Surface Editing

Editing Surfaces Topic Collection 1
Editing Surfaces
Surface Connections........................................................................................................................................... 2
To Connect Surfaces....................................................................................................................................... 2
Connection Options......................................................................................................................................... 3
To Connect a Native CDRS Surface to a Foreign Surface............................................................................. 3
To Match the Edges of Foreign Surfaces........................................................................................................ 3
To Create Centerline Tangency for a Foreign Surface ................................................................................... 4
To Share a Partial Foreign Boundary.............................................................................................................. 4
About Surface Connections............................................................................................................................. 4
About Preparing for Connections .................................................................................................................... 5
About Determining Connection Levels............................................................................................................ 5
About Matched Surfaces................................................................................................................................. 6
About Tangent Continuous Connections ........................................................................................................ 6
Symmetric Connections............................................................................................................................... 6
Leader/Follower Connections...................................................................................................................... 6
About Curvature Continuous Surfaces............................................................................................................ 7
About Establishing Connections...................................................................................................................... 7
About Connection Limitations.......................................................................................................................... 8
About Using Tangent Ribbons to Create an Informal Connection.................................................................. 9
Internal Curves.................................................................................................................................................. 13
To Add or Remove Internal Curves............................................................................................................... 13
Limitations for Internal Curves....................................................................................................................... 13
Boundary Influence ........................................................................................................................................... 14
To Modify the Boundary Influence on a Rectangular Surface ...................................................................... 14
Example: Changing Influence ....................................................................................................................... 15
To Modify an N-sided Surface....................................................................................................................... 15
Boundary Influence Options.......................................................................................................................... 15
Example: Influence for N-sided Surface........................................................................................................ 16
Trim Surfaces.................................................................................................................................................... 16
To Trim a Surface.......................................................................................................................................... 16
About Trimming Surfaces.............................................................................................................................. 16
About Trimming Locked Surfaces ................................................................................................................. 18
Tangent Ribbons............................................................................................................................................... 18
About Using Ribbons to Create and Informal Connection ............................................................................ 18
To Modify the Surface Tangent Ribbon......................................................................................................... 22
Example: Tangent Ribbon............................................................................................................................. 22
Tangent Ribbon Options ............................................................................................................................... 22
Tip: Tangent Ribbon...................................................................................................................................... 23
About Trimming Surfaces.............................................................................................................................. 23
2 Editing Surfaces Topic Collection
Control Tools ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
To Modify a Surface Using the Control Tool.................................................................................................. 24
Example: Modifying Surface Control Points .................................................................................................. 25
To Modify a Foreign Surface Using the Control Tool .................................................................................... 25
Example: Modifying a Foreign Surfaces Control Points ............................................................................... 26
To Modify Rows of Control Points on Foreign Surfaces................................................................................ 26
To Move a Surface Point With the Sculpt Tool.............................................................................................. 26
Example: Sculpt a Surface with a Single Point.............................................................................................. 27
To Move a Surface Region With the Sculpt Tool........................................................................................... 27
Example: Sculpting a Surface Region........................................................................................................... 28
To Sculpt an N-Sided Surface....................................................................................................................... 28
Example: Sculpting an N-sided Surface........................................................................................................ 28
To Fit a Surface to a Set of Scaffolds............................................................................................................ 28
Example: Fitting a Surface to Scaffolds......................................................................................................... 29
Tips for Fitting a Surface to Scaffolds............................................................................................................ 29
About Surface Control Points ........................................................................................................................ 30
Surface Connections
To Connect Surfaces
How a surface connects, or blends, with neighboring surfaces depends on the association of the boundary
curves. For more information, see the navigator topics for surface connections. The default surface connection
type is specified in the Model preferences folder. You can change the connection level between surfaces at any
time with the Connect tool, but you will need to do this less frequently if you set the preference to the
connection type you use most often.
This procedure is valid for connecting native CDRS surfaces. To connect a native surface to a foreign surface,
or to connect two surfaces, see the navigator topics for surface connections.
1. Select the Connect tool from the Surface Edit container.
2. From the Connect dialog box, choose whether you want to view connections between the selected surfaces
and all surfaces that have connections with them, or connections only between the selected surfaces.
3. Choose the surfaces that are to have their connections changed.
After you select the surfaces, CDRS highlights the surfaces that have existing connections with the
selection set and displays the appropriate connection symbol. Connections that cannot be changed, such
as those between a fillet and its base surfaces, are displayed in a different color than those that are
modifiable. Connection display includes the following symbols:
Matched
Tangent symmetric
Tangent leader/follower
Curvature leader/follower
The arrow on the leader and follower connection points from the leader surface to the follower surface.
