AutoCAD 2008 User's
Guide > Work with 3D
Models > Create Sections and
2D Drawings from 3D Models > Work with Section
Objects >
Overview of Section Objects
With the SECTIONPLANE command, you can create one or more section objects and place them throughout a 3D model. Activating live sectioning on a section object allows you to view transient cuts in the 3D model as you move the section object through it, without changing the 3D objects themselves.
Section objects have a transparent section plane indicator that acts as a cutting plane. Because it is transparent, it’s a useful visual tool because it lets you see the geometry on either side of the cutting plane. This plane can be easily placed and moved anywhere throughout a 3D model that is composed of 3D solids, surfaces, or regions (two-dimensional areas created from closed shapes or loops).
The section plane contains a section line where object properties for a section object are stored. You can have multiple section objects where each has different properties. For example, one section object can display a hatch pattern where the 3D model is intersected, while another section object can display a different linetype for the boundary of the intersected area.
Each section object can be saved as a tool palette tool where you can quickly access it without having to reset properties each time you create a section object.
The section plane can be a straight line or one that has multiple or jogged sections. For example, a section line containing a jog is one that creates a pie slice-shaped wedge from a cylinder.
Section object with jogged segment
Once you have the sectional view you want, you can generate an accurate 2D or 3D block from the 3D model. These blocks can be analyzed or checked for clearances and interference conditions. They can also be dimensioned, or used as wireframe or rendered representations in documentation and presentation drawings.
