base view in multiple 3d objects

[idbretana]

good day everyone, I have this problem with my drawing. before I decided to post here, I first ask mr. google about the problem but to no avail. anyway, here's my problem:

I have this drawing. 3d object. with multiple items. and would like to create a 2d detailed view of the items.

what i did  was isolate the first item and did the base view command. after the command, I then hid the first item and isolate again the second item. but then I always get this pop-up menu that says "A model has changed" and my item is missing. I ignored the warning and poceeded with my second model and so, on. after the process I unisolated all my items and most of the drawings are there and some are lost. Is there a proper way of doing this base view for multiple objects without disrupting the previous drawing that I objects?

[steve216586]

To make a 2D view of 3D objects you can do this easily with either of these ways.

Solview-Soldraw in paperspace

Flatshot in modelspace

You don't have to isolate the objects of an assembly. Hidden lines will be created and you can edit the results any way you desire. If you do want separate 2D detail views of individual parts of an assembly, you can do that by isolating objects using layers.

[JDMather · Accepted solution]

I recommend setting up the problem more like the real world.

Create each part in an individual dwg file.

Create your part drawings as needed. (I would use the newer, more powerfull Viewbase command rather than legacy solview/soldraw or flatshot commands).

Xref your individual parts into an assembly dwg file.

Create assembly drawing as needed using the Viewbase command.

If you have trouble figure it out - attach your original dwg file here.

[idbretana]

jdmather, I can imagine your suggestion but how about if you have more than 10 items and need to have each individual part referenced to the other parts? would that be a little harsh? I like to use the viewbase command as it is more powerful. and about the Xref. could your please tell me more about it? i dont have much idea about it because i dont use it a lot.

[JDMather]

---

@idbretana wrote:
....how about if you have more than 10 items and need to have each individual part referenced to the other parts? would that be a little harsh?

---

...

In the real world a part is a part.
In the real world an assembly is not a part - it is a collection of parts.  (An assembly might be a collection of sub-assemblies).

In the real world a drawing is not a part, a drawing is not an assembly.  A drawing is a 2D representation documenting a part or assembly.

When I worked in real-world manufacturing, the people out on the shop floor had no trouble with the concept of parts/assemblies/drawings. Some assemblies might have 10s of thousands of parts. Yet the file management seems to scare people in the virtual AutoCAD world.  Put it all in one folder.  All 1s and 0s.  The computer doesn't care if it is one file with lots of 1s and 0s (actually - it does, really slows things down for large assemblies) or one folder with lots of files full of 1s and 0s.

What I have described as a virtual representation in CAD of the real world is exaclty how modern programs like Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks or Creo work.

Experiment with xrefs.  Learn align and 3Dalign (this is done with assembly constraints in the other programs I mentioned).

What type of work do you do?  Mechanical? Architectural? Civil?

Can you attach your assembly here?

[idbretana]

i work in a manufacturing company and projects are made via microsoft visio professional. instead, i made my own ways and went on using the AUTOcad 2012 since I have a background on AUTOcad. our fabrication however is an outside source so, items must be drawn carefully for proper endorsement. I'm a little confused about the solution. anyway, I attached a sample oof my file. dwg format. we do mechanical parts.

[dgorsman]

Visio... *shudder*

Breaking files down into logical, manageable XREFs is very common in the AutoCAD world.  In JDMather's world of Inventor and other high-end software its the core work process.

While AutoCAD has the flexibility to do everything in a single file or not, the assembly method is preferred for anything beyond school examples.  The separation of parts allows for:

- redundancy, if one file fails your entire project isn't borked

- multiple users on one project to meet deadlines

- re-useability

- ease of part detail drawings

[idbretana]

oh i see. 1 question though, how about if you export them into pdf? would you export them one by one? oor should I say part by part? anyway, thanks for the solution. oh, and i would like to ask, do you happen to know where I can learn more on the Xref thing?

[JDMather]

I don't have time right now to break this up into an xref example - but whatch out for stuff like this

It appears you have a fastener clearance hole and "threaded" hole the same size.

The clearance hole must be larger than the fastener and the threaded hole should be the tap-drill size or there will not be material in the part to thread.

We can make exact parts in AutoCAD - but not in the real world.  Every dimension, feature, size and position has associated manufacturing tolerances.  We need to account for clearances and tolerances in design for manufacturability.

[idbretana]

oh yeah. about that. I forgot to do the threaded. the highlighted one is the threaded one. in my final drawing I did adjust the dimension of that one. thank you for the point. about the Xref thing. could you explain to me further about that one.? or maybe somewhere I can have a actual example of that being used? a video maybe?

[steve216586]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AbuLGGc18I

XREF for beginners.