Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 22
From Drawings . . . to Models
In This Chapter
Escaping from the XY plane
Understanding 3D pros and cons
Setting up a 3D working environment
Creating 3D solid geometry
Editing 3D models
For millennia, people have documented the design and construction of three-dimensional
objects by drawing two-dimensional views of them. Most people have continued to use
these “classical” methods with CAD drafting because the methods are well understood
and work reasonably well. After all, if 2D drawing was good enough for guys like Leonardo
da Vinci and Andrea Palladio, it should be good enough for us, right?
Nonetheless, for the last decade or so, there's been a trend toward creating 3D CAD mod-
els and letting the software generate the 2D views more-or-less automatically. This ap-
