Mda190 Imageware Course

EDS
Course Guide
Imageware
Modeling
MDA190-10
12DEC2002-Rev.1
MDA190-10
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2003 EDS
Table of Contents
Unit 1: Process Overview............................................................................................ 1
Reverse Engineering Overview................................................................................. 2
Model Verification Overview ................................................................................... 4
Unit 2: Concepts and Interface .................................................................................. 7
User Interface Options .............................................................................................. 8
Modebar and Status Bars......................................................................................... 10
Scroll Bars ............................................................................................................... 12
Orientation Axis ...................................................................................................... 13
Typical Dialog Box Options ................................................................................... 14
Changing Software Settings .................................................................................... 18
Accessing Edit | Preferences Options...................................................................... 19
Using the Mouse...................................................................................................... 22
Cutomizable Toolbar............................................................................................... 24
Surfacing Floating Toolbar ..................................................................................... 25
Main Toolbar Icons ................................................................................................. 26
Opening Model Files............................................................................................... 28
Getting Information................................................................................................. 30
Saving Your Work .................................................................................................. 32
Delete All and Exit.................................................................................................. 34
Undo and Redo........................................................................................................ 36
Cut, Copy, and Paste ............................................................................................... 38
Create Group ........................................................................................................... 40
Fill Screen ............................................................................................................... 42
World View Rotation and Translation .................................................................... 45
Interactive Rotation and Translation ....................................................................... 47
Rotate and Translate Entities................................................................................... 48
Home Concept......................................................................................................... 51
Zoom In Boundary .................................................................................................. 52
Shown and No Show ............................................................................................... 54
Magnify Box and Zooming Methods ...................................................................... 56
Viewport Layout ..................................................................................................... 58
Views....................................................................................................................... 60
Layer Manager ........................................................................................................ 62
Obtaining Help - the Command Reference ............................................................. 64
Obtaining Help - "What's This" Help...................................................................... 66
Unit 3: Entities and Display...................................................................................... 67
Basic Entities........................................................................................................... 68
Point Display Qualities............................................................................................ 70
Curve Display Qualities .......................................................................................... 72
Surface Display Qualities........................................................................................ 74
Group Display Qualitities........................................................................................ 76
Hot Keys and Filters................................................................................................ 78
Entity Names ........................................................................................................... 80
Aligning Views to Geometry .................................................................................. 82
2003 EDS
Unit 4: Point Processing............................................................................................ 85

Point Processing for Reverse Engineering .............................................................. 86
Point Data Description ............................................................................................ 88
Circle-Select Points ................................................................................................. 90
Pick Delete Points ................................................................................................... 92
Measuring Between points ...................................................................................... 94
Lab 4A: Investigation Phase..................................................................................... 97
Unit 5: Alignment .................................................................................................... 107
Alignment.............................................................................................................. 109
Definition of Entity Pairs ...................................................................................... 110
Basic Curve Fitting................................................................................................ 112
Bounding Circles................................................................................................... 114
Surface Construction ............................................................................................. 116
Getting Points From Curves and Surfaces ............................................................ 118
Creating Surfaces from Clouds ............................................................................. 120
Quadrics ................................................................................................................ 122
Mixed Mode .......................................................................................................... 124
Stepwise ................................................................................................................ 126
Best Fit .................................................................................................................. 128
Iterative ................................................................................................................. 130
Alignment Information.......................................................................................... 132
Lab 5A: Alignment Phase....................................................................................... 133
Lab 5B: Iterative Alignment .................................................................................. 141
Unit 6: Extracting.................................................................................................... 157
Slice....................................................................................................................... 158
Cloud Parallel........................................................................................................ 160
Extract Scan Lines................................................................................................. 162
Sort By Nearest ..................................................................................................... 164
Change Scan Start Point........................................................................................ 166
Interpolate Curve................................................................................................... 168
Displaying Plots and Color Maps.......................................................................... 170
Curve to Cloud Difference .................................................................................... 172
Error Needle Label ................................................................................................ 174
Lab 6A: Analysis Phase .......................................................................................... 177
Unit 7: Surface to Cloud Analysis.......................................................................... 189
Reverse and Harmonize Curve Direction.............................................................. 190
Change Curve Start Point...................................................................................... 192
Lofting Surfaces .................................................................................................... 194
Reverse Surface Normal........................................................................................ 196
Surface to Cloud Difference.................................................................................. 198
Redisplay Surface Difference................................................................................ 200
Lab 7A: Surface to Cloud Analysis ....................................................................... 201
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Unit 8: Surface Preparation ................................................................................... 209

Curve Processing................................................................................................... 210
Elements of a Curve .............................................................................................. 212
Types of Curves I .................................................................................................. 214
Types of Curves II................................................................................................. 216
Trimming Surfaces................................................................................................ 218
Freehand 3D B-Spline........................................................................................... 220
Constraints............................................................................................................. 222
Associativity.......................................................................................................... 224
Uniform Curve ...................................................................................................... 226
Tolerance Based Curve ......................................................................................... 228
Snip Curve............................................................................................................. 230
Extending Curves .................................................................................................. 232
Curve Curvature .................................................................................................... 234
Reparameterize Curve ........................................................................................... 236
Inserting and Removing Knots.............................................................................. 238
Curve Continuity ................................................................................................... 240
Checking Curve Continuity................................................................................... 242
Joining Curves....................................................................................................... 244
Match 2 Curves ..................................................................................................... 246
Blend Curve........................................................................................................... 248
Moving Control Points .......................................................................................... 250
Elements of a Surface............................................................................................ 252
Surface By Boundary Curves................................................................................ 254
Fit with Cloud and Curves .................................................................................... 256
Lab 8A: Saddle (Curve) Model .............................................................................. 259
Unit 9: Surface Generation..................................................................................... 283
Project Curve on Cloud ......................................................................................... 284
Extraction using Curves ........................................................................................ 286
Subtracting Point Clouds....................................................................................... 288
Curve Aligned Cross Sections............................................................................... 290
Cloud Interactive ................................................................................................... 292
Polygonize............................................................................................................. 294
Cloud Curvature .................................................................................................... 296
Changing Closed Curve Endpoints ....................................................................... 298
Surface of Revolution............................................................................................ 300
Surface Continuity Verification ............................................................................ 302
Bridging between Surfaces.................................................................................... 304
Match 2 Surfaces................................................................................................... 306
Lab 9A: Surfacing a Faucet.................................................................................... 309
Lab 9B: Creating Fillets ......................................................................................... 355
2003 EDS
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2003 EDS
Unit 1
Process Overview
In this unit, youll get an introduction to the
Imageware software and its use in the following
processes:
Reverse Engineering
Inspection and Model Verification
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Process Overview
TYPICAL REVERSE ENGINEERING PROCESS

Existing Physical Model
Determine the Downstream Process Needs

Obtain Point Data from the Model
Read in the Point Data (Clouds)

Align Separate Clouds
Together if Needed
POINT PROCESSES
Interrogate/Clean
Visualize Point Networks
for Future Surfaces
Create Point Networks

and Cloud Segments
Determine Types of Curves to Create

Create a Curve from Point
Networks or an Existing Curve
CURVE PROCESSES
Interrogate/Modify
Determine Types of Surfaces to Create
Create Surfaces from Clouds,

Curves, and Other Surfaces
SURFACE
Interrogate/Modify
Downstream Process
2003 EDS
PROCESSES
Unit 1
REVERSE ENGINEERING OVERVIEW

This flowchart illustrates how many companies use the software to Reverse Engineer
point data into surfaces that are usable in downstream processes.
Reverse Engineering starts with a physical part or model
Determine Downstream Process
It is necessary to understand the downstream requirements for
smoothness and accuracy. Each downstream process (CAD Design,
CAM/NC, Solid Model creation, Finite Element Analysis, Rapid
Prototyping, and Animation) has its own specific needs.
Point Processes
Read in the point data The software has the ability to read in point
data from almost any source.
Align separate clouds together if needed Alignment is necessary
for any model that cannot be scanned/digitized in one fixture/session.
Interrogate/Clean - Many tools are available to detect and correct or
optimize undesirable cloud noise or qualities.
Visualize point networks for future surfaces
Pre-plan the point networks as far ahead as you can. Future curves and
surfaces will be directly created from these point networks.
Create point networks or segments - Singular or multiple networks
can be created easily with planar/non-planar cross sections or by using
many newer methods.
Curve Processes
Determine types of curves to create - Curves can be designed to be
as accurate as the point networks, smoother than the point networks, or
a combination of accurate and smooth.
Create a curve from point networks or existing curves - Curves can
be created on many point networks at once or one at a time. They also
can be created from other curves and surfaces.
Interrogate/Modify - Curves can be checked for accuracy relative to
points, smoothness, and continuity relationships with other curves.
Surface Processes
Determine types of surfaces to create - Surfaces, just like curves,
may be created with accuracy or smoothness (or both) in mind.
Create surfaces from clouds, curves, and/or surfaces - There are
many, many possibilities.
Interrogate/Modify - Surfaces can be checked for accuracy relative to
points, smoothness, and continuity relationships with other surfaces as
well as many other features.
2003 EDS
Process Overview
TYPICAL INSPECTION PROCESS
Virtual Model Defined on Paper or with CAD
Physical Model Created
Scan or digitize Physical Model
Measurement Model created from Physical Model
Align the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model
Correct the Physical Model

to better match Virtual Model
Update the Virtual Model

to match Physical Model needs.
Remove undesired points from the Measurement Model
Compare the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model
Feedback created to identify differences

in the forms of Plots / Colormaps / Statistics
Use Feedback to document Differences
Use Feedback to make changes to the

Virtual Model - or - Physical Model.
2003 EDS
Unit 1
MODEL VERIFICATION OVERVIEW

An Idea or Need for a Physical Model
Physical Model Creation Processes
Via Machining, Composite Fabrication, Injection Molding, Rapid
Prototyping, etc.
Physical Model Created
Created from any form of material (Metal, Wood, Plastic, Polymer,
Ceramic, Foam, Clay, Sheet Metal, etc.).
Obtain measurement data from the Physical Model (Obtaining alignment references if
needed)
Non-contact measurement
Laser Scan / X-RAY / CAT-scan / Moir Interferometry / Non-Contact
Metrology
Contact measurement
Coordinate Measuring Machine / Touch Probe / Contact Metrology /
Destructive Scanning
Measurement Model Created from Physical Model
The Measurement Model is a single (or multiple) set of measured coordinate
points (X,Y,Z) from the Physical Model known as cloud data.
Align the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model (if not pre-aligned before point
data collection)
Alignment methods vary relative to the shape and characteristics of the
model. It may also be necessary to align different Measurement Model
portions together to create one whole Measurement Model.
Remove undesired points from the Measurement Model
Undesired points are created from over-scanning, inherent measurement
device noise, Physical Model texture/reflection, user introduced noise.
Compare the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model
Using tools such as Surface (Virtual) to Cloud (Measured) Difference
as well as Surface and Cloud Cross Section Comparisons.
Feedback created to identify differences in the forms of Plots, Color maps, Statistics
All Interrogation commands have the ability create and store feedback used
to describe differences in the form of:
Plots Temporary or storable wire frame entities (i.e. bed of nails)
Color maps Varied color layouts on surfaces and clouds
Statistics ASCII text databases readable by any text editor or insert-able
into spreadsheets
Use Feedback to Document Differences
Send feedback directly to an output device or insert into documents in the
form of text or picture files (bitmaps / JPEGs).
- or Keep feedback for future reference.
If needed, make changes to Virtual Model - or - Physical Model

2003 EDS
Process Overview
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Concepts and Interface

In this unit, youll learn about how to use the
software interface, including the following
concepts:
Starting with a clean slate
Setting up your preferences
Learning the system interface
2003 EDS
USER INTERFACE
Whether you prefer working with menus or icons, the function you want to perform is
only a click away. Imageware's graphical user interface is composed of the following
items, many of which can be temporarily hidden to maximize the viewport area for
your data.
Note: A command or icon is gray when there is no entity visible or available to be
acted upon.
Menu bar
Toolbars
Upper docking area
Floating toolbar
Orientation
Axis
Viewport
Customizable
toolbar
Scroll bars
Modebar
Status bar (message area)
2003 EDS
Unit 2
User Interface Options

Menu Bar
Every command is found here.
Upper docking area
RMB click on this area to toggle the visibility of the toolbars. Once a
toolbar is visible, you can move it to any location on the screen, or
leave it in the upper docking area. You can also toggle the visibility of
the menu bar, status bar, or interactions toolbar by RMB clicking in
this area.
Toolbars
Contains icons representing the most frequently used commands.
There are six toolbars: Main, Create, Construct, Modify, Evaluate, and
Interactions.
Floating toolbar
Each toolbar contains sub-classes (ie. The Main toolbar contains file
management, model management, and basic display sub-classes).
LMB clicking on a sub-class allows the floating toolbar to appear.
This toolbar contains each of the commands that are grouped into that
particular category.
Orientation Axis
Used to show how the x, y, and z -axes are rotated in relation to the
part.
Customizable toolbar
A blank, customizable toolbar can be found in the bottom left hand
corner of your application by default. To add icons to this toolbar,
RMB click on the toolbar, select Add Item From Menu Bar, and
navigate to the desired command.
Mode Bar
Includes tools for changing the units, layers, and views.
Status Bar (message area)
Keep an eye on this area. It will prompt you for the step(s) in a
command once it is started. Entity information is also displayed here.
Viewport
This is your work area. The viewport can be divided into four separate
views if needed to see all four standard orthographic views.
Scroll Bar
This is used for transforming views or entities in the viewport in a
basic X, Y, Z direction or rotation.
2003 EDS
MODEBAR AND STATUS BAR

Units
View pull-down list
Save view button
Status bar (message area)
Layers pull-down list
Showing the Modebar or Status Bar

The visibility of the modebar and status bar can be toggled by holding
down the right mouse button on the upper docking area or these bars,
and selecting the appropriate bar to display/hide. They are initially
displayed at the bottom of the viewport. However, like all of the
Imageware toolbars, the status bar and mode bar can be moved
anywhere on your screen.
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Unit 2
Modebar and Status Bar Options

Units
Units can be changed with this pull-down menu. Available units:
microns, mm, cm, inches, feet, meter, miles, kilometers.
Note: The software does not look at the file to determine the units to
use. You must set the appropriate Unit of Measurement before
reading in any file. This is extremely important due to the fact that
almost all scanner and ASCII file types are unit-less.
After the model is open, changing the units will cause the model to
also be converted to the new unit setting.
Layer pull-down list
This pull-down list allows you to set the active layer.
View pull-down list
The eight standard views are as follows. These map directly to the
function keys F1 through F8.
F1 = Top
F3 = Left
F5 = Front
F7 = Isometric
F2 = Bottom
F4 = Right
F6 = Back
F8 = Isometric2
Pressing the Save View button will save a custom view.

