Modeling Modify geometry Integrate digitized clay model data with modeled surfaces > To use digitized changed data to reshape surfaces on a model

Reshape curves and surfaces

How to change the shape of curves and surfaces using various tools.

Reshape a curve or surface using the object editor

Edit a curve or surface by dragging handles attached to it, or by specifying tangent direction and magnitude at specific points.

· See movie: objectEditor.rm

Edit a curve or surface using the object editor

Choose Object edit > Object editor .
Click the curve or surface.

Add or remove control points

Click the object with + the to create a control point.
Click a control point with + the to remove it.

Set the continuity at surface edges

Click an edge to cycle through the different continuity requirements (Free, Position, Tangent, Curvature).
The edge is drawn with a color indicating whether the requested continuity has been achieved.

Use the manipulator to reshape the curve or surface

Click a control point to display the manipulator on it, then do any of the following:

Drag the control point to move that point in space.
Drag the parameter handle to move the control point along the object.
Drag a dotted rotation arc to rotate the control point's tangent direction.
Click one of the axis lines to snap the tangent direction to an axis.
Drag the tangent slide handle to move the control point along its current tangent line.
Drag the tangent scale handle to scale the tangent at the current point. You cannot snap the tangent scale handle.
Click any of the handles and type exact values.
Use the U+/U- and V+/V- buttons (for surfaces) and the -Influence/+Influence buttons (for curves) to increase or decrease the number of CVs influenced by the control point (in both U and V directions for surfaces).

What if...?

] I don't see any control points?

It is possible to have no control points on the object, especially if you pick the object and then apply the tool (as opposed to clicking the object with the tool).

To add a control point, click the object with + the.

] I try to edit an object with object edit construction history but I don't see the manipulator?

When you edit object editor construction history, the control point or points are shown but are not automatically selected. Click a control point to show the manipulator.

] I can't reshape the surface

As you add constraints to the object (control points and edge continuity), it can become impossible for the tool to accommodate changes while maintaining the existing relationships. Each CV becomes constrained to the point where it cannot move without violating an existing constraint.

You can try to free up CVs by removing constraints (removing control points or easing edge continuity requirements) or by increasing the number of CVs available (adding spans or increasing the surface degree).

] The tool does not show the boundary conditions on the surface I'm editing?

The tool does cannot show boundary conditions for trimmed surfaces.

] I can't control the number of CVs using the U+ or V+ buttons?

The number of control points that are available is limited:

When the control point is at the edge of a surface (or the end of a curve), the number of CVs it can control is limited to 2 in each of U and V directions.
When the control point is not at the edge/end of the object, the number of CVs it can control is limited to the degree of the object+ 1.

For example if the degree of the surface is 5 and the manipulator is in the middle of a surface, the maximum number of CVs the control point can control is six.

Maintaining continuity at the edges may decrease the maximum number of CVs a control point can control.

] The display does not update when I use the Information window?

The curve does not automatically update when you change a locator position using the Information window.

Click in any modeling window to make the curve update.

Change the degree or number of spans of a curve or surface from the Modeling control panel

The rebuild options on the Modeling control panel change the degrees and spans of a curve or surface. The rebuild tool works with only one curve or surface at a time.

Pick the curve or surface whose degree or spans you want to modify.
Modify a field in the Rebuild tool:
To modify the degree in the U direction, enter a value in the left column of the degree row. To modify the degree in the V direction, use the right column of the degree row.
To modify the spans in the U direction, enter a value in the left column of the span row. To modify the spans in the V direction, use the right column of the span row
Click the Check Deviation button to view the maximum deviation in the prompt line and check if the deviation from the original geometry is acceptable. If not, continue to modify the values in the fields. Hit enter each time you input a new value or AutoStudio will not recognize there has been a change. After hitting enter, click Check Deviation again.
To keep the changes, click the Accept button that appears in the lower right corner of the modeling view window. To cancel the changes, click the Cancel button.

If you choose another tool or unpick the geometry before accepting the result, the changes are cancelled.

