AutoCAD Tips & Tutorials

AutoCAD 2007 new features

As you may have heard, the emphasis is on 3D, although I'll describe the other new features at the end.

A new 3D environment

Along with the new 3D features comes a new 3D environment. You'll wonder if you're still in AutoCAD!

When you first open AutoCAD, you see a screen that lets you choose which workspace you want to use. The workspaces include AutoCAD Classic, the one you're familiar with, and 3D Modeling.

If you choose 3D Modeling, you are choosing not only a workspace but a 3D template, the new acad3d.dwt template, and you see a screen like this:

Everything is different! A gray background, a grid with axis lines that match the colors of the UCS icon, and perspective view.

Make 3D objects

Creating 3D objects is a lot easier than before, because the process is more interactive and there's more visual feedback as you work. You just drag across to create the base and drag up (or down) to create the height. Of course, you can enter exact measurements. Other solid commands use the same interactive process.

See how easy it is to draw a box (short AVI video).

Two new objects are the pyramid and the helix. The pyramid in the middle is a 7-sided pyramid!

The new SWEEP command is like extruding along a path, but with more options. The object you're sweeping doesn't have to be normal (perpendicular) to the path, making setup a breeze. And you can twist and scale as you go. The LOFT command interpolates 2D objects, allowing you to create lovely, curved shapes. Here's a circle swept along the above helix. I just drew the circle on the XY plane. On the right is a lofted solid. I used the Shell option of SOLIDEDIT to shell out the inside and make a vase or goblet.

You're seeing these objects in the new Conceptual visual style. More about visual styles later.

For you architectural designers, polysolids are a way to create 3D solids by drawing the way you draw a polyline. You specify the height and width (of the wall, let's say) and start drawing. To cut out doors, you can use the new Surface option of the SLICE command. I drew a polyline, extruded it to a surface and sliced the polysolid.

Talking about surfaces, there are new surface objects. If you extrude or revolve an open profile, you get a surface; otherwise, you get a solid. The ability to slice a solid with a surface means that you can "mold" objects, as you see here:

You can convert almost anything into anything else. For example, you can convert any 2D object into a surface and convert objects with thickness into solids.

The new PRESSPULL command isolates closed areas, created regions out of them, and lets you pull them out, or press them in. When you press all the way through a solid, you create a hole. You can use a 2D object, such as a circle as the start of a region. Here I pressed a hole from a circle and pulled a triangular solid from the closed area between the three boxes. It's a cool command but can bit a little tricky to use. Here's you're seeing the Realistic visual style.

Editing

Several new features make editing 3D objects a lot easier. You can grip-edit solids (Finally!) When you select them, you can stretch with any of the grips -- whether a corner or a side.

Another feature is the ability to select a face or even an edge of a solid by pressing Ctrl and hovering the cursor over the face. You can then stretch just that face or edge. Here you see me dragging the hole (made by drawing a cylinder and subtracting it from the box) around the box, after Ctrl-clicking the cylinder, which is a face.

Watch me dragging a hole around a box (short AVI video).

By the way, the reason the cylinder gets taller when I select it is that AutoCAD now remembers the history of solids and when I originally drew the cylinder, I drew it that taller length.

One of the best new features is the dynamic UCS, which you can turn on and off with the new DUCS button on the status bar. With dynamic UCS, you can hover the cursor over any face of a solid and the UCS temporarily switches to that face. You have to see this to understand it. In the video, see how the right face of the box becomes dashed, so that I know I can draw on it.

See how DUCS works (short AVI video).

The 3DMOVE command uses a special tool to help you move objects in 3D. The 3DROTATE command (not to be confused with the ROTATE3D command) works the same way. You click a direction on the tool to move or rotate and that direction turns yellow. Note that the colors on the tool match the colors of the 3D UCS icon, so it's easy to know which is X, Y, or Z.

3D Move tool	3D Rotate tool

You can create special section planes that you can move in real time to help you visualize your model.

You can edit 3D object properties in the Properties palette.

You can do all your work in Perspective mode.

The Dashboard is the new all-in-one palette for 3D work. It contains lots of commands and settings. You can't customize it, but you can choose which panels appear. There's a 2D panel that you can display, although it's not on by default.