Note: These views are also available in the View | Defined Views
pull-down menu. (Please see page 60)
Message area
The status bar displays information regarding functions being
performed and entities on the screen, such as instructions, status
messages, and tips on operations. RMB click on an entity to view its
information, such as the layer the entity resides on, the name of the
entity, the number of control points, and so on.
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SCROLL BARS
The scroll bars are the red, blue, and green bars on the bottom and right side of the
viewport. The scroll bars are hidden by default and can be displayed by clicking the
scroll bar toggle button at the top of the viewport (highlighted below). To increase the
viewport area, you may want to remove the scroll bars from the screen.
Using the scroll bars

Use this.
Red Scroll Bar
Blue Scroll Bar
Green Scroll Bar
to do this
Rotate around the x-axis and translate
along the y-axis
Rotate around the z-axis and translate
along the z-axis
Rotate around the y-axis and translate
along the x-axis
Transform methods
The functionality of scroll bars includes rotating and translating the
world view or an object.
To move in small increments, click the arrows at either side of
the bar.
To move in larger increments, click the LMB in the colored
area of the scroll bar. While in rotate mode, each time you
click the LMB in this area, the entity or view rotates in 10 deg.
increments.
To move freely, click and drag the slider button along the bar
using the LMB.
To rotate in 90 deg. increments, click and drag the slider
button to either end of the scroll bar.
To rotate dynamically, click and hold the LMB in the colored
area of the scroll bar. As long as the LMB is pressed, the view
will continue to rotate.
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Unit 2
ORIENTATION AXIS
This axis always stays in the upper left hand corner of the viewport. It shows the
orientation of the World Axis. This is helpful if the World Axis is not visible (such as
during zooming operations).
World Axis
This shows the location and orientation of the origin of the model. The
system maintains a single world coordinate system. The Edit | Layer
Manager function toggles the visibility of the xyz axes of the world
coordinate system, as well as any created coordinate systems/work
planes. The axes also display the (0,0,0) position and the x, y, and z
directions.
LMB click on 'Coordinate Systems' in the left hand pane of the Layer
Manager command. The right hand pane then lists the World Axes as
well as any other coordinate systems/work planes. The coordinate
systems can be made invisible by toggling the options in this pane.
Orientation Axis
This entity has been transformed

away from its original location
in the world coordinate system.
Object Axis
World Axis
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TYPICAL DIALOG BOX

Some commands execute immediately when selected. Other commands require
additional input from you before they can be executed. Such commands will display a
dialog box after you select the command. By default the dialog box is displayed in the
upper right corner of the viewport.
Lists
Whats This help

Active panel
Radio buttons
Pull-down lists
Checkboxes
Slider bars
Input boxes
Expanding selections
Color chooser
Command buttons
Interactions
Interactions palette
The interactions palette can be made visible by selecting the interactions icon on the
dialog box or RMB clicking in the upper docking area of the viewport. The palette is
displayed as a toolbar of icons. You can view the interactions as a list by selecting the
palette icon.
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Unit 2
Typical Dialog Box Options

Whats This help
You can find out what a certain parameter should be set at or used for
while the dialog box is open. Simply click the "?" in the upper right
hand corner of the dialog box and LMB click on the parameter you
want to learn more about. (see page 66 for more information)
Active Panel
You can make a panel active by selecting inside the panel. You can
also use CTRL + MMB to step through all the panels (as long as the
cursor is outside the dialog box). If you have a supported mousewheel, you can do MMB -mouse wheel to move through the panels in
the dialog.
Selection List / Selected Entity
To expand the panel to see the names of available entities, pick the
List checkbox. To alphabetize the list of entities, pick the Sort
ABC checkbox. If the list is longer or wider than the window, scroll
bars will appear on the bottom and on the right side of that panel.
To pick a single entity
In the Selection list pick the desired name.
In the Viewport / Graphics Area pick the desired entity.
To pick multiple selections of entities
In the Selection List:
Press and hold the Ctrl key while picking desired names.
Drag the cursor over adjacent names.
In the viewport:
Press and hold the Ctrl key while picking desired entities.
Drag a window around desired entities with the LMB.
Radio Buttons
Options are mutually exclusive. Only allows one option to be selected
at a time.
Pull-down list
Lists the available choices for that option.
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Typical Dialog Box Options (cont.)

Check Boxes
Options are either ON or OFF.
Input Boxes
Option values may be typed in. If undesirable values are in the box,
click and drag across the text and release the mouse button. While the
undesired text is highlighted, type in the desired values and the old text
will be replaced.
Slider Bars
Click on and slide the button to see and change the available range of
values in the text box. An input box to the right of a slider bar displays
the value corresponding to the slider location. You can either:
Drag the slider bar to change the value
Click on the arrows to change the value in small increments, or
click in the bar to change the value in larger increments.
Directly enter a new value in the related input box.
Expandable selections
Options may be hidden to eliminate extra clutter in a dialog box.
Click the expandable selection arrow to display additional options.
Color chooser
Click on the color button to display the standard color chooser. The
selected color is then displayed on the button. The standard color
chooser has 48 predefined colors and 16 customizable colors that are
now saved across sessions.
Command buttons
Apply
Executes the command with the current state of dialog box options.
Click the MMB to pick Apply when the mouse is outside the dialog
box. Each dialog box stays up awaiting the next command after
Apply has been selected.
Model
Dynamically demonstrates the command to the screen. One or more
panels will be highlighted in a light green color. Adjust these
highlighted panels to try out new possibilities during the dynamic
modeling process. If the model works as desired, pick Apply to
accept what you see.
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Typical Dialog Box Options (cont.)

Interactions Filter
Brings up a small dialog box used for filtering entities or commands
for relative panels of its parent (also active) dialog box. The items on
this palette vary depending on the operation you are performing and
the data in the viewport. For example, on some dialogs, the
Interactions palette may let you specify which entity types you would
like to choose from, and on other dialogs you may get to choose a
particular item such as an axes origin.
Closing Dialog Boxes
To close a dialog box, pick it to make it the active dialog box if two or
more are displayed. Then LMB the Close button or use the <ESC>
key.
Multiple Dialog Boxes
Imageware has the ability to keep multiple dialog boxes displayed on
the screen. The default is three dialog boxes on the screen at one time.
The active dialog box is the one with the active (highlighted) panel.
Setting the Dialog Box Location
Once you have used a particular dialog, its position and size is
remembered for subsequent use of the dialog box. It is remembered
across sessions. The application tries to supply suitable defaults for
many of the parameters. Once you have changed the value, further
invocations of the same dialog will remember the new values.
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CHANGING SOFTWARE SETTINGS

The settings for the software are stored in the following files:
Windows-based systems - stored in the Windows registry under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Imageware/
Imageware _v1400
UNIX-based systems - located in the users home directory in:
.imageware/Imageware_v1400/.imagewarerc (Note: The folder is invisible
unless you specifically use the command "ls -a" to show the dotted
folders.)
Because profile functionality changes from one version to the next, the location of the
profile file must be specific to the version in use. This also prevents you from
corrupting the profile settings of another version of Imageware when you switch back
and forth between two versions of Imageware (for example, 10.1 and 10). Prior
versions of Imageware before 9M2 used a plain ASCII file called iwsurf9.ini,
iwsurf9m3.ini, or iwsurf11.0.ini. Settings from older versions are never propagated
into profiles for newly installed versions.
Note: If you want to restore system default settings, delete the software settings file.
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Unit 2
ACCESSING EDIT | PREFERENCES OPTIONS

You can use the Edit | Preferences pull-down menu to access a number of software
options:
Import/Export
System Preferences
Display Preferences
Restore Defaults
Error Range Setting
Enable Screen Updates
Open Command Line
Edit | Preferences | Import/Export

Allows you to set general and specific preferences for file read and write
operations.
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Accessing Edit | Preferences Options (cont.)

Edit | Preferences | System
Sets default values for the system. These defaults include the default
surfacing options and values associated with curve and surface fitting and
the default point options such as the Gaussian, median, and averaging
filter sizes.
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Unit 2
Accessing Edit | Preferences Options (cont.)

Edit | Preferences | Display
Changes the default values for display options. These set entity features
(such as color and size) that are specific to each entity type. Most of these
settings are similar to those in the Display dialog boxes, such as Display
| Surface | Display, and are used to set default display attributes when
objects are created.
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USING THE MOUSE

LMB = Selects entities/commands
RMB = Displays the pop-up toolbars
MMB = Applies the command
Pop-Up (RMB) Toolbars
22
Viewport
Point Clouds
Curves
Surfaces
Groups
Constraints
Constraints
Coordinate Sys.
2003 EDS
Unit 2
USING THE MOUSE

Left Mouse Button (LMB)
This button is considered the pick button for all operations needing
to select something whether is an entity, icon, pull-down menu
location within a dialog box.
Middle Mouse Button (MMB)
This button applies the active command. This is the same as picking
the Apply button on an active dialog box.
Right Mouse Button (RMB)
This is called the mouse menu button. The toolbars contains different
items depending on the operation you are performing or the picked
entity. For example, when you pick on a constraint, the constraint
editing commands appear on the menu. Once the toolbar appears, the
icons highlight as you move the cursor over them to show which
command is active. When you release the mouse in the direction of the
active icon, the dialog box for the command appears or the action is
performed. It has two modes:
If the mouse crosshair or pointer is in the viewport area, but not on an
object
This will bring up a generic RMB menu that has main selections for all
entities and layers (ie. Redo, Rotate View, Fill Screen, Mirror Display,
Undo, Set Non-Proportional Zoom, Zoom in Boundary, and Translate
View).
If the mouse crosshair or pointer is in the viewport area, and on an object
This brings up a menu related to that class of entity such as a point
cloud, curve, surface, group, or plots/color maps. When the viewport
contains many entities, if you RMB click on an entity and the desired
entity is not highlighted, you can RMB click on the same place. It will
then select the next entity in the list and cycle through the list of all
candidate entities. The order of entities picked by the system is based
on the closeness of the entity to the mouse location.
2003 EDS
23
CUSTOMIZABLE TOOLBAR
Multiple blank, customizable toolbars can be created. The toolbar is found in the
bottom right-hand corner of your application by default, but can be moved to any
location. The custom toolbar is saved automatically at the end of the session and is
restored at the next startup. You can add icons from other toolbars or the menu to this
toolbar, delete icons, rearrange icons, and change the properties of icons in the
customizable toolbar.
To create a custom toolbar
RMB click on the upper docking area or another toolbar and select
Create New Toolbar.
To delete a custom toolbar
RMB click on the custom toolbar and select Delete This Toolbar.
To change the toolbar name
RMB click on the toolbar and select Toolbar/Icon Properties. The
default name for a custom toolbar is Custom Toolbar or Custom
Toolbar (2).
To add icons from other toolbars
MMB click and drag/drop icons from existing toolbars onto the
custom toolbar.
Note: If you drag an icon with a floating menu attached to it, the
floaters will also be moved to the custom toolbar.
To add icons from the menu
RMB click on the custom toolbar, select 'Add Item from Menu Bar',
and navigate to the item on the menu that you want to add.
To remove icons
RMB click on the toolbar, select Delete All Icons' to remove all of the
icons or RMB click on an icon and select 'Delete this Icon' to remove a
particular icon from the toolbar.
To rearrange icons
MMB click on an icon and drag/drop it to a new location within the
toolbar.
To change icon properties
RMB click the icon, select 'Toolbar/Icon Properties', and change the
tooltip text or icon image.
24
2003 EDS
Unit 2
SURFACING FLOATING TOOLBAR

