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GENERAL
What
is AutoSolids?
Is AutoSolids right for me?
Why
should I design in 3D instead of 2D?
What about 2D drawings?
How does
AutoSolids compare to other 3D packages?
What
are the system requirements for AutoSolids?
COMPATIBILITY
What version(s) of AutoCAD are supported?
Can
AutoCAD users without AutoSolids acess AutoSolids models?
Can
AutoSolids access AutoCAD solids that were created without AutoSolids?
Can
AutoSolids access Mechanical Desktop solids that were created without
AutoSolids?
Can
AutoSolids access non-Autodesk solid models?
Will AutoSolids models work with non-AutoCAD applications?
FUNCTIONALITY
What
are the major capabilities of AutoSolids?
How
does AutoSolids parametric modeler differ from traditional parametric
modelers?
How
does “construction-based” modeling differ from “feature-based”
modeling?
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GENERAL
Q:
What is AutoSolids?
AutoSolids is an AutoCAD add-on that
greatly improves the 3D functionality of basic AutoCAD.
AutoSolids runs inside of AutoCAD providing new functionality to
the existing AutoCAD solids, UCS, and viewing commands and adding many new commands as well.
Q:
Is AutoSolids right for me?
If you need to design mechanical parts and
assemblies using AutoCAD, AutoSolids is for you. AutoSolids
is well suited for designing mechanical components of great complexity,
and quickly creating 2D drawings from any AutoSolids or AutoCAD solid model.
Q:
Why should I design in 3D instead of 2D?
While the common statement of “2D meets
our needs” is often true, it has been proven time and time again that
the use of 3D methodology for the vast majority of mechanical design tasks
is much more efficient than using 2D methodology.
Speed and Accuracy are the two major benefits for designing in 3D.
Design Speed
Unlike drafting, the task of designing
involves continuous changes, additions, and deletions of geometry.
When working in 2D, each single change has to be completed multiple
times, once for every 2D view that is being used. When working in 3D, each change is made once to a single
model, and all of the viewports update at once since all viewports are
actually “viewing windows” of the model.
The sheer reduction of steps allows for designs to be completed
faster, or for more design variations to be examined in a given period of
time.
Design Accuracy
As just stated, when working in 2D, all
changes have to be completed multiple times, once in each 2D view. Because the geometry in each view is completely independent
from all other views, an easy and frequent mistake is the creation of
geometry in one view that doesn’t actually “match” the geometry in
another view. When working on
a single 3D part, each change is done once to a single model, and the
result is automatically and accurately shown in all of the 2D viewports.
Q:
What about drawings?
While many claims are currently being made
that 2D drawings are “obsolete”, they are and will continue to be
indispensable communication tools. The
need for 2D drawings is actually one of the strongest reasons for working
in 3D! On top of the benefits
of designing in 3D, using 3D for the creation of 2D drawings offers
equally compelling benefits of Accuracy and Speed.
Drawing Accuracy
Drawings incorporate multiple 2D views to
represent a desired physical object.
Errors can easily occur during the creation of these independent
views, since nothing prevents one view from being created that doesn’t
“match” the other views, or even match the desired physical object
itself. If a 3D model is
first created, the 2D drawing views can be automatically, accurately, and
quickly generated from the model. Questions
regarding the accuracy of the 2D drawing views are completely eliminated.
Drafting Speed
Obviously, automatically generating 2D
drawing views from an existing 3D model is much faster than
creating each view manually. Not
as obvious, it normally takes less time to create the 3D model and then
generate the 2D drawing views than it does just to manually create the
independent 2D views. The
reason is simple: it takes
fewer steps to create a single 3D part than it does to create multiple 2D
drawing views to represent the single 3D part.
When modeling in 3D, a hole is added in one step.
When drafting, a circle is added in one or more views, and then
hidden lines are then added in one or more views.
Except for the simplest of parts, modeling in 3D is substantially
faster than drafting in 2D. Additionally,
once the model is created, “extra” 2D views for increased clarity,
including isometric perspectives, are essentially free, making the drawing
more useful.
Q:
How does AutoSolids compare to other 3D packages?
Many 3D CAD packages are currently
available for constructing 3D solids and generating their corresponding 2D
drawings. AutoSolids is
unique in 2 major respects: 1)AutoCAD
compatibility, and 2)Ease of use.
