Hatching a 3d solid surface?

[cmarvel]

Before I go down a long road of frustration ...... Can I hatch a 3D solid surface? Do I have to create a 3D face on top of it beforehand? Would like some tips on how to begin. (I know how to hatch in Acad LT).

 

Thnx

[ReMark]

You need the 3D face.

[cmarvel]

I make the 3dface and select it but can't get past UNABLE TO HATCH BOUNDARY messages.

 

Let me back up: maybe I'm going about this all wrong with hatching? I've made a 3D house model and I want to put a simple lap-siding pattern on the outside of the exterior walls, using Acad's LINE pattern from the standard hatch selections. Is this the way to approach the task.

 

Thanks in advance

[Cad64]

Hatches can only be created in the current XY plane, so if you have a solid model, you will need to align your UCS with the face of the model that you want to hatch. Once the UCS is aligned with the face, you will need to trace around the face with a polyline. Then apply the hatch to the closed polyline.

 

If you have a model that is made up of 3D Faces, you can align the UCS and select the edge of the face as your hatch boundary. No need to draw a polyline.

 

I would not recommend hatching 3D objects though. Use materials instead.

[cmarvel]

All of my walls are independent 3D solids with the hatch-test chunk having a 3D face. Later today I'll recheck the XY UCS alignments. I did try a polyline perimeter on the face, but when I did the hatch selection I'm sure I clicked on the middle of the face and not the polyline. Will try clicking on the polyline boundary later today.

 

I've done some brief reading on rendering and opted to hatch because it appeared that rendering with Materials would leave me with one and only one pattern throughout my wall solids, i.e. I could wind up with lap-siding surfaces on the interior walls. I didn't think a lap-sided bathroom would look good. Nor did I want a contractor to think he had to lap-side the inside of, say, a garage. Did I make a wrong assumption about a Material type permeating an entire solid? Would love to hear otherwise. Thanks again.

[Cad64]

Did I make a wrong assumption about a Material type permeating an entire solid? Would love to hear otherwise. Thanks again.

 

You can apply different materials to each face of your solid wall by holding down the ctrl key and then clicking on the face where you want the material applied. Below I have applied several different materials to a box using this method.

[cmarvel]

Okay, moving right along. I changed the alignment, did the polyline perimeter, clicked on it, and Voila, there's my hatch pattern. Did I mention that it wound up in outer space, about twenty or thirty yards from the outside surface of the house wall? Used the Move command to move it toward its target where it now sits about six inches higher than it should. BUT Hey, this is progress. Thanks for the help. And comments about the appropriateness of Hatching VS. Materials are still invited.

[cmarvel]

Aha! This does look like a much easier approach to my task. I'm trying to remember why I went down the wrong road. I think that in the book I skimmed the Materials section was focused on a house foundation. And of course the author would have wanted the entire solid -- ALL the foundation -- looking like concrete, not just one surface. So he or she chose to render the entire solid that way. And that's why I veered away from the Materials approach.

 

Best thing about my hatching mis-adventure? -- how this Forum can prove to be such a great time-saver. I love the quick help. Thanks.