The floating toolbar is a further development of Imageware's hot keys, since it allows
rapid access to key commands by using the Shift + Ctrl keys together with the LMB,
MMB, or RMB. Once the toolbar appears, the icons highlight as you move the cursor
over them to show which command is active. Release the mouse over the active icon
and the dialog box for that command appears. If you release the mouse over the
grayed out icon or the center, no action is performed.
Select this
Create Toolbar
(Shift + Ctrl + LMB)
Modify Toolbar
(Shift + Ctrl + MMB)
Evaluate Toolbar
(Shift + Ctrl + RMB)
to get this
Icons clockwise from top center:

Interactive 3D B-Spline
Project Curve to Surface
Blend Curve
Loft Curves
Surface by Boundary
Bi-Directional Loft
Fillet Surface
Extrude in Direction
Modify Control Points/Curve Knots
Create Curve Constraints
Snap Curves to Curves
Extend
Snip Curve with Curve(s)
Trim Surface Regions
Untrim
Match 2 Surfaces
Curve/Surface Control Plot
Draft Angle Plot
Curve to Cloud Difference
Texture Mapping
Surface Cross Section Tangent
Surface to Cloud Difference
Multi-Surface Continuity
Surface Highlight Lines
2003 EDS
25
MAIN TOOLBAR ICONS

This toolbar contains the primary tools for managing the data within the Imageware
file and for managing the file open/save process. This toolbar also includes the
display tools, and layer/filter tools.
File Management
This toolbar contains the tools associated with the .imw file: tools for
saving files, creating screen dumps, deleting the workspace, and so on.
These tools operate on the model as a whole, rather than on the
individual entities.
Toolbar
Icons clockwise from top center

Open
Screen Dump
Object Info
Save
Erase Viewport
Model Management
This toolbar contains the grouping, undo, and cut/delete tools. The
new redo tool reverses the operation of the undo tool.
Toolbar

Redo
Cut Objects
Undo
Ungroup
Create Group
Basic Display
This toolbar contains the more common display tools such as the
surface display resolution shortcuts and the zoom, fit to screen, and
view orientation controls.
Toolbar
26

Display Surface Iso-Lines
Display Shaded Surface
Fill Screen
Translate View
Rotate View
Zoom in Boundary
Display Surface Boundaries
2003 EDS
Unit 2
Main Toolbar Icons (Cont.)

Advanced Display
This toolbar contains the more advanced display tools, as well as the
show/no show functions.
Toolbar

Toggle Show/No Show
Set Non-Proportional Zoom Ratio
Create a Zoom Box
Toggle Non-Proportional Zoom
Put in No Show
Unset Non-Proportional Zoom
Mirror Display
Set Non-Proportional Zoom Mode
Transform Mode
This toolbar contains the settings for the dynamic view controls.
Toolbar

Around Center of Mass
Around Point
Set Point
Set Vector
Around Vector
Views
This toolbar contains the icons used to set the standard views.
Toolbar

Top
Right
Single Viewport
Isometric
Flip View
Show Grid
Standard 4 Views
Front
Layer Manager
This toolbar contains the dialog box for creating and controlling
layers, layer filters, and coordinate systems. Use the layers tools with
the layer filters to effectively manage the entities within a model.
2003 EDS
27
OPENING MODEL FILES

FILE | OPEN (CTRL + 0)
Current directory location
File list
Data type selector
Listing filter
File name
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Opening Model Files

File Name
The files to be read in are displayed here. The name can be chosen
from the file list. Shortcuts to places on your computer or the network
from which you can open a file, such as the History folder, the
desktop, or 'My Network Places,' are available on the left-hand side of
the dialog box. When you click a location, it will appear in 'Look in'
and the files and folders in the selected location will be listed to the
right of this panel.. This also may be used as a file filter. (i.e. enter
*.igs to list all files with the .igs extension.)
File List
To open the files in this list, select the file name then pick Apply or
simply double-click the file name.
Current Directory Location
Shows the current drive and directory path.
Data Type Selector
This can be set to read in up to forty different file types including
ASCII, DXF, Digibotics, EOIS, Hymarc, IGES, Sharnoa, etc.
Imagewares own data type has the extension .imw.
Compression
On UNIX machines only, compressed files can be un-compressed as
they are loaded and re-compressed as they are saved if the System
defaults are properly set in: Edit | Preferences | Import Export.
The two available compression types are:
Compress - The standard UNIX compression command. The
file ends in a capital Z, i.e. boat.imw.Z
GZIP- A Shareware compression command included on UNIX
versions of Imageware. The file ends in gz (i.e. boat.imw.gz)
Note: PKZIP files (with a .zip extension) are not currently supported
by the software.
Drag and Drop
You can drag and drop multiple files into an already-running
application viewport and have it read automatically. IMW files are
automatically recognized, whereas other file types must be named with
the canonical, standard extension. The following file types can be
dragged into a viewport:
Data files from Windows Explorer
Files from your desktop or folder shortcuts
Web page and FTP URLs
2003 EDS
29
GETTING INFORMATION
EVALUATE | INFORMATION | OBJECT
To get information on a specific entity type, use Filter keys + I. To filter the
information command to display only curves, use CTRL + SHIFT + I. The
Interactions palette changes to reflect the type of entity specified.
Note the number of entities. This

unfiltered info command has 7 entities in
the model. The interactions palette
shows each type of entity that you can
select.
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2003 EDS
Note the number of entities. This

filtered info command has 4 curves in
the model. The interactions palette
shows each type of curve that you can
select.
Unit 2
Getting Information
Returns basic information about selected entity, such as:
Entity Name
Entity Type
Whether or not the entity is in its Home location
Size
Position in space
Layer
Information and the status bar
Entity information is displayed in the status bar when you RMB click
on any entity. The information that is displayed is: the entity name, the
layer the entity resides on, the span and order of the surface or curve,
and the number of cloud points. Information is displayed as follows:
Entity Type: "entity name" ||| layer the entity resides on ||| other
information such as span or order of curve/surface.
For example:
Curve: "Curve" ||| Layer: L1 ||| Span: (6) ||| Order: (4)
2003 EDS
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SAVING YOUR WORK

FILE | SAVE (ALT + S)
FILE | SAVE AS
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Saving your work

Save
(Alt + S)
Writes out contents of the viewport to a file. If you are working on a
named file, it will save your work when you answer Yes to the file
overwrite question (as seen below).
Do you want to replace the existing ...?
If it is a new file, then you will be prompted with the Save Viewport
As dialog box.
Save As
Saves the entities to a new file name; the new file becomes the current
viewport model. The original file and filename are the same and
untouched. Here there are many options available.
Drive and Directory Location
File Name
File Format
Which entities to write out to a file.
Be sure to type in the correct extension (if it is not proper one) as you
do have the ability to save and open files whose format may be
different than the standard extension.
Save Options
There are several various ways of writing information to disk:
Write All
Saves all entities in the viewport, both visible and invisible, to a disk.
Write Visible
Saves only visible entities in the active viewport to a disk.
Write Selected
Displays dialog box for selecting which entities to save.
2003 EDS
33
DELETE ALL AND EXIT

EDIT | DELETE ALL (CTRL + U)
FILE | EXIT (ALT + X)
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Delete All and Exit

Delete All
Removes all of the contents of the viewport. If the data hasnt been
saved, the software will prompt you to save the data before erasing it.
This does not put them into the paste buffer or clipboard.
Exit
Closes the application. If there is unsaved data, a message will display
prompting you to either save or close without saving. When complete
it will exit the software. Clicking Cancel will abort the exit
operation.
2003 EDS
35
UNDO AND REDO

EDIT | UNDO (CTRL + Z)
EDIT | REDO (SHIFT + Z)
EDIT | UNDO/REDO HISTORY
EDIT | UNDO TRANSFORM
(CTRL + SHIFT + U)
EDIT | REPEAT LAST OPERATION
(CTRL + SHIFT + Z)
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Undo and Redo

Undo
Picking this once will only undo the previous command. Picking it
again will undo one more step, and so on. This will not work on cut
entities. The Paste command will take care of this.
Redo
Allows previous operations to be executed again. This is a multiplestep operation, meaning that you can redo as many steps as you wish.
Undo/Redo History
Undoes multiple steps at once without having to use Edit | Undo
multiple times. Select the step from the list that you wish to revert to
and all of the operations performed after that step will be undone. To
see an animation effect of the steps performed, hold the LMB down
and slide it up and down the list of steps. The screen will update with
the operations. If you select a step in the list and then exit from the
dialog box, the undo/redo will automatically be performed.
Note: The Apply button only affects the 'Enable' checkbox and 'Stack
Size' values.
Undo Transform
Undoes the last transformation whether it was a transformation of an
entity or a view. Picking it again will redo the transformation back to
its previous state.
Repeat Last Operation
Repeats the last command that you executed. Picking it again will
repeat the same command again. This is very useful for commands like
Circle Select and others.
2003 EDS
37
CUT, COPY AND PASTE

EDIT | CUT (X)
EDIT | COPY (C)
EDIT | PASTE (CTRL + V)
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Cut, Copy and Paste

Cut
This is the same as deleting an entity. The software keeps a copy of the
last entity(s) cut in the paste buffer.
Three methods for cutting entities:
Use the icon in the main toolbar.
Use the pull-down menu - Edit | Cut (X).
Use the Hot Key combinations - CTRL + X to delete clouds,
CTRL + SHIFT + X to delete curves, etc.
The Cut dialog box has two choices:
Cut - Applies the cut (or delete) and keeps a copy in the paste
buffer until replaced by another cut/copy operation.
Cut/Dismiss-Cuts or deletes the entity and closes the dialog box.
Copy
Copies the entity(s) to the paste buffer.
The Copy dialog box has two choices:
Copy Copies the entity to the paste buffer for later use.
Copy/Paste Copies the entity and places it in the paste buffer
during the same operation.
Paste
Places all entity(s) from the paste buffer to the same X,Y,Z location it
was cut or copied from into the current viewport. The Paste command
can be used multiple times for creating data.
Three methods for pasting entities:
Use the pull-down menu - Edit | Paste
Use the Hot Key combination Ctrl + V.
Use the Copy/Paste command in the Copy dialog box.
Naming
Entities that are cut and then pasted retain their original names.
Entities that are copied and then pasted, or simply Copy/Pasted have
the word copy added at the end of their names. For example, the
copy of Plane 4 would be named Plane 4 copy.
2003 EDS
39
CREATE GROUP
EDIT | CREATE GROUP
EDIT | UNGROUP
Separate entities. All of the entities are

away from its home locations.
40
After all of the entities have been sent to their

home locations (command here), the Create
Group command is used.
2003 EDS
Unit 2
Create Group
Groups
Combinations of two or more clouds, curves or surfaces. You cannot
have a group within a group. By grouping a set of entities, you can
apply operations -- such as mirroring, scaling, cutting, pasting, rotating
and translating -- to all of the entities within the group with one
command. Nested groups are acceptable.
Groups can be created in at least three different ways
You can pick entities individually in the graphics area.
You can surround the entities you wish to group with a bounding
box.
You can pick entity names from the Create Groups dialog box
selection list and press Apply.
Default Colors
The active group color is YELLOW. The default color can be
modified in the Edit | Preferences | Display Other tab.
Group Information
The information panel shows group members, names, group type and
size.
Ungroup
Disassociates a set of grouped entities, so they can no longer be
operated on as a group. The entities revert back to their individual
status, no longer operating as a grouped entity.
2003 EDS
41
FILL SCREEN
VIEW | FILL SCREEN (CTRL + F)
Before Operation
After Operation
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
FILL SCREEN
Fill Screen
Centers all entities and the World Axis, if they are visible, in the
viewport.
You can access this command three ways:
View | Fill Screen
Use the Fill Screen icon in the toolbar.
Use hotkey CTRL + F
2003 EDS
43
WORLD VIEW ROTATION AND

TRANSLATION
VIEW | ROTATE | WORLD
VIEW | TRANSLATE | WORLD
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
World View Rotation and Translation

Uses
Your viewing position can be adjusted (transformed) to any vantage
point by using translation and rotation. The rotation and translation
functions allow you to either rotate/translate the world or a selected
entity. Rotation turns the view around a specific point or axis while
Translation slides an object in the x, y, or z direction.
Rotate World Icon
Allows rotation of your view of the model. Click once to set Rotate
Mode. Then using the LMB, pick and hold a location in the center of
the graphics area. While keeping the LMB held down, drag the cursor
around the graphics area. You are now rotating your view of the
displayed entity(s). Double click to use the dialog box to enter the axis
direction, location, and angle to rotate around.
Translate World Icon
Allows translation of your view of the model. Click once to set to
Translate Mode. Then using the LMB, pick and hold a location in the
center of the graphics area. While keeping the LMB held down, drag
the cursor around the graphics area. You are now translating (panning)
your view of the displayed entity(s). Double click to use the dialog box
to enter the translation amount, direction, and distance to move along.
Note: The button you select is the method used to set the mode for the slider bars.
Using the Scroll Bars
The red, green, and blue scroll bars at the edges of the viewport can be
used to transform the world view in the active viewport. You can
change the view by one degree by clicking the scroll arrows at either
end of the scroll bars, by 90 degrees by moving the slider to either end
of the scroll bars, or by a specific number of degrees by using the digit
entry box.
To transform by digit entry:
Select the axis pin (located in the lower right corner of the
viewport) for the view direction you wish to transform.
Click inside the white box that appears to the left of the scroll bars
and enter the number of degrees to be used for the
rotation/translation. Press Enter for the transformation to occur.
2003 EDS
45
INTERACTIVE ROTATION AND TRANSLATION

