Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
182
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Advanced
3D Moving 3D Moving
The
3DMOVE
command allows you to quickly move an object along any axis or
plane of the current UCS. When the command is initiated, you are prompted to select
the objects to move. If the
2D Wireframe
visual style is current, the visual style is tempo-
rarily changed to the
Wireframe
visual style because the gizmo is not displayed in 2D
mode. After selecting the objects, press [Enter]. The move gizmo is displayed in the
center of the selection set. By default, the move gizmo is also displayed when a solid is
selected with no command active.
The move gizmo is a tripod that appears similar to the shaded UCS icon. Refer
to Figure 8-8A. You can relocate the tool by right-clicking on the gizmo and selecting
Relocate Gizmo
from the shortcut menu. Then, move the gizmo to a new location and
pick. You can also realign the gizmo using the shortcut menu.
If you move the pointer over the X, Y, or Z axis of the gizmo, the axis changes to
yellow. To restrict movement along that axis, pick the axis. If you move the pointer
over one of the right angles at the origin of the gizmo, the corresponding two axes turn
yellow. Pick to restrict the movement to that plane. You can complete the movement by
either picking a new point or by direct distance entry.
NOTE NOTE
If the
GTAUTO
system variable is set to 1, the move gizmo is displayed when a solid is
selected with no command active. If the
GTLOCATION
system variable is set to 0, the
gizmo is placed at the same location as the UCS icon. Both variables are set to 1 by
default.
3D Rotating 3D Rotating
As you have seen in earlier chapters, the
ROTATE
command can be used to rotate
3D objects. However, the command can only rotate objects in the XY plane of the current
UCS. This is why you had to change UCSs to properly rotate objects. The
3DROTATE
command, on the other hand, can rotate objects on any axis regardless of the current
UCS. This is an extremely powerful editing and design tool.
When the command is initiated, you are prompted to select the object(s) to rotate.
After selecting the objects, press [Enter]. The rotate gizmo is displayed in the center of
the selection set. The gizmo provides you with a dynamic, graphic representation of
the three axes of rotation. Refer to Figure 8-8B. After selecting the objects, you must
specify a location for the gizmo, which is the base point for rotation.
Now, you can use the gizmo to rotate the objects about the tool’s local X, Y, or Z
axis. As you hover the cursor over one of the three circles in the gizmo, a vector is
displayed that represents the axis of rotation. To rotate about the tool’s X axis, pick the
red circle on the gizmo. To rotate about the Y axis, pick the green circle. To rotate about
the Z axis, pick the blue circle. Once you select a circle, it turns yellow and you are
prompted for the start point of the rotation angle. You can enter a direct angle at this
prompt or pick the fi rst of two points defi ning the angle of rotation. When the rotation
angle is defi ned, the object is rotated about the selected axis.
The following example rotates the bend in the HVAC assembly shown in
Figure 8-9A. Set the
Center of face
3D object snap. Then, select the command and
continue:
3DMOVE
Ribbon
Home
Modify
3D Move
Type
3DMOVE
3M
3DROTATE
Ribbon
Home
Modify
3D Rotate
Type
3DROTATE
3R