Arrow symbols are not displayed across a boundary where no connection is possible.
4. Change any of the displayed connections by clicking the connection symbols:
Click the arrowhead to remove it.
Click the end of the bar to add an arrow.
Click the middle of the bar to switch to tangent or curvature connection.
SHI FT + click the middle of the bar to get back to matched. A matched connection has no connection
except the shared boundary curve.
5. When you are satisfied with the connections you have made, click Done to exit the operation or click Next
to select a new set of surfaces for connections.
Connection Options
Surface connection actions are summarized in the following table.

From To Place to Click
Leader/ follower Symmetric Arrowhead
Symmetric Leader/ follower End of bar
Leader/ follower Follower/ leader End of bar
Matched Tangent Middle of bar
Tangent Curvature Middle of bar
Curvature Tangent Middle of bar
Tangent Matched SHI FT+click middle of
bar
Curvature Matched SHI FT+click middle of
bar

To Connect a Native CDRS Surface to a Foreign Surface
2. Select a native surface.
3. Select a foreign surface.
4. Use the connection arrows to determine the connection, making the native surface the follower and the
foreign surface the leader.
To Match the Edges of Foreign Surfaces
You can match the edges of foreign surfaces with match or tangent continuity. The connection can be either
symmetric or leader/follower. Foreign surfaces that you connect must have the same number of rows of control
points along the connection boundary. Use the Mesh tool to create or remove rows of control points.
3. Set the connection options to match or blend surfaces.
Match the surfaces share a common boundary, but do not share tangency.
Tangent the surface share a common boundary and also share tangency along every point of the
boundary.
4. Select another foreign surface. Notice that the edge closest to the edge of the first surface is highlighted.
5. Cycle through all the possible edge-matching choices by selecting Next on the prompt line. When the set
of edges you want is highlighted, continue with the procedure.
6. Click Compute.
7. If necessary, change the options in the dialog and click Compute again.
8. Click Done to complete the connection.
To Create Centerline Tangency for a Foreign Surface
You can create a centerline tangency condition for a foreign surface, which constrains the surface boundarys
tangents to be perpendicular to the current edit plane. This ensures that the model does not have a crease
when mirrored across the centerline.
2. Select the Connect tool from the Foreign container.
3. Click Centerline.
4. Click Compute.
To Share a Partial Foreign Boundary
You can create a connection between foreign surfaces that only share a partial boundary. This ensures that the
model does not have a crease when mirrored across the centerline.
2. Select the Connect tool from the Foreign container.
3. Select Partial Boundary.
4. If necessary, cycle through the edge choices by pressing Next until the edge you want is chosen.
5. Click and drag the edge highlights to define boundaries where the surfaces will connect. To avoid distortion,
the larger surface is always chosen as the one connected over the partial boundary.
6. Click Compute.
About Surface Connections
When you understand continuity levels for curves, you can understand the matched, tangent, and curvature
continuity levels for surfaces. Surface continuity is described with some of the same terms:
Matched (G
0
) means the surfaces share a common boundary, but there is no shared tangent or curvature
across the boundary.
Tangent (G
1
) means that the two surfaces have a common boundary, and that at every point along that
boundary they are tangent to each other.
Curvature (G
2
) means that the surfaces are, first, tangent continuous across the boundary. In addition, the
surfaces share curvature along the common boundary.
About Preparing for Connections
In order for any connection to be made across two surfaces, adjoining curves must be matched. Also, the
boundary curve in between the surfaces must be shared.
Adjoining curves
must be matched
This curve must
be shared -
used to define
both surfaces
The shared boundary curve must be the exact same curve. Coincident curves that have different identification
numbers, no matter how similar they are in shape, will cause CDRS to assume that no connection can be made
across the surfaces.
If the surfaces share the same portion of the boundary curve, as in the example above, the connection level in
the adjoining curves determine the connection levels available for the surfaces.
If the surfaces share only a partial boundary, as in the example below, then a curve to surface connection must
be made at the partial boundary.
Curve connected
directly to surface
Partial boundary
shared
The boundary curve of the partial surface must be connected to the full surface in order to create a surface
connection.
About Determining Connection Levels
The level of continuity that your surface maintains depends on the level of continuity of the boundary curves as
well as the connection that you specify for the surfaces.
Note: A pair of surfaces cannot have a higher level of continuity than is present in the boundary
curves.
For example, if the boundary curves have tangent continuity, the surfaces cannot have curvature continuity.
