One of the many
advantages of CAD is that the same drawing can be viewed both
in 2D and 3D in a few easy steps. Not only does it saves time
but also one drawing can be used for many purposes. In
addition, some programs such as VectorWorks ®, RenderWorks ®
and Art•lantis ® offer the possibility to create
realistic rendering and walkthrough animations.
The easiest way to understand 3D drawing with CAD is by setting
up a simple perspective view using a box. The example below
was created using VectorWorks ® and some of the available
standard views.
First a rectangle is drawn in plan view. For example, 7000
x 5000 mm at scale 1:50. Until the rectangle is assigned a
height, it remains a 2D object. The Extrude command was used
to give it a height. For example, 4000. Now that it is 3D,
the solid can be viewed in any available views. In this case,
Front, Right, Right Isometric and Perspective.
Now, the solid can be rendered using plain colours and/or textures.
Shown below are 3 different types of rendering available with
VectorWorks ®: Unshaded/Shaded polygon, Open GL, and RenderWorks
® brick and glass textures.
Only RenderWorks provides realistic rendering and shadows.
Art•lantis, another software similar to RenderWorks and
compatible with both VectorWorks ® and Autocad ®,
also provides realistic rendering and shadows.
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