This is an exercise in drawing an imaginary city in 3 dimensions, using the ELEV and THICKNESS commands, the 3D FACE and Region commands. The end result will be a drawing which will be plotted at 18" x 24" size.

1. Start up AutoCAD.
2. Start a new drawing by selecting "File" from the pull-down menu, and then selecting "New." The "Select Template" dialogue box will appear on the screen. Select the "Triton-C size color plot style.dwt" template.
3. Immediately save this file in your folder, naming it 3D city.dwg. Select the "Save" button on the toolbar to do this - save it in your folder for this course.
4. Make the "A-SHEET" layer current.
5. Switch to the Layout Tab - there is only one layout tab, and it is called "ONE-EIGHTH INCH SCALE PLOT."
6. IN PAPER SPACE, use the DTEXT command to create a drawing title "3D City" 3/8" high, centered horizontally and just below the bottom of the sheet viewport. Just below the drawing title use the DTEXT command to write your name, the course name, the date and your teacher's name, 3/16" high. 
7. Go back to "Model Space" by clicking on the Model tab at the bottom of the drawing.
8. Make the layer A-WALL current.
9. Turn Snap on by clicking on the "Snap" box at the bottom of the AutoCAD window.
10. Turn grid on by clicking on the "Grid" box at the bottom of the AutoCAD window
11. Right-click on the "Snap" box at the bottom of the AutoCAD window and select "Settings" from the menu. Click on the "Snap and Grid" tab at the top of this dialogue box. Change the Snap X-spacing at 10' then Grid X-spacing at 10'. Click on the "Object Snap" tab at the top of this dialogue box and check the following OSNAP settings: Endpoint, Midpoint, Center, Node, Quadrant, Intersection, Perpendicular, Nearest. Pick the "OK." button.
12. Change the limits.  Select from the pull-down menu, Format, then Drawing Limits <RET> 280',190'<RET>
13. Draw a ground surface for the new city by drawing a rectangle from point -280',-190' to point 560',380'.
14. Make this rectangle into a "Region." A Region is a 3-dimensional solid with 0" thickness that will serve as a ground plane for the buildings. Type reg<RET>, then select the rectangle you just created <RET>. Just above the Command: prompt area AutoCAD will tell you "1 loop extracted, 1 region created."
15. Change the color of the ground surface rectangle to color 63. Click on the edge of the region you just created, right click, select "Edit Object Display ..." from the cursor menu, then select the Color button, then under the box that says ByLayer at the bottom of the dialogue box, type in 63 and sxelect "OK."
16. Use the Rectangle command to draw a 60' x 60' square with its lower left corner starting at the grid point 20',20'
17. Array this square, 3 columns and 2 rows, with spacing of 90' in both directions.
18. Change the thickness of each of the 6 squares as follows:

Top row, from left: 25' 150' 75'

Bottom row, from left: 100' 0' 50'
 

19. Type VPOINT<RET> 1,-1,1<RET> This will setup an isometric view looking from the south-east and above the city.
20. Make a "view" of this vpoint and call it "ISO." Type V<RET> select the "New" button, in the view name slot, type ISO. Select the "OK" button, and select the "OK" button.
21. Set the current Elevation to 25': Type ELEV <RET> 25' <RET> <RET>
22. Select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3D surfaces."
23. Double click on the icon of the dome. In response to the command prompts, answer them as follows:

Center of dome: using the left button of the mouse, snap to center grid point of the appropriate square which has its top at elevation 25'

Diameter/<radius>: pick a grid point on exterior wall

Number of longitudinal segments <16>: <RET>

Number of latitudinal segments <8>: <RET>

24. Set the current Elevation to 50': Type ELEV<RET> 50'<RET><RET>
25. Select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3D surfaces."
26. Double click on the icon of the triangular wedge. In response to the command prompts, answer them as follows:



Corner of wedge: snap to lower left corner of the 50' high square

Length: 60' <RET>

Width: 60' <RET>

Height: 25' <RET>

Rotation angle about 2 axes: 0 <RET>

27. Set the current Elevation to 75': Type ELEV<RET> 75'<RET><RET>
28. Select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3D surfaces."
29. Double click on the icon of the cone. In response to the command prompts, answer them as follows:



