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)

Summary

In this chapter, we have learned about XRefs, which are a great collaboration tool that's built into AutoCAD, and we also explored the dynamic block tool. We used the concepts of parametric drawing to make our dynamic block, and we also made dynamic blocks using parameters and actions, which are the core features of the dynamic block tool. Finally, we learned how to fix broken drawings and clean bloated ones using tools such as AUDIT and PURGE.

From the next chapter, we will start covering AutoCAD's 3D tools, and we will begin by looking at the 3D user interface and the common tools required to understand the workings of the 3D workspace of AutoCAD. Then, we will gradually move to the drawing and modification tools of AutoCAD 3D.