Autocad 3d surface plane - Graphic Design Courses

In order to get the best results from lighting and shadow effects in Autocad 3d it’s necessary to create a surface plane on which our created objects rest. We show you how in our Autocad 3d training courses.
To create a surface plane in Autocad 3d first type planesurf into the Command line or at the Dynamic Input field. Then drag out a large plane which extends past your objects. Double-click on the plane and change the U and V isolines from 6 to 1. These are the gridlines which correspond to the X and Y axes of the rectangle.
This will allow lights in the model to reflect and create projected shadows from the objects. To add a material to the plane right-click on Tool Palettes, choose Flooring and choose Wood.Hardwood. This material is now included within the Material Editor.
Next select the floor plane and go to the Materials tab. Click on the Material Mapping drop-down and choose Planar. Click on the object to apply the material and render the scene as before. Note that since this is a shiny material it takes longer to render than a matt surface.
To adjust the mapping of the material go to Scale units: Inches and change the Tiling to U and V: 250 (or Metres > U and V: 2). Render the scene again.
It’s also possible to create your own materials, for example to create a plastic material go into the Material editor and select New material. Call it Red Plastic. In the Colour tab choose a red colour, with a Shininess of 90 and an Index or Refraction (IOR): 1.2.
Apply this new texture to the surface plane and render again. The renders are then shown on the bottom of the render panel, and it’s a matter of choosing which one is best and saving as a JPEG or a TIFF file.
The 3d interface in Autocad is user-friendly and easy to learn, and we take time to teach a broad range of applications in our classes including modeling, materials, lighting and animation. See many examples of our clients’ work on our Facebook page. For more information there are lots of resources on the web, but try the Autodesk site to begin with: www.autodesk.com. Support options and user forums are also available from the home page.
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