AutoCAD 2016 Introducing the 3D Workspace by David Cohn AutoCAD enables you to create task-based workspaces that arrange the interface so that your drawing environment contains the tools that you need. When you use a workspace, only the menus, toolbars, palettes, and ribbon control panels that are relevant to your task are displayed. AutoCAD comes with several predefi ned workspaces—including 3D Basics and 3D Modeling—that are specifi cally tailored for working in 3D. When you model in 3D, you should switch to one of these workspaces. You can use either the Workspace Switching tool on the Status bar or the Workspace drop- down on the Quick Access Toolbar to switch workspaces. For example, to switch to the 3D Modeling workspace, on the Quick Access Toolbar, expand the Workspace drop-down and select the 3D Modeling workspace. AutoCAD quickly rearranges your interface, turning off some tools and turning on others. The 3D Modeling workspace contains only 3D-related toolbars, menus, and palettes. Interface items that you do not need for 3D modeling are Watch Video here hidden, maximizing the screen area available for your work. Remember that if you want other tools available, you can change the interface to display or hide tools, and then save your changes either to the current workspace, or as a new customized workspace. When you begin a new 3D drawing, you may also want to start from a different template specifi cally tailored for creating three-dimensional models. To do this, on the Quick Access Toolbar, click the New button to open the Select template dialog. Choose the template called acad3d.dwt and then click Open. When you start a new drawing using this template, the drawing has a realistic visual style and a grid is visible to help you visualize the current XY-plane. When you switch to a drawing that was created using the standard acad.dwt template fi le, however, it does not look the same as the drawing created using the 3D template. But you can easily modify its appearance so that it looks similar to the new 3D drawing. All you need to do is change the visual style. On the Home ribbon, in the View panel, expand the Visual Styles www.cadlearning.com 15