- [Instructor] We're staying in
our groundfloorplan_rev3.DWG file.
And I want to take you through another really useful tool
in AutoCAD, and that's the shortcut menu.
It's a really fundamental part of working with AutoCAD
and it comes up really quickly and easily
with a right-click on the mouse.
So I've got no commands running, no object selected,
and I right-click.
That'll bring up the default shortcut menu.
Now it's full name
is the right-click context sensitive shortcut menu.
Now, you can imagine me trying to say that all the time
while I'm recording these videos for you.
I'm not going to do that.
It's just called the shortcut menu, and in AutoCAD circles,
that's what we all call it, the shortcut menu,
because it's just a right-click shortcut
to various commands that you can use.
Now, obviously, you can see that I've just done a save
because I can repeat the last command I did which is QSAVE.
I've just saved the drawing.
Recent Input, you can see I've got various commands there.
So I've got things like ERASE, MIRROR, ROTATE, POLYGON,
and so on where I've been drawing things
in this particular drawing.
I've also got the Clipboard tool,
which allows me to utilize the Windows clipboard
with the traditional Cut, Copy, and Paste,
but you'll notice there's a whole load
of AutoCAD related Cut, Copy, and Paste there as well.
So I can Cut with a Base Point.
I can Copy with a Base Point.
I can Paste as a Hyperlink.
I can also Paste Special as well.
So there's some really cool bits of functionality there
that work predominantly with AutoCAD only
with the Windows clipboard.
I can also utilize the Isolate tools.
I can Isolate Objects and Hide Objects if I want to.
I can then end that object isolation
where I'm isolating and hiding to.
I can Undo the last command that I did.
I can undo the quick save.
I've also got Redo if I need to redo anything.
I've got Pan and Zoom which are real-time pan
and real-time zoom.
I've got the SteeringWheels as well,
similar to what we've got on the navigation bar.
Also, I've got the Action Recorder there as well.
That allows me to record little macros that I can utilize
if I need to.
I've also got the Subobject Selection Filter.
Sounds a bit weird and wonderful,
but what it allows me to do is it allows me
to sort by a vertex, an edge, a face, a solid,
or a drawing view component.
And what that allows me to do is work in 3D
in AutoCAD effectively.
I've also got these really cool underrated
and underused tools.
Things like Quick Select, QuickCalc, Count, Find,
and obviously, we know Options already.
Find is find and replace.
Count allows me to count all the blocks that are
in my AutoCAD drawing.
QuickCalc allows me to utilize the calculator.
So if I click on QuickCalc, there's my calculator,
for example, in AutoCAD.
So all those tools are available on the shortcut menu,
and that's before I've even selected an object
and then used the shortcut menu.
I'm going to zoom in on this little landscaped area
that we created earlier.
So there it is there.
And I'm just going to select one of the lines for one
of the bike bays like so.
Now, if I select that line and then right-click,
you'll notice I've got a very different shortcut menu.
Now I can repeat the QuickCalc as you remember.
There's the input again.
I've got the Clipboard.
I've got the Isolate.
But now I've got a whole load of modify commands I can use.
I can Erase.
I can Move.
I can Copy a Selection, which is basically the one line.
I can Scale it, Rotate it, change the Draw Order of it,
and I can Group it by creating a group as well.
I can Add Selected objects if I want to.
I can Select Similar objects.
If I do Select Similar, it selects all the other lines
on that bike bays layer.
I'll just hit Escape to deselect and select the line again,
and then I'll right-click again like so.
Coming down that list again, I can Deselect All.
That deselects everything.
And also if I select, let's say, all of these like so,
and then right-click and Deselect All,
it'll select everything in the selection set
and deselect it for me.
I'll right-click again, and you can see obviously
back here now, you see I've got SELECTSIMILAR,
QUICKCALC, et cetera, in the Recent Input.
If I select the line again, right-click,
again, I've got other things like Count Selection,
so I can Find, I've got Properties of that line.
So if I click on Properties,
there's all the properties on the properties palette.
It's just a complete and utter plethora of information,
commands, and tools, and I use it constantly.
I'm constantly right-clicking when I'm working
in my AutoCAD drawings.
So make sure that you utilize that shortcut menu
all the time when you're drafting in AutoCAD.
For example, just the one context sensitive setting
that I love is I can have an object selected, right-click,
and I've got all my modify tools just here.
So I can Erase an object, Move an object, Copy it, Scale it,
or Rotate it.
It's really useful.
I can even put the objects in a Group if I need to
which is even more handy,
'cause sometimes you do need to group objects together.
I'll just hit Escape there now to cancel, obviously,
the shortcut menu.
Hit Escape a second time just to deselect that line
in the bike bays there.
I'm now just going to double-click on the wheel on the mouse
just to zoom extents again.
So we're back to the full extent
of the visible drawn objects.
Use that shortcut menu in AutoCAD.
It's a fundamental tool in AutoCAD,
and it will just make your life so much easier.