Move CVs in world (XYZ) space

How to move CVs along the X, Y, and Z axes.

Show CVs on the picked objects

Click the + button next to CV/Hull in the Modeling control panel.
or
Choose ObjectDisplay > Control .
Set Scope to Active and turn on the CVs checkbox.
Click Go.

Move CVs in world (XYZ) space

Choose Pick > Point Types > CV and pick the CVs.
Use Transform > Move to move them.

You can also use Control Panel > Move CV tool with the left Mode menu set to XYZ.

Move CVs relative to their curve or surface

How to move CVs along the U, V, and normal directions of their curve or surface.

Show CVs on the picked objects

Click the + button next to CV/Hull in the Modeling control panel.
or
Choose ObjectDisplay > Control .
Set Scope to Active and turn on the CVs checkbox.
Click Go.

If CVs are not displayed, clicking on the object(s) while inside the Move CV tool automatically turns on all CVs and hulls. As soon as you choose a different tool, the CVs and hulls are turned off again.

Move CVs relative to their curve or surface

Choose Control Panel > Move CV .
In CV move section of the control panel, open the left pop-up menu labeled Mode and choose NUV.
Pick the CVs you want to move. To select additional CVs, hold and click them.
Drag a mouse button to move the CVs:
Drag the to move along the normal.
Drag the to move along the U direction.
Drag the to move along the V direction of a surface.

Move CVs along their hulls

Choose Control Panel > Move CV .
In CV move section of the control panel, open the left pop-up menu labeled Mode and choose Slide.
Click the CV you want to move. To select additional CVs, hold and click them.
Click the arrow on the hull you want to move the CVs along, then drag to move the CVs.

Move CVs along an arbitrary vector or plane

How to move CVs along any visible hull line, vector, or reference plane.

Show CVs on the picked objects

Click the + button next to CV/Hull in the Modeling control panel.
or
Choose ObjectDisplay > Control .
Set Scope to Active and turn on the CVs checkbox.
Click Go.

Move CVs along an arbitrary vector

Choose Control Panel > Move CV .
In CV move section of the control panel, open the left pop-up menu next to Mode and choose Proj.
Pick the CV or CVs you want to move. To select additional CVs, hold and click them.
Press a mouse button on a hull line, reference vector, or reference plane and drag to constrain the CV movement.

Move multiple CVs toward or away from a point

Move multiple CVs at once in relation to a specific point.

Show CVs on the picked objects

Click the + button next to CV/Hull in the control panel.
or
Choose ObjectDisplay > Control .
Set Scope to Active and turn on the CVs checkbox.
Click Go.

Move CVs toward or away from a specific point

Use Transform > Local > Set pivot to move the object's pivot point to the point toward or away from which the CVs will move.
Use Pick > Point Types > CV to pick the CVs you want to move.
Use Transform > Non-p scale to scale the CVs out (away from the pivot point) or in (toward the pivot point).

Transform one CV and have surrounding CVs follow it

Move, scale, rotate, or smooth multiple CVs at once, with the amount of transformation relative to the CVs distance from the master CV you click.

Show CVs on the picked objects

Click the + button next to CV/Hull in the control panel.
or
Choose ObjectDisplay > Control .
Set Scope to Active and turn on the CVs checkbox.
Click Go.

Transform CVs proportionally in relation to a master CV

Choose Transform > Modify > Proportional mod .
Click the CV to use as the master CV.
Use the option box to set the following:
The Operation to perform on the CVs.
The number of CVs before (Preceding U and V) and after (Preceding U and V) the master CV that will follow along.
The Move Mode: choose XYZ to move the CVs in world space, or NUV to move the CVs relative to the surface (in the normal, U, and V).
Use the mouse or keyboard to move, scale, rotate, or smooth the master CV.

The affected CVs (the number of CVs before and after the master CV as specified in the option box) follow along, with the amount of transformation relative to their distance from the master CV.

Edit or reshape a blend curve

How to use various tools to change the shape of a blend curve.

Pick blend points

Choose Pick > Point Types > Blend point .

