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 tool has two distinct uses and effects based on the setting:
- surfaces start from a set of curves and extend away from the curves at an angle to a pull direction.
Use when you want to make sure a surface can be extracted from an injection mold.
- 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 mode to build a “skirt” surface around the edge of another surface.
Draft/Flange Surface Options
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Set the type of surface created by the tool: or . See the overview above for descriptions of the different modes.
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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.
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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.
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Turn this option on to build draft surfaces on both sides of a curve simultaneously.
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This option only appears if Double Sided is on. Turn it on to build only one surface, extending on both sides of the curve.
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This option appears only when is .
– You will explicitly set the initial pull direction vector.
– The Draft tool will automatically figure out the best initial pull direction each time you use the tool.
The following Vector Options appear only when is .
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Turn this option on if you want to specify the exact degree and number of spans of the or surface.
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The and options only appear if is turned on.
Degree of the draft or flange surface in the U direction. (The surface is always of degree 1 in the V direction.)
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Number of spans of the draft or flange surface in the U direction. (The surface always has a single span in the V direction.)
Vector options
These options appear only when is .
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Select one of these to specify a pull direction along that axis.
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Select this option to specify a pull direction normal to the current view. The vector is not drawn in the view windows.
If the current view is changed, click to update the vector.
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Selecting this option lets you specify the name of an existing vector in the field, or pick the vector in the view. This vector defines the pull direction.
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This option is selected automatically when you update the pull direction by manually modifying the manipulator in the view.
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This button only appears if is selected. Click it to update the vector if the view has been modified.
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Click this button to create a vector construction object in the view windows. Unless you do this, the vector direction you
specified is used by the tool, but you will not see and be able to re-use the vector.
Control options
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Save the history for later editing. If you turn on , you can edit the original curves and the draft/flange surface will automatically update.