I am very new to AutoCAD. I began learning for a plumbing company I own, for prints and shop drawings. But now I am designing a house I want to build in Texas, however, it is not shaping up like I thought. I'm thinking of doing my house on Sims, but I really want to see this AutoCAD out.I am having a few problems with coloring, filling in colors on surfaces, elevations when adding windows and doors to walls (my window ends up in the middle of the room until I change the Z axis under properties for all the vertices), drawing a 3D 2x4 and 2x6 wall, adding a slope 3D roof, and other small things like overlapping 3D walls and objects. Please help if you can, I attached the AutoCAD file for download. Remember, I am very new to this, and I got this far before I joined the forum. Please be gentle with me!  PS. The master bathroom on the first floor consist of a 2'0" high platform on which the whirlpool is recessed with open shower, lav, and toilet; but I am having trouble making the 3D polygon the new surface. Thanks way in advance. I have more wquestions, but I would like to see how this forum operates beforehand, most forums end up being horribly mean!The link is to the CAD file::::Texas Blueprint 3D
newburns2011-02-17 04:13:30

I'm not sure why you would be trying to "color" a surface if you are doing a 3D drawing.  The normal approach is to assign materials then Render the drawing.
You use the word "surfaces" but I have to ask, are you creating such things as walls, or the roof, or even the framing using surfaces or solids?

I took a look at your drawing.  You have a lot of layers but there really isn't much in the drawing itself.  I have all layers turned on and none are frozen either.  Where is the rest of it?
 
BTW...your doors are 2D blocks and not solids.
 
I think you could benefit from tutorials on 3D before going any further. 
 
Re: Forums.  What other forums are you talking about?  For AutoCAD related help you can also visit AutoCAD Everything, CADTutor and The Swamp.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses as well as there own cast of "characters".
 
For highly technical advice you can also join the AutoDesk Discussion Forums but they tend to be a bit regimented for my tastes.  The AutoCAD Users Group International (AUGI) forum is also a good source of information.  That should be more than enough resources for anyone seeking help with AutoCAD.
 
Don't forget the handful of "tutorial" websites as well.  There are a couple of good ones out there.
 
I find that if you're relatively polite, don't break forum rules, and provide plenty of detailed information most forums, including this one, can be very helpful.John Connor2011-02-17 14:12:26

Welcome newburns! We're not mean here, but please understand that John has been doing this for a while, so he doesn't always see it from a 'beginners' view. He a good guy and means well. He isn't trying to be mean at all.I, on the other hand, still consider myself a beginner even though I started working with AutoCAD in 1988. Before we go there, give me a little time to check out your home and see if I can give you a few pointers.Which version of AutoCAD you're using?

HAWD:
If you could point out where in my post I was being mean I might learn from my mistakes.  Thanks.

When I opened the drawing it said there was one missing reference file.  newburns: is there an xref to go along with your drawing?
 
The M_EQPT layer was frozen so I thawed it.
 
There are three layouts (Layout1, Layout2 and Layout1(2).  What is the purpose of the last two?
 
Your front doors are composed of a block named 36'' Exterior Door 55 which you have inserted four times (twice for each side of the door).  Your front door should be done in 3D not in 2D.
 
The drawing seems to be missing the walls, windows and other doors just to name three.  Are those on another drawing (perhaps the one being referenced)?

Okay. To respond in the order I read everyone's posting.I was coloring the surface because I used the surface to create my wall. I read around, and everyone was saying use POLYSOLID to create a wall, a studded wall at that. But AutoCAD 2002 doesn't seem to have POLYSOLID. So then I tried 3D Polyline, but there was no way to set a height, width, and length. It seemed to be a regular line. So I went to 3D Surfaces and used, I believe, "_ai_blocks", which is what I created all things that are square (Walls, Platforms, etc.) I have a lot of layers because I used a blueprint that was already completed by someone else, but I didn't know how to set the workspace up to scale the way that I understand, which is 1/4"/foot. I have a Designjet PS5500 that i used to print out my prints, and when I was done with this, I was going to print out the plan view, and maybe some 3D views. As far as the layers go, I tried to delete all but one, and create my own, but there was some error with existing xrefs. The only layer I am using are "External Walls, External Wall Dimensions, Interior Walls". That is as far as I got.When it goes for other forums, I was talking forums in general, not CAD forums. This is my first CAD forum experience. I'm a virgin. But I am apart of other Server forums, such as contribs.org, where I have had my experiences. I thank you for the in-depth responses, and I will look through the tutorials, but the difficult thing with tutorials, is that if you don't know what you are talking about, you don't know what to look for.As far as the walls, I think you may have answered it best. I am not going in the right direction at all. My doors are blocks I downloaded from here, then I copy and pasted the exact image to place on both faces of the polygon surface. By reading between the lines here, I understand that I am completely way off, LOL.

