6/8/2021 Instructions - Code 281 | CADD ARCHITECTURE 1 (2D) - CAD PLATE NO.

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Code 281 | CADD ARCHITECTURE 1 (2D)

FINAL LEARNING RESOURCES

ISOMETRIC DRAWING
ISOMETRIC DRAWING
WHAT IS AN ISOMETRIC DRAWING?

A 2D isometric drawing, which may be created from an isometric projection, is a flat representation of a 3D isometric projection. This method of drawing
provides a fast way to create an isometric view of a simple design. Distances measured along an isometric axis are correct to scale. But because you are
drawing in 2D, you cannot expect to extract other 3D distances and areas, display objects from different viewpoints, or remove hidden lines automatically.

HOW TO TURN ON ISODRAFT MODE IN AUTOCAD?

There are a couple of ways to turn on Isodraft. The first is typical of AutoCAD—type it into the Command Line! When you do, you’ll see four options appear
(or if you have Dynamic Input turned on, they’ll appear in the menu near your cursor). Choose any of the Isoplane options to change from orthographic
drafting to isometric.

  The other method is probably the most common. Just click on the Isodraft icon on the Status Bar to toggle it on or off. Click the small down arrow just to its
right to choose your isoplane mode.

 Whatever method you prefer, a few things will happen when enabled. First, your cursor will change from orthographic to the chosen isoplane. You can set it
to left (30 and 150 degree axes), right (30 and 90 degree axes), or top (30 and 150 degree axes). Also, if you have your grid turned on, it will change as well,
based on which isoplane is active. Finally, you’ll notice that Orthomode also switches to match your current isoplane.

Here are a couple of usage tips that you may want to use. Snaps will work in Isodraft, so don’t be afraid to enable them if they can help. Many users prefer to
see the crosshairs in full screen mode; it can help with lining up edges. If that’s you, just change CURSORSIZE to 100 (default is 5, so remember that if you
want to go back).

Finally, the best time saving tip of all is that once you’re in Isodraft mode, you can quickly toggle the isoplane by pressing Ctrl-E, or F5 on the keyboard. Note
that if you’re in Orthographic mode, Ctrl-E or F5 appear not to do anything. (Actually, it does set the default mode for the next time you enable Isodraft.)

HOW TO MAKE ISOMETRIC DRAWINGS IN AUTOCAD?

Now that you’ve learned how to enable Isodraft, change drafting planes, and set it up to your liking, it’s time to start drafting. But before you get started, there
are a couple of tricks and caveats you’ll want to know about.

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In orthographic drafting, you’ve probably gotten used to using the Rectangle command instead of drawing four Lines or Polyline segments. It makes sense to
think that in Isodraft mode, the Rectangle command would shift into Isometric and draw in the current isoplane. It doesn’t. It will still draw the rectangle as if
you were still in Orthographic mode, so you probably don’t want to use that.

You’ll also need to abandon the Circle and Arc commands. If you need them in your Isometric drawing, you need to use the Ellipse command. But here’s the
catch…you’ll need to type it into the command line because the option that you’ll access does not appear if you activate Ellipse from the Ribbon (or Menu
Bar for that matter).

When in Isodraft mode, accessing Ellipse from the command line will give you the extra option of Isocircle. Make sure to select it from either the command
line or Dynamic Input drop-down to force it into a true isometric ellipse, according to the current isoplane.

  Once you have specified Isocircle, you’ll be prompted to specify the center point, then a radius or diameter. You’ll note these prompts differ from the
orthographic version of Ellipse.

 Now that we know how to make Isometric circles, I bet you’re assuming that Arcs work the same way. That is, while in Isodraft, type Arc in the command
line, and you’ll get an Isoarc option. You’d be wrong. Sorry.

The best way to create an arc is to make the full circle (ellipse), then draw construction lines (or use existing geometry if applicable), and use the Trim
command to cut the full circle down to the arc you need.

Now that you know some of the tricks needed to successfully draft in Isometric mode, give it a try sometime. You never know when you might be called upon
to do it.

