AutoTURN Pro 11.0 Help
Creating a Realistic Vehicle Drawing
Customizing AutoTURN Pro > Creating a Realistic Vehicle Drawing

AutoTURN Pro generates parametric plan views for custom vehicles based on the part configuration and vehicle dimensions. However, since a generic plan view may not provide an accurate enough representation of the vehicle it is recommended that users create their own drawings for custom vehicles.

General Guidelines

Drawing Layers/Levels

Drawings should be created with the following layer/level setup:

Layer/Level Description
TSOUTLINE All lines pertaining to the extents of the vehicle
TSDETAILS All detail lines inside the vehicle (windows, doors, contours, etc.)
TSWHEELBASE This single line must exactly match the length of the custom vehicle's wheelbase. This line is used to scale the drawing when it is used by AutoTURN Pro.

Creating the Drawing - AutoCAD/BricsCAD/ZWCAD

  1. Start a new drawing.
  2. Create a new layer named "TSOUTLINE" and draw the extents of the vehicle on this layer.
  3. Create a layer named "TSDETAILS". Draw all the details inside the basic outline of the vehicle on this layer. This will improve display performance by allowing AutoTURN Pro to separate the drawing elements and only display the vehicle outline while dragging and running animations.
  4. Create a layer named "TSWHEELBASE". Draw a line that exactly matches the wheelbase value of the custom vehicle on this layer. It can be located anywhere in the drawing and will not display in the vehicle preview dialog boxes.
  5. Create a folder in the Vehicles User folder to save the drawing to. The folder name must be the same as the Library field of the custom vehicle.
  6. Save the drawing to the folder created in step 5.

Creating the Drawing - MicroStation

Note: AutoTURN Pro can use AutoCAD version 2007 (and older) DWG format drawing files in MicroStation V8i. AutoTURN Pro will use cell files if MicroStation users prefer to create them as outlined below.

  1. Start a new design file.
  2. Create a new level named "TSOUTLINE" and draw the extents of the vehicle on this level.
  3. Create a new level named "TSDETAILS". Draw all the details inside the basic outline of the vehicle on this level. This will improve performance by allowing AutoTURN Pro to separate the drawing elements and only display the vehicle outline while dragging and running animations.
  4. Create a level named "TSWHEELBASE". Draw a line that exactly matches the wheelbase value of the custom vehicle on this level. It can be located anywhere in the drawing and will not display in the vehicle preview dialog boxes.
  5. Create a new cell library named the same as the Name field of the custom vehicle.
  6. Create a cell and add it to the new library. The cell can be given any name. There must be only the one cell in this library.
  7. Create a folder in the Vehicles User folder to save the drawing to. The folder name must be the same as the Library field of the custom vehicle.
  8. Save the cell library to the folder created in step 7.