3D solids out of wire frame drawings

[Ari]

Hi All

So my question is.

I want draw some 3D piece using lines, so that it is in a way a wire frame drawing and then I want to change this drawing into a 3D solid. How can I do this?

I use AutoCAD 2002.

Thnks all.

[Lazer]

Ok now have you ever done 3d models before?

If you have never done any 3d modeling before can I suggest mabe a few days course at a local college first if what you are doing is a big model?

close polylines and type ext (extrude)

or draw a few lines and close them
type reg select the closed lines hit enter then type ext enter then type the height .

read command line as you go and practice practice

[Ari]

Thanks for your answer, however it was not exactly what I was aiming at...

Yes I have done 3D models before and I am well aware of extrude, revolve etc. commands and I really know how to use them. However, I am no expert with these things...

Perhaps my question was a bit difficult to understand or I did not use correct terms. I will try to explain it again.

What I meant with my question was that if I will draw some really compex 3D shape using lines then it will appear as a wireframe model when I for example use the "toggle shading/wireframe" button in the toggle shading mode i.e. everything else is shaded but not the 3D shape done using only lines.

So if some drawing is too difficult to do with extrude, revolve etc. commands can I somehow change the 3D drawing out of the lines into a true 3D solid as would happen if I would extrude a rectange into some height for example?

If I can't change the drawing into 3D solid I can't for example substract it from anything...

Hopefully now my question makes some sense, not sure because my explanations may be quite weird...

[tommy]

you can use meshes to make the faces. then use the m2s lisp to convert the models to solids

[Spacepig]

Depending on how your lines are set up you can use the command "drape" to turn the lines into a solid - imagine a cet of countour lines in 3d space then "draping a blanket over them will give you the idea - it interpolates (not very well always) the points in between the lines.

If, however your model is being defined by a series of lines (as in the lines defining the edges of a toy robot for example), then drape won't work as it is more of a free standing 3d model - in this case you would need to build it up from primitives etc which can be a bit of a tedious job

Hope this helps

Spacepig

[aledtaylor]

I'm using AutoCAD 2004

I'm getting 'Unknown command' when I type 'drape'. Do I need a lisp routine?

[Paul Mc]

Why not just draw a 3d face over your existing lines? Be sure to put it on a seperate layer though or else when you shade or render you'll see those original lines.