Base center point: pick center of appropriate square which has its top at elevation 75'

Diameter/<radius> of base: 25' <RET>

Diameter/<radius> of top: 0 <RET>

Height: 50' <RET>

Number of segments:16 <RET>

30. Set the current Elevation to 100': Type ELEV<RET> 100'<RET><RET>
31. Select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3D surfaces."
32. Double click on the icon of the box. In response to the command prompts, answer them as follows:



Corner of box: pick grid point 10' outside the face of the walls in both directions (i.e. an overhang of 10') on appropriate square which has its top at 100'

Length: 80' <RET>

Cube/<width>: 80' <RET>

Height: 10' <RET>

Rotation angle about Z axis: 0 <RET>

33. Set the current Elevation to 150': Type ELEV<RET> 150'<RET><RET>
34. Select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3D surfaces.
35. Double click on the icon of the pyramid. In response to the command prompts, answer them as follows:



First base point: pick corner of wall on appropriate square which has its top at elevation 150'

Second base point: pick another adjacent corner of the same square

Third base point: pick another adjacent corner of the same square

Tetrahedron/<Fourth base point>: pick another adjacent corner of the same square

Ridge/Top/<Apex point>: type .xy<RET> [note that is "dot x y"]

of ... pick center point of the same square

(need Z): type 200'<RET>

36. Turn off SNAP. Turn on OSNAP (if it is not already on).
37. Draw 3DFACEs on the top of the buildings with the cone and the dome on the top, to close off the tops. To draw a 3dFace, select from the pull-down menu "Draw," then "Surfaces," then "3d Face." OSnap to each of the four corners of the top of the building (this must be done with Snap off.)
38. Type PLAN<RET><RET>. This returns to the plan view in the World Coordinate system
39. Set the current Elevation to 0': Type ELEV<RET> 0 <RET><RET>
40. Draw a 5' x 5' grid on the ground surface between buildings and around the fountain to indicate a paving pattern. This should be done on the "A-WALL-PATT" layer.
41. Turn Snap on.
42. Draw a donut with a 30 foot outer diameter to represent a fountain within the 0 elevation square. Type DO<RET> 28'<RET> 30'<RET> then snap to a point to place it.
     
