The VPOINT command was the original, command-line method of setting viewpoints. Now it's generally used for scripts and AutoLISP routines when you need a way to set a viewpoint from the command line. (AutoCAD LT does not support AutoLISP routines.)

The VPOINT command defines a viewpoint using X, Y, and Z vectors. The vectors for the standard viewpoints are based on a maximum of 1 unit. Imagine a model of the three axes floating out in space. You're a superhero and can fly around the model from any angle. When you're over the Z axis, you can define the Z vector from 0,0,0 to your position as 1. The other vectors are 0 (zero) because you're right over them, so that 0,0,1 defines the top, or plan, view. The next section shows the vector equivalents for the standard viewpoints, to give you a feel for the vector system. I explain the VPOINT command's compass and tripod later in this chapter.

Showing the viewpoints is easier than describing them. In Table 22.1, I show a simple 3D house from all ten standard viewpoints. Although the front of the house faces east, this is particular to this house. From your drawing's point of view, east is 0 degrees when looking from the top view, and 0 degrees faces to the right.

Table 22.1. Standard Viewpoints

Viewpoint	Description	Example
Top (see Note after table)
Bottom
Left
Right
Front
Back
Southwest
Southeast
Northeast
Northwest

Note that the terms Northeast, Southwest, and so on are not related to any real directions. However, you can specify a North direction for your model. You would generally do this in an architectural or civil engineering drawing. To do so, choose Render tab

You can then choose to specify the geographic information by importing a KML or KMZ file, by importing information from Google Earth, or by manually entering location values. KML and KMZ files are Google Earth file formats. For the Google Earth option to work, you need to install Google Earth (at 0). If you choose to enter location values, the Geographic Location dialog box opens. Here you can enter latitude and longitude measurements manually, or use a map. You specify which hemisphere (North/South and East/West) you're in. You can also set the time zone, North direction, and up direction (Z axis), and specify an elevation for a specific coordinate.

If you start the GEOGRAPHICLOCATION command in a drawing that already has a location, you get a choice to edit the current location, redefine it (start from scratch), or remove it.

If the standard views aren't sufficient for your needs, DDVPOINT can give you both flexibility and precision. To use this command, enter ddvpoint

The left side of the dialog box determines the angle from the X axis in the XY plane. These angles work as follows:

270Front view
0      Right view
90     Back view
180    Left view

Other angles result in viewpoints between these views. For example, an angle of 315 degrees enables you to look at your drawing from a view between front and right. This is similar to the SE isometric view.

The right side of the dialog box determines the angle from the XY plane, in the Z direction. A 0-degree angle enables you to look at your drawing from the front, back, or one side (elevation views), depending on the setting on the left part of the dialog box. Often you want to look at your drawing from above. A 90-degree angle shows you the plan view. An angle between 0 and 90 gives you a slanted view from the top, such as for one of the isometric standard views. (The isometric views set the angle from the XY plane to 35.3 degrees.)

Figure 22.2. The Viewpoint Presets dialog box.

When you open the dialog box, the black needles indicate the angles for the current view. When you change the angles, the black (or white) needles move to the new angle, but the original needle remains to indicate the current angle. This enables you to constantly see the current angles for reference.

Beneath the dials are text boxes that reflect your choices. You can simply type the angles that you want in the text boxes.

A very handy Set to Plan View button is at the bottom of the dialog box. This enables you to quickly return to plan view when you become a little dizzy from flying around your model.

The default is to view the drawing based on the WCS. However, sometimes you need to see your drawing relative to a UCS that you've created. To do so, click Relative to UCS.

Click OK after you finish making your changes.

Note

The Camera panel is not displayed by default. To display it, right-click any blank area on the Render tab and choose Panels

The next prompt offers the following options:

You can also create a camera from the tools palette. Display the Cameras tool palette tab. Choose one of the three cameras (Normal, Wide-angle, or Extreme Wide-angle) and drag it onto the drawing area. Release the mouse button. Then click to place the camera and click again to specify the target.

When you create the camera, you can set its view to current by using the View option. After you change the view, you can get back to the view by choosing it in the View Manager and setting it to current. You can also select the camera, right-click, and choose Set Camera View.

When you edit a camera, the Camera Preview window opens to show you a preview of the camera's view, as shown in Figure 22.4. You can change the visual style within the Camera Preview window, using the Visual Style drop-down list. (This doesn't change the visual style in the main drawing area.)

