we will learn how to use multi-viewport configurations, and how to work with the coordinate systems in AutoCAD.

So in short...