Hi CADaver,
very true, I just added the CTB/STB comment for clarification sorry if it confused you.
It did not confuse me for been using AutoCAD for a long time, but had the potential to confuse others!
being very comfortable with the software and what it produces, I neither need to see the lineweights nor preview plots. But I don't see my method as being a deterant to either.
It does not matter if one is being comfortable, cause I do not draw just for myself. Sometimes customers want to see what they pay for on the screen.
Do you mean while you're drawing, or when plotted. What you're seeing while drawing is probably a function of SHADEMODE that always shows the tessellations lines. DISPSILH will produce a clean plot, regardless of the display of SHADEMADE.
Yeah, meant while drawing. Well, you have to be in HIDDEN mode to have the OBSCURELTYPE working, so the tessalations will show up and on complex design clutter dwg unnecessarily.
It only takes mucking around because you're not used to the interface. Try this for quick DVIEW slicing (I'm sure the lisp gurus around here can make this a lot slicker).
When we were comparing the benefits of one vs other, I was under the impression that we were comparing oranges! I agree with you that the potential of AutoCAD is not so much what it does, but what it allows one to do. But in this case, you were considering add-ons to AutoCAD [whether in-house development]. Not fair.
I am sure that when you were comparing AutoCAD 3D capabilities against the other software, other users could have said OK mine does not do that out-the-box, but I can make it do!
First, we only hatch what's necessary for clarity and not according to some arbitrary standard. But that aside, there are several ways to place hatching besides selecting a zone to hatch. True most are a little more tedious, but that modicum of tedium is more than outweighed by the advantages of viewing the real model instead of a facsimile of the model produced by the tedium of the SOLxxxx commands.
The method we use most is direct hatching. Of course we have several lisp functions to place the desired hatch, but below is the base AutoCAD Command sequence.
Right. Picking point is only gonna work on curveless objects.
You disagree after attempting the procedure for only a few minutes. I'm reasonably sure you gave AutoCAD a lot longer than that to get accustomed to it, otherwise you wouldn't be using it now. Understand, I did it your way for several years, always fiddling with the SOLxxxx commands. Something moved?, either re-run the SOLxxxx commands or fix both the model and the drawing. Something changed?, either re-run the SOLxxxx commands or fix both the model and the drawing. Something deleted?, either re-run the SOLxxxx commands or fix both the model and the drawing. Something added?, either re-run the SOLxxxx commands or fix both the model and the drawing. Now that was true "mucking around". R14 gave use OBSCREDLTYYPE and OBSCUREDCOLOR, R2000 gave us multiple layout tabs, and the little DVP routine above filled in the rest. We are now considerably faster that we were using the SOLxxxx commands, and the drawings are not divorced from the actual model.
Not really! It may appear that I tested it for a few minutes, but have been using AutoCAD for 20 years [since Version 2.18] So, was familiar with DVIEW and CLIP, but dropped it in the past for SOLxxx. I thought I'd give your method a try, thinking maybe he stumbled on a trick worth investigating. Still not convinced. You think the SOLxxx are too much mucking, and I know - for me - DVIEW... is too much involved for no much return.
As for the changes in the design, well I worked for a drafting bureau, so the designs were well tought out before we were commandited to draw! I do realise that in offices, especially with young generation of engineers, it is possibly not that easy. Old engineers were working the pros and cons of a design at 95% probability before giving it to draw. New ones, they have learnt that it is
easy to modify on CAD, so why bother thinking ahead
I had a customer that had a curved covered walkway in past. Taking a long section centrally by aligning viewports would have been tedious and not accurate anyway!
Alright Monsieur Broussard, I'll keep struggling along my ol' way