Move blend points

Pick the blend points and use the tools in the Transform palette to move them.

Insert blend points inside a blend curve

Choose Curves > Blend curve toolbox to show an extra floating palette containing the BlendCrv Tools tab.
Choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend curve add points .
Click the blend curve to insert a blend point.

Add blend points to the end of a blend curve

Pick the blend point at either end of the curve.
Choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend curve add points .
Click to add blend points to the end of the curve.

Remove the picked blend point

Press .

Related topics

See Blend curves

Attach or detach blend points

You can attach blend points to existing objects so they stay

Attach the picked blend points to an existing object

Choose Transform > Move and use curve snapping to snap the blend point to the object.
See Snap to curves, points, or the grid

When a direction blend point is attached to an object, you can set the tangent direction relative to the object.

See Change the tangent direction at a blend point

Reverse the attachment of two blend curves

When a blend curve is attached to another blend curve, you can reverse their attachment where two blend points overlap (so that curve B is constrained to curve A, instead of the other way around).

Pick the blend points.
Choose Curves > Blend curve toolbox to show an extra floating palette containing the BlendCrv Tools tab.
Choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend pt make master .

Detach the picked blend points from their objects

Choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend constraint dissociate .

Related topics

See Blend curves

Extend the ends/edges of a curve or surface

Add to an existing curve or surface by extending from an endpoint or edge. You can extend straight out or continue the curvature at the endpoint or edge.

Extend a curve or surface by extrapolating its shape

Choose Object edit > Extend .
Click near the endpoint of a curve, curve on surface, or an edge of a surface.

A green arrowhead (for curves) and thick green border (for surfaces) indicates which end or edge will be extended.

You can select and extend several curves, curves-on-surface or edges simultaneoulsy. The only restriction is that all selected objects must be of the same type.





Drag the mouse to change the extend length, or type a distance and press .
Dragging to the right increases the Extend distance
Dragging to the left decreases the Extend distance.





By default, the extension is part of the original object. To make it a separate object, turn off the Merge option.

To undo an Extend operation, select Edit > Undo.

Extending a curve-on-surface when Merge is turned off cannot be undone.

Add CVs or edit points to the beginning or end of a curve

Pick the first or last CV or edit point.

The type of point you pick (CV or edit point) is the type you will add.

Choose Curve Edit > Modify > Add points .
Click to add the new points.

In orthographic windows, the new points will be in the same plane as the previous point, unless you snap the points to existing geometry.

What if...?

] The curve behaves differently after I add points?

Adding points to the beginning of a curve may affect tools that work differently depending on the direction of a curve.

The Add points tool does not actually add points to the beginning of a curve. If you have picked the first CV or edit point, the tool reverses the curve and then adds the new points to the end.

See Reverse the direction of a curve or surface

Flatten a basic curve onto a plane

Flatten a curve so all its points lie on the same plane. You can flatten the curve onto its average plane, an axis, or an existing reference plane.

You can also link a blend curve to a plane so the blend curve always lies in the plane.

See Flatten a blend curve to a plane

Set up the Curve planarize tool

Choose Curve Edit > Curve planarize .
To flatten curves onto their average planes, set Default Projection Plane to Best.
To flatten curves onto an axis plane, set Default Projection Plane to Axis and then choose the plane.
To flatten curves onto an existing reference plane, set Default Projection Plane to User Defined Plane.

The User Defined Plane option requires a reference plane object.

See Create or edit a reference plane

Flatten a basic curve onto a plane

Choose Curve Edit > Curve planarize .
Click the curves you want to flatten.
Click Go.
If you set the Default Projection Plane option to User Defined Plane, click the reference plane you want to flatten the curves onto.

Flatten a blend curve to a plane

You can link a blend curve to a reference plane so AliasStudio always keeps the curve in the plane.

Flatten a blend curve to a plane

Pick the curve and the reference plane.
Choose Curves > Blend curve toolbox to show an extra floating palette containing the BlendCrv Tools tab.
Choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend curve planarize .

