Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023 - Second Edition

By : Jaiprakash Pandey, Yasser Shoukry
Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023 - Second Edition

By: Jaiprakash Pandey, Yasser Shoukry

Overview of this book

AutoCAD is 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 2nd edition guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, from a simple tour of the user interface 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 plots like a professional. As you progress, the book will show you how to convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. You’ll also discover advanced features, such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs. Finally, you’ll focus on rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD. By the end of this 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 creations.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Introduction and 2D Drafting
6
Part 2: Customization, Collaboration, and Using Reusable Content
12
Part 3: 3D Modeling

Exploring basic modify commands

In this section, we will start with the basic modify operations for 3D modeling. These basic operations include changing the location of the bodies, changing their orientation, creating copies of the object, and scaling them. These basic operations are executed using the standard modify commands, such as move, copy, rotate, and scale, all of which will be discussed in this section, as well as their 3D modified versions. In addition to this, we will learn how to use the 3D Gizmo tool, which is a quick and intuitive way to perform the basic modify commands on 3D objects.

Using 2D modify commands with 3D objects

AutoCAD has a full set of modify commands. Details about these commands and their use with 2D shapes were discussed in detail in Chapter 3, Learning about Modify Commands. In this section, we will revisit some of these commands, which are as follows:

  • The move and copy commands
  • The mirror command
  • The rotate command
  • The scale...