43. Change the thickness of the Donut to 5'-0" Right click the Donut, select "Properties" from the cursor menu, then click in the "Thickness" box of the Properties Palette and change number (likely to be "0") and type 5'
44. Draw a circle with a radius of 14 feet inside of the donut and one foot below the top of the donut, to indicate the surface of the water. Make the circle into a region from this circle so that it will read as solid. Draw the circle, and move it up 4'. Color it blue by selecting the region, and selecting a color from the Property Palette.
45. Change colors of each building and/or portions of each building so each building has a distinctively different color. This could either be done by clicking on the building to change and then selecting a color from the color drop-down list on the Properties Palette, or by creating layers with different colors assigned to them for each building.
46. Turn off Snap.
47. Switch to Paper Space.
48. You are now going to use the AutoCAD perspective system to study this more detailed drawing in true 3d. The perspective imaging program built into AutoCAD is difficult to get used to, but when you do you will find that it has some very powerful capabilities. In any event, it will prove itself easier to do than manually constructing a perspective drawing of your project the old fashion way. AutoCAD's DVIEW command stands for "Dynamic VIEW." This means that as you manipulate the parameters of perspective, you will be able to dynamically adjust your view and the appearance of the drawing. This gives you a very powerful ability to select the most pleasing view of the group of buildings.
49. The first step is to bring the drawing back to the plan view. Make sure that you are in the World Coordiante System and then type PLAN <RET><RET> (note the two carriage returns). Zoom to extents, and then zoom to half of the extents by typing Z <RET> .5X <RET><RET>.
50. Type DV<RET> .
51. At the prompt "Select Objects:" select the area of the drawing you want to view during the preparation of the perspective viewing by selecting objects by placing a "window" around the entire drawing image. The drawing of the city block in this exercise is simple enough to allow dynamic viewing of all the objects.
52. At this point you will successively select the "TArget" point (where you are looking to), and the "CAmera" point (where you are looking from). To do this type PO (this stands for "POints"). You will be prompted to select the location of the "TArget" point first. Pick one corner of the site as your "TArget" point. First filter out the x and y coordinates by typing .XY <RET> prior to OSNAPping to the point. When you pick the point with the aperture, you will see the prompt "(need z)." Respond to this by typing 0 <RET> (you are setting the height of the TArget on the xy plane at 0 feet). Then you will be prompted to select the "CAmera" point in the same manner. The "CAmera" point means where your eye is placed in relation to the object and the "TArget" point. In this exercise, to set the "CAmera" point, pick the diagonally opposite corner of the site for the "CAmera" point, first filtering out .xy. To respond to the question "(need z)," type in 200' <RET>. This will place your eye above the tallest building, so you will see the whole city from the air.
53. Next you will adjust the distance between the "CAmera" point and the "TArget" point. Type D <RET>. This will bring up a slider bar at the top of the screen where you can slide a pointer left or right until you have a satisfactory appearance to the perspective. The Distance command will place your eye on the diagonal line established by selecting the "TArget" and "CAmera" POints, but will increase or decrease the actual distance between them. The "TArget" remains where it was set, and the "CAmera" moves along the line. The effect is that the object you are looking at will become smaller or larger, or, if the line of vision is not truly in the center of the object, it may disappear altogether. The spread of cone of vision remains the same as you change the Distance. Suggested distance is 1000 feet. Once the Distance between the "TArget" and "CAmera" has been set, AutoCAD will switch to perspective viewing, so that parallel lines converge, and vanishing points are established.
54. If you need to "zoom in" closer you may use the Zoom command within DVIEW. You cannot use the standard AutoCAD Zoom command. The DVIEW Zoom command is different from the standard AutoCAD "Zoom" command in that it allows you to change the length of your imaginary lens in your imaginary camera. As you might expect, a 50mm lens is a so-called "normal lens," a 30mm lens is a "wide angle," for example, and a 800mm lens is a "telephoto lens." Note that as you move your pointer mouse back and forth over the slider bar the status line shows the resultant lens length, and the view will dynamically change to show you what it will look like. The results of the view in terms of potential distortion will follow that of an actual camera. What is actually happening is that the "cone of vision" widens with a shorter lens, and narrows with a longer lens. The DVIEW Zoom command does not affect the distance between the "CAmera" point and the "Target" point. This command will possibly take some time to get used to. You should try out various lens lengths to see how it varies the perspective view. Suggested lens length for this exercise is 40mm. To get this, simply type in 40<RET> instead of selecting a number from the slider bar.
55. Next you may want to change the angle of the line between the "CAmera" point and the "TArget" point, through the "CAmera" or the "TArget" commands in DVIEW. The "CAmera" command will bring up two bars in succession, first a vertical bar on the right side of the screen which will allow you to change the angle of the line between the "CAmera" point and the "TArget" Point, with relation to the xy plane. If you like the angle as it was, simply make a "null" response (that is a Carriage Return). After the vertical adjustment is made, a horizontal slider bar will appear on top of the screen. You can then visually ("dynamically") change the angle of the line of vision in the xy plane from the x axis.
56. Once you are pleased with your perspective view and you are through tinkering with it, save it as a view. Type V<RET> Select the "New" button. Type in the name of this view P1. Then pick the "OK" button. This view in its perspective mode will then be able to be brought back "restored" in any viewport.
57. Select the layout tab. Double click within the viewport. Type V<RET> and double click on the P1 view in the View dialogue box. Click OK.
58. Zoom and pan the drawing to fit the area you want using the Orbit command. Select the Orbit icon and use the mouse wheel to zoom and hold down the left button of the mouse and move the mouse to pan. When done setting up the drawing within the viewport, right-click and click Exit from the cursor menu.
59. From the View pull-down menu select "Shade," then "Gouraud Shaded Edges On."
60. Double-click outside of the viewport to get back into Paper space.
61. SAVE your drawing prior to plotting [always!]. Select the "Save" icon on the Toolbar.
62. Select the "Plot" icon from the Toolbar. Set up the proper plotting parameters and plot the drawing. Don't forget to set your pen widths appropriately.