Dynamic Zoom
(SHIFT + MMB) + (Push or Pull)
3D Dynamic Rotation
(SHIFT + LMB)
46
2D Dynamic Rotation
(Screen Z Axis)
(SHIFT + MMB) + (Right or Left)
2D Dynamic Translation
(PAN)
(SHIFT + RMB)
2003 EDS
Unit 2
Interactive Cursor Rotation/Translation/Freehand

Using the Mouse
You can rotate, translate or zoom in on the world view by using the
left, middle, and right mouse buttons. Simply hold the SHIFT key
down and click and hold the appropriate mouse button in the graphic
area of the viewport. Move the mouse around on the screen to make
the motion.
3D Dynamic Rotation (SHIFT + LMB)
Move the crosshair in the center of the viewport. Hold down the
SHIFT key. Depress and hold the LMB and move the mouse crosshair
around on the screen. Release the LMB when you wish to stop
rotating.
2D Dynamic Translation (PAN) (SHIFT + RMB)
SHIFT key. Depress and hold the RMB and move the mouse crosshair
around on the screen. Release the RMB when you wish to stop
translating.
Dynamic Zoom (SHIFT + MMB + (Push or Pull))
SHIFT key. Depress and hold the MMB. Push the mouse away from
you and the model will appear further from you. Pull the mouse
toward you and the model will appear closer to you.
2D Dynamic Rotation (Screen Z Axis) (SHIFT+MMB+(Right or Left))
SHIFT key. Depress and hold the MMB. Moving the mouse to the
right will cause the model will rotate in a Negative Angular Direction
(CW - clockwise). Moving the mouse to the left will cause the model
will rotate in a Positive Angular Direction (CCW - counterclockwise).
2003 EDS
47
ROTATING AND TRANSLATING ENTITIES

MODIFY | ORIENT | ROTATE
MODIFY | ORIENT | TRANSLATE
Transform Object (Rotate)
Transform Object (Translate)
Picking either of the translation buttons sets the mode of the

transformation to apply to the entities.
Picking one of the x,y,z transform buttons will specify the axis
direction that the entity will be rotated in.
Picking one of the x,y,z transform buttons will specify the axis
direction that the entity will be translated in.
Picking this button will bring up the Rotate or Translate Objects
dialog box.
48
2003 EDS
Unit 2
Rotating and Translating Entities

Transform Object Dialog Box
1. Pick the entity(s) you wish to work with, either by picking from the
screen or by selecting the entity name.
2. Select either the rotate or translate mode.
3. Select one of the x, y, or z transform buttons. Set the appropriate angle
(for rotation) or distance (for translation). Note that the object will be
moved in the direction of the axis on the icon by the amount specified
in the input box.
Rotate Objects Dialog
1. Pick the entity(s) you wish to work with.
2. Set the location and direction for the axis of rotation.
You can pick a standard of X, Y, or Z vectors (From the Origin of
the World Coordinate System). You can also type in the Vector
information to use. You can use interactions to select entities like
points, lines, circles, and planes to set the vector formula in the
vector area also.
3. Enter the rotation angle (in degrees). Enter the rotation angle in the
input box, use the slider to set the angle, or click the arrows to
increase/decrease the angle in stepped increments.
4. Set the copy option and the number of copies if needed.
Translate Objects Dialog
1. Pick the entity(s) you wish to work with.
2. Choose the translation method.
If you chose to translate in multiple directions, enter the distance to
move in X, Y, and/or Z.
If you chose to translate in one direction, select the direction and
enter the distance to move the object in that direction. Enter the
translation distance in the input box, use the slider to set the
distance, or click the arrows to increase/decrease the distance in
stepped increments.
If you chose to move from one point to another, select the start
point and the point to move to.
3. Set the copy option and the number of copies if needed.
2003 EDS
49
HOME CONCEPT
MODIFY | ORIENT | SEND HOME
MODIFY | ORIENT | RESET HOME
MODIFY | ORIENT | RESET OBJECT AXIS
Object Axis
World Axis
All entities in Home Location
World Axis
One entity transformed away from its Home

Location
World Axis
After Send Home is executed
50
2003 EDS
Unit 2
Home Concept
Send Home
This icon will send entities back to their original home location. This
function is particularly useful for returning entities to their home
location after they have been translated or rotated for inspection or
modification.
Reset Home
Locks an entity into the current translated/rotated position. The
previous home location will be lost.
Reset Object Axis
After the entity is locked into a new position with Reset Home Xform,
the Object Axis remains at this new location. Reset Object Axis
relocates the Object Axis back to the coordinates of the World Origin
(X0, Y0, Z0), making them coincident with the World Axis.
2003 EDS
51
ZOOM IN BOUNDARY
VIEW | ZOOM | IN BOUNDARY
52
2003 EDS
Unit 2
ZOOM IN BOUNDARY
Zoom In Boundary
Allows viewing a detailed area. Just click and drag around the area
you wish to see. The viewport will zoom to display only the selected
portion of your model once the LMB is released.
To use the zoom
1. Select the icon from the Main > Basic Display toolbar. A
message will appear in the status bar telling you what to do to use
this operation.
2. Pick a start location with the LMB and keep the button held down.
Drag the rectangular box around the area that you wish to zoom in
on.
3. Once the location is reached, release the LMB. The new viewable
area will automatically appear in the viewport.
2003 EDS
53
SHOW AND NO SHOW

DISPLAY | TOGGLE SHOW/NO SHOW
DISPLAY | PUT IN NO SHOW
This button toggles you back and forth between the two work areas.
Put into No Show hides entities
from the current work area to the other.
This alternate area is where

your hidden entities are
stored. You can work here too.
(No Show)
This is your normal work

Area. (Show)
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
PUT IN NO SHOW
Put in No Show Mode
Once you select the entities, they are immediately hidden or placed in
no show mode. When you select the toggle icon command, the icon
will change and only the entities youve hidden are displayed on the
screen.
To move entities into No Show
Select the icon on the Main > Advanced Display toolbar, select
Display | Put in No Show, or the hot keys Ctrl +L.
Pick one or more entities to hide.
To view entities in No Show
Select the Toggle Show/No Show icon on the Main > Advanced
Display toolbar or select Display | Toggle Show/No Show.
2003 EDS
55
MAGNIFY BOX AND ZOOMING METHODS

VIEW | ZOOM | MAGNIFY BOX
Green selection box
Zoom box
56
2003 EDS
Unit 2
MAGNIFY BOX AND ZOOMING METHODS

Magnify Box
This command allows for easy magnification of any entity on the
screen. Once the Zoom Box opens, a green rectangle indicating the
viewing area appears in the viewports center.
To change the zoomed area
While holding the SHIFT button, LMB click and drag the model using
Rotation/Translation. Move the entity so that the area you wish to view
is visible in the selection box.
To change the magnification scale of the zoom box
Place the mouse pointer inside the box. Use the Shift + MMB to zoom
in and out. The view scale inside the dialog box will change and the
green selection box will change scale.
To exit the command
Click the green "X" in the upper right corner of the magnification box.
2003 EDS
57
VIEWPORT LAYOUT
VIEW | VIEWPORT LAYOUT
Standard Four Views (CTRL + 4)
Automotive Views (ALT + 4)
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Viewport Layout
Single (CTRL + 1)
Opens a single work area. Use this command when you want to switch
from the Standard Four Views or Automotive Views to a single view
of the model.
Standard 4 Views (CTRL + 4)
Splits the work area into 4 standard views: Top, Side, Front, and
Isometric. With all views, you can translate and zoom. The Isometric
view can be also be rotated.
Automotive Views (ALT + 4)
This is the same as Standard 4 Views except that the top and side
views are longer.
Using the icons
The views icons are found on the Main > Views toolbar.
Single View
Standard 4 Views
Note: Slider bars are disabled while using any viewport layout that is not single.
2003 EDS
59
VIEWS
VIEW | DEFINED VIEWS
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2003 EDS
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Views
View | Defined Views
The eight standard views are as follows. These map directly to the
function keys F1 through F8. These views are also available on the
modebar pull-down list.
F1 = Top
F3 = Left
F5 = Front
F7 = Isometric
To select this view
Front
F2 = Bottom
F4 = Right
F6 = Back
F8 = Isometric2
select this icon
Top
Right
Isometric
View | Defined Views | Restore User Views

Restores a user-defined view to the screen. This is especially helpful
when the modebar is not displayed.
View | Save View
Orientations defined by user rotation, translation, and zooming can be
saved using the + button on the modebar or the Save View
command in the menu. Once chosen a dialog box will appear. (see
image on opposite page)
System Views
Saves an unlimited number of system views. These views are stored in
the .iw file (not in the .imw file).
File Views
Saves an unlimited number of file views. These are all saved in the
.imw file.
View | Flip View
Rotates the current view 180 degrees.
View | Delete View
Deletes the selected view.
View | Change View Name
Lets you rename a selected view.
2003 EDS
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LAYER MANAGER
EDIT | LAYER MANAGER
For Layers/Filters
RMB click on any layer or filter to create, rename, or delete the
layer/filter, as well as toggle the visibility. The layer color chooser
specifies the color that new entities created on the layer will be
displayed in (this option must be set in the Edit | Preferences |
Display preferences tabs). Note that you must have one layer in the
system at all time and the system filters may not be deleted.
The right hand pane lists the entities that reside on the layers. Select
the entities to move between the layers in this pane and LMB drag and
drop the entity into the appropriate layer in the left hand pane. Entities
can also be made visible, put in show/no show mode, or have their
display color changed in this pane
For coordinate systems
The right hand pane lists the World Axes as well as any other
coordinate systems/work planes. The coordinate systems can be made
invisible by toggling the options in this pane
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2003 EDS
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Layer Manager
Layers
This dialog box allows you to delete layers, merge one or more layers
into a new/existing layer, move entities between layers, and enable
(activate) layers. By default, there is one active and enabled layer at
startup of the application. All new geometry will be placed on this
layer. When transferring entities from one layer to another, the child
entity will be moved to the same surface as the parent entity. For
example, a trim curve will always be on the same layer as its parent
surface, a curve on surface and its parent surface will always be on the
same layer, and so on
To make it easier to work on different areas of your part, you may
want to turn off the visibility of the layers obstructing your view. If a
layer is enabled, all visible entities that reside on that layer are visible
on the screen. When a layer is disabled, none of the entities that reside
on that layer are visible. They also will not appear in dialog box
selection lists. To isolate a particular layer and prevent inadvertent
picking of geometry on other layers, you can make all layers but your
active one unpickable.
Filters
This dialog allows you to create/modify/delete filters, specify which
filter layers to make visible on the screen, apply a filter to the current
layers, and change the name of a filter.
A filter is a group of layers to be enabled together. When you apply or
activate a filter, all other layers are disabled and made invisible,
making it easy to toggle the visibility of layers. The significance of
creating a filter layer is that the same layer may appear in many filters.
Layer filters are useful to move between different themes. An example
is if there is a layer that contains a set of common surfaces of a model
and another layer that contains the changing geometry of the model,
you can easily move between the different themes.
Coordinate Systems
The system maintains a single world coordinate system. This function
toggles the visibility of the xyz axes of the world coordinate system, as
well as any created coordinate systems/work planes. The axes also
display the (0,0,0) position and the x, y, and z directions. The visibility
of these axes can be saved for the next time you run your software by
using the Save Settings command in the System menu.
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OBTAINING HELP THE COMMAND REFERENCE

HELP | COMMAND REFERENCE (SHIFT + F1)
The online help system consists of tool tips for all icons, the context-sensitive and
Whats This help for individual dialog boxes, and the general help that you can use
to search for other topics of interest. It provides background information about using
Imageware's features and surfacing philosophies as well as step-by-step procedures to
walk you through each basic function. It also provides index and search functions for
searching and locating topics by keywords.
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2003 EDS
Unit 2
Obtaining Help the Command Reference

Online help is easily obtainable by picking it from the pull down menu (Help |
Command Reference) or by using the Hotkey (SHIFT + F1). All that is needed is
an up-to-date copy of the latest browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator.
Note: If started without any command running, it will bring up the Main Help page.
From the main help page, you have the choice of using the Table of Contents, Index,
or Search functions to view stepped commands and the Guide to Commands section.
If a command is running and active, the Help Page will bring up information about
the command.
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OBTAINING HELP WHATS THIS HELP

The online help files include "What's This" help for dialog box parameters. You
can find out what a certain parameter should be set at or used for while the dialog
box is open. Simply click the "?" in the upper right hand corner of the dialog box
and LMB click on the parameter you want to learn more about. To view a
command's description or details, LMB click on an empty portion of the dialog
box (ie. near the Apply button). You can also RMB click on any panel or empty
portion of the dialog to display the "What's This" information.
Simple dialog box
66
Whats This help for the points parameter.
2003 EDS
Unit 3
Entities and Display

