510
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Advanced
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Adding a Background Adding a Background
A background is the backdrop for your 3D model. The background can be a solid
color, a gradient of colors, an image fi le, the sun and sky, or the current AutoCAD
drawing background color. By default, the background is the drawing background.
To change the background for your drawing, you must fi rst create a named view
with the
VIEW
command. In the
View Manager
dialog box, pick the
New…
button to
display the
New View/Shot Properties
dialog box. See Figure 17-23. The view name,
category, and type are specifi ed at the top of the dialog box. Near the bottom of the
View Properties
tab is the
Background
area. The drop-down list in this area is used
to specify the type of background. The options are Default, Solid, Gradient, Image, and
Sun &
Sky. The
Default
setting uses the current AutoCAD viewport color. Photometric
lighting must be on (LIGHTINGUNITS =
1
or 2) for
Sun & Sky
to appear in the drop-
down list.
PROFESSIONAL TIP PROFESSIONAL TIP
Before you create the named view, establish the viewpoint from which
you want to see the fi nal rendering. Set the perspective projection
current, if desired. These settings are saved with the view. The
Views
drop-down list in the
Views
panel on the
Visualize
tab of the ribbon
makes it very easy to recall the view. You can also make a named
view current by selecting it from the
Custom Model Views
menu in
the
View Controls
fl yout in the viewport controls.
Solid Backgrounds
If you select
Solid
in the drop-down list, the
Background
dialog box is displayed.
The
Type:
drop-down list in this dialog box is automatically set to
Solid
and the default
color is displayed in the
Preview
area. See Figure 17-24. In the
Solid options
area of
the dialog box, pick the horizontal
Color:
bar to open the
Select Color
dialog box.
VIEW
Ribbon
Visualize
Views
View Manager
Type
VIEW
V
Pick to
display the
Background
dialog box
Preview
of the
background
Figure 17-23.
The
View Properties
tab of the
New View/
Shot Properties
dialog box. A
named view must
be created before
you can use a
background in your
scene.