Tutorial 19: The 3D Solid Model

Every panel you draw is a real 3D solid, not just linework — extruded to its thickness with each opening subtracted as a true void. This lesson turns the flat shop sheet on its side so you can see the model that was there all along, and read the mass properties the panel’s weight was computed from.

The core curriculum drew a panel and printed it as a flat shop drawing. What that flat sheet does not advertise is that it is a plan view of a solid: when ConstructiVision draws a panel it extrudes the outline to the panel thickness, builds each opening and thickened section as its own solid, and subtracts the openings from the body so they are true voids through the concrete — not painted-on rectangles. AutoCAD’s MASSPROP then measures that solid, and its volume is exactly where the panel’s weight and volume on the title block come from. The finished drawing is simply that same solid viewed from the top, so it reads as a 2D sheet. This lesson rotates the view to reveal the model, inspects the voids, and reads the numbers behind the title block. Nothing here changes the panel — it is a look under the hood of a drawing you have already finished.

Note

This lesson also exists in the browser. Work it in ConstructiVision on the web — same steps, same values, so you can follow either and end up with the same panel.

Watch this lesson

Transcript (19 captions)

0:01 — Tutorial 19 — The 3D Solid Model. Every panel you draw is already a real 3D solid: the outline extruded to its thickness, each opening subtracted as a true void. The flat shop sheet is just that solid seen straight down from the top.

0:16 — TP08-12 the way you always see it — outline, door, opening, dimensions, title block. This is VPOINT 0,0,1: the panel from directly above.

0:27 — Now tilt it. The 3D Viewpoint dialog carries Top, the four sides, and the four isometric corners — the same viewpoints as the toolbar's isometric buttons.

0:36 — Click 3D Viewpoint on the ConstructiVision toolbar to open the viewpoint dialog.

0:37 — SW Isometric — the drawing swings into a three-quarter view and the concrete body lifts off the page at its true thickness.

0:39 — A slab standing at the panel thickness you set back in Panel Options — not a flat sheet. If it looks paper-thin, that IS the thickness working, not a bug.

0:50 — Open 3D Viewpoint again and walk around the corner.

0:52 — SE Isometric — SE, NE, and NW each snap to that corner's view. For a free angle, AutoCAD's own orbit (3DORBIT, or Shift + wheel-drag) drags the panel anywhere between them.

0:53 — The same slab from the other corner — you are walking around a solid, not flipping between sheets.

1:07 — Look at the man door and the standard opening from Lessons 5 and 6: they are holes straight through the concrete — you can see the far face through each one. Each was built as its own solid and subtracted from the panel body when the panel drew.

1:23 — HIDE removes the back faces so the voids read as clean holes. A pilaster or lintel stands the opposite way — a thickened section projecting PAST the panel face, a raised block rather than a void.

1:29 — The solid is not just for looking at — it is where the title-block engineering came from.

1:34 — MASSPROP measures the panel solid — outline extruded to thickness, minus every opening void, plus every thickened section. AutoCAD reports its Volume.

1:40 — That Volume, turned into concrete weight, is exactly the weight and volume printed on the title block. Change an opening or the thickness and redraw, and the number moves — which is why a void has to be a real subtraction, not a painted-on rectangle that would leave the panel too heavy for the crane lift.

1:58 — Back to the shop view.

2:03 — Open 3D Viewpoint one more time.

2:04 — Top — the panel drops back to the flat plan view, exactly the sheet you started from and the one that plots.

2:09 — Unchanged — you only ever moved the camera. Leave the panel on Top so its next plot and its panel-book page look the way the shop expects.

2:13 — This lesson only inspects the model, so there is no CV-CHECK-LESSON19 — nothing new was drawn to grade. You've seen the solid behind every shop sheet: extruded to thickness, its voids cut clean through the concrete, its volume the source of the panel's printed weight.

Tip

The written steps below are the authoritative version — they are kept current continuously, while videos are re-recorded in batches. Companion video versions lists which build each video was recorded against.

What you will build

Nothing new is drawn. Working from the finished panel TP08-12, you will come away able to:

  • rotate the finished panel into an SW isometric view and back to plan, using the ConstructiVision 3D Viewpoint and isometric view buttons;

  • see the openings as true voids — the man door and standard opening pass clean through the extruded concrete body, and any pilaster or lintel stands proud of the panel face;

  • read the mass properties of the panel solid with MASSPROP, and match its volume to the weight and volume printed in the title block.

Before you start

  • The advanced track builds on the finished panel thread: complete the panel lessons through Tutorial 9: Brace Points & Expansion Gaps, so the panel carries an opening, a door, and its thickness. The 3D solid is only as interesting as the features cut into it.