In this unit you will be introduced to the
softwares palette of entities and displays,
which include:
Points, Curves, Surfaces
Groups
Plots & Color Maps
Mosaic Mode
Entity Names
Align View
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BASIC ENTITIES
Arbitrary Cloud
Scan Line Cloud (multiple)
Polygonized Cloud
3D Curve (open)
3D Curve (closed)
Curve on Surface (closed)
Surface
Trimmed Surface
Plot (on a 3D curve)
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Color Map (on a surface)
2003 EDS
Unit 3
Basic Entities
Clouds
A cloud consists of a single point or collection of points.
Curves
The software features two main types of B-spline curve: NURB and
Bezier. Some curves are independent of any entity, and some are
dependent on surfaces.
Surfaces
The methods used to define and evaluate curves can be extended to
describe B-spline surfaces as well. Any position on a parametric curve
can be referenced in terms of the variable u. Another parameter, v, is
added to describe surfaces.
Groups
These entities are simply temporary sets made up of any combination
of points, curves, and surfaces. When sets of entities are grouped
together as one entity, an operation can be performed simultaneously
on all members.
Plot
One or more vectors displayed as a result of a diagnostic tool. Used to
directly show feedback such as error results or indirectly show
feedback such as Curvature or Normalcy Plots. They can be controlled
in the dialog box found at Display | Plot | Display.
Color Map
A distinct coloration of a surface displayed as a result of a diagnostic
tool. Used to directly show feedback such as a range error results or
indirectly show feedback such as Curvature or Reflective Plots. They
can be controlled in the dialog box found at Display | Plot | Display.
Common Entity Characteristics
The following characteristics are common to all entity types:
Name: A unique name supplied by the system, which you can rename.
Visibility: An entitys visibility can determine its selectability.
Color: Each entity is assigned a default color, which you can change.
Active entities may also have a different color assigned to them.
Activation: This will make the entity a default entity for all relevant
operations.
Layer: Each entity must lie on one layer.
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POINT DISPLAY QUALITIES

DISPLAY | POINT | DISPLAY (CTRL + D)
DISPLAY | POINT | DISPLAY MODE
Scatter point display

Mode = point
Polyline point display
Scatter point display

Mode = X mark
Scatter Point display modes
70
Cross Mark
Square
Filled Square
=
=
X Mark
Circle
Filled Circle
Triangle
Filled Triangle
2003 EDS
Unit 3
Point Display Qualities

Scatter
This allows you to see every point. This is quite useful for deleting and
separating points from larger clouds. By default, each point is
displayed as a single screen pixel, or dot. This is best for dense point
clouds.
Polyline
Displays the points as being connected by line segments. This is
primarily used to identify the order of the points within the cloud and
is affected by the value set as the operating distance. It is not usable on
non-organized (arbitrary) clouds.
Polygon Mesh
Displays the polygon cloud using a connected see-through mesh.
Flat-Shaded
Displays the polygon cloud as a mesh with solid color polygons. The
shading color is constant, based on the normal side of the polygon.
Gouraud-Shaded
Displays the polygon cloud as a very smoothly shaded object. This
type of shading allows reflective qualities.
Sample Point/Scan Frequency
Used to reduce the number of visible points (and/or scan lines). This
allows for quicker transformations. Point operations still work with all
points (visible and invisible) in the cloud.
Color
This allows the cloud to be any of 25 different colors. If the cloud is
active, it is drawn in the highlight color specified for clouds, not the
color specified in the dialog box.
Show Object & Show Object Axes
Show Object allows clouds to be shown or hidden. To change the
visibility of more than one cloud at a time, double-click this check box
before picking Apply. Show Object Axes toggles the visibility of
the object axes.
Shaded Material & Shaded Transparency
Shaded Material specifies the material property to apply to the
selected Gouraud-shaded polygonized clouds. This option is valid only
on displays supporting OpenGL. Click on the material button to
display the material editor. The selected material is then displayed on
the button. Shaded Transparency applies a level of transparency to
the Gouraud-shaded polygonized cloud. The higher the number, the
more you can see through your cloud. The range is 0 1.
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CURVE DISPLAY QUALITIES

DISPLAY | CURVE | DISPLAY
(CTRL + SHIFT + D)
Curve Widths
Curve width = 1
Curve width = 10
Curve Styles
Solid
Center Line
Dot
Dash
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2003 EDS
Unit 3
Curve Display Qualities

Chordal Deviation
Specify the maximum deviation between a true curve and the curve display
(line connecting two consecutive points).
Color
This allows the curve to be displayed in a different color. By default, the
active curve is yellow.
Visible
Allows the curves to be displayed or hidden.
Show Object Axes
Displays the object axes.
Show Endpoints
Displays the end points for the selected curves.
Show Direction
Displays the direction arrows for the selected curves.
Show Knots
Displays the knots for the selected curves.
Curve Width
Specifies the curve width for the selected curves. If a curve seems to
get lost on the screen, you may want to increase its width, or thickness. This
value can range from 1 to 10, with 1 being a one pixel-thick line.
Style
If the curve is rational (e.g., a line or arc), select a curve style for the selected
curves: Solid, Center line, Dot, or Dash.
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SURFACE DISPLAY QUALITIES

DISPLAY | SURFACE | DISPLAY (SHIFT + D)
74
1x1 Per Span
15x15 Uniform
Negative Normal Side (flat shaded)
Positive Normal Side (reflective qualities)
2003 EDS
Unit 3
Surface Display Qualities

Curve Mesh mode
Displays the surface as a mesh of curved lines. This display mode is
effective for displaying highly curved surfaces, such as spheres.
Shaded mode
This is a very smooth type of shading which allows you to see the
reflective properties of the surface. High display values or low values
in spatial while in Per Span mode may require extra CPU processing.
Uniform sampling
The lines or curves used to display the surface are placed uniformly
across the entire surface.
Division Per Span sampling
The surface is rendered using a uniform number of display lines or
curves between each span of the knots.
Chordal Deviation
The chordal deviation is the maximum deviation between a true curve
math and the curve display line connecting two consecutive points.
Areas of greater curvature will be created with more segments to
ensure a smooth curve representation. Areas with less curvature
require fewer segments.
Match
Indicates whether to match the surfaces. This creates a smoother
display since there won't be any 'cracks' between the surface
boundaries. Note that this option takes extra processing time
Color
This allows the surface to be any of 25 different colors. If the surface
is active, it is drawn in the highlight color specified for surfaces, not
the color specified in the dialog box.
Materials
Imageware comes with default material properties. This is to be used
with shading. This allows viewing the model as if it was made out of a
certain material.
Transparency
Indicate whether or not you'd like to apply a level of transparency to
your surface. The higher the number, the more you can see through
your surface. The range is 0 - 1.
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GROUP DISPLAY QUALITIES

DISPLAY | GROUP | DISPLAY
(ALT + SHIFT + D)
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2003 EDS
Unit 3
Group Display Qualities

Groups
Displays a list of the groups to modify. Pick the groups in the viewport, or select
their names from the dialog box.
Color
Allows a new display color to be set for the selected groups.
Show Object
Indicates whether the groups are displayed or hidden.
Show Object Axis
Displays the objects axis.
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HOT KEYS AND FILTERS

Action
Open file
Save current file
Exit application
Ungroup
Delete All
Undo Transform
Paste
Change Entity Name
Undo
Redo
Repeat Last Operation
Put in No Show
Show Only Selected
Hide All Plots
Hide All Color Maps
Show All Names
Hide All Names
Perspective Mode
Make Invisible
Make All Visible
Make Selected Visible
Zoom in Boundary
Non-Proportional Zoom
Reset Non-Proportional
Fill Screen
Single Viewport
Standard 4 Views
Automotive 4 View
Create Points
Cloud Parallel Cross Sections
Surface Cross Sections
Uniform Surface
Uniform Curve
Snip Curve
Snip Surface
Snip w/Curves
Pick Delete Points
Reverse Scan Lines
Reverse Surface Normal
Reverse Curve Direction
Trim Surface
78
Key
Ctrl + O
Alt + S
Alt + X
Shift + U
Ctrl + U
Ctrl + Shift + U
Ctrl + V
Ctrl + N
Ctrl + Z
Shift + Z
Ctrl + Shift + Z
Ctrl + L
Shift + L
Ctrl + Shift + M
Shift + M
Shift + N
Ctrl + Shift + N
Shift + V
Ctrl + W
Shift + W
Ctrl + Shift + W
Ctrl + A
Shift + A
Ctrl + Shift + A
Ctrl + F
Ctrl + 1
Ctrl + 4
Shift + 4
Shift + P
Ctrl + B
Shift + B
Shift + F
Ctrl + Shift + F
Ctrl + K
Shift + K
Ctrl + Shift + K
Ctrl + Shift + P
Ctrl + R
Shift + R
Ctrl + Shift + R
Ctrl + T
2003 EDS
Action
Untrim Surface
Highlight Plot
Highlight Lines
Reflection Plot
Surface Cross Section Tangent
Plot
Multi-surface Continuity
Curve to Curve Continuity
Cloud to Poly Cloud Diff.
Surface to Cloud Diff.
Curve to Cloud Diff.
Help | Command Reference
Key
Shift + T
Ctrl + E
Shift + E
Ctrl + Shift + E
Alt + Shift + E
Shift + O
Ctrl + Shift + O
Ctrl + Q
Shift + Q
Ctrl + Shift + Q
Shift + F1
Copy Entities
Display
Group Interactive
Hide All
Information
Just Show Selected
Show All
Cut Entities
C
D
G
H
I
J
S
X
Zoom In
Zoom Out
Top View
Bottom View
Left View
Right View
Front View
Back View
Isometric 1 View
Isometric 2 View
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
Unit 3
Hotkeys and Filters

To many users, the Hotkeys are a valuable resource to working with any software. If
you think you will be using this form of interface often, here are a few tips that can
make them very useful and easy to understand.
Note: While hotkeys are an effective way to use the software, the focus in this course
will primarily be on the pull-down menus and the Main toolbar icons. As you learn
more about the different processes, you can speed up your productivity with the
hotkeys and their filters, as well as the various toolbars. It may be useful to make a
copy of the Hotkeys page and keep it handy.
Entity Filters
Many similar hotkey commands are set up to work on different types
of entities with a change in just one of the keys. This is called filtering.
Action
Clouds
Curves
Surfaces
Groups
Entity Filter
Ctrl
Ctrl + Shift
Shift
Alt + Shift
For example:
The letter D refers to the Display dialog box.
Use CTRL + D to bring up the Display dialog box for points.
Use CTRL + Shift + D to bring up the Display dialog box for
curves, etc.
Not all hot keys refer to specific types of entities.
For example: Shift + Z is the hotkey combination to repeat the last
command and is not only related to surfaces.
Troubleshooting
If the hot keys do not work, make sure that the CAPS Lock and the
NUM Lock keys are turned off. Some operating systems will disable
the hot keys if either of these keys is turned on. If certain hot keys still
arent working, make sure that the entity youre working on is active
and/or visible in the viewport.
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ENTITY NAMES
DISPLAY | NAME | SHOW ALL NAMES
DISPLAY | NAME | HIDE ALL NAMES
DISPLAY | NAME | SHOW SELECTED NAMES
EDIT | CHANGE ENTITY NAME
curve 1
polygon handle
curve 2
curve 3
cloud 4
cloud 3
curve 4
cloud 2
curve 5
cld Y-sect
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curve 6
2003 EDS
Unit 3
Entity Names
Naming
The software automatically names entities when they are created or
copied.
Display | Name | Show All Names
Shows the names of all visible entities. If an entity is made visible
(after mode has been set), its name will appear automatically.
Display | Name | Hide All Names
Hides the names of all visible entities.
Display | Name | Show Selected Names
Allows you to pick which entities will have their name constantly
turned on whenever it is visible.
Edit | Change Entity Name
Names can be changed at any time with this command. It is
recommended that you change the names of entities so that they make
sense for the model.
Naming Rules
All file names have a 64-character limit.
There cannot be two entities with the same name (using the
same capitalization), even if they are different types of entities.
You can use capital letters in the file name.
Entity names are allowed to have spaces within them.
Example: SectCld 2 copy
Notations, such as (! # $ % ^ & * ), are acceptable. Keep in
mind that most translators will rename these (i.e. IGES).
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ALIGNING VIEWS TO GEOMETRY

VIEW | ALIGN VIEW TO | CLOUD
VIEW | ALIGN VIEW TO | CURVE
VIEW | ALIGN VIEW TO | SURFACE
VIEW | ALIGN VIEW TO | POINTS
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2003 EDS
Unit 3
Aligning Views to Geometry

