Loft Property Editor

 
 
 

Loft creates a surface or polygon mesh that spans a series of cross-sectional profile curves.

To apply: See Lofting Curves [Modeling and Deformation Basics].

To redisplay: Select the lofted object then choose Edit Properties Modeling Properties and click the Loft tab.

Inputs

Hide/Unhide

Hides all the inputs for the generated object to simplify the display of your scene in the 3D views, or unhides the inputs when you need to modify them.

Delete

Freezes the generator and deletes the inputs. This simplifies the scene once you are satisfied that you won't need to modify the inputs again.

Automatic Uvs

Generate

Automatically generates explicit texture UV coordinates. The UVs created in this way are evenly spaced according to the number of segments (edges or knot curves) in each direction.

The UV generation is "live". If you change the number of subdivisions set in the generator operator, the UV coordinates are automatically updated. If you change the number of subdivisions after you have manually edited the UVs, you probably won't get desirable results because the UV indices have changed. If you freeze the UV coordinates, the generator operator is frozen as well.

Clicking this button multiple times does not generate multiple UV projections.

Subdivisions

Subdivision Type

Determines how you specify the number of subdivisions in the result.

  • Per Span uses the "natural" subdivisions as determined by the shapes of the inputs. You can subdivide each segment further using the U and V span sliders.

    In this case, discontinuities resulting from multiknots in the inputs are preserved in the generated objects.

  • Absolute allows you to set the total number of subdivisions using the U and V abs sliders.

U, V span

The number of subdivisions corresponding to each segment of the inputs, when Subdivision Type is Per Span.

U, V abs

The total number of subdivisions, when Subdivision Type is Absolute.

Start, End Surface

These parameters apply only when the first or last curve in the loft operation is a curve on a surface; e.g. a boundary or isoline.

Continuity at Surface Curve

The continuity between the lofted surface and the original input surface.

  • (G0) Position The lofted surface begins or ends at the position of the surface curve but does not take into account the tangent or curvature of the surface. The result can be a sharp edge between the lofted surface and the input surface.

  • (G1) Tangent The tangent of the lofted surface is aligned with the tangent of the input surface at the boundary. The result is a smooth transition from the lofted surface to the original surface.

  • (G2) Normal The normal of the lofted surface is aligned with the normal of the input surface at the boundary. This results in an even smoother transition between the surfaces.

Scale Factor

Affects the extent of influence of the original input surface's shape on the lofted surface. This parameter does not apply when Continuity at Surface Curve is (G0) Position.

Tangent Direction Match

Applies continuity between the lofted surface and the original input surface laterally (i.e., in V). Again, this parameter does not apply when Continuity at Surface Curve is (G0) Position.

Open/Close

Specifies whether the lofted surface is open or closed in U and V. These option work only if the corresponding input curves are open. If the input curves are closed, the surface will always be closed in the corresponding direction.