Hint: there’s now a much better way than using the FLATTEN command. That’s it! The next CAD tip will discuss how to flatten the 3D object into a 2D object. Position the object as desired relative to the origin point.Click in empty space when the object is oriented properly. Select the circle in the plane of rotation.Change to Hidden visual style. Select the 3D object and get the Rotate gizmo.The object appears but orientation needs correcting.When the white and blue button in the lower right says “completed,” click on the button, right-click, and choose “Insert.”.Select the STEP file and hit OPEN. Close the dialog box that says it’s processing.Make sure the Files of Type selector is set to STEP files.Works with AutoCAD, Fusion 360, Revit, Inventor, and 11 other products Platform Browser Features View, measure, mark up, review, and share 2D and 3D files online. View now File types Over 80 file types including DWG, STEP, DWF, RVT, and Solidworks. Go Insert tab > Import panel > Import button. Autodesk Viewer works with over 80 file types for easy remote collaboration.Make sure you’re in the 3D Modeling workspace.This is part of a project I completed recently with much trial and error, so I hope this tip, along with an upcoming Part 2, will save you a lot of time and angst.

The video shows the process of importing a highly detailed 3D speaker file. This post shows how to import a STEP file into AutoCAD, and how to change the 3D object’s orientation to align properly with the view cube and standard AutoCAD views.

To see the YouTube video version of this tip, CLICK_HERE, or just click on the video at the bottom of this post. This tip is the first of this site’s tips to be supplemented with a video version of the tip, both here and on YouTube.

Autodesk step viewer