HOW TO GET AN ISOMETRIC VIEW IN AUTOCAD WITH 3D OBJECTS?

Up till now, we’ve mainly discussed 2D isometric drafting in AutoCAD. But there’s another group of AutoCAD users who think of something totally different
when isometric is mentioned. To a 3D designer, it’s one of several preset views to display their geometry.

One way to access these is from the Model Space Viewport Controls in the upper left corner of the editor. Clicking on the middle item—the View Controls—
will display a drop-down menu of the preset views. Within this are choices for the four different Isometric views.

Also, you can choose to display your model in either parallel or perspective views. Below are three different representations of the same box. First, in a
custom parallel view, a SW Isometric view, and finally, the same SW Iso shown in Perspective.

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   Another common way to access the preset views and parallel/perspective is by using the ViewCube (in the upper right corner). Using it, you can simply
select any of the “faces” or on one of the corners, which represent each of the four Isometric views. Just right-click anywhere on the ViewCube to display the
tools dialog.

 HANDS-ON APPLICATION

Using Isometric commands is one of the simplest ways to give a 3-D representation while using only 2-D commands. This has been the usual way of doing
things before CAD allowed true 3-D work to be done. Many times, an isometric drawing is used to compliment or give more information to a 3 view
orthographic drawing. See the sample below.

 You can see that it is a very simple drawing. This basic isometric drawing of the object gives a very good idea of what it looks like. If this is all that is needed
then isometric works well. Unfortunately, as soon as you change anything, like the block's height, you'll need to redraw all four views.

AutoCAD has a command called ISOPLANE which allows you to easily draw at a 30 degree angle as needed for an isometric drawing. You can switch
between the three 'isoplanes' (top, right, left) by using this command or by pressing the F5 key.

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Newer versions of AutoCAD have an Isoplane icon on the status bar. You can click this to enter Isometric Drafting Mode as shown below. You can also
change your Isoplanes here (but F5 is faster).

By invoking this command, AutoCAD is now set to draw on the top isoplane by default. Your other choices would be Left or Right. Your first exercise will be
to draw the object shown above using isometric methods.

 EXERCISE 1 - ISOMETRIC DRAFTING

1. Begin a new drawing using the acad.dwt template

2.  Create a layer called OBJECT and give it a green color. Make this your current layer.
3.  Type in DDRMODES to bring up the Drawing Aids dialog box. Make your settings the same as what you see below (just turn on Isometric Snap).

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NOTE :

Remember this dialog box for later. When you are done with Isometric Drafting, open this dialog box again and change the radio button from "Isometric snap"
to "Rectangular snap" to get back to the regular drawing settings.

1.  Press OK and you'll see that the grid is set up for isometric drawing for the left isoplane in 1/2 unit increments. Your crosshairs are now angled to show
you which isoplane you are currently on and the Grid is laid out differently from what you may be used to.
2. Begin by drawing the left side of the box (shown at the top of the lesson) using the line command. Ignore the hole at this point. You will want to use the
Direct Distance Entry System for this exercise and make sure that you have Ortho ( F8) and Osnaps ( F3) turned on.
3. Switch to your right isoplane ( F5) and draw the right side.
4. Switch to your top isoplane ( F5) and draw the top view.
5. Create the angle lines to add the angled surface.
6. Switch back to the left isoplane and start the ELLIPSE command. At the command prompt, press I for isocircle. This will allow you to create an ellipse at the correct
angle based on the radius of the circle in the orthographic drawing. Use the Osnap to pick the correct center point.
7. Save your drawin. Use this same CAD FILE upon doing the attached CAD PLATE.

To dimension an isometric drawing, you have to do a few things first. Create a text style called Left, and give it a 30 o obliquing angle, then create another
called right with a -30 o obliquing angle. Then create a new dimension style that has the text aligned with the dimension line. After you have placed a
dimension, use the DIMEDIT command to change the obliquing angle of the dimension + or - 30 degrees. You may also need to use the properties to
change the text in the dimension to left or right depending upon the orientation of the dimension.

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