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Reference

SPHERE in AutoCAD

How AutoCAD's SPHERE draws a 3D solid sphere, prompt by prompt: centre and radius, Diameter, 3P, 2P and Ttr, and why it shows as lines. Try it free online.

SPHERE draws a 3D solid sphere: give the centre, then the radius. A radius picked with the mouse is read on the plane through the centre, and the last radius is offered as a default that Enter takes, shared with CYLINDER, CONE and the other primitives. The sphere lies on the current layer, and Undo takes it back in one step.

In 2D Wireframe and Hidden it is drawn as lines: meridians and parallels, as many as ISOLINES says, and nothing else snaps on it but its centre. LIST shows its position and radius, and the Properties palette lets you type the radius or the diameter. Its grips move it and, at each quarter of its equator, set its radius. It is a 3D solid for UNION, SUBTRACT and the rest of MellowCAD's 3D, which is solids only and still partial.

At the command line

The engine draws it and writes its history as you would type it: the prompts in AutoCAD 2027's order, with the same option letters.

A sphere of radius 25 from its centre, seen from the south-east in the Conceptual visual style.
  1. Command: SPHERE
  2. Specify center point or [3P/2P/Ttr]: 0,0,0
  3. Specify radius or [Diameter]: 25
  4. Command: -VIEW
  5. Enter an option [Orthographic]: SEI
  6. Command: ZOOM
  7. Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or [All/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window/Object]: 0.8x
A sphere of radius 25 from its centre, seen from the south-east in the Conceptual visual style.

Options

3P

At the centre: asks for three points, and the sphere is centred on the circle through them, with its radius.

2P

At the centre: asks for the two ends of a diameter, anywhere in space.

Ttr (T)

At the centre: pick two lines, circles or arcs, under the Tangent snap, and give a radius: the centre lies on the circle of that radius that touches both, at their height.

Diameter (D)

At the radius: asks for the diameter instead, offering twice the last radius.

What it does not do yet

EXPLODE of a sphere, which AutoCAD turns into a surface: MellowCAD has no surfaces, so it says it could not explode it. Move, Rotate, Scale and Mirror from a hot grip, and the 3D commands of its own (3DMOVE, 3DROTATE, 3DSCALE). The silhouette AutoCAD's DISPSILH draws. The visual styles VSCURRENT lacks beyond 2D Wireframe, Hidden and Conceptual.

What it does and still lacks, in detail (in English)

Questions

How do I make a sphere in AutoCAD?

Run SPHERE, give the centre, then the radius: 0,0,0 and 25 draw the session's sphere. Turn the view to see it round, with a corner of the ViewCube or -VIEW and SEIso.

Why does my sphere look like a circle with lines?

2D Wireframe and Hidden draw a sphere as its meridians and parallels; in plan they are a circle and lines through it. VSCURRENT with Conceptual shades it, and ISOLINES sets how many lines it shows.

How do I make a hemisphere?

Draw the sphere, then cut it through its centre with SLICE: three points on the plane, or XY and the centre, and the side to keep.

How do I draw a sphere by its diameter?

At the radius, choose Diameter and type the diameter. With 2P, the two ends of a diameter place it too.

Related commands