To create 3D objects in DraftSight, DraftSight Premium (either stand-alone Premium or Enterprise Plus) is required. This article is an introduction to basic 3D shapes (box, pyramid, wedge, cone, cylinder, sphere, and torus) and explains how to access the tools to create them.
The SOLIDWORKS Flex feature is a powerful tool for creating more flexible designs. With this feature, you can transform solids into fantastic shapes using the four types of flex options. This article will walk through the basics of the SOLIDWORKS Flex command and demonstrate how it will deform solids in an intuitive manner.
If you've ever been to a theater or a Broadway show, you might have noticed how the lighting, scenery, and backdrops change in sync with the performance. To achieve this precise coordination, lighting engineers and prop setters define each lighting, prop, and backdrop queue for the entire performance. By organizing the elements in a DraftSight drawing into layers, your designs can flow smoothly, just like scenes in a play. To do this, we'll use the Layers Manager and the Layer States Manager.
The primary reason for creating drawings is to have a document that provides the most accurate communication of the design intent of a model or assembly to the fabricator. It must be clear and concise with the best and most precise documentation and annotations that convey the details for tolerances and procedure. This article explains how to use the DraftSight Split Dimension feature for cleaning up dimension detailing.
In DraftSight, Mouse Gestures is a unique, fully customizable toolbar that appears when dragging the right mouse button. The command buttons are arranged in a circular pattern with the mouse cursor at the center. It can have either 4 or 8 command buttons. (Shown below)
The DraftSight Image Tracer lets you bring in layouts, logos, images, shapes, and more into a 2D CAD format. By tracing the image, you quickly get a vector conversion of whatever object you need, ready to be used in 2D CAD. Now, you can copy in floor plans, company logos, and more with just a few clicks.
I continue to be amazed by how simple it is to transition the creation of 2D drawings from AutoCAD to DraftSight. Most of the command line shortcuts are translatable from one platform to the other, and the workflow is almost identical. For instance, typing “Break” in the command window will show as BREAK (SPLIT). This command is particularly useful for adding spacing around drawing items or splitting an entity at a specific location.
In a previous article, Using Sketched Contours to Create 3D Extrusion in DraftSight, I demonstrated a method for creating a closed contour with a polyline or with sketch entities and the Weld command. Then, using the Extrude command to create a solid body. This method may be used with any version of DraftSight. In Introduction to Basic 3D Shapes in DraftSight, I demonstrated the methods for creating basic 3D shapes using DraftSight Premium or DraftSight Enterprise Plus. For this demonstration, I will use the basic 3D shapes from the 3D Modeling Workspace to create overlapping solids, which I will combine or subtract to achieve the desired shape.
This blog demonstrates how to use sketched contours to create 3D extrusions in DraftSight. Use the Extrude command to create a solid from a contour. Let's start with a simple shape from a SOLIDWORKS Essentials training exercise. Then, create the shape in DraftSight using the Polyline tool, which will create a closed contour of continuous lines.