Figure 22.4. The Camera Preview window shows you what the camera's view will look like.

To edit a camera, select it and use its grips to change the camera location, target location, and lens length (field of view), as shown in Figure 22.5. Each grip has a tooltip to tell you its purpose. When you select a grip to make it hot, you can enter a new coordinate in the Dynamic Input tooltip. You can also edit the properties of a selected camera in the Properties palette.

Figure 22.5. Grip-editing a camera.

STEPS: Using Standard Viewpoints, CAMERA, the ViewCube, and DDVPOINT

Figure 22.6. The final view of the house.

When you save a named view by using the View Manager, you can add a background. I discussed the View Manager in Chapter 8, but here I explain how to add a background. Backgrounds only apply to 3D views. They are not available in AutoCAD LT.

You can add a solid, gradient, or image background to a named view. Whenever you display that view, the background appears if the current visual style has backgrounds turned on (the VSBACKGROUNDS system variable). Backgrounds, especially image backgrounds, are usually used in the context of rendering, and I include an exercise on adding a background in Chapter 25.

To create a view with a background, choose View tab

The Background dialog box opens, shown in Figure 22.7, after choosing the Image option and clicking Browse to choose an image file.

Figure 22.7. The Background dialog box enables you to display a background while you work.

In the Background dialog box, you again have the opportunity to choose one of three options. To specify the background, choose one of the following:

When you specify the background, click OK to return to the View Manager, and click OK again to return to your drawing.

To edit a background, choose the view from the View Manager, click the Background item in the General category, click the down arrow, and choose Edit. You can also choose <None> to remove the image.

The VPOINT command offers another method of defining views, the tripod and compass. Note that this method is rarely used nowadays, because other viewing tools are more efficient. To start this command, enter vpoint

If you type the VPOINT command, or press Enter to repeat the command, press Enter at the Current view direction: VIEWDIR=−1.0000,−1.0000,1.0000 Specify a view point or [Rotate] <display compass and tripod>: prompt to see the compass and tripod. (The numbers show the current viewpoint.)

Move the cursor about, and two things happen. The cursor moves within the compass, and the axes dynamically shift position.

Imagine that you take a tangerine and make a large, cross-shaped cut at the very bottom. Then you open out the bottom and remove the peel from the tangerine. Flatten the peel on the table. This is the concept of the compass, except that the outer edge is round. (The tangerine peel would have the shape of the cuts on its outer edge.) The very center of the compass — or the peel — is like the North Pole. When you're over the North Pole, you're looking straight down at your model — or the tangerine. This produces a plan view. The inner circle of the compass is where the middle of the tangerine was, at the equator. From the equator, you're looking sideways (from the front, back, or side) at your model. The outer circle of the compass represents the South Pole. From over the South Pole, you're looking at the bottom of your model — or the tangerine.

All of this determines your view relative to the XY plane:

The cross that goes through the compass represents the X and Y axes. To summarize, going clockwise:

When you have the cursor at the desired location, simply click. Your drawing displays the viewpoint that you specified.

Along with the tripod and compass, you see the current UCS icon based on the current UCS to help you find your bearings. Figure 22.8 shows, on the left, the cursor location that results in the viewpoint shown on the right. This is very close to the SE isometric view.

Figure 22.8. The cursor location on the left results in the viewpoint shown on the right.

The PLAN command is a quick way to return to plan view. Type plan

Figure 22.9 shows a sample UCS listing. The units are architectural.

Figure 22.9. A listing of saved UCSs.

Note

The Express Tools' extended PLAN command, EXPLAN, prompts you to select objects so that you can see the plan view zoomed in on those objects. Choose Express Tools tab

The 3D Orbit mode includes the ability to zoom and pan. Therefore, you can use this command for more than just orbiting.

Figure 22.10. 3D Orbit mode allows you to change the viewpoint of your drawing in real-time.

The default 3D Orbit mode is Constrained Orbit. Drag to the left or right to rotate the model around on the XY plane, and drag up or down to rotate the model along the Z axis. You can't rotate the model upside down in Constrained Orbit mode. Drag diagonally to create isometric views.

Free Orbit mode displays an arcball and has four cursors that affect how your model rotates. Each cursor is location based. As you move your cursor to a new location, the cursor shape changes, and the type of rotation changes. The arcball is shown in Figure 22.11.

Figure 22.11. 3D Orbit's Free mode uses an arcball.

