Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 14 Model Documentation, Analysis, and File Exchange 369 Using the EXPORTLAYOUT Using the EXPORTLAYOUT Command Command You can use the EXPORTLAYOUT command to export a layout containing drawing views into a new drawing (DWG) fi le. However, this technique will break the associativity between the 3D model and the drawing views. The advantage to using this technique is that the drawing geometry can be edited in the same way as any other AutoCAD 2D geom- etry in model space. The disadvantage is that the 2D geometry has lost any associativity back to the 3D model. When using the EXPORTLAYOUT command, you save the exported layout as a DWG fi le. The drawing views become blocks in the new drawing fi le. NOTE NOTE The FLATSHOT command can also be used to create a multiview orthographic drawing from a 3D model. However, the resulting drawing views do not have associative proper- ties. The FLATSHOT command creates a fl at projection of the 3D objects in the drawing from the current viewpoint. The view is created in model space. The view that is created is composed of 2D geometry and is projected onto the XY plane of the current UCS. Creating Section Planes Creating Section Planes The SECTIONPLANE command offers a powerful visualization and display tool. It allows you to construct a section plane, known as an AutoCAD section object, that can then be used as a cutting plane to cut through a 3D model. Section planes can be used to cut through solids, surfaces, meshes, regions, and point clouds. Working with point clouds is discussed in Chapter 15. Once the section object is drawn, it can be moved to any location, jogs can be added to it, and it can be rendered “live” so that internal features and sectioned mate- rial are dynamically visible as the cutting plane is moved. The section object stores object property information. A variety of settings allow you to customize the appear- ance of section features. Additionally, you can generate 2D sections/elevations or 3D sections that can be inserted into the drawing as a block. Once the SECTIONPLANE command is initiated, you are prompted to select a face or the fi rst point on the section object. The Draw section option allows you to defi ne a section object by picking multiple points. The Orthographic option allows you to locate a section object by specifying an orthographic plane. The Type option is used to set the initial display state for the section object when it is created. These options and additional sectioning options are discussed in the following sections. Picking a Face to Construct a Section Plane The simplest way to create a section plane is to pick a fl at face on the 3D object. Access the SECTIONPLANE command, move the pointer to the face you wish to select, and then pick it. A transparent section object is placed on the selected face and the model is cut at the plane. See Figure 14-27. The section plane can now be moved to create a section anywhere along the 3D model. The automatic cut that appears on the model when creating a section object is the default display and is called live sectioning. Live sectioning is discussed later in this chapter. To turn live sectioning on or off, select the section object and pick the Live Section button in the Section Plane contextual ribbon tab. See Figure 14-28. You can also turn live sectioning on or off by selecting the section object, right-clicking, and SECTIONPLANE Ribbon Home Section Solid Section Section Plane Type SECTIONPLANE SPLANE