You can expand each panel to reveal more options by clicking a double-down arrow that appears only when you hover the cursor on the left side beneath the panel's icon, as you see in the figure above. (I talk more about new palette features below.)

Navigation

Another main theme is navigation. The 3D Orbit feature has changed; it defaults to a constrained mode that doesn't allow you to turn your model end-over-end; in this mode, the arcball is gone. But the best part is the Shift+middle mouse button shortcut for 3D Orbit that transparently lets you turn your model. Using this shortcut, you don't even have to go into 3D Orbit mode! This is one of my favorite features because you can so quickly and easily change your viewpoint as you work.

Time for another short movie! Here you see me turning a model using transparent 3D Orbit.

Notice that I selected the object to hide other objects as I changed the viewpoint.

If you create architectural models, wouldn't you like to walk through your model and see how it looks from every angle? Would you also like to record your walk-through as an AVI, MPG, WMV, or MOV video file? You can! 3D Orbit has a walk mode that allows you to navigate using the same keys used by first-person computer games. (Be careful not to shoot anyone as you walk through the house.) There's even a fly mode that lets you leave the XY plane as you navigate. It's great for climbing stairs.

If you want to record your walk-through but find your navigation control a little shaky, you can define a motion path, such as a polyline, and record animation based on that. Here you see a 3D house with two motion paths, one for the camera's position and one for the target position.

Thanks to A. Wilcox for this drawing.

Here's the movie. It's just 3 seconds long.

Finally, the CAMERA command is now a means for saving 3D views. The View dialog box has become the View Manager and shows cameras and regular named views. You can edit cameras using their grips or in the Properties dialog box.

Visualization

Remember the HIDE command? Then came the SHADEMODE command. Now, you have visual styles. AutoCAD comes with five:

2D Wireframe
3D Wireframe
3D Hidden
Conceptual
Realistic

The Conceptual visual style uses the "Gooch" face style, named after the couple that worked on the algorithms. Realistic looks like the Presspull figure above, until you add materials; then it displays them.

What's exciting about visual styles is that you can create your own, using the new Visual Styles palette. You can control every conceivable aspect of the style -- and probably some you'd never conceive of. For example, here's the same lamp and table with edge jitter, overhanging edges, and a thickened edge width. It looks very different! I just used the controls on the Dashboard, but you can use the Visual Styles palette to save your own visual styles so you can use them again.

There's a whole new rendering engine and a slew of new materials. You now add materials from the Tools Palettes window. The lights are updated too and have glyphs (icons) that you can easily manipulate in your drawing.

A new FLATSHOT command lets you turn a 3D drawing into a 2D one.

Other

If those weren't enough new features, here are some non-3D features.

DWF underlays: You can attach DWF files and use them like xrefs

The layer tools from Express Tools are now on the AutoCAD Format menu; the CHSPACE Express Tools command is on the Modify menu.

You can roll up and auto-hide docked palettes. This is incredibly efficient. You can now have at least four palettes, two on each side, hidden and docked. They fly out and roll down when you hover the cursor over them.

You can hide the layout and model tabs for a little extra real estate. I don't think it's worth it.

That's not everything, but most of it.

As you might imagine, the new 3D capabilities require a really good (and expensive: $350 and up) graphics card. There's a new little icon at the right end of the status bar that links to a page on Autodesk's Web site listing graphics cards that Autodesk has tested and the results. There will be a list of certified graphics cards. Of course, you don't have to use one of them, but you'll get the best results if you do.

AutoCAD automatically analyzes your graphics card and may turn off some display features, such as full shadows. It's called Adaptive Degradation. The 3DCONFIG command lets you manage and manually change these settings.

Conclusion

Well there you have it, another incredibly rich new release with more new features than you think you can handle. But you managed before and you'll manage with this one.

If you do or plan to drawing in three dimensions, you'll want this release. My overall experience is that the new features make 3D so much more fun! You'll also find your 3D drawing much more efficient. You'll have more control and many more possibilities. I've seen cars that were drawn with this release!

Enjoy!

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