Surfaces can have a lower level of continuity than the boundary curves. If the boundary curves have curvature
continuity, the surfaces can have matched or tangent continuity (as well as curvature continuity).
There is a relationship between the continuity of the boundary curves and the continuity of the resulting
surfaces. Keep in mind that setting a surface continuity level means that you are setting the minimum level. If
you set a formal tangent connection between surfaces and then create normal highlights, the highlights may
indicate that the surfaces are curvature continuous.
An excellent way to understand surface continuity is by creating normal highlight sections using the Analysis
menu.
About Matched Surfaces
Matched surfaces share boundary location onlyno blending occurs across the boundaries.
No curve connections
at endpoints
Surfaces do
not blend
With matched surfaces, a crease might exist along the shared boundary.
About Tangent Continuous Connections
If the boundary curves are joined tangentially, the surfaces can have tangent continuitythey can blend
tangentially across the shared boundary curve. However, they cannot be curvature continuous.
Curves connected
tangentially at
endpoints
Surfaces blend
tangentially across
the boundary
curve
With tangent continuity, you can create either symmetric or leader/follower connections.
Symmetric Connections
Surfaces with symmetric connections blend smoothly across their boundaries with tangent continuity. If you
make changes to one surface, its neighbor across the symmetric boundary also changes. Each surface has
equal weight in defining the surface tangents.
Leader/Follower Connections
One surface retains its shape (the leader) while an adjoining (follower) surface changes to blend smoothly
across the boundary. The leader surface gets no influence from its neighbor.
About Curvature Continuous Surfaces
If the boundary curves have a curvature join, then the surfaces share both tangency and curvature across the
boundary.
Curves connected
with curvature at
endpoints
Surfaces blend
with curvature
continuity across
boundary curve
Curvature connections are always leader/follower connections. One surface retains its shape (the leader) while
an adjoining (follower) surface changes to blend smoothly across the boundary. The leader surface gets no
influence from its neighbor.
About Establishing Connections
Surfaces in CDRS have three basic types of associations, or connections, with the adjoining surfaces:
Symmetric
Tangent
leader/follower*
Curvat ure
leader/follower*
*Arrow points
from the leader
to the foll ower
Matched
CDRS will try to establish connections between neighboring surfaces as you create them, if you want. In the
Preferences editor, you can specify symmetric, create (which means that the first surface you create is the
leader and the others are followers), or no default connection type. No matter what the default connections are,
you can always explicitly modify any connections between two surfaces.
The following table shows the types of connections that are available for different surface types. The table lists
possible connections based on the following rules:
Only a rectangular surface can be designated as a curvature follower.
Sweeps and offset surfaces are always leader surfaces.
Triangular surfaces cannot have curvature continuity.
N-sided surfaces can be tangent leaders or followers, and they can be curvature leaders.

Leader
Surface
Follower
Surface
Symmetric Tangent Curvature
Triangular Triangular Yes Yes No
Triangular Rectangular Yes Yes No
Triangular Sweep No No No
Triangular N-sided Yes Yes No
Rectangular Triangular Yes Yes No
Rectangular Rectangular Yes Yes Yes
Rectangular Sweep No No No
Rectangular N-sided Yes Yes No
Sweep Triangular No Yes No
Sweep Rectangular No Yes Yes
Sweep Sweep No No No
Sweep N-sided No Yes No
N-sided Triangular Yes Yes No
N-sided Rectangular Yes Yes Yes
N-sided Sweep No No No
N-sided N-sided Yes Yes No

About Connection Limitations
There are connection limitations for a surface that meets two surfaces at a corner. You cannot make this
surface a follower to both surfaces that it meets. It can only be approximately curvature to the leader surfaces,
due to a mathematical restriction. It is better to make the surface a follower to one surface and a leader to the
other, like the figure below.
This surface cannot be a follower to
both of the other surfaces
Also, when surfaces are connected over a partial boundary, the narrower surface must be a follower to the full
surface.
Partial boundary
shared
This surface must
be the follower
About Using Tangent Ribbons to Create an Informal Connection
If you are unable to create a connection between two surfaces, you might want to use surface tangent ribbons
to blend across surface boundaries. The model below illustrates the usefulness of tangent ribbons.
Crease bet ween
surfaces
The crease between the two surfaces exists because it is impossible to create a formal connection at this
boundary. The curve between the upper and lower corner surfaces is connected to the upper side surface.
This surface is
connected
to
this boundary
curve.
The same curve cannot be used to connect with the lower side surface also. This leaves no way to connect the
bottom corner surface to the lower side surface. Use the Ribbon tool to modify these surfaces and create a
smooth blend between them.
