PDA

View Full Version : 2015 Simplified 3D-to-2D Conversion



IdeaLogic584307
2021-01-12, 04:53 PM
I mostly work in 2D (AutoCAD LT 2015), but manufacturers typically provide downloadable product drawings in 3D, usually in a wireframe format, sometimes as surfaces.

I need to be able to convert these 3D drawings to simple left/right, front, top 2D views without all of the extraneous lines – just an accurate to-scale outline/representation (definitions of the visible edges) of the components (as though I had drawn them from scratch with simple lines, arcs, chamfers, fillets, etc., by taking physical measurements).

I have access to full-blown AutoCAD 2017, but am not 3D-savvy. I have experimented with FLATSHOT and other 3D-to-2D methods, but have yet to get the results I’m looking for. What I typically end up with are “zero-Z” views with hundreds or thousands of tiny lines that look like a giant jig-saw puzzle (or an over-the-top game of pick-up sticks).

Can someone please help me with a list of the sequential steps (with commands and relevant settings) to go from a 3D drawing (either wireframe, or surfaces, or both), to simple 2D views (sans hidden lines), such as described above? I have attached a sample drawing that I recently tried to simplify, but ended up getting frustrated.

Ed Jobe
2021-01-12, 10:57 PM
I'm not sure what you want to do with the 2D views. In the attached file, I just made paperspace viewports and set the display style to 3D HIDDEN.