AutoCAD® 2009 & AutoCAD LT® 2009 Bible

Chapter 22. Viewing 3D Drawings

As soon as you start to work in three dimensions, you need to be able to see the drawing from different angles. By combining various User Coordinate Systems (UCSs) and different viewpoints, you can view and draw any object in 3D.

Unless otherwise stated, the features in this chapter apply to both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT; however, note that many of the 3D features are for AutoCAD only. In AutoCAD, you'll find 3D viewing tools easier to find if you use the 3D Modeling workspace; this workspace is not available in AutoCAD LT. (To switch workspaces, click the Workspace Switching button on the right side of the status bar.) Therefore, this chapter assumes that you're using the 3D Modeling workspace if you have AutoCAD.

Your basic point of reference is plan view in the World Coordinate System (WCS). This is the view that you use in 2D, so it's familiar. Plan view is the view from the top (although which side is the top is not always obvious). Figure 22.1 shows a plan view of a 3D model on the left. On the right, you see a 3D view of the same model, which lets you visualize the three dimensions much more clearly.

When working in 3D, you can use many of the familiar 2D techniques for viewing your drawing:

• Use ZOOM Previous to display the previous viewpoint.

• Save views so that you can easily return to them.

• Use real-time zoom and pan as well as all the other zoom options.

• Create tiled viewports to display more than one view at a time.

Note

You can save drawings in the ...