* The LCS of solid objects is drawn with local X- and Y-axes in the active work plane and the local Z-axis normal to it. This means that the bottom base of all boxes, cylinders, cones and pyramids are always drawn on the active work plane. Spheres, ellipsoids and tori are always drawn centered on the active work plane.
Oftentimes, you may simply need to set up your work plane parallel to one of the three principal planes but at an offset distance. [[EM.Cube]] provides easy shortcuts for this purpose. Hover the mouse over any object in the project workspace and highlight one of the snap points of that object. Then, type {{key|X}}, {{key|Y}}, or {{key|Z}} on your keyboard. This will establish a new work plane centered at the snapped point and parallel to the YZ, ZX or XY planes, respectively. You can also set up an arbitrary work plane non parallel to any of the principal coordinate planes.
These are simply keyboard shortcuts [[Image:Info_icon.png|40px]] Click here to quickly establish a standard work planelearn how to set up an '''[[Glossary of EM. Once the new work plane appearsCube's Basic File, you can open the Edit & View Operations#TArbitrary Work Plane Dialog to changes its parameters including location, orientation and appearance| Arbitrary Work Plane]]'''.
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=== Setting Up an Arbitrary Work Plane ===
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Sometimes you may want to create objects at a certain distance away from one of the three principal work planes. In some other cases, you may want to set up an arbitrary work plane. [[EM.Cube|EM.CUBE]] lets you set up an arbitrary work plane different than the three principal coordinate planes. Before learning to do this, let's first consider the different ways you can define an arbitrary plane in [[EM.Cube|EM.CUBE]]:
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* Any planar face of a solid or surface object defines a unique plane.
* A point and a vector uniquely define a plane.
* Any three non-collinear points in space define a unique plane.
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[[EM.Cube|EM.CUBE]]'s Work Plane Tool lets you define any arbitrary work plane using one of the above three methods. Click on the '''Work Plane''' [[File:arbitgrid_tool_tn.png]] button in the '''View Toolbar''', or select ''' Menu [[File:larrow_tn.png]] View [[File:larrow_tn.png]] Work Plane [[File:larrow_tn.png]] Arbitrary Plane''', or use the keyboard shortcut '''W''' to enable [[EM.Cube|EM.CUBE]]'s "Work Plane Mode". The Work Plane Dialog opens up at the lower right corner of the screen. Below are three different ways that you can define a new arbitrary work plane:
Once a new work plane is established, the movement of your mouse will be bound to that plane. In other words, the cursor will move freely on the surface of the new work plane. The status bar now reports the "User Coordinates" of the cursor position as opposed to its "World Coordinates". The status bar also shows the word '''User''' in front of these coordinates. You can switch back to the world coordinates at any time by double-clicking on the word '''User''', which changes it to '''World'''. Double-clicking once again toggles the state back to the user coordinates. Any object that you draw on the new work plane will have its local X and Y-axes on this plane, and its local Z-axis normal to the plane.