Boundary
normals are
not aligned
Upon entering the Ribbon tool, normals are displayed along the boundaries of both surfaces. To create a
smooth blend between the surfaces, you have to align these normals.
The normals at the ends of the ribbon cannot be changed because they are governed by the boundary curves.
Typically, you will add a tangent handle somewhere in the middle of the ribbon. You will probably focus on an
area of high curvature. If one tangent handle is not enough, add a second to align all boundary normals along
the ribbon.
Tangent handl e
added using
align option
Boundary normals
are ali gned
Shaded surfaces display the smooth blend that has been made between the bottom surfaces:
Internal Curves
To Add or Remove Internal Curves
This operation adds or removes internal curves to rectangular surfaces and sweeps.
1. Select the Internal tool.
2. Choose one or more surfaces to edit. Any existing internal curves are highlighted.
3. Add new internal curves by selecting them and remove existing ones by deselecting them.
4. Select Accept when the highlighted curves indicate the set you want.
Limitations for Internal Curves
There are limitations to internal curves:
You cannot add a COS as an internal curve.
You can only add internal curves to rectangular surfaces and blend surfaces. You cannot add them to triangular
or N-sided surfaces.
You can only add extra profile curves to sweep surfaces, not extra guide curves.
Internal curves cannot intersect consecutive boundaries.
Right Wrong
Internal curves must either have matched points or be within the Same Point tolerance wherever they
intersect the surface or other internal curves.
Intersection points
wehre curves cross
boundaries or other
curves
If two internal curves cross the same borders, they cannot intersect within the surface.
Right Wrong
The internal curve must intersect both borders of the surface.
Right Wrong Wrong
An internal curve cannot intersect the surface boundary at more than two points.
Right Wrong
Boundary Influence
To Modify the Boundary Influence on a Rectangular Surface
Use boundary influence to change the shape of a rectangular or an N-sided surface. The controls vary
depending on the type of surface that you are modifying. For more information about boundary influence for N-
sided surfaces, see the navigator topics for boundary influence.
A rectangular surface has four defining curves. The opposite curves are blended together to create the shape of
the surface. As default, opposing curves have equal influence on the surface. You can use the Influence tool
to give a curve more influence over the shape of the surface.
1. Select a surface. This surface must be rectangular, have no internal curves, and not be a curvature
follower.
2. Select the Influence tool to open the Boundary Influence dialog box. The boundary curves are labeled on
the screen. The operation works on pairs of curves: 1 and 2, 3 and 4.
3. Move the slider or enter a value to increase or decrease the influence of a curve. Each slider bar controls
the influence of the curves at opposite sides of the surface. Increasing the influence for one curve
decreases the influence of the opposing curve. For example, if curve 1 has 85 percent of the influence, then
curve 2 would only have 15 percent.
The amount the surface that changes depends on the shape of the opposing curves and neighboring
surface connections.
4. When you are finished changing the surface, select Done.
Example: Changing Influence
Equal influence from all curves Curve 2 with more influence
To Modify an N-sided Surface
Boundary influence for N-sided surfaces works somewhat differently than its counterpart on a rectangular
surface. For N-sided surfaces, the shape is adjusted based on the length of the boundary tangent along each
edge.
1. Select an N-sided surface.
2. Select the Influence tool to open the N-Sided Influence dialog box. CDRS displays vectors on the surface
that show the direction and magnitude of the applied boundary influence.
3. Select an edge (boundary curve) or a vertex that you want to edit.
4. Click and drag the vector to change the magnitude of the influence or enter a value in the dialog box.
There are two vectors displayed. One is a unit vector that cannot be modifiedit shows the direction. You
can click and drag the other vector to change the magnitude.
5. Continue to select edges and vertices to adjust the influence.
6. Select Compute to create the new surface at any time.
7. When you are finished changing the surface, select Done.
Boundary Influence Options
To change the influence for all edges or vertices at the same time, select All from the Adjust options.
Select an edge option to adjust the influence of edges. CDRS computes a new boundary tangent along each
edge by adding a component based on the boundary influence value and the Edge Options selection. The
differences in surface creation for each of the options are subtle. Try both options and decide which one creates
the best surface.
Normal to Edge the component added to the boundary influence is perpendicular to the edge at each
point.
Constant Along Edge the component added to the boundary influence has a constant direction along
the entire edge.
Example: Influence for N-sided Surface
Normal to Edge Constant along Edge
Trim Surfaces
To Trim a Surface
A trim is a portion of a surface whose attributes can be different than the rest of the surface and is typically
created using a dropped COS. Use the Trim tool to trim a surface with a COS or to modify the trimming of an
existing trimmed surface.
