Create and modify sketches — part 2

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Create and modify sketches part two.

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After completing this video,

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you'll be able to

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create sketch patterns,

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create manipulate user parameters,

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and create 3D sketch entities.

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In this next part of our sketch video,

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we're going to carry on with the file that we've been working on,

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but now we're going to take a look at some

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other sketch options as well as things like user parameters.

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So for that,

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let's make sure that we are done with this last sketch.

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Let's go ahead and hide it and hide sketch 2 as well.

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I'm actually going to hide the solid body and we're

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going to start a new sketch on the top plane.

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Once we're inside of a new sketch,

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there are 2 things that we want to make sure we identify.

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Under the modify menu,

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we have something called change parameters.

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Now this first change parameters is available

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to us whenever we're creating a sketch,

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but we can also access this outside of a sketch by going to our modify menu,

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and at the very bottom,

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we have changed parameters here as well.

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A common workflow is to pre-define values and change parameters

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and then link them to things like sketches and features.

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But we can also do this on the fly if we're inside

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of a sketch already and decide that we want to create parameters.

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The change parameters is gonna be exactly the same in both locations.

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So,

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let's go ahead and edit the sketch.

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And once we're inside of our sketch,

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we can go to modify and change parameters.

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Once we're inside change parameters,

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there are just a handful of things we want to identify.

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The favorites at the top,

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user parameters,

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and then model parameters.

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By default,

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model parameters for every sketch and every feature

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will be displayed here in this bottom section.

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We can go in and modify values,

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such as

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values for distances and extrudes,

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the radius value of a filet,

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and information about patterns.

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But what we want to focus on here is creating new user

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parameters at the global level that can be linked to our features.

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These can be done by hitting the plus button.

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Once we have the plus,

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we need to begin entering a new name.

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The names or the nomenclature inside of user parameters are very specific.

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We can type common letters like box,

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but we can't use things like spaces.

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So general workflow would dictate that the start of a new word like with

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would come by either adding a capital letter

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or by using the underscore and then

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typing that second part of the word.

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Inside of here,

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we can use the unit,

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inch,

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we can change it to any other unit or dictate it as no units.

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No units is going to come into play in just a minute,

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so we'll go ahead and leave this as inch for now,

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and we'll enter 2.0

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and say,

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OK.

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Now we can see that we've got a user parameter called box

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width with inches the unit and the expression is 2.0 inches,

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with the value is calculated at 2.

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This is because

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the value can be calculated by using basic mathematical

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operators as well as some more advanced functions.

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Let's go ahead and add a second one here.

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This is going to be called CIRC_DIA for circle diameter.

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We're going to enter a value of 4 and hit enter.

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Next,

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we want to add something for a pattern.

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So we're gonna have this be pattern underscore.

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INST for instance,

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we need to set this to no unit and that's because a pattern value,

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the instance or quantity is gonna not have a unit.

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If we set this at 4 and the unit was set to inch,

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it wouldn't be able to evaluate it as a pattern instance.

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So we're gonna select OK.

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And next,

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we want to create a sketch that uses these values.

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But before we do that,

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let's just simply note that we can create expressions in here.

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For example,

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I can set a new expression,

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I'm just going to call this one sample,

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and the expression value can make use of other values we've already created.

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For example,

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I can start to type in box,

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I can select

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box with,

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and I can say plus.

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And start to type in C for circle,

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and notice that we've got circle diameter,

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as well as a bunch of other functions that we can use.

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You can see this is evaluated at 6,

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and if we say OK,

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the expression is now box width plus circle diameter.

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This is going to evaluate to 6 inches,

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and this value can be used as well.

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Let's go ahead and set OK,

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and let's go ahead and create a sketch that uses these values.

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First,

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I'm going to start a circle,

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going to begin at the origin and start dragging this out,

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but instead of entering a value,

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I want to start to type in C.

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You can see in the menu here it brings up circle diameter,

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and I can click on that and hit enter.

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Now we've got FX,

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which is telling us that we've got a,

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a function or an equation here,

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and that's linking to that value of 4.0.

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Next,

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let's go ahead and create a rectangle using the center point rectangle option.