AutoCAD compatibility
No other product offers functionality
comparable to AutoSolids while maintaining 100% AutoCAD compatibility.
AutoSolids models are immediately recognized by native AutoCAD as
standard AutoCAD solids. Standard
AutoCAD models are immediately recognized by AutoSolids and can be used
with all AutoSolids commands. No
importing, exporting, converting, exploding, etc. is ever required, so you
don’t have to worry when exchanging your .dwg files with other AutoCAD
users.
Ease of Use
The vast majority of existing 3D CAD
systems have high levels of functionality but at the expense of being very
difficult to learn and use. Rather
than adding obscure functionality for differentiation, AutoSolids was
developed with the goal of being easy to learn and use while maintaining a
high level of functionality. If
you are experienced with AutoCAD and Windows, your learning curve for
AutoSolids will be very short. If
you are already experienced with 3D modeling in AutoCAD, you will be
immediately proficient with AutoSolids and will find substantial improvements over the existing 3D commands.
Q:
What are the system requirements for AutoSolids?
AutoSolids requires the presence of a
compatible version of AutoCAD. If
you have AutoCAD installed and your hardware meets the minimum
requirements for 3D work in AutoCAD as recommended by Autodesk, you’re ready
to go.
COMPATIBILITY
Q:
What version(s) of AutoCAD are supported?
AutoSolids currently supports AutoCAD 14.01
through 2008 and their corresponding vertical market
products. Please
read the compatibility white paper for
full details.
Q:
Can AutoCAD users without AutoSolids access AutoSolids models?
Absolutely.
When AutoSolids is not present, AutoCAD immediately recognizes any
AutoSolids model as a native AutoCAD solid.
Any command that can be used on a native AutoCAD solid(union,
subtract, solprof, section, etc.) will operate exactly the same with an
AutoSolids model. Be advised,
however, that changes made to the model while outside of AutoSolids will not be
editable should the model be brought back into AutoSolids.
Q:
Can AutoSolids access AutoCAD solids that were created without
AutoSolids?
Absolutely.
AutoSolids immediately recognizes AutoCAD solids as AutoSolids
primitives with no editable parameters.
While the operations that were performed outside of AutoSolids can
not be edited, any further operations that are performed inside of
AutoSolids(union, subtract, slice, fillet, etc.) will be editable.
Q:
Can AutoSolids access Mechanical Desktop solids that were created
without AutoSolids?
Yes. If
the model was created with the native AutoCAD 3D solid commands, it can be
opened directly as with any native AutoCAD solid.
If the model is a Mechanical Desktop “part”(created with
Desktop-specific commands) it must first be exploded from within
Mechanical Desktop for AutoCAD to recognize the part as a solid. This is true for any AutoCAD user, with or without
AutoSolids. Once exploded,
the solid becomes a native AutoCAD solid, recognized by AutoSolids as a
solid primitive with no editable parameters. Any further operations
that are performed on the solid with AutoSolids(union, subtract, slice,
fillet, etc.) will be editable.
Q:
Can AutoSolids access non-Autodesk solid models?
Yes. Any
solid that can be imported with standard AutoCAD methods(ACIS in, IGES in,
etc.) will be brought in as an AutoCAD solid, immediately
recognized by AutoSolids and editable as described above.
Q:
Will AutoSolids models work with non-AutoCAD applications?
Yes. Because
AutoSolids models are stored as AutoCAD solids, any program that can
access an AutoCAD solid in a .dwg file can access an AutoSolids model with
identical results. Further,
the internal AutoCAD export functions(ACIS out, IGES out, 3D Studio out,
etc.) will automatically recognize AutoSolids models as native AutoCAD
solids, providing identical export capabilities.
FUNCTIONALITY
Q:
What are the major capabilities of AutoSolids?
Unlike native AutoCAD, AutoSolids captures
and saves every step used during the creation of your model, allowing any
step to be changed later. AutoSolids
provides numerous modeling options not available in standard AutoCAD such
as bidirectional extrusions and cylinders, the ability to preview your
models before they’re created or changed, the ability to either
“pick” or type any parameter value, and many, many more options.