1. Select the Trim tool.
2. Select a surface or surfaces that have a COS, or select an already trimmed surface and then click Accept.
3. Click one or more COSs. Remove trimming by clicking highlighted COSs, or add trimming by selecting new
COSs.
4. Select Accept when you have defined the set of curves to trim with.
5. Select portions of the trim that you want to delete, if any, and click Done.
About Trimming Surfaces
A trim is a portion of a surface that can have different attributes from the rest of the surface. For example, a
trimmed portion can be cut out of the surface, much like cutting out a wheel well in a fender.
Trimmed
portion
A trim can also have a different material associated with it, such as a stripe across a surface.
Trim assigned
a different
material
You can create a trimmed surface from an existing surface by specifying a set of curves on surface that partition
the original surface into two or more pieces. These curves on surface must intersect the surfaces boundaries or
be closed within the surface.
In the previous illustration, you can think of the trim result as really being three separate surfaces: the left piece,
the stripe, and the right piece. The original surface that was trimmed is still in the model and is the full or
base surface, but CDRS only displays either the trimmed surface or the base surface, not both at the same
time. You can delete the trimmed pieces independently. If you delete all of them, CDRS redisplays the base
surface. If you delete the base surface, CDRS deletes its trims at the same time.
Since the trimmed surface uses COSs, modifications to the base surfaces boundary curves also change the
shape of the trimmed surface.
CDRS allows multiple levels of trimming. If you trim a surface once, you can also trim it again.
Trim on a
trimmed portion
Trimmed portion
The results of trimming in multiple levels are exactly the same as if you trim with all the curves on surface in a
single operation.
About Trimming Locked Surfaces
When you trim a locked surface, there is a difference between locking the full surface and locking individual
trimmed surfaces. Lock a full surface to preserve its overall shape instead of the shape of individual trimmed
surfaces. As long as all of the individual trimmed surfaces on a surface are unlocked, the Trim tool has exactly
the same effect. It does not matter whether the full surface is locked.
In contrast, locking an individual trim preserves the shape of the trim itself, so you can only trim if you do not
change the locked trimmed surfaces. You cannot select the Trim tool for a locked trim.
Note: When you delete a surface, CDRS will not delete a full surface or trim that is locked.
If you unlock a trimmed surface, you are given the option to leave the base surface locked. This allows trim
regions to change without changing the underlying shape.
Tangent Ribbons
About Using Ribbons to Create and Informal Connection
If you are unable to create a connection between two surfaces, you might want to use surface tangent ribbons
to blend across surface boundaries. The model below illustrates the usefulness of tangent ribbons.
Crease bet ween
surfaces
The crease between the two surfaces exists because it is impossible to create a formal connection at this
boundary. The curve between the upper and lower corner surfaces is connected to the upper side surface.
This surface is
connected
to
this boundary
curve.
The same curve cannot be used to connect with the lower side surface also. This leaves no way to connect the
bottom corner surface to the lower side surface. Use the Ribbon tool to modify these surfaces and create a
smooth blend between them.
Boundary
normals are
not aligned
Upon entering the Ribbon tool, normals are displayed along the boundaries of both surfaces. To create a
smooth blend between the surfaces, you have to align these normals.
The normals at the ends of the ribbon cannot be changed because they are governed by the boundary curves.
Typically, you will add a tangent handle somewhere in the middle of the ribbon. You will probably focus on an
area of high curvature. If one tangent handle is not enough, add a second to align all boundary normals along
the ribbon.
Tangent handl e
added using
align option
Boundary normals
are ali gned
Shaded surfaces display the smooth blend that has been made between the bottom surfaces:
To Modify the Surface Tangent Ribbon
Use the Ribbon tool to modify the direction of a surface tangent ribbon across a surface boundary. Surface
ribbon display includes the normal of both the selected surface and the adjacent surface along the selected
boundary curve, as well as tangent ribbon for the selected surface.
1. Select a surface.
2. Select the Ribbon tool to open the Tangent Ribbon dialog box.
3. Select the boundary curve that you want to modify. The ribbon that is displayed is for information only. You
need to add a tangent handle that you can adjust.
4. Select one of the Tangent options and click add (+) to add a tangent to the ribbon.
5. Click on the active boundary curve to position the new tangent.
6. Continue adding tangents until you are satisfied, but keep the number of added tangents to a minimum. The
tangents at each end of the ribbon are defined by the adjacent boundary curves and therefore remain fixed,
but the added tangents modify the internal shape of the ribbon.
