SECTION D14 - TASK 14
Mview border, zoom xp option, mview windows, stretching mviews, & obscured mviews.

Autocad Task 14 Return to Home Page

Task Fourteen

Position the cursor over the lower left window and pick the window so it is highlighted.

Autocad Command Sequence Note
Command: zoom >
Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or [All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: 0.5xp>    (Note the use of both X & P)
Command:

If the view of the box is obscured by the Mview border, or is quite small within the Mview border, don't worry - it becomes clear later in the task. Carry on with using the XP option on the last three Mview windows by picking each one and doing a Zoom>0.5xp> in each.

All the views are now set accurately to 0.5 full size. However, the size of each Mview might be inappropriate for the view it contains by either obscuring or dwarfing the image within the Mview border. Some more view manipulation will be needed, but this time by stretching. Read the paragraphs up to the end of the next "note" before doing the stretching.

Stretching Mviews is very useful. The aim is to show the model within an Mview so it is just about large enough, but without obscuring it. To use the Stretch command on Mviews, the full Tilemode - 0 drawing environment is needed.

Double click outside of the Mview windows, or use the command Pspace.

The triangular icon appears and the Mviews can now be manipulated. When stretching an Mview border a Crossing Window must be used to start the stretch command and must enclose at least one corner of the Mview window.

Use the Stretch command to manipulate the Mviews until the box is fully visible within small neat windows. Use the Move command also. Position the views in enough space to create detail drawings. They needn't align exactly just yet, a rough position is good enough for now. Some versions of Autocad will allow you to stretch and pull Mviews by dragging small boxes at the corners of the Mview.

Note
Mviews can overlap during manipulation. Overlapping Mviews is undesirable after manipulation because it detracts from the clarity of the projections. Ignoring the horizontal and vertical construction lines in figure TSK 15, the Mviews and their position should be similar to what is shown after this task is complete. Return to the earlier paragraph that starts ". . .Stretching mviews is very useful... " and manipulate the views as described.

Having established the Mviews at 0.5XP scale, and then setting neatly sized Mview borders, the zoom XP command needs further explanation because it is a very useful technique.

In task 11, the command Zoom X was used. The purpose of Zoom X was to reduce the image size in relation to its current Zoom. A zoom X value less than 1 controlled the amount of ‘Zoom out’ by a proportional amount. Zoom X values greater than 1 control the amount of ‘Zoom in.’

Zoom XP is similar but where Zoom X works in relation to the current Zoom scale, Zoom XP works in relation to actual size.

If a 100mm (4 ins) object has a 0.5xp (note the xp) zoom applied it will then be shown at 50mm (2 ins) long regardless of the original level of zoom.

If the same object had a zoom 0.5x applied it will then be shown at half its original zoom scale.

It is important to do the Zooming while in an active Mview otherwise Zoom X and Zoom XP act on the Pspace environment. When applied in the Pspace environment zoom X and zoom XP behave the same. Using Zoom XP offers some strong advantages.

1.
Paper sizes are now drawn full size i.e. 1:1. (The A3 - or B size sheet here reflects its real size of 420x300 - 17"x11".)

2.
The paper no longer has to be scaled up to suit the CAD drawing. Confusion over drawing and plot scales is eliminated.

3.
Plotting can now be at 1:1 ALWAYS. Despite this, modelling still occurs at 1:1 but several different view scales can be put on one drawing sheet without having to copy and enlarge sections of the model.

Demonstrate point 3 to yourself by copying one of the current Mviews to a convenient location. Try not to overlap the existing views, but it doesn't matter if you do. Having created the new Mview, activate it with a double click or typing Mspace and then picking it. The next step is to use the Zoom command with the XP option while in Mspace. Set the view to Zoom 0.2XP.

The outcome shows the new Mview and the one it was copied from containing the same image but at different scales, the new Mview being 0.2 size instead of 0.5 size. The model scale hasn't changed - it remains at 1:1. The same technique is used to increase view scales by using values greater than 1XP. With the Mview still active, zoom closely into a corner of the box model and try to zoom it enough for the image to be twice its full size - i.e. 2XP. To see the exact scale you have zoomed, deactivate the Mview and use the "List" command to pick the Mview border. The information that AutoCAD returns will contain details of the exact XP zoom scale. Erase the spare Mview before continuing the tutorial. View aligning can now begin.





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