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FREE Live AutoCAD 2010 Webcast – Starts soon!

Learn how you can increase your productivity with AutoCAD 2010! Join us for a free 1-hour webcast beginning in less than an hour.

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AU Extension - Free Learning Events

Autodesk University 2009 in Las Vegas has come to an end. The energy and excitement was everything we’ve come to expect from AU, even if the attendance was a little lower than previous years. If you weren’t able to travel to Las Vegas, or if you just couldn’t attend all the classes you wanted to, check out the AU Extension where the learning continues Dec 4-11: Register today! #AU2009

AU 2009 – Next Week!

Autodesk University is right around the corner. If you haven’t already registered, today’s as good a day as any... Maybe while you’re taking a break between the turkey dinner and pumpkin pie!

Choose from hundreds of courses on a wide variety of topics including this one from keynote speaker Amory Lovins: Advanced Design Integration for Radical Energy Efficiency.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope to see you next week in Las Vegas!

Autodesk University Extension Event

Nothing compares to attending Autodesk Univeristy live in Las Vegas but Autodesk realizes that time and budget constraints are a reality. Autodesk is happy to offer yet another way for you to benefit from Autodesk University without attending the main event in Las Vegas.

The Autodesk University Extension event combines expert-led class content from AU in Las Vegas with face-to-face interaction with local instructors and other users. At the event, you will receive:

• Free training, including classes recorded at AU in Las Vegas
• 90 days of free access to 350 classes recorded at AU, archived on AU Online, and available to you on-demand

Plus, you may purchase additional training and certification (where available) at significant discounts.
To find out what’s available, select a participating country and an Authorized Training Center (ATC) to view event details.

Learn more at au.autodesk.com.

Autodesk University – Virtual

We hope to see you live at Autodesk University next month. But, if you can’t make it to Las Vegas, you can still join us online to make the most of AU without leaving your office. Space is limited so you’ll want to preregister. Visit au.autodesk.com to learn more!

Autodesk University… 26 days and counting!

Autodesk University is just around the corner but it’s not too late to register. Join us in Las Vegas December 1-3 for Autodesk’s premier learning event. Choose from hundreds of classes covering many industries and topics. Learn more about AU and register at au.autodesk.com/.

I hope to see you in Vegas!

AutoCAD 3D Conceptual Design 141

Whew! We’ve covered a lot of content in this series of 40 posts! Have you been following along? I hope you’ve found it informative and EASY. The tools you’ve learned through this series should enable you to accomplish your most common 3D design tasks. That is not to say we’ve covered most of the 3D functionality available in AutoCAD. Really, we’ve just scratched the surface…. (actually, we didn’t even touch surfaces). There’s a whole world of surface modeling and many more tools and options for solid and mesh modeling that we only skimmed. And visualization possibilities with materials, lighting, rendering, walk-throughs, and slide-shows are virtually limitless.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to follow along or if you want to review the postings off-line, you can download the AutoCAD 3D Conceptual Design PDF.

I hope you'll learn to enjoy modeling in AutoCAD as much as I do!

AutoCAD 3D Conceptual Design 140

When you’re ready to document your design, you can take advantage of your existing data by creating 2D sections from the 3D model. It’s easy to do using the Section Plane tool, which is available on the Home Tab, in the Section panel. 

You can define a section plane using various methods. You might want to pick points or select from standard orthographic options. 

If you choose the Orthographic option, you can then specify front, back, top, bottom left or right. AutoCAD automatically creates a section plane aligned with that view. You can then select the section plane and use grips to flip its direction, or change its location.

A right-click menu offers additional options including the ability to generate 2D or 3D sections from the model.

You can control how sections are displayed using the Section Settings dialog box, which is accessible from the right-click menu.

 

Once you’ve created the 2D sections, you can use your familiar 2D drawing editing tools to add dimensions and create the necessary 2D documentation.

Key Concept:

• Section planes

AutoCAD 3D Conceptual Design 139

To convey your design intent and help others visualize your ideas, you can apply materials to your conceptual designs in AutoCAD. The AutoCAD materials library is easily accessible from the tool palette and it includes more than 300 materials that you can simply drag and drop onto your model. If you don’t find exactly the material you’re looking for in the materials library, you can create your own using the Materials editor. Access the Materials editor from the dialog box launcher in the lower right corner of the Materials panel on the Render tab.

To view materials on your model, you’ll need to set the Realistic visual style (available from the upper left corner of the Render ribbon tab). The Realistic visual style displays the model with Isolines turned on. If you’d like to view it without Isolines, you can select No Edges in the Edge Effects panel of the Render tab.

 

Key Concept: 

• Apply Materials

AutoCAD 3D Conceptual Design 138

One of the greatest benefits of using AutoCAD for your 3D conceptual designs is the ability to reuse the drawing for many different purposes. For example, you can create a 3D prototype using 3D Printing functionality which is integrated into AutoCAD 2010. It provides improved output of stereolithography (STL) files and easy access to 3D printing services. You can produce STL files using the traditional STLOUT or EXPORT commands as well as the new 3DPRINT command. All of these methods for producing STL files enable you to select more than one solid and the model is no longer required to lie in the positive XYZ octant of the world coordinate system.

You can access the new 3DPRINT command from the output tab of the 3D Modeling workspace. 

The 3D Print tool displays two options. If you select the option to learn more about preparing a 3D model for printing, a Help window displays valuable guidelines to help you avoid printing errors or broken parts when sending your model to a 3D printing service.

When you’re ready to send the 3D model to a printing service, choose the Continue option and select the objects (solids or watertight meshes) you want to print. The Send to 3D Print Service dialog box is displayed with a preview image and output dimensions, which you can modify. Select OK to specify a name and location for the STL file.

 

After creating the STL file, AutoCAD automatically launches a browser window where you can request a quote from one of the featured 3D Printing Service Providers. The result is a 3D prototype of your AutoCAD model.

Key Concept:

• 3D Printing