Understanding features in SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS features are our way of moving from 2D to 3D. Similar to sketches, SOLIDWORKS provides many features that can help us create simple shapes. For more complex shapes, we will have to use more features. In this section, we will discuss SOLIDWORKS features, simple versus complex models, and additional sketch planes.
Understanding SOLIDWORKS features and their role in 3D modeling
Features is the term we use to refer to the tools that allow us to construct 3D models based on sketches. We usually use features directly after sketching to go from two-dimensional sketches to 3D models, which are mostly built based on sketches.
For example, if we were to model a cube, we would follow these steps:
- First, we would create a sketch of a square.
- Then, we would apply a feature in order to make the square into a cube. We do this by extruding it.
The following screenshot illustrates these two steps:
Figure...