  • Have TP08-12 open. Click Open Drawing and pick it from the project folder. The panel must have been redrawn at least once — every lesson’s closing redraw builds the solid and saves it.

  • The panel thickness you set back in Tutorial 2: Panel Options is the extrusion depth. If the panel looks paper-thin when you tilt it, that is the thickness working, not a bug.

Tip

Joining here? Download the lesson solution — the finished TP08-12 — and open it. This lesson only views the drawing, so it does not need to sit inside its project the way the linked-panels lesson did.

Lesson

Step 1 — Recognize the flat sheet as a plan view

Open TP08-12 and look at it the way you always have: outline, door, opening, dimensions, title block. That is the panel seen straight down from the top. When ConstructiVision finished the panel it set the viewpoint to Top (VPOINT 0,0,1) so the sheet plots flat — but the geometry underneath is a solid standing on the solid layer. You are about to look at it from the side.

Step 2 — Tilt into an isometric view

On the ConstructiVision toolbar, click SW Isometric (the isometric view buttons sit together — SW, SE, NE, NW). The drawing swings into a three-quarter view and the concrete body lifts off the page:

Regenerating model.

The panel is now a slab standing at its true thickness, with the light-gray solid shading the view brings up so the body reads clearly against the dimension linework. Click SE, NE, and NW Isometric in turn to walk around the panel — each button snaps to that corner’s isometric.

Note

The isometric buttons run AutoCAD’s named isometric views and highlight the solid layer for you. For a free rotation instead of the four fixed corners, use AutoCAD’s own orbit (the 3DORBIT command, or hold Shift and drag the mouse wheel) — drag the panel to any angle. HIDE removes the back faces so voids read as clean holes; REGEN returns to the wireframe.

Step 3 — Read the openings as true voids

With the panel tilted, look at the man door and the standard opening you placed in Lessons 5 and 6. They are holes through the concrete, not rectangles drawn on a face — you can see the far side of the panel through each one. That is because each opening was built as its own solid and subtracted from the panel body when the panel was drawn. Any pilaster or lintel from the pilaster/lintel feature stands the opposite way: it is a thickened section that projects past the panel face by the extra depth you entered, so it reads as a raised block, not a void.

Turn everything except the model off to see this cleanly: freeze or turn off the dimension and title-block layers, leaving the solid layer on. The panel reduces to exactly the concrete that will be cast — voids where the openings are, thickened where the pilasters are.

Step 4 — Reproduce the panel weight with MASSPROP

The solid is not just for looking at — it is what the title-block engineering came from. At the command line, run MASSPROP and pick the panel body:

Command: MASSPROP
Select objects: (pick the panel solid)  1 found
Select objects: (Enter)

              ---------------- SOLIDS ----------------

Mass:                 <value>
Volume:               <value>
Bounding box:         X, Y, Z extents of the panel
Centroid:             X, Y, Z of the center of mass

AutoCAD reports the Volume of the exact solid — outline extruded to thickness, minus every opening void, plus every thickened section. That volume, turned into concrete weight, is the weight and volume printed on the title block: change an opening or the thickness and redraw, and the number moves because the solid moved. This is why a void has to be a real subtraction and not a drawn rectangle — a painted-on opening would leave the weight too heavy for the crane lift.

Step 5 — Return to the shop view

Click 3D Viewpoint on the toolbar to open the small viewpoint dialog — Top, Left, Right, Front, Back, and the four isometric corners. Click Top. The panel drops back to the flat plan view, exactly the sheet you started from and the one that plots:

Regenerating model.

Turn any layers you froze in Step 3 back on. The drawing is unchanged — you only ever moved the camera. Leave the panel on Top so its next plot and its panel-book page look the way the shop expects.

Check your result

Tip

This lesson inspects a drawing and changes nothing in it, so there is no CV-CHECK-LESSON19 command — the lesson checker grades drawn results, and there is no new result here to grade. Confirm the outcomes yourself against the list below.

You should now be able to confirm all of the following:

  • SW / SE / NE / NW Isometric each swing TP08-12 into that corner’s three-quarter view, showing a slab at its true panel thickness rather than a flat sheet.

  • The man door and standard opening read as voids — you can see through them to the far face — and any pilaster or lintel reads as a block standing proud of the panel face.

  • MASSPROP on the panel solid reports a Volume, and that volume corresponds to the weight and volume printed in the title block — the solid is the source of those figures.

  • 3D Viewpoint → Top returns the panel to the flat plan view it plots in, with the drawing otherwise unchanged.

If the panel looks flat from every isometric angle, its thickness may be zero — reopen Tutorial 2: Panel Options, set a real thickness, and redraw so the extrusion has depth to show.

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