AutoSolids’ RealView™
technology adds realtime zoom, pan, and display rotation capabilities in
either shaded, hidden line, or wireframe display modes to AutoCAD R14.
AutoSolids’ QuickDraw™
command instantly creates up to 6 orthographic and 4 isometric 2D drawing
views from the 3D model. The
AutoSolids interface allows flexible command access including typing,
toolbars, pulldown menus, and the exclusive 3D Command Center™
that groups ALL 3D commands into one central location, including UCS and
Viewing commands.
Q:
How is AutoSolids' parametric modeler different from traditional parametric
modelers?
AutoSolids modeling system does not require the
use of constraints to change geometry.
Traditional parametric modelers typically require that constraints be applied
to models to allow them to be changed.
For instance, to change the height of an extrusion, a dimensional
“height” constraint must first be applied to the extrusion, and then
the value of the constraint is changed causing the geometry to change.
AutoSolids automatically captures the exact parameters
used to define the solid, and presents those parameters back to the user
when the solid is picked for editing.
With the same example, when the extrusion is picked
for editing, a dialog is immediately presented that contains all of the
extrusion’s inherent parameters(height, taper angle, extrusion
direction), any or all of which can then be changed. The intermediate step
of creating constraints is completely eliminated.
And because there are no constraints, there is no need for such
things as workpoints, workplanes, construction planes, etc. that are
required in virtually all parametric modeling systems.
Q:
How does “construction-based” modeling differ from
“feature-based” modeling and “boolean” modeling?
Feature-based modeling is linear. A basic solid shape is first created, and “features” are
then added to the first shape(the “base” feature), creating a composite
“part”. A “feature”
is composed of a geometric
shape and a union, subtraction, or intersection operation that combines
the shape with the part. As a
simple example, a crude T-handled hex drive might be created by defining a
cylindrical handle as the base feature, and then the driver portion
defined as a “protrusion” feature by extruding a hexagon and
specifying that it be unioned with the cylindrical handle.
The key to feature-based modeling is that each new piece of
geometry must be immediately combined with an existing part during
creation of the new geometry.
Boolean modeling is non-linear. The different individual solids used to create a composite
model can be created in any order, and then unioned, subtracted, or
intersected with each other to form the final composite.
With the T-handled hex drive, the cylinder or hex drive would be created as the
first step, the other solid created as the second step, and the two unioned
together as the third step. The
key to boolean modeling is that each piece is created as an independent
solid and then combined with one or more existing solids in a separate
step.
Construction-based modeling combines the
non-linear nature of boolean modeling with the efficiency of feature-based
modeling. Each time a new
solid is created, it can be created as an independent solid or it can be
automatically unioned, subtracted from, intersected with, or used as a
base for subtracting one or more existing solids.
With the T-handled hex drive, the cylindrical handle could be
created, then the hex extruded and automatically unioned to the handle.
The key to construction-based modeling is that each piece is
created as an independent solid, and can be combined with one or more
existing solids either during or after creation of the new geometry.
While
the differences between the three are subtle, the impact on ease of use
and efficiency can be substantial. Suppose
our T-handle hex key needed to have the cylindrical handle removed,
leaving just the hex driver. Few
feature-based systems would allow this because the existence of the hex
driver is dependent on the existence of the handle, because the handle is
defined as the base feature. Removing
the base feature automatically removes any dependent features as well.
Or, suppose a mold base was desired with a cavity that matched the
shape of our T-handle hex key. Few
feature-based systems would allow the key shape to now be easily subtracted
from a solid block, as the block would need to be created first as
the base feature. Even if the
block were created first, the shape of the composite key could not be
simply subtracted from the block; each piece of the key would have to be
defined as a “cut” or “remove” feature as the feature is created.
Boolean modeling has no such ordering and dependency drawbacks.
Either the block or the key could be created first, and then a
subtraction operation performed. The
downside to boolean modeling is the number of independent steps that are
required. Construction-based
modeling combines the flexibility of boolean modeling and the efficiency
of feature-based modeling. With
construction-based modeling, the key could be created first, and then
immediately subtracted from the block during creation of the block.
Or the block could be created first and one or both parts of the
key subtracted from the block either during or after their creation.
The user is free to choose the most efficient sequence of steps for
the task at hand, and no restrictive ordered relationships are formed that
could create later problems. |
