AutoCAD – Controlling the Appearance of 3D Solids 3

by Martin Phelps

Continuing with the series of blogs on the appearance of 3D solids, the final option is to control the display using the “Facetres” system variable. 

This system variable controls the smoothness of shaded and rendered display.

Figure 1 shows a 3D solid with the “Facetres” variable set to a value of 0.01 and clearly shows the coarseness of the main cylindrical body of the component.

Figure 1.

Increasing the value to 1 changes the display of the component giving a much smoother appearance, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

The default value for “Facetres” is 0.5 and is saved to the drawing file. The value can be set between 0.01 and 10, however increasing the value may not have any major change in the appearance of the component, Figure 3 shows the value set to its maximum of 10.

Figure 3.

Like the two other 3D display system variables, “Isolines” and “ Dispsilh”, this system variable is also available in AutoCAD LT, but only to aid the display of 3D objects created in other products and opened in AutoCAD LT.

Note :- When using the “3Dprint” command the “Facetres” system variable is set to its maximum value of 10.

Previous blogs in the series:

https://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/360017644697-AutoCAD-Controlling-the-Appearance-of-3D-Solids-1

https://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/360018380098-AutoCAD-Controlling-the-Appearance-of-3D-Solids-2