Hi, I have to do something in AutoCAD, but i first want to cause a heads up or find out if i am missing info that i ought to know by working with CAD products.

I need to show a small area of a rectangular box, and it'll be shown in a 3D perspective view. Only one corner/side will be shown, so there will be only 5 lines (corner and the upper 2 and lower 2 edges centered on the edge).

Problem. In ACAD (I have to try this in VC, but I think VC will be more forgiving) I actually drew in 3D perspective (and the whole time did not reorient the view) lines and had to "divide" the line, place circles on the dots, and then add on alternating sides of circles another circle so i could draw a controlled polyline (not line, not spline; line is too sharp and spline finishes with huge skew/curve). But, lo and behold, when i got around to rotating the object, prior to doing circles, the "section lines" looked like crazy straws or half-helixes. Hence, using eccentrically-located circles.

But, other than making viewports, has anyone got a finer-tuned approach than what i have done? Obviously, one advantage is file size reduction. Some sort of cutaway tool probably exists in AC & VC... i just need to root it out, i guess...