View | Align View To | Cloud
Changes the viewing location so that the view is along the minor
component (the shortest dimension) of the selected cloud. Use this
function when you want to see the "best" view of relatively flat clouds.
All entities are also entirely visible in the active viewport.
View | Align View To | Curve
component (the shortest dimension) of the selected curve. Use this
function when you want to see the "best" view of relatively planar
curves. If the selected curve is planar, the plane that contains the curve
will be parallel to the screen plane.
All visible entities are also entirely visible in the active viewport.
Align View To Curve is useful for viewing properties of planar curves,
such as curvature plot or tangent plot.
View | Align View To | Surface
component (the shortest dimension) of the selected surface. Use this
function when you want to see the "best" views of relatively flat
surfaces. If the selected surface is planar, the view is along the plane's
normal direction. All entities are also entirely visible in the active
viewport.
View | Align View To | Points
component (the shortest dimension) of the selected points. This
function changes the viewing parameters so that the selected points are
viewed along their shortest dimension. If three points are selected, the
view is along the normal of the plane that passes through the points. If
more than three points are selected, the view is along the normal of the
plane that best fits the points. All entities are also entirely visible in the
active viewport.
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(Blank)
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
Point Processing
In this unit you will learn about the following
point processing topics:
Typical Point Processing
Point Data Descriptions
Point Data Cleanup
Circle Select
Pick Delete Points
Measure Between Points
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Point Processing
POINT PROCESSING FOR REVERSE

ENGINEERING
Collect XYZ Point Information from
the Physical Model in the form of
Clouds
Read in the Point Data (Clouds)
Do Multiple Clouds of the

Whole Model Exist?
Yes
No
Align Multiple Clouds

Together to Create the
Whole Point Model
Visualize and Query the Clouds
Remove Undesired or
Noisy Points
Visualize Point Networks
and Segments for Future
Surfaces
Keeping the
Downstream
Process in Mind
Interrogate Clouds for

Accuracy and
Smoothness
Create Point Networks and Segments
Is Each Point Network Clean

Enough or Smooth Enough to
Create Curves?
Yes
Curve Processing
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2003 EDS
No
Optional
Clean the Inaccurate Networks

-orSmooth the Rough Networks
Unit 4
Point Processing for Reverse Engineering

Read in the point data ( clouds )
Many different file types may be read in.
Do multiple clouds of the whole model exist?
Some models may need to be scanned (measured) in more than one
session depending on the measurement device or model.
Register multiple clouds together to create the whole point model
If the model is scanned properly, there will be references to aid the
alignment of the clouds to each other.
Visualize and query the clouds
There are many methods to view and retrieve information.
Remove undesired or noisy points
Undesireable points may be manually or automatically deleted.
Visualize and preplan point networks and segments for future surfaces
It might be a good idea to print pictures of the cloud and sketch where
the surfaces are to be placed.
Create point networks and segments
Point network can be created using cross sections, scan line
organization from the cloud, or by manually picking points.
Optional
Interrogate clouds for accuracy and smoothness
Clouds which appear primitive may be compared to primitive shapes.
The smooth curve creation commands may override this step
This is up to the designers discretion. The smooth curve creation
commands may override this step.
Clean the inaccurate networks or smooth the rough networks
Noise reduction and smoothing filters can help on ordered networks.
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Point Processing
POINT DATA DESCRIPTION

DISPLAY | POINT | DISPLAY
Arbitrary/Unorganized (Scattered)
Single Scan Line
Multiple Scan Lines
Gridded
Multiple Gridded
Polygonize
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Arbitrary/Unorganized (Polyline)
2003 EDS
Unit 4
Point Data Description

Cloud
A set of points. It may be a single point or thousands.
Singular
One point. Sometimes a cloud may have one point. This is used many
times for an alignment reference.
Arbitrary
Multiple unorganized points, usually obtained from hand digitizing
systems and some laser scanners.
Viewing Modes:
Scatter - Shows clouds as individual pixels.
Polyline - Draws lines between the points, connecting them in
order. The pattern of lines may show whether the cloud data is
organized or arbitrary.
Scan Line
A sequentially- ordered, singular string of points. Scan line data is
usually obtained from a coordinate measuring machine or a laser
scanner.
Multiple Scan Lines
Multiple ordered strings of points in one set.
For Example: Scan 1, points 1 through 100 / Scan 2, points 1 through
100 / Scan 3
Gridded
Points arranged in an equal array (i.e. 100 points x 100 points).
Multiple Gridded
Multiple grids are usually overlapping slightly. This looks like a
patchwork quilt. This type of data is usually from a Moire
Interferometry cameras and similar photogrammetry scanning devices.
Polygonized
Each point is attached mathematically to its closest neighbors, forming
triangles called facets. This is used for Rapid Prototyping, Animation,
and Finite Element Analysis.
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Point Processing
CIRCLE-SELECT POINTS
MODIFY | EXTRACT |
CIRCLE-SELECT POINTS
LMB
LMB &
MMB
Points Inside
LMB
LMB
Points Outside
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
Circle-Select Points
Circle-Select Points
Circle-select can be used to segment point clouds for a number of
reasons. It can be used to delete portions of a point cloud such as
outliers, unnecessary sections of data, etc. You can also use this tool to
divide a point cloud in two. The appropriate point cloud must be
picked each time before you pick start.
Hints
If you pick a wrong location, use the Backspace key (on the keyboard)
to remove the last pick. Also, after you pick the first location of the
"lasso," hold down the control key to "lock" the polyline into a 0, 90,
180, or 270 angle.
Selection
Using Circle-select to Lasso points: Click the radio button for the
appropriate option. In the graphics area, use the LMB to pick the
corners of a polygon surrounding the points you wish to delete, keep,
or separate, depending on the radio button youve selected. Click the
MMB to close the polygon and create new point cloud(s).
Keep old data
Keeps the original cloud intact while new clouds are created.
Naming
The software will automatically name the new cloud(s) by adding the
suffix in or out to the original cloud name.
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Point Processing
PICK DELETE POINTS

MODIFY | SCAN LINE | PICK DELETE POINTS
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
Pick Delete Points

Pick Delete Points
Deletes points manually (visually). Picks individual points for deletion
when unwanted points are visually distinguishable from the rest of the
point cloud. Picking points doesn't have to be exact, as each time you
click the left mouse button, the deletion marker will jump to the
closest point. To deselect a chosen point, click on the point a second
time.
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Point Processing
MEASURING BETWEEN POINTS

MEASURE | DISTANCE | BETWEEN POINTS
MEASURE | ANGLE / TANGENT DIRECTION |
BETWEEN POINTS
MEASURE | ANGLE / TANGENT DIRECTION |
DIRECTION BETWEEN POINTS
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
Measuring Between points

Distance Between Points
Calculates the distance between any two points you select. This
function is particularly useful when you want to determine the
operating distance or threshold distance for filtering or sampling
operations.
Angle Between Points
Calculates the angle between any three points you select.
Direction Between Points
Displays the normalized direction vector between two points.
Aperture Size
Allows the pixel settings to be adjusted either larger or smaller, thus
helping in selecting entities. This is set in the following location: Edit |
Preferences | System Interactions tab. Set the Picking Options:
Range to the desired number of pixels.
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Point Processing
(Blank)
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2003 EDS
Unit 4 / Lab A
Lab 4A: Investigation Phase

In this lab, youll use an ICE Air Foil cloud from a
special Cyberware scanner to learn about the
following investigation and inspection methods:
Scan Data converted into Imageware
Visualization Techniques
Inspection and Cleaning
Measurement
Saving your work
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In this exercise, youll read in the ASCII point data of an iced wing airfoil
from a Cyberware scanner. You will then use this scan to visualize the
cloud, perform an inspection, and clean the point data.
1. In the pulldown menu, go to the command File | Open.
2. Select the file named NASA AF No ice.asc and NASA AF ice.asc.
(Make sure to pick the ASCII Delimited option from the Open File
As pulldown.)
The file should now be visible in the viewport.
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
3. Use the Shift + LMB to rotate the model on the screen to visualize it
from all angles.
4. Go to the Top (F1) view.
The first step in cleaning is to remove the largest quantity of undesired
points from inside and outside of both wing data files.
5. Start the Circle Select command (Modify | Extract | Circle-Select
Points).
Pick locations for the polyline around the good data. Dont worry
about the small ones you miss. Do this to both cloud sets.
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99

When you complete (or nearly complete) the loop, use the MMB
to complete the command. Remove the dialog box with the ESC
key on the keyboard. Your data should look something like the
following:
6. Using Modify | Scan Line | Pick Delete Points, delete the rest of the
points in the cloud NASA AF ice. Make sure you are in the top view
before deleting!
Select the undesired points. If you pick a point by accident then

pick it again and it will deselect.
Click the MMB when complete. Dont expect to get all of the
points at once. You will find that you will need to zoom in and
change views to get all of undesired points. Zoom in and/or go to
other views and remove unneeded points in the same manner.
Press the ESC key to remove the dialog box when you are
finished with the command.
7. Go to the Front (F5) view.
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2003 EDS
Unit 4
8. Use the Circle Select command to divide the registration spheres

from the airfoil cloud.
Select the cloud NASA AF ice for the operation.
Set the selection mode to Both Clouds. Make sure the option to
keep old data is not selected.
Pick the points using the LMB and execute the command with the
MMB. Press the ESC key to remove the dialog box when you are
NASA AF ice
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101

9. To see what really changed, use Display | Name | Show All Names.
NASA AF ice in
NASA AF ice out
10. Hide the names displayed on the screen with the command Display |
Name | Hide All Names
Note: Another method is to use the command Display | Point |
Mosaic.
11. Go to the Top (F1) view.
12. Use the Circle Select command to remove any cloud data that is
underneath the spherical shaped clouds.
Select NASA AF ice out as the cloud to extract from.
Set the selection mode to Points Outside (Delete Inner). Make
sure the option to keep old data is not selected.
Pick the following locations using the LMB. Execute the
command by clicking the MMB.
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Unit 4
Exercise 2: Dividing the spheres

Now with the Circle select points dialog box still up, divide the spheres
into separate clouds.
1. Select Modify | Extract | Circle-Select Points.
Select NASA AF ice out as the cloud.
Set the selection mode to Both Clouds. Make sure the option to
keep old data is not selected.
Using the LMB, make the following picks:
Use the MMB command to execute the command.

Continue to separate the spherical clouds apart.
Press the ESC key to remove the dialog box when you are
2. Use Display | Point | Mosaic and Display | Name Display | Show All
Names to see what youve done.
NASA AF ice in 5
NASA AF ice in 3
NASA AF ice in 4
NASA AF ice in 2
3. Rename all the objects in the file. Use good naming conventions.
4. Save the file as Phase1_Lab1.imw.
5. Return to the Top (F1) view and use the hotkey CTRL + F to fill the
data to the screen edges.
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6. Select Measure | Distance | Between Points.

Before you make any measurements, make sure to pick the
Interactions button in the lower left hand corner of the dialog box.
Here you need to be sure to pick the Point in Cloud option.
This prevents you from picking locations not belonging to a point
cloud. Without it, in this case, you might pick points on the view.
Note: If you need to in the future, you can highlight the second panel
and assign a new interaction for it. Each panel will then have its own
interaction assignment.
Pick near the following locations on the ICE model.
Try not to pick directly on the cloud but a very short distance away
from the location intended. This will allow the pick location to
gravitate to the point closest to the crosshair. It almost guarantees
you a pick on the outermost points.
Point 1
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Point 2
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Unit 4
As soon as you pick the second location, the dialog box displays the
measurement and a thin line connects the two locations it found. Your
measurement should be similar but not necessarily the same as the
following dialog. Right now you are just checking the overall size, not
looking for the exact information.
Now without touching the dialog box, pick once near the following
location.
New Point 2
Notice the active panel of the dialog stayed in the same location.
This feature allows you to pick many locations from an anchored
base location (your first pick). If you would like another base
location, pick anywhere in the shaded area of the first panel of the
dialog and start from scratch again.
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Unit 5
Alignment
In this unit, youll learn about alignment and
alignment methods, including:
Definition of Entity Pairs
Basic Curve Fitting
Bounding Circles
Creating Surfaces from Clouds
Quadrics
Mixed Mode
Stepwise
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Alignment
ALIGNMENT
Two main reasons for alignment (registration):

To re-assemble multiple point data sets from different scans of the
same physical object. Some scanners can only scan one side of the
model at a time. This creates a need to align different sides of the
model together into one cloud.
To align a point data set to CAD geometry for inspection purposes.
Most Alignment commands need Primitives (also called Quadrics or Prismatics)
These are items such as a point, line, circle, plane, sphere, cylinder,
and cone.
The source group:
Must consist of alignment elements and other point clouds, curves, and
surfaces that need to be registered/aligned in the same way.
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Alignment
Method
Point Set To Point Set
Entities
Requirements
Advantages
Fast method, useful when

Two corresponding point Clouds of equal size and
reference points are known
sets
order
Constrained
Two corresponding point
Point Set To Point Set
sets
One degree of movement