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Start to drag this out and instead of manually entering a value,

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I'm going to start to type in box width.

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I can hit tab

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to go to the next value here,

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but we need to make sure that we either click on this,

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tab over to the next one,

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and click on this one,

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and then hit enter to accept,

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or we can right click and go to OK to accept.

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So once again,

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these values are going to be linked to our parameters.

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In this case,

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we've got an FX of 2.0 in both locations.

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We can also use things like constraints to make

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the horizontal lines equal to the vertical lines,

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but in this case,

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it'll all be adjusted

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based on our parameters.

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We can go back at any point in time and make changes.

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For example,

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let's say that we wanted the box width to be 4.5 inches.

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We can allow it to update easily,

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and now we can see that it's 4.5 by 4.5,

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and our center diameter circle is still at 4.0 in the center.

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Next,

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we want to make sure that we understand how to use the pattern as well.

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I'm gonna go ahead and create a new rectangle.

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In this case,

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we want to use the center point rectangle.

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I'm gonna place it here.

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And then we're going to use the pattern option.

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So let's create a circular pattern,

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double clicking on the rectangle,

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selecting our center point,

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and then inside of this quantity box,

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we're going to start to type in P

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and select pattern instance.

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Hit enter to accept,

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and now we're using the pattern instance

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that's being driven by our user parameter.

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Once again,

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if we go back to our change parameters,

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we change this to say 6,

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it's going to update our pattern for us.

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Now the pattern instance is only driving the number or the quantity here.

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We didn't fully define the location of that rectangle,

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so everything is still underdefined.

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We would need to use dimensions or constraints to fully define it,

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but that's going to be outside of what we need to do here,

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talking about using user parameters.

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Let's go ahead and finish this sketch.

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Hide this sketch and let's bring back body one.

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The last thing that we want to talk about here is going to be 3D sketching.

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Now,

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in general,

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your sketches are going to be 2D,

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but it is important that we at least understand how

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to create a 3D sketch and how to drive one.

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So let's start by creating a new sketch,

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select the top plane

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or the front plane or the side plane.

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It really won't matter because we're gonna be working on a 3D sketch.

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Let's just rotate the model until we're comfortable with our view,

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and then let's toggle on 3D sketch.

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As soon as we toggle on the 3D sketch option,

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if we begin creating,

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say,

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a line,

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as soon as we start this,

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you'll notice that the icon that we see here on the screen looks a bit different.

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The icon or the glyph that we see in the center,

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allows us to pick different planes,

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and we can begin sketching in those planes.

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So while this is a 3D sketch,

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it allows us some control over sketching in 2D on the fly.

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For example,

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if I select this face here or this plane,

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I can begin working just in 2D

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based on that selection.

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We also have the ability to rotate these planes,

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so if we want to go,

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say,

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we can start to sketch 25 degrees off of our standard plane.

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While we are able to use these on the fly 2D sketch planes,

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they aren't required.

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We can still work in 3D and snap to other locations,

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for example,

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faces or geometry that already exist in 3D

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and build out our 3D sketches in this way.

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It's more difficult for us to constrain and build out a 3D sketch.

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So using the option to work in 2D along 2D sketch planes in 3D

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is going to be a great way to get started.

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We can then come back and do things like add filets between these edges

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and build out complex curve networks in 3D.

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You do have the ability to also build out

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things like fitpoint and control point spines in 3D.

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However,

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these are much harder to control

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unless you already have some sort of control cage

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or control frame that you've built in 3D.

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So keep in mind when working with 3D sketches,

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it can get out of hand pretty quickly,

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so make sure that you begin playing around with and taking

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your time and understand some of the basics around 3D sketching.

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We won't be covering 3D sketching too much on the certification,

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but having a basic understanding on how to start a 3D sketch,

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how to create 3D sketch entities,

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and even how to use projectclude and include 3D geometry in your sketch

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is going to be something that will be fundamental

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to understanding and learning how to use 3D sketches.

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At this point,

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we're not gonna be using this file anymore,

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so feel free to continue to play around and build out these random sketches.

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And once you're done,

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save your work before moving on.