Slow down a sec, John. The missing XREF is titled "Business Logo..." and the layouts are obviously leftover from his Plumbing Business. Ignore those.Newburns, lets tackle this monster from a different angle. Houses are pretty complex beasts. After all, that is why some people spend 4 years learning how to draw them and spend a lifetime trying to perfect them.We can, however, get you started on the basics. Instead of worrying about the colors or layers right now, lets focus on the layout (2-Dimensional) of your house.If you can create a complete 2D layout of your house, I can help you raise the roof.

Could you explain why your posted drawing seems to be missing a lot of content?  Is it the drawing or my system?
I'm using AutoCAD 2010 at the moment.
 
You said you are using 2002.  So, right there that explains why you do not have the POLYSOLID command.  You won't have LOFT either if I recall correctly.
 
I can get close to what you are using by dropping back to AutoCAD 2004 but that's about it.

Some very good 2D and 3D tutorials can be found here:
http://www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm
 
Free download of AutoCAD 2006 tutorials can be found at:
http://www.autocadmark.com/mambo/component/option,com_weblinks/catid,37/Itemid,82/
Sorry, that's as far back as this particular website goes. John Connor2011-02-17 15:45:53

I am guessing when you say missing content, I'm thinking it is there, but you are looking for it in another form. Like my walls are misssing, but I made my walls out of "_ai_ blocks", so they are there, but not like they should be. I didn't finish the house in total, because I ran into a million issues that I couldn't figure or know what to search for. My doors never ended up on the polygon, but somewhere out in space, and my wall height, although, it will be 10'0" walls, actually need to be as high as the roof.Now by 2D do you mean something similar to TrailerIt has the same layer issues or whatnot, but I have yet to understand how to set the canvas up to work this way, so I just keep selecting all and deleting to create a new drawing. But, I can do prints such as this one. To give you some background. I started with CAD 1.5 years ago. On the job, I had to turn in shop drawings which are drawings of the plumbing work I have done to the measurement I had done them. So I had a week to figure out how to replicate my plumbing in the field to an actual print. And I have been on AutoCAD ever since then. I am using AutoCAD 2002.

Yes, By 2D I mean something similar to the Trailer dwg. Keep in mind that walls do have thickness (usually 3.375" unfinished or 5.25" finished), so if you don't plan the wall thickness, the room size may be considerably less after the DWG is complete.AutoCAD 2002 doesn't have the 3D capabilities that John or I have with 2011 or 2009, respectively. But if you provide me with a good 2D layout of your home, I can provide you with a basic 3D representation that you can view in AutoCAD DWG TrueView.Where in TX are you? I'm in CC.

I'm in Chicago, getting ready to go to Texas. Location varies depending on soil texture, but it could be Bonham, Kemp, or Huffman. I am going through the first set of tutorials posted here. I am trying to start a new workspace rather than playing with one already layered up, but I still have not found how to set it up where it is in feet and inches rather than points on a graph. Right now, if I draw a line and input 40'0" it is not recognized. But as 130" it is. I am on part two of tutorial, so when I come across it, I will draw the 2D

Try typing in [CMD]UNITS[/CMD] or [CMD]DDUNITS[/CMD].This will bring up the Drawing Units Dialog box where you can specify the units you want to use in the DWG.It sounds like you may want your Type to be Architectural and the Insertion Scale to be Inches. Everything else should be ok the way it is.

uploads/20110217_192651_SimpleBldg.dwg
 
A simple 3D building for you to view.  Created using the Extrude, Subtract and Union commands.  Saved as an AutoCAD 2000 drawing file.  Done in imperial units (architectural).  There are four layers: 0, Bldg_basic, Roof and Slab.  Laughing is permitted.
 
By the way...
 
The walls are 4.5" thick.
The doorway is 36x80.
The two windows are 24x36.
The slab is 6" thick.
The roof is 0.5" thick.
 
Everything is a solid and not a surface.  No materials were applied.John Connor2011-02-18 12:32:24