You use the arcball in the following ways:

3D Orbit offers many options for refining your view so that you see just the view that you want. You can pan and zoom, adjust the camera distance, create parallel and perspective views, set clipping planes, or display a preset view. You can also start Walk or Fly mode, as discussed later in this chapter.

Because you cannot use other commands while in 3D Orbit mode, you access most of these options by right-clicking in the drawing area to access the 3D Orbit shortcut menu.

Panning in 3D Orbit

To pan in 3D Orbit mode, right-click and choose Other Navigation Modes

Zooming in 3D Orbit

To zoom in 3D Orbit, right-click and choose Other Navigation Modes

Adjusting the camera distance

You can adjust the distance between the viewer, called the camera, and the target, which by default is set to the center of the 3D view (this view may be different from the center of your model). Changing this camera distance is equivalent to zooming in and out.

To adjust the camera distance in 3D Orbit, right-click and choose Other Navigation Modes

In the View Name text box, enter a name for the shot. You can create view categories, which are groups of shots. Use categories to help you organize many shots into sections. To create a view category, enter a name in the View Category text box. After you create a view category, you can choose it for subsequent shots from the View Category drop-down list.

From the View Type drop-down list, you can create three types of shots:

Figure 22.12. Use the Shot Properties tab of the New View/Shot Properties dialog box to specify the properties of a shot.

In the Transition section, choose a transition type from the drop-down list. The transition occurs between the display of the previous shot and the current shot that you are defining. You have three choices:

Then choose the duration of the transition in seconds by entering a value or clicking the up or down arrow.

The bottom part of the dialog box changes, depending on the view type. For a still shot, you simply choose the duration, in seconds. For a cinematic shot, you start by choosing one of eight movement types. For example, you can zoom in or out. For a recorded walk, you return to your drawing and drag in the direction of the walk. Release the mouse button to stop recording. (See the section "Walking through a Model" for another way to record a walk through your drawing.) You can preview the results by clicking the Preview button. You can also loop the entire presentation by clicking the Loop check box at the bottom. When you're done, click OK.

Continue to create new shots until you have the ones that you want. To modify any shot, right-click its thumbnail and choose Properties. Make your changes in the dialog box and click OK.

To display the shots in order, use the ShowMotion feature. Choose ShowMotion on the status bar to display the ShowMotion toolbar at the bottom of your screen, as shown in Figure 22.13.

Figure 22.13. The ShowMotion toolbar lets you control your presentation.

The ShowMotion feature displays two levels of thumbnails. The bottom level shows either the first of a set of shots or the first view in a view category. The upper level shows all the shots, organized by view categories, if any. As you pass your cursor over a thumbnail, it enlarges. When you hover the cursor over each thumbnail, two buttons appear — one to play or display the shot or view category, and the other to go to the beginning of that shot or view category.

The ShowMotion toolbar contains buttons that enable you to pin or unpin the ShowMotion interface, play the entire set of shots, stop the display, loop the display, create a new shot, and close the interface.

When you click the Play button on either a thumbnail or the toolbar, it becomes a Pause button that you can click to pause the display.

You must be in perspective view to use Walk and Fly modes. If you aren't, a message asks you whether you want to toggle to a perspective view.

By default, you see a translucent box in the upper-right corner of the screen, providing the instruction to use the keyboard to navigate, and the mouse to look around and turn. (If you don't see the box, press the Tab key.) Move the cursor over the box to make it opaque, and click its down arrow to expand the box and show navigation instructions, as follows:

Because you turn by dragging with the mouse, you'll probably find it easiest to use the W, A, S, and D keys with your left hand (assuming you use your right hand for your mouse). This set of keys is used for navigating in computer games and provides an easy way to move in the four directions without looking at the keys.

When you start the 3DWALK command, the Position Locator window opens, and your cursor changes to a plus sign, as shown in Figure 22.14. The Position Locator window shows you your model from the top so you can gauge your position.

Figure 22.14. The Position Locator shows you a 2D map of your model.

A helpful feature of the Position Locator is that you can drag the red dot that represents your position to move your current position. You can also drag the target indicator to change your view. In the General section of the Position Locator window, you can also specify the following settings:

When you're ready to walk, press the W or Up Arrow key. You can press the key repeatedly or hold it down, but if you hold it down for a while, you may need to wait for the display to catch up. As you walk, you can drag to the left or right to change your direction. You can also drag up or down. Whenever you need to get your bearing, just look over at the Position Locator window to see where you are as well as your view's target.

