This page covers the short commands that keep the 3D Assistant company on the ribbon's BIM panel: the four quick views, the return to plan, the isometric view, the Property Sets/IFC shortcut and the polyline buffer.
| Commands | CAPCAD_VIEW_3D · CAPCAD_VIEW_2D · CAPCAD_VIEW_FRONT · CAPCAD_VIEW_LEFT · CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_PLAN_RESET · CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC · CAPCAD_PROJECT_IFC · CAPCAD_3D_BUFFER_REGION |
| Shortcuts | none |
| Ribbon | CapCad tab › BIM panel › 3D split button: Quick 3D View, Quick 2D View, Quick Left View, Quick Front View and PropertySets & IFC. CAPCAD_VIEW_2D, CAPCAD_VIEW_3D and CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_PLAN_RESET also appear on the CAD Utilities panel › Layout split button, and CAPCAD_3D_BUFFER_REGION on the Geo panel › Topo split button. CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC has no ribbon button |
| Categories | CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_PLAN_RESET: Operational · CAPCAD_PROJECT_IFC: Manage: Tools · the rest: NEW |
| Form | none. They all work on the command line |
| Hosts | the four quick views and the return to plan: AutoCAD, BricsCAD, GstarCAD, ZWCAD and ARES Commander. CAPCAD_PROJECT_IFC and CAPCAD_3D_BUFFER_REGION: AutoCAD; on ARES they are not available in this version and say so; BricsCAD, GstarCAD and ZWCAD do not have them. CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC: AutoCAD only |
| Also opened by | CAPCAD_PROJECT_IFC forwards to CAPCAD_PSET_EDIT, which is also called by the EDITOR button of the 3D Assistant |
Looking at the model in 3D and coming back to plan should not cost you a reframing — and with these commands it does not.
- The view returns to where it was. Before swinging the camera, the command records the visible window in drawing units; after swinging, it zooms back to that window.
- One command per angle, with no submenus: 3D, plan, front, left and isometric 45°/45°.
- Back to plan without losing the UCS. The return to plan goes through the world UCS and gives the previous UCS back.
- Property Sets one command away inside Civil 3D, mirrored automatically into the native property set.
- A single outline from several polylines, with the buffer's fixed widening, to export the project's footprint.
What it does
The quick views
Five commands swing the camera. All but the two lateral ones follow the same script: they record the visible window (from the view centre, the view height and the screen aspect ratio), send VPOINT, optionally change the visual style, and queue a zoom back to the recorded window. The result is that you go on looking at roughly the same thing, from a different angle.
| Command | Camera direction | Visual style | Reframes? |
|---|---|---|---|
CAPCAD_VIEW_2D |
0,0,0 — plan |
2 | yes |
CAPCAD_VIEW_3D |
-1,-1,1 — south-west isometric |
none (deliberately: the view is not shaded) | yes |
CAPCAD_VIEW_FRONT |
0,-1,0 — front |
SHADED | no — the view goes to the extents |
CAPCAD_VIEW_LEFT |
-1,0,0 — left |
SHADED | no |
CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC |
VPOINT in rotate mode, 45°/45° |
Conceptual | yes |
CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_PLAN_RESET does not swing the camera with VPOINT: it records the window, switches to the world UCS, runs PLAN, returns to the previous UCS and reframes. It is the way back to plan after any of the views above, without losing the UCS you were working in.
Property Sets and IFC
CAPCAD_PROJECT_IFC is a shortcut. It checks whether the running product is Civil 3D; if it is not, it reports that the command requires Civil 3D and stops. If it is, it forwards to CAPCAD_PSET_EDIT, the Property Sets editor: you select an entity, the editor opens with the sets and properties already recorded on it under the active style, and on confirming, the values are saved on the entity and mirrored into Civil 3D's native property set, property by property. The command line reports how many sets were saved and on which handle.
Buffer
CAPCAD_3D_BUFFER_REGION takes a selection of polylines and gives back one outline enclosing them all. It warns that it expects polylines, marks the undo history, asks for the selection (filtered to LWPOLYLINE), and then, for each polyline: widens the line into a band 10 units wide — a fixed value, not configurable — turns the band into a region and unions that region with the previous ones. At the end it erases the original polylines, explodes the unioned region and leaves the outline's curves in the drawing.
If some polyline's band self-intersects, the region cannot be created: the command colours that polyline red, warns that polylines may neither cross nor be closed, and stops without erasing anything.
Workflow
See the model in 3D and come back
- Frame in plan the area that matters.
- Run
CAPCAD_VIEW_3D. The camera swings to the south-west isometric and comes back to the same framing. - To see it shaded, use
CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC, which applies the Conceptual style. - Run
CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_PLAN_RESETto come back to plan with the UCS preserved.
Extract the project's footprint
- Run
CAPCAD_3D_BUFFER_REGION. - Confirm the warning and select the polylines. Only LWPOLYLINE enters the selection.
- The merged outline appears in their place.
- If a polyline turns red, fix the crossing on it and run the command again.
Notes
- The front and left views do not reframe: they are the one pair that does not record the window before swinging.
CAPCAD_VIEW_3Ddeliberately applies no visual style — the view stays in wireframe. For a shaded view, useCAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIC(Conceptual style) or the front/left views (SHADED style).- The buffer is fixed at 10 units wide (five each side). There is no way to change it from the interface.
- The buffer erases its input: the selected polylines disappear, replaced by the curves of the merged outline. It marks the undo history before starting, so a single
UNDObrings everything back. - The buffer's refusal is written in Portuguese in every language: Polylines não podem se cruzar ou serem fechadas - favor rever seleção (polylines may not cross one another nor be closed — please review the selection).
- The ribbon button captions on the BIM panel are in English in every country profile: Quick 3D View, Quick 2D View, Quick Left View, Quick Front View, PropertySets & IFC.
CAPCAD_3D_VIEW_ISOMETRIChas no ribbon button in any profile: the command line only.