The blend curve and reference plane stay linked, so transforming the reference plane modifies the blend curve.

To unlink the blend curve from the plane, pick them and choose BlendCrv Tools > Blend curve planarize again.

Flatten hull lines onto planes

Project a single row of CVs onto a plane, or all rows of CVs (in either U direction, V direction, or both) onto individual planes.

Each projection plane is either determined by the view direction and the ends of the row, or chosen as the "best-fit" plane that goes through the end CVs of the row.

Bad hull shapes sometimes result from procedural modeling through such tools as Square or Rail surface, or direct manipulation of the CVs.

Planarize hull can be used to provide a good smooth hull shape by arranging the CVs in each row onto separate planes.

To planarize a single row of CVs

Double-click the Surface Edit > Planarize hull icon to open the option box.
Set Type to Single.
Select a row of CVs.

All CVs in that row are automatically projected unto the same plane. If the View Based Plane option was checked, the CVs will appear lined up in the current view.



If the result is not satisfactory, choose Edit > Undo, then reapply the tool with different options `

To planarize all rows of CVs

Double-click the Surface Edit > Planarize hull icon to open the option box.
Set Type to All U, All V or U and V.
Select a surface.
Adjust the option values in the option box.
Press the Go button.

Each row of CVs (in either the U, V or both directions) is automatically projected unto a separate plane. If the View Based Plane option was checked, the CVs will appear lined up in the current view.

If Include Edges is turned off, the first and last rows of CVs will not be affected.





If the result is not satisfactory, change some option values, then press the Recalc button.

The new CV positions are recalculated from the original positions (equivalent to undoing the last operation and reapplying the tool).

Integrate digitized clay model data with modeled surfaces

In a typical clay prototyping workflow, you might follow these steps:

Create a model in AliasStudio.
Mill a clay model from the AliasStudio data.
Reshape the clay model by hand.
Digitize the reshaped parts of the clay model.
Integrate the changes back into the AliasStudio surfaces with the Claymate tool.

How It Works

The Claymate tool works by asking you to select:

surfaces to modify (corresponding to the changed data),
modifier curves or surfaces (the digitized, reshaped data), and
reference surfaces (surfaces that have not changed).

It then uses the modifier curves/surfaces to reshape the original surfaces, while maintaining positional and tangent continuity with the reference surfaces.

To streamline the use of the Claymate tool, you may want to put the surfaces to modify, the modifier curves/surfaces, and the reference surfaces in different layers.

More Uses

You can also use Claymate in other situations that require you to fit surfaces back to modified curves or surfaces. For example:

Create cross-section profile curves from a surface model.
Modify the curves.
Use the Claymate tool to fit the original surfaces to the new profile curves.

To use digitized changed data to reshape surfaces on a model

Pick the surfaces that were changed on the clay version.
Click the Claymate icon, or choose Claymate from the Surface Edit palette menu.

The Claymate Control window appears.

If any of the picked objects are invalid for use with Claymate, the Claymate tool unpicks everything.

Pick any other surfaces that need to be updated, then click Go.
Pick the curves or surfaces that were digitized from the changed sections of the clay model (the modifier curves).

Modifier curves/surfaces that are outside the Min/Max Mod. Distance range are ignored.

Click Go.
Pick all the surfaces on the model that were not changed on the clay version (the reference surfaces) and with which you want the modified surfaces to maintain positional and tangent continuity.

The Claymate tool will maintain continuity with these reference surfaces as it modifies the changed surfaces.

Click Go.

Claymate uses the settings in the Claymate Control window to reshape the surfaces of the model to match the modification curves.

Usually you will want the Auto Recalculate option on to see the effects of changing options interactively. If the surfaces involved are very complex, however, updates may take a long time. Turn Auto Recalculate off and use the Recalculate button at the bottom of the window.

Increasing the number of samples allows finer control over the surfaces, but greatly increases the time required to perform the operation. Calculation time increases linearly with the number of samples on the modifier curves, and with the square of the number of samples on the target surface.