John E. Wilson

In manufacturing industries, exploded view drawings, such as the one shown in are used extensively in assembly and service manuals

All Mechanical Desktop 3D parts are made from sketched features, and all sketched features are made from 2D outlines (or profiles).

In non-parametric solid modelers, such as the one that is part of AutoCAD, complex models are typically constructed by combining basic geometric shapes through Boolean operations

Drafting skills are not nearly as important in creating parametric solid models with programs such as Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop as they are in creating 2D drawings.

Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop incorporates both feature-based and parametric technologies in the construction of 3D solid models.

Surfaces and edges that have shapes based on any geometry other than lines, circles and arcs have always caused drawing and drafting problems.

In AutoCAD 2000, Paper Space has been given a new look and new power. It is now almost impossible to ignore, and it is time for you to reconsider Paper Space.

With the introduction of AutoCAD 2000, Autodesk finally provides some real editing tools for 3D solid models.

Mechanical Desktop operations that have names similar to AutoCAD operations can be perplexing to those experienced with AutoCAD commands. They either work in a different way or produce different-sometimes subtly different-results.

Despite marketing claims to the contrary, constructing parametric 3D models, such as those using Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop, is not at all like 2D drafting.