Aim

This example shows the main methods of working with dimetric and isometric views. You will learn the basic method for creating a 3-D view, using the example of a cube. We only explain dimetric projection because isometric projection uses the same methods.

Settings

Tutorial.mkd

To see the three additional views as well as the standard view, choose Edit > Options > Windows and choose the last-but-one icon from the top row. This gives you an extra three small windows arranged vertically at the right of the application window in which you can see different views. Click on "OK" to confirm your choice and close the dialog.

Basics

Dimetric and isometric projections are used to draw 3-D views of objects. Malz++Kassner CAD6 makes it possible to see each of the three views in the overview. This means that you can draw each side view in the same way as the two dimensional examples. However, circles appear as ellipses in isometric and dimetric drawing and must be drawn using Draw > Ellipse > Rectangular In a similar way, squares should be drawn as polygons using Draw > Polygon > Parallelogram The reason for this is that the application only makes the current view available as an aid to drawing. You are actually drawing in the dimetric view and have to use the commands which draw objects correctly in this view.

The Cube

Coordinate Systems

Each drawing window uses a different coordinate system. These systems must first be set up. Do this by choosing Manage > Coordinate Systems / Scales > Edit. Right-click any entry and choose "New..." to set up a new coordinate system. Give the first system the number 2 and the description Dimetric 1, left view. Create a further two systems, numbered 3 and 4, named Dimetric 1, right view and Dimetric 1, plan view. Next you have to apply the coordinate systems to the different windows. Right-click on a name, choose "Edit..." and then choose the corresponding dimetric representation in the "View" area of the dialog. The names of the coordinate systems are the same as the representations.

Figure 1

After you have generated all three new coordinate systems, choose coordinate system 1, "Drawing & Dimension" and leave the dialog. In order to apply the newly generated coordinate systems to the small windows, click on the upper left corner of the relevant window. The window number is displayed there in [square brackets]. The ruler display shows which window is active. After activating one of the small windows, you can apply a coordinate system to it by choosing Manage > Coordinate Systems / Scales > Edit and setting the coordinate system to the desired one in the dialog. Activate the dimetric views for windows 2-4.

Windows

Working with windows is relatively easy. You can easily choose the window you wish to work in. You can tell which window is active because the crosshair appears completely in that window, whereas in the others just a small cross showing its position appears. Even at high resolution, windows 2-4 do not offer much drawing space and you can swap the contents of a small window into the main drawing window to make life easier. Do this by holding down the SHIFT key and pressing the number of the window whose contents you want to see in the main window. For example, SHIFT+3 will swap the contents of window 3 into the main window. The main window has the number 1. This makes it easy to put the view of your choice into the main window (Figure 2).

Figure 2

It is a good idea to always put the dimetric window back in its original place. This guarantees a better overview of the views. Otherwise, the left and right views (especially when working with isometric projection) can easily be swapped accidentally. If you have the left dimetric view in the main window and wish to change this with the right dimetric view, firstly put the left dimetric view back in window 2 (the uppermost of the three small windows) using SHIFT+2 and then bring the right dimetric view into the main window with SHIFT+3.

Grid

To make constructing the cube easier, turn on the position grid (size 5 mm) and the display grid (size 10 mm) for all three dimetric views. This is done most easily with the buttons in the panel. Activate the grids by left-clicking on the button and specify the grid size in the dialog called by right-clicking on the button.

The Drawing

Construct the dimetric left view in the main window first (check that you have the correct coordinate system in the dialog called by choosing Manage > Coordinate Systems / Scales > Edit).

Begin by drawing a square with sides 100 mm (that is, 10 grid points) long, using the pen "0.5 mm\Solid Line Wide". Use Draw > Polygon > Parallelogram. to do this. To have the same origin for the grid in the other views, set the zero point to the upper right corner of the square. Do this with Manage > Coordinate Systems / Scales > Set Origin. Place a marking on this point using Construct > Marking > Single (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Put the dimetric left view back into window 2 and put the dimetric right view into the main window (Figure 4).

Figure 4

This is the right side of the cube. One of the horizontal sides has already been drawn. Draw another square using Draw > Polygon > Parallelogram, placing the first two points on the previously-drawn vertical line and dragging the square's outline right by 100 mm (10 grid points) (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Keep an eye on what is going on in the window with the standard view. A parallelogram is drawn here showing one of the cube's other surfaces.

Put the right view back into window 3 and put the plan view from window 4 into the main window. Again, draw a square on the grid with sides of 100 mm length on the grid. Once again, begin at the marked zero point and use the vertical line as a guide. You can now see a complete cube in the standard view (Figure 6).

Figure 6

You can use the plan view in the main window for the next step. Choose Draw > Ellipse > Vector - Vector. Click at the midpoint of the last-drawn square to specify the center of the ellipse (1). Set the other two points by clicking on the midpoint of the upper horizontal line (2) and the right hand vertical line (3) respectively. In the plan view, a circle will now have been drawn (Figure 7).

Figure 7

Choose the pen "0.25 mm\\Dash-Dot Line Narrow" and use Draw > Line > Point - Point to draw horizontal and vertical symmetry lines extending 5 mm beyond the square's edges (that is, one position grid point or half a display point from the edge). Join the corners with diagonals.

Your page should now look like figure 8:

Figure 8

You can now change the view displayed in the main window again and use the same procedure to draw the circle and symmetry lines in the other views.

The finished drawing will now look (depending where you started) something like this:

Figure 9

Finally, center the object using Modify > Align Objects > Centered, Page Both) and the F10 key, then save it using File > Save Drawing as (Figure 10).

Figure 10

The creation of a drawing in isometric representation or in type 2 dimetric representation (view from the right side) works similar. The only difference is in the views that are chosen for the windows' coordinate systems.

If your screen resolution is high enough, you should use the advantages of multiple window display for all types of drawings. Each window can display another detail of the drawing, allowing fast copy-and-paste operations. For activation of any desired window, simply press SHIFT+(Window Number) on your keyboard.

In case you want to save the multiple window environment for isometric representation or other purposes, create a special template file using Manage > Template > Save as.