Hello again and thanks for coming back for more lessons on my guided tour of BricsCAD Shape. Today moves us from the land of creation to the land of replication with Array.
Download the sample file: Download Daisy 🐄
What is an Array?
Simply put: an array is just an arrangement of entities that are repetitively spaced in a rectangular or circular shape, or arranged along a path.
2D Rectangular Array
In the last post, we made Daisy a new friend but this time, let's get her a whole herd. We could copy and paste her or we could use Array Rectangle to repeat copies of her.
To create a 2D rectangular array:
- Use the 2D Array command.
- Select the entity/entities to the array.
- The Command Line will display Enter array type '
[Rectangular/PAth/POlar] <Rectangular>:' Hit Enter. If "<Rectangular>" is not displayed type 'Rec'. - The Command Line (see BricsCAD Shape User Interface) will display your options. To change the number of rows and spacing between, type row, to change the number of columns and spacing between type col.
- The Command Line will display the number of columns or rows in the current array. To keep this the same hit Enter. To change, type the new value then hit Enter.
- The Command Line will then display the current distance between each entity. To keep this the same hit Enter, to change, type the new value then hit Enter.
- The Command Line will display the current height difference between each row or column. To keep this the same hit Enter, to change, type the new value then hit Enter.
Circular Array
Let's give daisy a daisy. We could copy and rotate each petal or we could use Array Polar!
To create a 2D Polar Array:
- Use the 2D Array command.
- Select the entity/entities to the array.
- The Command Line will display 'Enter array type
[Rectangular/PAth/POlar] <Rectangular>:' type 'Po'. - Choose the center point of the Array.
- You have options to choose the number of repeated entities, the angle between each entity, the total angle of the circle to fill, the number of rows (in concentric rings), the number of levels (3D -- along the z-axis) and if you want to rotate the entities or not.
- Once you are happy with your settings hit Enter.
I encourage you to experiment and see what happens.
Array along a path
What if we want to array an object along an irregular shape?
- Use the 2D Array command.
- Select the entity/entities to the array.
- The Command Line will display 'Enter array type
[Rectangular/PAth/POlar] <Rectangular>:' type 'Pa'. - Choose the path to follow.
You have similar options to the other arrays, be sure to experiment and see what happens!
3D Arrays
Arrays don't just work in 2D they also work in 3D! Use the Array 3D tool, it works very much the same as the other tools however there is a 3rd axis (the z-axis)!
Editing Arrays
To edit an existing array, hover over an array and open up the Quad. Under the Edit tab, a selection of options will display, you can manually edit the array, change the source point, edit the source entity and reset any edits.
You can also dynamically edit the Array once it has been created, hover over the Array, and hit Ctrl. Even more, options will appear! You can edit individual items within the array and dynamically adjust the spacing of rows and columns.
What's next?
In this CAD lesson, we reviewed tools to edit entities; altering their appearance. In the next lesson, we'll go down under world coordinate systems.
Watch the webinar "BricsCAD Shape in 10 minutes"
