Presenting 3D AutoCAD 2018 Models on Drawings

By Dennis Collin

Space Shuttle Model Credit – Chris Shakal  GrabCAD

Base views are model documentation drawing views that are derived directly from a 3D model. This feature was released several versions ago and is a very quick way to present a 3D in drawing layout space. You can also derive views from Inventor models if desired.

The first drawing view that you place in a drawing is known as the base view. During creation of the view, you specify the scale, display settings, orientation and alignment settings. Subsequent drawing views you place in the drawing are typically projected views derived from the base view. Projected views inherit most of their settings from the base view although they can be overridden if required.

Base views from AutoCAD 3D models contain all visible 3D solids and surfaces in model space, by default. However, you can use the usual selection methods to customise what’s shown in the various views.

To generate the base, orthogonal and isometric views on a drawing title sheet simply switch to drawing layout and select the command from the layout tab.

Placing the view on the sheet will provide options for modifying the selection set, view aspect, display options and scale. Clicking on the screen will then enable the positioning of orthogonal views and isometric as show below, positioning the cursor to suit.

Notes and dimensions can now be added as appropriate and desired.