Automatic layer management

00:06

Let's review how entities are automatically connected to layers in AutoCAD Mechanical.

00:12

We’ll select predefined entity types for object creation, and we’ll use filtering by entity type to modify the drawing.

00:22

If you've watched any of the other videos, you've probably noticed that I haven't taken any time,

00:28

to work with layers or deal with colors, or fonts, or linetypes.

00:33

That's because AutoCAD Mechanical handles all that for me.

00:37

In fact, looking at the balloons, everything about them was predefined based on the style.

00:43

The same with the standard content.

00:45

If I select the hidden portion of this line, you'll see that it's still part of a rectangle, and intact object.

00:53

You'll see that two portions of it are displayed as hidden lines.

00:57

That was done automatically without having to trim the entities themselves.

01:04

If we take a look at the layers that are built into AutoCAD Mechanical, we see that they're all pre-named,

01:10

they have their color, linetype, line weight information,

01:13

and there's completed descriptions of the associated objects to those layers already in place.

01:19

This is how AutoCAD Mechanical knows what to create.

01:23

One of the things AutoCAD Mechanical allows me to do is to stop thinking about layers and linetypes, and focus on entity types.

01:32

You'll see in this pull down, there are three types of Contour lines, Hidden lines, Center lines,

01:37

and I can focus on what type of line type that I want to create.

01:43

Let me start the Line tool.

01:45

And as I'm drawing the line, I'll change the type of entity that I'm creating.

01:51

After selecting a couple of segments, I'll simply go up and change what type of object I'm using, going from Contour to Hidden.

02:00

And it's always kept up-to-date.

02:04

The line segments that I've created are automatically on the correct layers, automatically have the correct linetype, line weight and color.

02:14

I can also focus on turning objects off and on based on the type of object,

02:20

or based on the content in the drawing rather than thinking about lines and arcs.

02:25

All of this is managed for me and I don't have to go through a lot of work to set it up ahead of time.

02:32

The construction lines that we’re used to develop the views can easily be switched on and off.

02:37

I can also switch Standard Content off and on.

02:41

When I do that, notice that the objects obscured by standard content, such as the spring automatically have their hidden line status updated.

02:52

You'll see that with the spring off, you can see the full profile of the shaft and with the spring back on, the hidden lines are restored.

03:01

Though it might seem to be a relatively minor thing, the types of automatic management of content,

03:07

and of the appearance of content that AutoCAD Mechanical does will save you not only an enormous amount of time,

03:13

but also spare you having to update geometry that you've placed,

03:16

or waste time thinking about what these entities need to look like before you create them.