Fast method, useful when
fixed; For clouds of
reference points are known
equal size and order
321 Registration
3 points to define 1st

plane, 2 points for 2nd,
and 1 point for 3rd
Six individual points

describing the corner of
a box
Easy to align a point set

describing a square corner
to a surface model with a
corner
Iterative
Points to define
alignment datums
Six or more points

defining solvable
alignment datums
Easy to align measured

points to datum features
Mixed Mode
Prismatic pairs
Moveable group
Averages error across all

pairs
Constrained Mixed
Mode
Prismatic pairs
Moveable group
First pair is a 100% match

error is averaged across
remaining pairs
Stepwise
Prismatic pairs
Moveable group
Accuracy depends on order

selected, graphic updates
after each pairing
Spatial - Planar Transitional (SPT)
Points and planes

available in two
directions
Moveable group
Easy to understand, stop

any time, instant graphic
feedback
Direct
Points aligned directly to

surfaces
Constrained Best Fit
User can set accuracy and

refinement, animation
features
One degree of movement is
One degree of movement fixed, you can align by
Non-prismatic features
fixed
moving in the remaining
two dimensions
Mobile entities
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Alignment
DEFINITIONS OF ENTITY PAIRS

Points
Singular Point
Cloud
Center of a
Circle
Center of an
Arc
Center of a
Sphere
Directed Lines
Lines
Line
Cone
Cylinder
Line
Planes
Coordinate Systems
Circle
Plane Vector
Plane
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Cone Axis
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Cylinder Axis
Unit 5
Definitions of Entity Pairs

(applicable to all types of Alignment)
Type
Point
Line
Derived From
Before Alignment
Singular Point Cloud

Circle / Arc / Sphere
Center
After Alignment
The two points are coincident.
Line
Cone / Cylinder Axis
The lines are colinear.
Direction
Directed
Line
Line
Cone Axis
Plane Normal Vector
Circle / Arc Normal Vector
The lines are parallel and have the

same direction.
Line
Cone Axis
The lines are colinear and have the
same direction.
Line
Fixed Line
Cone Axis
The lines are coincident and have

the same direction and starting
point.
Circle / Arc Normal Vector
Plane
Plane
Circle / Arc
The circle is coplanar with the
plane.
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Alignment
BASIC CURVE FITTING

CONSTRUCT | CURVE FROM CLOUD | FIT LINE
FIT ARC
FIT CIRCLE
FIT ELIPSE
Fit Line
Fit Arc
Fit Circle
Fit Ellipse
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Basic Curve Fitting

Fit Line / Arc / Circle / Ellipse
Approximates a best-fit line, arc, circle or ellipse on the selected cloud.
The cloud should be organized before using the curve commands. This is
similar to fitting a surface, such as a plane, cylinder, cone, or sphere to a
cloud of points.
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Alignment
BOUNDING CIRCLES
CONSTRUCT | CURVE FROM CLOUD |
BOUNDING CIRCLE
Outer
Circle
Inner
Circle
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Bounding Circles
Outer Circle
Creates the smallest possible circle around the chosen point cloud.
Inner Circle
Creates the largest possible circle inside the chosen point cloud.
Names
The software automatically names the circle InCircle or OutCircle.
Note: This operation can be time consuming if applied to large clouds. Select a subset
of the point cloud if possible.
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Alignment
SURFACE CONSTRUCTION
CREATE | SURFACE PRIMITIVE |
Plane
Cone
Cylinder
Sphere
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Surface Construction
Primitive surface
You can create spheres, cylinders, planes and cones with theses
functions.
Surface with 4 points
These surfaces are useful to create base and rough surfaces that you
can modify later.
Spheres
You can create basic spheres, spheres with 4 points, and spheres with a
center and point.
Planes
You can create a basic plane or a plane with 3 points.
Cylinders
You can create a basic cylinder or a cylinder with a center and point.
Cones
You can create a basic cone or a cone with a center and 2 points.
Note: The software creates right cones and cylinders by default, meaning that the
bases are perpendicular to the axis.
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Alignment
GETTING POINTS FROM CURVES AND SURFACES

CONSTRUCT | POINTS | SAMPLE CURVE
CONSTRUCT | POINTS | SAMPLE SURFACE
Sample Curve
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Unit 5
Getting Points From Curves and Surfaces

Sample Curves
Samples the selected curves and creates a separate point cloud from
each specified curve. When sampling the selected curve(s), you can
choose from three sampling modes: uniform, per span, or angular
tolerance. The value you specify for sampling depends on the mode
you select.
Uniform Sampling Mode
Samples the curve so that the distance along the curve between
sampled points is equal. For this mode, specify the number of
sampling points along the curve.
Per Span Sampling Mode
Samples the curve so that each of the curve knot spans is sampled
uniformly in the curve's parameter space. For this mode, specify the
number of divisions for each span.
Angular Tolerance Sampling Mode
Samples the curve so that the piecewise linear shape that results from
joining all the sampled points does not deviate from the curve by more
than the specified angular tolerance (in degrees).
Sampling Value
Enter the sampling value. Uniform Mode: 2 to 100; Per Span Mode: 1
to 100; Angular Tolerance Mode: 0.5 to 50.
View Dependent
Indicates whether the resulting point cloud will be created as if the
curve were flat on the view, ignoring the 3D depth of the curve.
Sample Surfaces
Samples the selected surfaces and creates a separate point cloud from
each specified surface. The sampling is performed uniformly in the
surface's parameter space. Each point in the resultant point cloud gets
its normal from the corresponding point on the surface.
Points in U
Enter the number of sampling points in the u parameter direction. (2 to
100)
Points in V
Enter the number of sampling points in the v parameter direction. (2 to
100)
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Alignment
CREATING SURFACES FROM CLOUDS

CONSTRUCT | SURFACE FROM CLOUD | FIT PLANE
FIT SPHERE
FIT CONE
FIT CYLINDER
Fit Plane
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Fit Cylinder
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Fit Sphere
Unit 5
Creating Surfaces from Clouds

Fit Plane/Cylinder/Sphere/Cone
Approximates a best-fit plane, cylinder, sphere, or cone on the
selected cloud. The cloud should be organized before using the surface
commands. This is similar to fitting a curve, such as a line, arc, circle,
or ellipse to a cloud of points.
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Alignment
QUADRICS
MODIFY | ALIGN |
IDENTIFY QUADRICS | CURVE
MODIFY | ALIGN |
IDENTIFY QUADRICS | SURFACE
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Quadrics
Identifying quadrics is especially important if you intend to use curve and surface
geometry for registration.
Identify Curves As Quadrics
Occasionally you may have curves in your viewport, which are
intended to be quadric shapes circles, arcs, or lines but the software
does not recognize them as such. The Identify Quadrics command
identifies picked curves, which are mathematically approximate to
circles, arcs or lines and redefines those curves as quadrics.
Identify Surfaces As Quadrics
Works the same as Identify Quadrics for curves, but defines surfaces
as planes, spheres, cylinders or cones.
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Alignment
MIXED MODE
MODIFY | ALIGN | MIXED MODE
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Mixed Mode
Mixed Mode Alignment
Aligns an entity group by matching geometric entities in the group
with corresponding entities. The accuracy of each geometric pairing is
averaged so that all of the pairs are nearly equally inaccurate.
Constrained Mixed Mode Alignment
Works like Mixed Mode, but the first pair of entities is aligned
perfectly. The accuracy of the remaining pairs is averaged.
Registration Pair List
Once you have selected both the source and destination elements, click
the Add button to add the selected pair to the registration pair list.
When you have selected sufficient registration pairs for a unique
alignment, the Add button is disabled and the OK button is enabled.
Press OK to complete the alignment. To remove registration pairs
from the list, select the pairs from the registration pair list panel and
press the Delete button.
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Alignment
STEPWISE
MODIFY | ALIGN | STEPWISE
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Stepwise
Stepwise Alignment
Stepwise alignment is different from the other modes in that the
alignment state is updated and the partial alignment result is shown at
every step based on the latest added matched pairs. It does not require
you to select sufficient alignment pairs to perform unique alignment.
After selecting the group to be aligned, each alignment pair is added in
a multi-step process. Like Constrained Mixed Mode Registration, the
first pairing is an exact match. Each successive pair is aligned with
less and less accuracy.
Registration Pair List
Pairs can be added until all the degrees of freedom are fully
constrained (unique registration is obtained). To remove registration
pairs from the list, select the pairs from the registration pair list panel
and press the Delete button.
Comparison of Mixed Mode and Stepwise Registrations
Mixed Mode
Stepwise
You can only see the final results

after you pick "Apply."
Dynamic Registration: graphic

results are updated as each new
pair is added.
You cannot pick "Apply" until the

Registration is fully defined by the
pairs.
Simple mixed mode averages all
the errors; constrained mixed mode
registers the first pair exactly.
You can stop the Registration

before it is totally defined.
Allows more pairs than necessary

to fully define the Registration.
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Order-dependent accuracy: pairs

selected earlier are more exact
than those selected later.
Won't accept any more pairs after
the Registration has been fully
defined.
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Alignment
BEST FIT
MODIFY | ALIGN | BEST FIT
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Best Fit
Best Fit Alignment
Best Fit Alignment is used when there are no aids (such as tooling
balls, hard points, or known features) available for alignment or when
all other types cannot be used due to time and accuracy factors. For
Best Fit alignment of large data sets, circle select small regions of the
data and sample the regions as much as possible. Any cloud over 1000
points will take a substantial amount of time to align. If possible, avoid
using the complete cloud.
The selected source point cloud or 3D curve is rotated and translated
so that the mean square distance between the cloud/3D curve and the
destination geometric entity is minimized and is within the specified
tolerance, if possible. The alignment transform will also be applied to
the selected mobile entities.
Mobile entity
This is the entity to be moved to be registered/aligned with the source
cloud.
Source entity
This is the entity that determines the necessary transformation. To get
accurate results, the source cloud should be a subset of the destination
entity, as the system assumes that each point in the source cloud has a
corresponding point on the destination entity.
Destination entity
This is the entity that determines the necessary transformation.
Refinement vs. Best Possible
Use the refinement option to improve the alignment error once the
point cloud and the geometric entity are approximately aligned with
each other; otherwise, use the best possible option to find the best
alignment.
Show Animation
Displays the alignment working on the screen.
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Alignment
ITERATIVE ALIGNMENT
MODIFY | ALIGN | ITERATIVE
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Iterative Alignment
Iterative Alignment
To perform the iterative alignment, three or more reference points
must be defined to control one coordinate axis (the primary plane), two
or more nominal points to control another axis (the secondary plane),
and finally one point to control the third axis (the tertiary plane). For
example, you can pick 3 points to define the x- axis, 2 points to define
the y- axis, and 1 point to define the z- axis. Or you can pick a point to
control all three axes, another point to control the x and y axes, and a
third point to control the z axis. A 3-2-1 axis selection such as this
allows for a perfect alignment between the measured points and
alignment features (i.e. each measured point and its corresponding
alignment feature has the same coordinates along the controlled axes).
Feature Types
Fixed points - are typically center points of quadrics. These
references will not be updated during iterative alignment since
their relative position to the actual point cloud is fixed
Piercing Points - are the intersection points between a cloud and
the line defined by the nominal point and normal direction. These
references will be updated for any iteration. In the case of a normal
parallel to the coordinate axis: two coordinates are fixed, the third
has to be detected. (Because the cloud will be transformed for any
iteration, this point position will change any time and has to be redetermined).
Sharp Edge Points - are the points on the edge of a cloud at section
height given through the nominal point. These references will be
updated for any iteration. The point is defined as the point on the
edge of a cloud at section height given through the nominal point.
In the case of a direction parallel to the coordinate axis: one
coordinate is fixed, the second has to be detected while the third
coordinate is undetermined.
Rounded Edge Points - are the extreme points on a round edge of a
cloud at section height given through the nominal point. These
references will be updated for any iteration. In the case of a
direction parallel to the coordinate axis: one coordinate is fixed,
the second has to be detected while the third coordinate is
undetermined.
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Alignment
ALIGNMENT INFORMATION
EVALUATE | INFORMATION | ALIGNMENT
Shows the registration matrix math, rotation

and translation data, as well as roll angle,
pitch angle, and yaw angle.
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Unit 5 / Lab A
Lab 5A: Alignment Phase

In this lab you will align two scan clouds, while
learning to use the following commands:
Fit Spheres
Grouping
Mixed Mode Alignment
Stepwise Alignment
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Labs 5A & 5B: Alignments

The object of this portion of the lab is to align two separate scans of wing
data. Once the data is aligned you can cross section both scans and check
the differences from normal wing to iced wing.
Before the scans were done, gauge balls were placed at fixed locations of
the wing. These spherical clouds will be the focus point for the alignment.
1. Reopen the file saved from the last lab (Phase 1 Lab 1.imw) or open
the file NASA AF ice cleaned.imw and NASA AF no ice
cleaned.imw.
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2. Choose the 8 sphere clouds and create a best-fit sphere to each of the
eight clouds (Construct | Surface From Cloud | Fit Sphere).
3. Delete all the spherical clouds since they are no longer needed.
4. Rename all the spheres with good naming conventions. You could use
1,2,3, and 4 for all of the ICE spheres and a,b,c, and d for all of
the non-ICE spheres.
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5. Save the file as Phase2_Lab1.imw.
At this point you need to prepare the model and align both clouds
together using their spheres as references. The first step is to group
one of the two Air Foil clouds (and its reference spheres) so the
freeform Alignment tools will recognize it as a Mobile set of entities
(the entities to move).
6. Group the mobile entities using Edit | Create Group. In this case you
will use the NASA AF ice cloud and the best fit spheres that relate to
it.
Drag a bounding box around the entities to group.
Group
7. To begin the alignment process, use Modify | Align | Mixed Mode.

