Tutorial: model and document a stage flat¶

A ten-minute tour: a theatrical flat (a braced timber frame with a skin), documented on an A3 sheet. Everything is typed on the command line; points can also be clicked in the viewport with osnaps.

1. Set up¶

units          → Feet-inches (or stay metric)
grid           → spacing to taste

2. The skin¶

rectangle      → 0,0 → 4'x8' (or 1220,2440)
extrude        → distance 18 (Cap=Yes chip stays on)

While the distance prompt is up you can click the Cap=Yes / BothSides=No chips, and the gold ghost preview follows what you type.

3. Rails and stiles¶

box            → 0,0,18 → @75,2440,75          (stile)
copy           → pick it, to the other side
box            → rails top/bottom/middle

Or draw one rail and use array for the rest. group the timbers.

4. Look¶

layer          → New "Timber", Weight 2
changelayer    → move the frame onto it
material       → Matte on the skin, pick colours in Layers panel
rendered       → environment-lit preview with a ground shadow

5. Document it¶

layout         → A3 landscape
detail         → drag a rectangle, front view, 1:20
dim            → dimension the width inside the detail

Dims picked inside a detail are associative: re-scale or pan the detail and they follow. Double-click a detail to enter it; drag annotations to move them, Delete removes them.

titleblock     → fill project/title
revision       → "A — issued for construction"
exportpdf      → print the sheet

6. Save¶

save           → flat.serp

.serp files are zip containers carrying a thumbnail and version metadata — safe to autosave, safe to crash.

Extra credit¶

recordhistory before the extrude, then edit the base rectangle's control points (pointson) and watch the solid follow.
4view for a Top/Front/Right/Perspective split.
curvaturegraph and zebra for surface quality checks.