Figure 22.15. The Walk and Fly Settings dialog box allows you to fine-tune the Walk mode settings.

You can choose when the instruction window displays. After a while, you know the instructions, so you probably don't want the window to display each time you enter Walk or Fly mode. You can also choose whether or not to display the Position Locator window.

To change the size of your steps and how many steps you move per second, use the settings in the Current Drawing Settings section. If you set your steps too small, walking seems too slow, but if they're too big, you don't have as much control. Click OK when you're done changing the settings.

Walking through a model keeps you parallel to the XY plane. However, sometimes you may want to look at the roof of a house or go up some stairs. Fly mode frees you to leave the XY plane.

The controls are the same for Fly and Walk modes, except that when you drag the mouse forward in Fly mode, you go upward, away from the XY plane, and when you drag the mouse backward (toward you), you go downward. Figure 22.16 shows the process of "flying" up a flight of stairs.

Figure 22.16. You can use Fly mode to climb a flight of stairs.

You can record your walk- or fly-through as you go, and save the result as a movie (video) file. If you want, you can specify the movie settings before you start by entering 3D Orbit mode, right-clicking, and choosing Animation Settings. The Animation Settings dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 22.17.

In the Animation Settings dialog box, you can choose a visual style or presentation quality from the Visual Style drop-down list. Choose a resolution from the Resolution drop-down list. The Frame Rate (FPS) option determines the number of frames per second. Finally, choose one of the four available movie formats from the Format drop-down list: AVI, MOV, MPG, or WMV (the default). Note that the first three settings greatly affect the size of the resulting movie. When you're done, click OK.

Figure 22.17. The Animation Settings dialog box specifies settings for a move that you record during Walk or Fly mode.

When you click the Save Animation button, the Save As dialog box opens, where you can save the movie. Navigate to the desired location, enter a name, and click Save. At this time, you can click the Animation Settings button and change the animation settings. The Creating Video progress meter displays to show you the progress as the movie saves. When it's done, open the movie file and watch. Bring some popcorn!

Tip

If you don't like the result, press Esc to end the 3DWALK command, and choose View tab

Using Walk and Fly modes can result in some jerkiness as you make little adjustments along the way. For a smoother ride, you can draw a motion path and save a movie file that automatically runs along the path.

You need to specify both the camera and its target. They can be either a point or a path (line, arc, elliptical arc, ellipse, circle, polyline, 3D polyline, or spline), but they can't both be a point. For example:

The first step is to create one or two motion paths for the camera and/or the target. If you are using paths, a polyline is ideal if you want to add some turns, because you can only select one object for each motion path.

Figure 22.18. Specify the motion paths and movie settings before you create a motion path animation.

Follow these steps to set up the motion path animation:

STEPS: Using Walk Mode and Creating Animations

To create a perspective view, type dview

You should select as few objects as you need to visualize the final result if you have a complex drawing. If you want to select the entire drawing, type all

Press Enter if you don't want to choose any objects. The command substitutes a block called dviewblock, which is a simple house. You can use the house to set your perspective view.

When you start DVIEW, you see the following prompt:

Enter option
[CAmera/TArget/Distance/POints/PAn/Zoom/TWist/CLip/Hide/Off/Undo]:

Here's how to use the DVIEW options:

To display a visual style in AutoCAD, choose Home tab

To create a new visual style, click the Create New Visual Style button in the Visual Styles Manager to start from default settings. To use the settings of an existing style as a basis, select the visual style that most resembles the style that you want to create, right-click it, and choose Copy. Then right-click in the Visual Styles Manager and choose Paste. Then change the settings. The settings in the Visual Styles Manager fall into three groups: Face, Environment, and Edge.

Face settings determine how the faces of 3D objects look. You can set the following options:

Environment settings affect the display of shadows and backgrounds. You can turn these on or off. You add a background by using the VIEW command, as I explained earlier in this chapter.

Edge settings affect how the edges of your 3D models look. Edges are the lines or curves that border the faces. You can choose from three edge modes: Facet Edges, Isolines, or None. The 3D Wireframe visual style uses isolines to give you a better sense of curves. The 3D Hidden visual style uses facet edges to show just the edges and to provide a cleaner look. If you use isolines, you can choose the number of lines (the ISOLINES system variable). You can also decide if the isolines are always on top, which provides edges even to shaded objects.

Figure 22.23. The Visual Styles Manager enables you to create and save custom visual styles.

