exact use of ucs

[Namrata]

hie everyone..i know to make plans in autocad..in 2d bt m very confused insum aspects of autocad like ucs...in our course its given bt it is very confusing n m not understanding d exact n pratical use of ucs .plzz guide me

[tzframpton]

The "exact use" can vary depending on what your use is. However, there are a few coordinate systems in AutoCAD. The two main ones are the WCS (World Coordinate System) and UCS (User Coordinate System). The WCS is hard coded and fixed - it cannot be manipulated. The UCS is a user-defined coordinate system. You can move, rotate, re-align, re-orient the UCS however you see fit. The UCS is an XY workplane with a Z axis. If you look at the bottom left of your drawing space, you should see the UCS. If not, type UCSMAN at the command line, go to Settings and make sure it's On.

 

No matter what you're doing in AutoCAD, there's always a relationship to an XYZ location. Well, sometimes you need to change the UCS to a different location, or rotation, or whatever... so you can perform a task easier or with more accuracy.

 

Some reading material here:

http://exchange.autodesk.com/autocad/enu/online-help/search#WS1a9193826455f5ff-56c0cd8012a8003217a-e4.htm

 

Welcome to the forum.

[ReMark]

Did you know there are tutorials right here at CADTutor and that one of them is specifically about the UCS? You might want to give it a read. Here is a link...

 

http://www.cadtutor.net/tutorials/autocad/ucs.php

[steven-g]

Welcome to the Cadtutor forums.

Can you show an example of what it is that is causing the confusion.

[Namrata]

thank u all for the guidance

[Namrata]

my confusion is when to use ucs and how to use it

[mikekmx]

my confusion is when to use ucs and how to use it

 

 

for 2D i can't ever remember worrying about it...just forget about it.

 

for 3D it's gets kinda obvious when to use it - I.E. when A'CAD ain't letting you draw in a particular direction - then you rotate it. it becomes 2nd nature.

 

hth

 

 

err....thought this thread was in the beginner's section. kindly disregard my post

Edited October 4, 2013 by mikekmx

[tzframpton]

my confusion is when to use ucs and how to use it

Anytime you need to re-orient the drawing space. That's when you need to use the UCS to manipulate the drawing environment. It could be for various things.

 

Think of it this way. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and orient the paper in a Landscape position. Now think of a ruler that is locked to straight across (left to right) and vertical (up and down). Well what if you needed to draw a diagonal line? Simply rotate the piece of paper to the angle that you need, and now you can use the rulers to draw a straight line diagonally. Reorienting the piece of paper is the same as reorienting the UCS in AutoCAD.

 

Now having said that, don't get confused with every time you want to draw a diagonal line you change the UCS. There are polar and tracking tools to guide and assist in "on the fly" drawing and modify angles. It's when you have an entire floorplan (or whatever your drawing my be) that is not in an "upright" position on the drawing space and the polar and tracking tools are simply not enough. If you refer to the link I provide above, there's a short video that shows exactly what I'm talking about.

 

Hope this helps!

[David Bethel]

For a circle with thickness ( extruded ), the image here, the red circle was constructed in WCS, In order to make the yellow circle, you must rotate the UCS. In this case the ucs would either be 1,0,0 or -1,0,0.

 

-David

[JD Mather]

Maybe this will help.

A circle is a planar entity.

It can only be drawn on a plane.

The UCS sets up the plane on which you want to draw your circle (or any profile).

[rkent]

UCS is extremely useful when drawing in 2D. If you have a line at some odd angle and you need to draw objects or add text that needs to be either parallel or perpendicular to that line you can quickly rotate the UCS and work away, changing back to WCS when done.

 

I have a "quick key" to rotate the UCS to match an object but it is simply a macro following the command sequence you would type at the command line.

UCS, Object,

You can then use the Plan command to rotate the view for you to make it even easier to work off of that line angle.

PLAN, Current

 

Later use

UCS, World

PLAN, World

[Namrata]

ya..nw my basics relating to ucs are getting clear..initially i always used ortho mode on/off in 2d bt now i know what to use when..everyone..thanks a lot ..