Differentiate Between Ucs And Wcs In Autocad
Prior to 2007, drawing in 3D forced the drafter to constantly change the XY plane to draft on a particular face or plane of an object. You had to create a new user coordinate system every time you changed views. This AutoCAD tips-and-tricks roundup focuses on the Dynamic User Coordinate System (UCS), a feature that automatically creates a temporary XY plane to draw on. Check out these seven videos on AutoCAD UCS. Dynamic UCS is turned on by clicking on the Allow/Disallow Dynamic UCS button on the status bar (or by pressing F6) and works only with solid modeling. I Dynamic UCS in an earlier AutoCAD tips and tricks article, but today we’re going to dive into everything you can accomplish with this time-saving input space.
Autodesk’s describes the basics of Dynamic UCS and how to set it up to align to faces, use labels, and select several faces or regions and pull them all into shapes for conceptual design. In this tutorial, Mike Dugan of explains the differences between 2D and 3D drafting, what the user coordinate system (UCS) is, and how to switch between the two different types of drafting. He also gives users a tip on how to use absolute values with Dynamic UCS.
UCS and WCS in AutoCAD. I have read this UCS and WCS many time and it makes sense but when it comes to making a practical work I.
If you draft only in 2D and the Dynamic UCS icon is kind of a pain for you, he also tells you how to get rid of it. Hagerman & Company shows how to speed up design using Dynamic UCS to create geometry. The Solid History option allows you to resize options much more quickly, and the Sweep command allows you to essentially extrude from a path in a much faster way.
Autodesk and ’s Lynn Allen explains how to use the Dynamic UCS to create polylines with exact, locked angles and gives an introduction to the wonderful world of parametric modeling where dimensions drive geometry. Significant improvements to the AutoCAD UCS were added in AutoCAD 2012, including the ability to edit UCS directly without using tools.
Difference Between Ucs And Wcs
You can also manipulate the coordinate system by moving the UCS origin with grips. Some of these changes work only for flat faces in 2D, but they are applicable to some Dynamic UCS features as well. CAD Accent has more. David Cohn and Matt Murphy of say that many users simply don’t realize that you can toggle between X and Y coordinates using the Tab key while drafting in the Dynamic UCS and use it to directly input your coordinates using a command prompt via the Dynamic Input button on the status bar. With Dynamic Input on, AutoCAD will prompt you directly onside the cursor.
When you enter one point, AutoCAD prompts you for the next one next to your cursor and in the command window. Using the Dynamic UCS, you can create Dynamic Blocks of linear, repeating objects, such as sections of a corrugated metal roof, doors, foundations, brickwork, or other commonly used building objects. This also keeps your block library smaller and more manageable. Infinite Skills shows how to create a metal roof block by using linear parameters and duplicating the block several times. Infinite Skills explains how to use them. Finally, ’ Jamie Hyneman explains to the guys at how he uses CAD and AutoCAD to design and build Mythbusters’ props.
This is not a tip or a trick, but an insight into how Mythbusters can quickly design and create using 2D and 3D CAD, particularly for steel design. Fleetwood mobile homes serial numbers.
I am using a macro that inserts a block with the insertblock command. I am working in a UCS and not the WCS. The block come in rotated according to the WCS which means it is not rotated accordingly in the current UCS. Is there a way to automatically populate/determine the ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.InsertBlock command with the rotation angle that is the 'difference' between the WCS and UCS? Basically, can i dynamically have the VBA code insert blocks with rotation angles relative to the UCS not the WCS? I believe it's the compliment of the VIEWTWIST. Wrote in message news:5893117@discussion.autodesk.com.
I am using a macro that inserts a block with the insertblock command. I am working in a UCS and not the WCS. The block come in rotated according to the WCS which means it is not rotated accordingly in the current UCS.
Is there a way to automatically populate/determine the ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.InsertBlock command with the rotation angle that is the 'difference' between the WCS and UCS? Basically, can i dynamically have the VBA code insert blocks with rotation angles relative to the UCS not the WCS? DVIEWTWIST reports the twist angle set in DVIEW, not the angle if you set a UCS rotated about Z. Two sys vars, UCSXDIR & UCSYDIR, store the current UCS axis vectors relative to World. You can compute the angle from these with some trig.
Be careful, they're displayed at the current units and precision which could introduce lost precision (and extra 'fun' if the units are Architectural). I guess you could save the current untis and precision. Then set set them to decimal with the max number of decimal points to read the sys vars.
Then reset the units to the previous values. Seems rather kludgy to me though.
If you're in VB already, can't you extract this from the current UCS with XVector & YVector? Unfortunately, these are the same as the sys vars above so rounding and such apply. GetUCSMatrix gets the UCS coord transform to World. Might be better. It's a SysVar.
Type it at the command line. With lisp it's (getvar 'viewtwist'). I've used it thus: (defun c:elb (/ VANG SANG TANG ENT1 ENT2 ENT3 ENT4 ATRIBELEV ATRIBPNT ATRIBDESC IPT)(setq VANG (getvar 'viewtwist') TANG (/ (. 180 SANG) pi) ENT1 (car(entsel)) ENT2 (entnext ENT1) ENT3 (entnext ENT2) ENT4 (entnext ENT3) ATRIBELEV (cdr(assoc 1(entget ENT2))) ATRIBPNT (cdr(assoc 1(entget ENT3))) ATRIBDESC (cdr(assoc 1(entget ENT4))) IPT (getpoint ' nInsertion Point?' )) (command 'text' IPT ' TANG ATRIBELEV))!
Wrote in message news:5893145@discussion.autodesk.com. Could you elaborate?
I do not see anything in the help about that. You're right. Unless you execute a PLAN command after setting the UCS. Then the Viewtwist is equal to your UCS rotation. Allen wrote in message news:5893209@discussion.autodesk.com.
DVIEWTWIST reports the twist angle set in DVIEW, not the angle if you set a UCS rotated about Z. Two sys vars, UCSXDIR & UCSYDIR, store the current UCS axis vectors relative to World.
You can compute the angle from these with some trig. Be careful, they're displayed at the current units and precision which could introduce lost precision (and extra 'fun' if the units are Architectural). I guess you could save the current untis and precision.
Then set set them to decimal with the max number of decimal points to read the sys vars. Then reset the units to the previous values. Seems rather kludgy to me though. If you're in VB already, can't you extract this from the current UCS with XVector & YVector? Unfortunately, these are the same as the sys vars above so rounding and such apply. GetUCSMatrix gets the UCS coord transform to World.
Might be better. Thank you both for trying to help. I think you are both right but i am struggling with getting a solution that works. If i temporarily change my units to decimal, and then get the ViewTwist variable setting, i can use that setting as my rotation angle for the VBA insertblock command and it works (the block is inserted at the correct rotation for that UCS)!! So two more questions: Can i use VBA to simply change the Units to decimal before i start the InsertBlock VBA command, in order to get the ViewTwist in Radians, then immediately change it back to Architectural at the end of the VBA command?
Secondly, and i guess more inportantly, how can i read the current Viewtwist setting in VBA (cant figure that out). If i can accomplish both of the above then i think i have a solution.