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Looking for the best book to learn how to do 3D

Looking for the best book to learn how to do 3D

Looking for the best book to learn how to do 3D

(OP)
I am looking for suggestions for a book to learn 3D Autocad.  I can do fairly well in 2D and I want to make some Plant layouts in 3D but I need a book with some examples to work through so that I can learn the tricks to 3D.  Any suggestions?

Thanks
StoneCold

RE: Looking for the best book to learn how to do 3D

I learned AutoCAD, from scratch, from New Riders Publishing's "Inside AutoCAD", way back on version 10, which only had 'surfaces'.  Later, ACAD gained a Constructive Solid Geometry capability called ACIS.  The operators, and the objects they produce, are mostly distinct.  Both have limitations, and virtues.

I suggest you start by just running centerlines from point to point in 3D space, without worrying about elbows and such right away.  You just add a second comma and a third coordinate, and use '.z' a lot.  You might want to work in multiple viewports.  I prefer working in a single perspective viewport, but it takes some getting used to.  
When you start radiusing intersections to represent bends and elbows, you'll learn to manipulate the UCS.

I have no idea how/if the fancy add-ons help in 3D; I've never had access to anything but bare AutoCAD.

First trick: if something doesn't work like you think it should, use 3D Orbit to get another perspective on exactly what is going on.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Looking for the best book to learn how to do 3D

"3d Modeling in Autocad" by John E. Wilson is good.

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