7. To modify an added tangent, select it. Type in a relative angle and press ENTER to modify the ribbon.
8. Delete any tangents that you no longer want by selecting them and clicking the minus () button or
DELETE. Delete all the tangents with the all option. You cannot delete the default tangents from the
ribbon.
Example: Tangent Ribbon
Normals of adjacent
surfaces
Tangent ribbon
Tangent Ribbon Options
Select one of the Tangent options in the dialog box to define the orientation of a new tangent to the ribbon.
Align makes the added tangent on the active surface align with the neighboring surface.
Horizontal makes the added tangent horizontal in the current view.
Vertical makes the added tangent vertical in the current view.
Centerline makes the added tangent normal to the centerline plane.
Control the display of the ribbon using the options in the Ribbon container of the dialog box:
Number the number of tangents displayed along the tangent ribbon.
Size the size of the tangents on the tangent ribbon.
Tip: Tangent Ribbon
Typically, the Ribbon tool is used only in complex modeling situations when surfaces are not connected. Use
this tool to fake a connection between surfaces. It is also useful to create centerline conditions for surfaces.
When the two sets of normals are aligned, the two surfaces are tangent to each other. For more information,
see the navigator topics for tangent ribbons.
About Trimming Surfaces
A trim is a portion of a surface that can have different attributes from the rest of the surface. For example, a
trimmed portion can be cut out of the surface, much like cutting out a wheel well in a fender.
Trimmed
portion
A trim can also have a different material associated with it, such as a stripe across a surface.
Trim assigned
a different
material
You can create a trimmed surface from an existing surface by specifying a set of curves on surface that partition
the original surface into two or more pieces. These curves on surface must intersect the surfaces boundaries or
be closed within the surface.
In the previous illustration, you can think of the trim result as really being three separate surfaces: the left piece,
the stripe, and the right piece. The original surface that was trimmed is still in the model and is the full or
base surface, but CDRS only displays either the trimmed surface or the base surface, not both at the same
time. You can delete the trimmed pieces independently. If you delete all of them, CDRS redisplays the base
surface. If you delete the base surface, CDRS deletes its trims at the same time.
Since the trimmed surface uses COSs, modifications to the base surfaces boundary curves also change the
shape of the trimmed surface.
CDRS allows multiple levels of trimming. If you trim a surface once, you can also trim it again.
Trim on a
trimmed portion
Trimmed portion
The results of trimming in multiple levels are exactly the same as if you trim with all the curves on surface in a
single operation.
Control Tools
To Modify a Surface Using the Control Tool
Use the Control tool to move the control points of a B-spline surface. CDRS displays and allows modification
of the internal control points, which do not affect the continuity across surface borders.
2. Select the Control tool.
3. Click and drag a single control point, or press CONTROL + click to select multiple control points to move
them.
4. You can also use a region box to select multiple control points. Click and drag to create a region box for
selecting. Press CONTROL+click and drag to add the control points from the region box to the selection set.
5. Hold down SHI FT to lock the drag motion to be vertical or horizontal.
6. Hold down CONTROL + SHI FT to lock the drag motion normal to the surface.
7. For additional control of the surface, double-click the Control tool. The Control Points dialog opens, which
operates just like the Transform dialog.
8. Select Done when you are finished editing the surface.
Example: Modifying Surface Control Points
To Modify a Foreign Surface Using the Control Tool
Use the Control tool to move the control points of a foreign surface.
2. Select the Control tool from the Surface Edit container.
3. Click and drag a single control point, or press CONTROL+click to select multiple control points to move
them.
You can also use a region box to select multiple control points. Click and drag to create a region box. Press
CONTROL+click and drag to add the control points from the region box to the selection set.
4. Press SHI FT to lock the drag motion vertical or horizontal.
5. Press CONTROL + SHI FT to lock the drag motion normal to the surface.
6. To constrain the control points along the boundary, press the right-mouse button on a selected boundary
control point and choose an option from the pop-up menu:
Free no constraints.
Match the control points along that boundary are not allowed to move.
Tangent the boundary control points are not allowed to move, and the first interior row of control points
is constrained to move along the tangent at the boundary.
Curvature includes the same constraints as Tangent, and also contrains the second interior row of
control points to maintain the curvature value at the boundary.
7. For additional control of the surface, double-click the Control tool. The Control Points dialog opens, which
operates just like the transform dialog.
8. Select Done when you are finished editing the surface.
Example: Modifying a Foreign Surfaces Control Points
To Modify Rows of Control Points on Foreign Surfaces
The Mesh tool is used on foreign surfaces only. Use it to add, delete, and move rows of control points on
foreign surfaces. You will typically use the Mesh tool to help you prepare foreign surfaces for connections, or to
increase or decrease the flexibility of a surface before you modify it with the Control tool.
