Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published October 2004

Region

For lack of a better description, a Region is a 2D solid. That sounds like an oxymoron, but a Region is an opaque, planar solid. Draw any closed shape on a piece of paper, cut it out, and you essentially have a region. Unfortunately, very few folks know what it does or how to make one. Here's the simplest method by which to create a region, a procedure that is available in AutoCAD as well as AutoCAD LT.

1. Draw a circle, rectangle, polygon, or any closed polygon.
2. Click Region on the Draw toolbar, select the shape(s), and press <Enter>.

If the shapes are individual, the command will convert each shape into a region.

Now what? Let's say you are making a sprocket and you need to create a single object. In the figure, you see 6 shapes; each one of which has been turned into a region. You could create a named group, but that would be nothing more than a unique collection of shapes.

To create voids from the five interior shapes, subtract those five shapes from the outer wheel of the sprocket using the Subtract feature found on Solids Editing toolbar or from the Modify menu.

1. Select Subtract and notice the prompt is first to select the "solids and regions to subtract from…", then press <Enter>.
2. Now select the shapes to subtract, then press <Enter>.

You now have a single region with five voids. In the Properties window you will see the surface area and perimeter listed and you can now use the Extrude routine as shown in the 3D image.

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