Surfaces > Draft surfaces

Creates ruled surfaces (surfaces that are flat in some direction at every point) by pulling a surface from a curve or surface curve in a given direction, or by pulling a surface curve at an angle to the surface normal.

About the tool

The Draft/flange tool has two distinct uses and effects based on the Mode setting:

Draft surfaces start from a set of curves and extend away from the curves at an angle to a pull direction.

Use Draft when you want to make sure a surface can be extracted from an injection mold.

Flange surfaces start from a set of isoparametric curves, surface edges or curves on surface, and extend away at an angle to the original surface.

For example, you can use Flange mode to build a "skirt" surface around the edge of another surface.

Options

> Common Options

Mode

Set the type of surface created by the tool: Draft or Flange. See the overview above for descriptions of the different modes.

Angle

The initial angle of the surface from the pull direction/normal. You can change this value using the draft angle/surface depth manipulator when you use the tool.

Surface Depth

The initial depth of the surface from the original curves. You can change this value using the draft angle/surface distance manipulator when you use the tool.

Explicit Control

Turn this option on if you want to specify the exact degree and number of spans of the Draft or Flange surface.

The Degree and Spans options only appear if Explicit Control is turned on.

Degree

Degree of the draft or flange surface in the U direction. (The surface is always of degree 1 in the V direction.)

Spans

Number of spans of the draft or flange surface in the U direction. (The surface always has a single span in the V direction.)

Create History

Save the Draft history for later editing. If you turn on Create History, you can edit the original curves and the draft/flange surface will automatically update.

These options appear when Mode is Draft.

> Draft Options

Pull Direction

Automatic: the Draft tool will automatically figure out the best initial pull direction each time you use the tool.

This option appears when Pull Direction is User Defined.

Presets

Click X, Y, or Z to set the "Up" Rotation option to one of the cardinal axes.

This option appears when Pull Direction is User Defined.

"Up" Rotation

Enter three values (X, Y, and Z rotation) to define the initial pull direction. You can change this value using the pull direction manipulator when you use the tool.

Vector

The name of the reference vector that represents the pull direction. To use a reference vector to set the pull direction, either click the vector or enter its name in the Vector field.