1.3 - 3D Sketch and Drag Face

We are ready to start drawing the Farnsworth house! 3D modeling in FormIt at its core consists of drawing lines to create faces and then dragging those faces to create volumes.

‌ If you did not complete the last section, download and open the 1.3 - 3D Sketch and Drag Face.axm file from the FormIt Primer Part 1 Datasets.

Draw Faces with Lines

1 – To facilitate the modeling process, you can use the Floating Navigation Toolbar to switch between different views modes. For this exercise, we recommend using the Perspective (VP) and 3D View (V3).

2 – Newly created geometry will automatically join or “stick to” any existing ungrouped geometry it touches. To avoid this, you will typically want to organize your geometry with groups. To create a group from the floor plan, select the rectangle by double-clicking it, then right-click to access the Context Menu and select Group (G).

3 – When tracing the plan we don’t want the lines to snap to the grid, so click on Settings in the Main Menu and unchecking Snap to Grid (SG).

4 – To start drawing, click the Create Sketch (Pencil) icon in the Standard Toolbar and choose the Line tool (L).

5 - Let's start by creating a rectangle on the imported image. To create the first line:

1. While in the Line tool, click near the upper left corner of the upper terrace in the imported sketch.

2. Move your mouse along the red axis that appears.

3. Click the Tab key to input the dimension: 77'-4 1\8".

Note: Anytime a temporary dimension appears while sketching, you can either press Tab or just start typing a number to open the Dimension Dialog.

6 – To create the second line, move your mouse down along the green axis and enter 28’-8” for the upper terrace’s short edge.

7 - To define the rectangle’s third edge and finish:

1. Move your mouse along the red axis and hold down the Shift key. The red axis line will thicken to indicate that the line is locked to this axis.

2. While the Shift key is pressed - move your mouse to the first point you drew. Click to commit the endpoint.

3. The third point will automatically be set, parallel to the red - axis defined by (A) - and the green axis - defined by (B).

4. Finally, to finish enclosing the rectangle, release the Shift key and click back on the first point you drew. Press Esc twice to exit the sketch tool.

Note: The red and green axes keep you parallel and perpendicular to the grid. When you draw a line off the world axes, a purple axis line will allow you to stay 90 degrees relative to your off-axis line.

Drag the Face to Create Volume

1 - Single-click inside the outline you just drew to select the face. You are now automatically in the Drag Face tool.

2 - Single-click again to start the dragging. Move your mouse upwards (along the positive Z-axis) to extrude a volume in that direction. Start typing 12'-2", and a dimension box will appear with this value, then hit Enter.

Note: A single-click will select just a single face, whereas a double-click will select all (ungrouped) adjacent edges and faces.

3D Sketching with Arc, Spline, and Circle

The following exercise is not critical to finishing the house. However, it will allow you to experiment with some of the other 3D Sketching tools available. Click here to learn more about 3D sketching with World Axes.

1 - Select the Arc by three arc points (A) tool. Click to define the start, and then the endpoint. The third click defines the arc's radius.

2 - Select the Spline (S) tool. Click to define any number of points to draw a spline.

3 - Select the Circle (C) tool. Hover and click to define the circle's center point. Click and drag or enter a dimension to define the radius.