Scenes, styles and section planes
Scenes save views with their settings; styles control the look; section planes cut the model for plans and sections. Together they turn a model into a presentation.
In this lesson you will
- Create and update scenes
- Choose and edit styles
- Cut plans and sections with section planes
- Export images and animations
Scenes
A scene (View › Animation › Add Scene, or the Scenes panel) saves the camera plus chosen properties: visible tags, style, shadows, section planes. Name scenes clearly (01 Street view, 02 Ground plan). Update a scene after changes with right-click › Update.
Styles
Styles control edges (sketchy, profiles, thickness), faces (shaded, textured, monochrome), background and watermarks. Pick a clean style for technical views and a sketchy one for early concepts. Save your office style in a template.
Section planes
- 1Tools › Section Plane; click a face to place it (e.g. 1200 above the floor for a plan).
- 2Move it to position; Active Cut shows the cut.
- 3Use Parallel Projection and a top view for a plan; a front view for a section.
- 4Save scenes with each active section.
Shadows and export
Shadows (set location, date and time) show sunlight and help depth. Export images (File › Export › 2D Graphic) at high resolution, and animations from scenes. For scaled drawings, send scenes to LayOut (next lesson).
Quick reference
| Command / tool | How to start it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Scenes panel | Default Tray | Create and update scenes |
| Styles panel | Default Tray | Visual styles |
| Section Plane | Tools menu | Cuts the model |
| Parallel Projection | Camera menu | No perspective |
Common mistakes
Scene lost my changes.
Right-click the scene › Update, choosing which properties to save.
Plan view looks distorted.
Use Parallel Projection, not perspective.
Section planes left active in every scene.
Save each scene with the section state it needs; untick Active section planes where no cut is wanted.
Shadows slowing the model to a crawl while you work.
Turn shadows off while modelling and on only in the scenes that need them.
Exercise
A presentation set
- Create scenes: street perspective, aerial, ground plan (section), long section.
- Apply a clean style to technical scenes and a sketchy style to perspectives.
- Set shadows for mid-afternoon in your location.
- Export two images at 3000 px wide.
You should end up with: Four scenes and exported images.
Checklist
0 of 4 checked · saved on this device
Lesson quiz
Scenes can store which tags are visible.
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