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

Displaying shadows

The presence and the style of shadows in the 3D model can be controlled using a command called VSSHADOWS. When activating this command (by typing the command name and then pressing Enter), you will be prompted to choose between three different values for the VSSHADOWS system variable that correspond to three different settings for the shadows in the model, and these values are as follows:

  • Setting the value to 0 means there will be no shadows in the model.
  • Setting the value to 1 will create shadows on the model ground plane. The ground plane location is usually the XY plane at elevation Z = 0. This can be changed using a system variable called SHADOWPLANELOCATION.
  • Setting the value to 2 corresponds to full shadows cast on all the objects in the model.

The three options have tool buttons that allow us to quickly switch between them. The buttons can be found in the Lights panel under the Visualize tab in the 3D Modeling workspace, as shown in...