1. Select the Mesh tool from the Surface Edit container.
3. Click and drag a row to move it.
4. To add a row of control points, place the cursor where the new row is needed and press the PLUS (+) key.
Adding a row does not change the shape of the surface, but does adjust the location of nearby rows.
5. To delete a row of control points, place the cursor on the row and press the MI NUS (-) key. Deleting a row
changes the shape of the surface by making it uniformly parameterized, but does not change the location of
the other rows of control points.
6. To pivot a row, press CONTROL + SHI FT and click on the end of the row that you want to move. The other
end of the row remains fixed.
7. Click Done when you have finished the modifications.
To Move a Surface Point With the Sculpt Tool
Use the Sculpt tool to control the shape of the internal regions of a surface. Dynamic Sculpting retains all
connections to associated surfaces, so only the active surface changes. Surfaces neighboring the sculpted
surface remain unchanged.
Use a single point to add blisters to a surface. You can also sculpt using a surface region. For more information,
see the navigator topics.
2. Select the Sculpt tool to open the Sculpt dialog box.
3. Select a point on the surface. The point that you select becomes highlighted. It does not necessarily have to
be one of the points on the control mesh.
4. Drag the surface point to a new position.
5. Click the New Point Select option to sculpt the surface using a different point.
6. Click Done when the surface has the required shape.
Example: Sculpt a Surface with a Single Point
Surface pulled
up to form a
blister
To Move a Surface Region With the Sculpt Tool
The region determines how much of the surface is to be modified when it is sculpted. This is directly related to
the B-spline control points. If a large region is selected, then the changes made to the surface affect more of the
surface.
With this sculpting option, CDRS might add more control points to the surface. You need to be aware of the
relationship of these control points and how they are used on the surface. Too many control points can make
the surface heavy, which could cause problems when the surface information is transferred to systems other
than CDRS.
1. Select the Sculpt tool to open the Sculpt dialog box.
2. To define a region, click the plus (+) button in the dialog box.
3. Click and drag to define the region. The shape of the surface will not change outside of the sculpting region.
4. Use the Area options to determine the shape of the surface loft. These options will also affect how many
rows of control points are added to the surface.
5. Select a point on the surface within the region.
6. Drag the point on the surface.
7. When you are satisfied, click Merge to shape the surface.
8. You can click the minus () button in the dialog box to delete the region, if desired.
Example: Sculpting a Surface Region
Regi on of
surface
affected by
sculpt
Point used to
sculpt the surface
To Sculpt an N-Sided Surface
Use the Sculpt tool for center-point control of N-sided surfaces. When you select an N-sided surface and the
Sculpt tool, CDRS displays a normal at the center of the surface. Sculpt the surface with the normalby
dragging it, or by reversing and dragging it.
Example: Sculpting an N-sided Surface
To Fit a Surface to a Set of Scaffolds
Use the Fit tool to modify a surface to a least-squares approximation of a set of scaffolds. The surface
approximates the scaffolds and maintains the four original boundaries.
2. Select the Fit tool.
3. Select a set of scaffolds. Add or remove scaffolds by selecting them. If you select a highlighted scaffold, it is
removed it from the set. Selecting unhighlighted scaffolds adds them to the current set.
4. Use the Fit slider bar to balance accuracy against surface quality by controlling the fit of the selected
scaffolds on the surface. If you increase the tightness of the fit, the surface lies closer to the scaffold data. If
you loosen the fit, the resulting surface might be smoother, depending on the roughness of the data being
fitted.
5. Use the options in the Fit dialog box to evaluate the results:
Show Max Error displays the maximum distance of any of the scaffold points from the resulting surface.
CDRS shows the scaffold point that is farthest from the surface, and it displays the distance to the surface.
Show Control Mesh displays the spline control mesh for the surface.
6. If necessary, continue reducing the error between the surface and scaffolds. You can use the Fit slider bar
to reduce the error, or you could add more degrees of freedom to the surface. Add points to the boundary
curves and update the original surface to add more degrees of freedom.
Example: Fitting a Surface to Scaffolds
Scaffolds
Surface deformed to
fit the scaffold data
Tips for Fitting a Surface to Scaffolds
Remember the following information when you fit surfaces to scaffolds:
CDRS does not add any more degrees of freedom during the approximation.
If you have any internal curves on the surface, CDRS does not take them into account during the
approximation.
