Autocad 2d UCS

by Design Workshop Sydney

Apr4

Utilizing the Autocad UCS can be very handy when working on large detailed drawings. We show you how in our Autocad 2d courses.  autocad-2d-ucs
AutoCAD has two coordinate systems: the World Coordinate System (WCS) and the User Coordinate System (UCS). The World Coordinate System is a fixed and absolute system consisting of three axes: x, y, and z. The z-axis, however,  is not used in 2d drafting; we draw on the x-y plane.
The User Coordinate System is a relative system, and may have a different zero-zero point and may be rotated around any axis. This is very useful for creating drawings where one feature or plane is on a different angle, for example: the details of separate rooms in a hexagonal building, as above. Rather than calculate their absolute angles and distances, we simply rotate our view of the building by 60º, then another 60º, and so on.
Type UCS in the Command line (pre-2009: then type 3P, for three points), then click at the new origin point, that is, where you want the zero,zero point to be. Then click at a point where you want the new X-axis to be, and lastly click at a point (roughly) where you want to the new Y-axis to be. You then need to rotate the view by typing PLAN in the Command line, then hit Enter twice. The view will rotate allowing you to draw the details in the next room.
Another method is to type UCS > Z > 60 > PLAN and hit Enter twice. You could save this view to allow you to return to it easily in future: UCS > S for Save > name it View 01. Repeat this procedure for all the rooms. You could also add dimensions at each rotation. To return the view to the World Coordinate System: type UCS > W for World > then type PLAN > C for Current. Another option is to type UCS > V (for View). To return to saved views: type UCS > NA (name) > R (restore) > type: View 01
We explore these features in full in our Autocad 2d classes. You can see many examples of our clients’ work on our Facebook page.
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