Two edge modifiers, overhang and jitter, help to provide a hand-drawn look. Jitter adds additional lines, as if you're sketching. Overhang extends lines past their ends, as shown in Figure 22.24.

You can also set overhang and jitter in the Visual Styles Manager, when you define a visual style. Click the Overhanging Edges and Jitter Edges buttons in the Edge Modifiers section and change the values of these items.

Figure 22.24. You can get a hand-drawn look with the jitter and overhang features.

Intersection edges display lines where solids intersect. Figure 22.25 shows a model with a smaller box intersecting with a larger box. The left side does not display an intersection edge between the two boxes; the right side does.

When you're done designing your visual style, you can use the Apply Selected Visual Style to Current Viewport button to apply the visual style. The visual style also appears in the drop-down lists on the Home tab's View panel and the Render tab's Visual Styles panel, so you can choose it from either location. You can also use the Delete the Selected Visual Style button to delete your visual styles; however, you can't delete the styles that come with AutoCAD.

The SHADEMODE command in AutoCAD LT has only two options, 2D Wireframe and Hidden. The 2D Wireframe option allows you to turn off the shading that was set for one of the options available only in AutoCAD; you can use this when you open a drawing that was created in AutoCAD. However, AutoCAD LT has a SHADE command that provides the following options:

You control which shading method the SHADE command uses by changing the value of the SHADEDGE system variable. Type shadedge

In AutoCAD LT, you cannot edit your objects in Shaded mode, which is a better-looking version of the HIDE command. If you regenerate the drawing, the shading goes away.

Figure 22.25. You can choose to display edges where solids intersect.

Materials, textures, and lights are used in rendering, which is covered in Chapter 25. You can display materials and textures that you've attached to objects, even as you work, although doing so may slow down performance. You can also display lights. To display these features, you need to use the Realistic visual style, or a visual style that uses the Real face style.

STEPS: Using and Creating Visual Styles

Figure 22.26. The model with the MyRealistic custom visual style.

SOLVIEW automates the process of creating floating viewports and orthogonal views (views at right angles from each other).

Figure 22.27 shows an example with a top view, an auxiliary view, and a section.

To use SOLDRAW, choose Home tab

Figure 22.28. The result of using SOLDRAW on a sectional view.

SOLDRAW uses hatch pattern defaults to define the hatch. You may have to change these settings by using HATCHEDIT.

At the Display hidden profile lines on separate layer? [Yes/No] <Y>: prompt, type Y or N

At the Project profile lines onto a plane? [Yes/No] <Y>: prompt, type Y or N

At the Delete tangential edges? [Yes/No] <Y>: prompt, type Y or N

Figure 22.29 on the left shows the result of SOLPROF after freezing the layer that contains the original object; SOLPROF creates its own layers for the profile. Figure 22.29 on the right shows the result of SOLPROF after also freezing the layer that SOLPROF created, which contains the hidden parts of the model. In this case, the layer was named PH-159. Look for the H in the layer name, which stands for hidden. The last part of the layer name is the handle of the object that you're profiling, so it differs for each object.

You can combine viewports created with SOLPROF and viewports created with SOLVIEW and SOLDRAW. For example, you can create two orthogonal views with SOLVIEW and SOLDRAW, and then add a viewport and use SOLPROF to create another view.

Figure 22.29. A profile created with SOLPROF, before and after freezing the layer that contains the hidden parts of the model.

You may want to create a 2D representation of a 3D drawing. Some reasons to do this are for technical illustrations and to keep the core models of a drawing confidential. The FLATSHOT command takes all 3D objects in a drawing and makes 2D blocks from them. You can put objects that you don't want to include on off or frozen layers. This feature is available in AutoCAD only.

In the Destination section, you decide where the 2D objects will go. You can insert them in the current drawing as a new block, replace an existing block, or export them to a new drawing. In the Foreground Lines section, you choose the color of the lines of the objects. Foreground lines are those that would not be hidden in 3D Hidden visual style. In the Obscured Lines section, you decide how to treat lines that would be hidden in 3D Hidden visual style. You can choose not to display them, for a hidden look, or use a different color or linetype. Click OK when you're done.

If you chose to insert a new block, place the block. If you chose to export to a new file, open that file. You will probably have to Zoom to Extents to see the block. Figure 22.31 shows the results, both with and without obscured lines.

Figure 22.30. Use the Flatshot dialog box to specify how the FLATSHOT command works.

Figure 22.31. Flatshot can create a 2D representation of 3D objects with or without hidden lines.