Surfaces you modify by fitting them to scaffolds cannot have follower connections to other surfaces.
Instead, they must be leaders. CDRS deletes any existing follower or symmetric connections when you
begin the modification.
You do not have to trim the scaffolds to make them lie inside the surface before you use them for surface
fitting. CDRS projects scaffold points onto the existing surface to estimate which ones should be used in the
fitting process. It discards any points that fail the projection or that project to the boundaries.
Transforming a scaffold-fitted surface also moves any associated scaffolds. Duplicating is safer because it
copies the scaffolds.
If you delete a scaffold that has been used to fit a surface, CDRS removes the reference to it from the
surface and marks the surface as out-of-date.
About Surface Control Points
The Control, Sculpt, and Mesh tools use the control points of the surface (B-spline control points). These
control points, normally not displayed for most CDRS operations, make up a grid on the surface that can be
used for surface modification.
Cont rol
points
B
Boundary curves
intersecting internal curves................................13
Boundary influence
for N-sided surfaces ..........................................14
for rectangular surfaces.....................................13
modifying surfaces ............................................13
C
Centerline tangency
creating for foreign surface..............................2, 3
Connect
using for foreign surfaces...................................2
using surface Connect tool ..................................1
Connections
allowable leader/follower .....................................6
changing surface.................................................1
limitations for surfaces.........................................7
surface symbols ..................................................1
surface types .......................................................6
Constant along Edge
boundary influence option .................................15
Continuity
surface levels ...................................................... 3
Control
using surface Control tool ................................. 23
for foreign surfaces........................................ 24
Control points
modifying foreign surfaces ................................ 24
modifying rows for foreign surfaces .................. 25
modifying surfaces ............................................ 23
surface............................................................... 29
COS
understanding trims..................................... 16, 23
Curvature connections
understanding surfaces....................................... 5
Curves
connecting to surface.......................................... 4
F
Fit
using surface Fit tool ......................................... 27
Foreign surfaces
creating centerline tangency ........................... 2, 3
editing
connections ..................................................... 2
control point mesh......................................... 25
control points ................................................. 24
matching edges................................................... 2
G
Geometry
establishing surface connections........................ 6
I
Influence
surface edit tool, for N-sided surfaces .............. 14
surface edit tool, for rectangular surfaces......... 13
Internal curves
limitations .......................................................... 12
using Internal tool .............................................. 12
L
Leader
allowable surface connections ............................ 6
surface connection limitations............................. 8
surface connections ............................................ 5
Least-squares
surface approximation....................................... 27
Lock
trimmed surfaces............................................... 17
M
Matched edges
of foreign surfaces............................................... 2
Matched points
for internal curves.............................................. 12
Matched surfaces
understanding connections ................................. 5
Mesh
surface edit tool, using ...................................... 25
N
Normal to Edge
boundary influence option................................. 15
N-sided surfaces
boundary influences.......................................... 14
connection limitations.......................................... 6
sculpting............................................................ 27
O
Offset
P
Pro/DESIGNER
establishing surface connections........................ 6
R
Ribbon
using Ribbon tool .............................................. 21
using to fake a connection.................................. 9
S
Scaffolds
approximating surfaces..................................... 27
Sculpting
selecting a surface region................................. 26
using Sculpt tool
for N-sided surfaces ...................................... 27
for rectangular surfaces ................................ 25
Surface connections
understanding ..................................................... 3
Surfaces
connections
faking with tangent ribbon ............................... 8
limitations ........................................................ 7
preparing for .................................................... 3
types................................................................ 6
understanding curvature ................................. 5
understanding matched................................... 5
understanding tangent .................................... 5
editing
adding/removing internal curves ................... 12
connections ..................................................... 1
controlling boundary influence ...................... 13
trimming......................................................... 15
trimming frozen.............................................. 17
leader/follower connection.................................. 5
partial boundary connections.............................. 4
symmetric connection ......................................... 5
trimming portions ........................................ 15, 22
understanding
continuity ......................................................... 3
control points................................................. 29
trims .........................................................16, 22
Sweeps
connection limitations ..........................................6
Symmetric
surface connections ............................................5
T
Tangent ribbon
display options...................................................22
modifying surfaces ............................................21
understanding connections .................................9
Tangent surfaces
understanding connections ................................. 5
Techniques
fitting surfaces to scaffolds................................ 28
Triangular surfaces
Trim
using Trim tool................................................... 15
Trimmed surfaces
modifying........................................................... 15
understanding.............................................. 16, 22
understanding display ................................. 16, 23

Surface Editing

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Editing Surfaces Topic Collection 1

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