Create 3D Solids and Surfaces

Create 3D Solids and Surfaces

Create 3D Solid Primitives

 

AutoCAD 2008 User's Guide > Work with 3D Models > Create 3D Models > Create 3D Solids and Surfaces > 

Overview of Creating 3D Solids and Surfaces

Concept

Quick Reference

You can create basic 3D shapes (solid primitives): boxes, cones, cylinders, spheres, wedges, pyramids, and tori (donuts). You can then combine these shapes to create more complex solids by joining or subtracting them or finding their intersecting (overlapping) volume.

You can also create 3D solids and surfaces from existing objects through any of the following methods:

• Extruding objects
• Sweeping objects along a path
• Revolving objects around an axis
• Lofting through a set of curves
• Slicing a solid
• Converting planar objects with thickness into solids and surfaces

Solids and surfaces are displayed in the visual style that is applied to the viewport.

You can analyze solids for their mass properties (volume, moments of inertia, center of gravity, and so on). You can export data about a solid object to applications such as NC (numerical control) milling or FEM (finite element method) analysis. By exploding a solid, you can break it down to regions, bodies, surfaces, and wireframe objects.

The ISOLINES system variable controls the number of tessellation lines used to visualize curved portions of the wireframe. The FACETRES system variable adjusts the smoothness of shaded and hidden-line objects.

By default, 3D solids record a history of their original forms. This history allows you to see the original forms that make up composite solids. For more information about History settings for solids and surfaces, see Display Original Forms of Composite Solids.