Notice the Pair Type panel has the point choice highlighted, since
there are entities in the group from which points can be derived.
To start the alignment process, select matching spheres. This can
be done graphically or by picking the name in the dialog box. Be
sure he selected spheres are entered into the appropriate Source
Element and the Destination Element panels.
As you pick each pair, choose Add from the dialog box. Youll
notice that your selected spheres appear in the alignment pair list.
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When all the spheres are matched, pick Apply to execute the
command. The results of the alignment are seen in the view port as
well as in the alignment result panel.
Note the
registration
error
8. Save the file as Phase 2 Lab 2.imw.
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9. Ungroup the entities using Edit | Ungroup.
10. Change to the top view (F1).
11. Delete everything except the two original clouds.
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12. Select Modify | Orient | Reset Home to reset the home locations.
13. Save the file for the next lab as Phase2_Lab2.imw.

14. Erase all the contents of the viewport.
15. Open the model Phase2_Lab1.imw.
16. Try the Stepwise Alignment (Modify | Align | Stepwise) on this
model and note the differences between Mixed Mode and Stepwise
Alignment.
17. When complete, erase all contents of the viewport.
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(Blank)
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Unit 5
Unit 5: Lab B
Lab 5B: Iterative Alignment

The tutorial should help you to understand how
to perform an Iterative 321-alignment, extract
nominal curve features from a scan cloud and
how to document the results. Youll use:
Sampling commands
Best Fit Alignment
Error Needle Annotations
321 Alignment
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You will first perform a rough pre-alignment using the Best Fit Alignment
command. The cloud can be fit directly to surfaces, but for performance
reasons, a fit between two thinned clouds is advisable.
1. Open the file named a_pillar_start.imw. This file contains a pillar
reinforcement, which was scanned with a white light fringe projection
sensor.
2. Select Construct | Points | Sample Surface to sample the nominal

surface group.
Select the nomsurfs group and set the sampling to 50 points in the
u and v directions and press Apply to execute the command.
3. Select Modify | Merge | Clouds to add all of the created point clouds.
Specify to merge all of the sample clouds and uncheck the 'Keep
Old Clouds' checkbox and press Apply.
4. Select Modify | Data Reduction | Space Sampling.
This panel shows

the results after
the sampling has
been performed.
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5. Create a work copy of the scan cloud using Edit | Copy. Select
a_pillar as the entity to copy before clicking Copy/Paste.
6. Select Modify | Data Reduction | Space Sampling to sample down
the work cloud (a_pillar copy). Set the distance tolerance to 1.0mm
and press Apply.
7. Select Modify | Polygon Mesh | Unpolygonize to destroy the polygon
mesh on the work cloud.
8. Select Edit | Change Entity Name to change the name for both
created clouds.
Rename the cloud sampled from the nominal surfaces (AddCld) to
nom_align.
Rename the cloud sampled from the actual scan (a_pillar copy) to
act_align.
9. Select Modify | Align | Best Fit to perform a best - fit alignment from
the actual scan to the nominal cloud. Set the parameters as shown:
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10. Delete the clouds used for the alignment using Edit | Cut. Choose to
delete act_align and nom_align.
Evaluate the alignment

First, you will shade the clouds and surfaces to get a first impression of the
alignment. Then the world should be rotated to see where the cloud is in
relation to the nominal surface. Another method for evaluation, is to get a
numerical overview of the deviations between the surface and cloud.
Shading the surfaces for evaluation:
1. Select Display | Surface | Shaded Surfaces. This shades the nominal
surface group for evaluation.
2. Select Display | Point | Display to shade the nominal scan cloud.
Choose a_pillar and select Gouraud- Shaded.
3. Rotate and translate the world view so that you can see where the
cloud is above or below the nominal surface.
Getting a numerical overview:

1. Select Measure | Surface To | Cloud Difference to calculate the
difference plot. Set the following options before pressing Apply:
Choose nomsurfs as the nominal surface and a_pillar as the cloud.
Choose to create a Needle/Color plot. This will create a color map
on the surface as well as deviation needles for every point.
Set the max checking distance to 2.0 to calculate only with points
within 2mm from the surface.
Set the color plot resolution to 1.0.
2. Hide all of the clouds to get a better view of the plot using Display |
Point | Hide All.
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3. Rotate the objects to get a better impression of the deviations.

4. Select Create | Annotation | Error Needle Label to get numerical
information about deviations at specified points.
Activate the Needle option, but do not enable 'Select Circular
Region.'
In the next two panel options, pick a needle in the plot and then
pick a label location. If the deviation is out of tolerance, the label
will turn red. You can modify the tolerance and the appearance at
creation in the expanded 'Output' options.
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Prepare for the final alignment

Since the pre-alignment was not perfect, you will perform a final
alignment using the 321 approach. But first, you will need to remove the
error plot and needles, define the nominal alignment features, and prepare
the actual alignment features.
Remove the error plot and needles:
Select Cut Objects from the Main > Model Management toolbar.
Click on the interaction palette icon in the lower left corner to select
Text Labels to show only the label entities.
Choose Select All to mark all of the labels and click Cut.
Choose Plots from the interaction palette to show only the plot entities.
Choose Select All to mark all of the plots and click Cut/Dismiss.
Set up the nominal alignment features:
Four features will align the part: RPS1 (a circle hole whose center controls
the X-, Y-, and Z- axis), RPS2 (a rectangle hole whose center controls the
Z- axis), RPS3 (a surface point that controls the Y-axis), and RPS4 (a
surface point that controls the Y-axis). The entities already exist but you
should create a temporary cloud with the centers of the curve entities.
1. Make only the relevant entities visible using the Ctrl + H hotkey to
hide all of the clouds.
2. Select Display | Point | Display. Select PKT_RPS3 and PKT_RPS4
and the 'Show Objects' checkbox and click Apply.
3. Hide all of the curves using the Ctrl + Shift + H hotkey.
4. Select Display | Curve | Display. Select RPS1_HxzFy and RPS2_Hz
and the 'Show Objects' checkbox and click Apply.
5. Select Create | Curve Primitive | Line. This will create a diagonal
line that will be used to create the center point of the rectangle.
Choose Curve Knot Point as the interaction. Pick two diagonal
corner points of the rectangle (RPS2_Hz) and press Apply.
6. Select Create | Points to create a cloud with the two center points.
Choose Quadric Center as the interaction and pick the circle
(RPS1_HxzFy).
Choose Curve Mid Point as the interaction and pick the diagonal
line of the rectangle. Press Apply.
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7. Delete the temporary diagonal line.
8. Select Display | Point | Display to change the display mode of the
new cloud for better visibility.
Select the new cloud (Cld) and set the display mode to Scatter.
To make visualization easier, select X-Mark as the scatter display
and set the point size to 11 before pressing Apply.
9. Select Modify | Align | Iterative. Once the features are created as
described below, the Reference-Measured Point Pairs panel should
look like the following:
10. Create feature RPS1:

Type in RPS1 as the feature name and set the feature type to
Fixed.
In the Reference Point panel, choose the Point in Cloud
interaction and pick the midpoint of the RPS1 circle.
Enable the X, Y, and Z- axes so that this feature controls all three
axes.
Set the symmetry id to zero (0). Press Create to create the feature.
Fixed.
interaction and pick the midpoint of the RPS2 circle.
Enable the Z- axis so that this feature controls only the Z- axis.
Set the symmetry id to zero (0). Press Create to create the feature.
Piercing.
interaction and pick the point in cloud PKT_RPS3.
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Enable the Y- axis so that this feature controls only the Y- axis.
Set the patch size to 4.0mm and the symmetry id to zero (0). Press
Create to create the feature.
Piercing.
interaction and pick the point in cloud PKT_RPS4.
Enable the Y- axis so that this feature controls only the Y- axis.
Set the patch size to 4.0mm and the symmetry id to zero (0). Press
Create to create the feature.
RPS1
RPS2
RPS3
RPS4
Prepare the alignment features:

After definition of the nominal alignment features, you have to prepare the
actual alignment features.
1. Hide all of the entities with the exception of the cloud a_pillar, circle
RPS1_HxzFy, and rectangle RPS2_Hz.
2. Select Measure | Quadrics | Circle to detect the circle hole.
Select a_pillar as the cloud and RPS1_HxzFy as the nominal
circle.
Set the inner checking distance to 0.5 and the outer checking
distance to 5.0.
Set the tolerance to 0.01 and select the 'Detect Plane' checkbox.
Press Apply to detect the circle.
3. Select Measure | Quadrics | Rectangle to detect the rectangle hole.
Select a_pillar as the cloud and RPS2_Hz as the nominal rectangle.
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Set the inner checking distance to 0.5 and the outer checking
distance to 3.0.
Set the tolerance to 0.01 and select the 'Detect Plane' checkbox.
Press Apply to detect the rectangle.
4. Create a temporary diagonal line as you did before with the nominal
rectangle to make the center point pickable.
5. Select Create | Points to create a point cloud from both center points.
Choose Quadric Center as the interaction and pick the actual circle
for RPS1.
Choose Curve Mid Point as the interaction and pick the diagonal
line of the rectangle. Press Apply.
6. Delete the temporary diagonal line, detected rectangle for RPS2, and
detected circle for RPS1.
7. Select Display | Point | Display to change the display mode of the
new cloud for better visibility.
Select the new cloud (Cld2) and set the display mode to Scatter.
To make visualization easier, select X-Mark as the scatter display
and set the point size to 11 before pressing Apply.
Perform an Iterative alignment

1. Hide all of the entities with the exception of: cloud a_pillar, cloud
with the actual center points of RPS1 and RPS2 (Cld2), clouds
PKT_RPS3 and PKT_RPS4, and the groups RPS1 - RPS4.
2. Select Modify | Align | Iterative.
Select a_pillar as the mobile entity.
Click in the row of RPS1 in the 'Reference Measured Point Pairs'
panel. Pick the point of the actual circle of RPS1 on the screen.
(The coordinates will show up in the panel)
Click in the row of RPS2 in the 'Reference Measured Point Pairs'
panel. Pick the point of the actual rectangle of RPS2 on the screen.
Click in the row of RPS3 and pick a point in the cloud a_pillar
near PKT_RPS3.
Click in the row of RPS4 and pick a point in the cloud a_pillar
near PTK_RPS4.
Set the tolerance to 0.01 and the iterations to 20 before pressing
Apply. The dialog box will show you the alignment result.
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Exercise 2: Check the iterative alignment

To check the alignment, create a surface -cloud difference plot.
1. Display the surface group nomsurfs by selecting Display | Group |
Display. Select the surface group and the Show Objects checkbox
before pressing Apply.
2. Select Measure | Surface To | Cloud Difference.
Select nomsurfs as the nominal surface and a_pillar as the cloud.
Choose to create a Needle/Color plot. This will create a color map
on the surface as well as deviation needles for every point.
Set the max checking distance to 2.5 to calculate only with points
within 2.5mm from the surface.
Set the color plot resolution to 1.0 and press Apply.
3. Hide all of the clouds to get a better view of the plot using Display |
Point | Hide All.
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Note: There is a green (zero) ring around the RPS1 circle. Points on the
sheet metal thickness inside the hold cause the blue needles inside. You
can receive great deviation around the second circle hole that seems to be
completely dislocated. This is a typical example of a surface model that
wasn't updated after a minor change due to production needs.
The RPS2 rectangle seems to deviate more than 1.0 mm from the surface
model, but keep in mind that it only controls the Z-axis. Before extracting
the quadric date, the error plot and error needles should be documented to
give some numerical information in addition to the deviation plot
visualization.
4. Press F6 to view the model in the back view and press Ctrl + F to fill
the screen with the visible data.
5. Select File | Hardcopy | Error Needle Report.
Choose an appropriate sheet format and enter a filename for the
resulting PDF document.
Pick some needles of interest and press Apply to create the
report.
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Prepare for extraction:

1. Select Edit | Cut to delete the deviation plot.
Select Plots from the interaction palette and Select All to select all
of the plots before pressing Cut/Dismiss.
2. Select Display | Group | Hide All to show only the actual cloud and
the curve quadrics.
3. Select Display | Point | Display and select to display the cloud
a_pillar.
4. Press Ctrl + Shift + D to activate the curve display dialog box. Select
3D Curves as the interaction, choose Select All and the 'Show Objects'
checkbox before pressing Apply.
Extract the actual holes:
1. Select Measure |Quadrics | Circle to extract the circle holes.
Select a_pillar as the actual cloud and Pkt_k as the nominal circle.
Set the inner checking distance to include all of the points inside
the hole on the sheet thickness (0.5mm) and the outer checking
distance should only include the planar part of the cloud around the
circle (3.0mm).
Set the tolerance to 0.01 and select the 'Detect Plane' checkbox
before pressing Apply. Repeat for all of the circles. (Note that all
of the options will be the same, except the nominal circle will
change each time.)
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2. Select Measure | Quadrics | Rectangle to extract the rectangle hole.

Set the parameters to the same values as the circle procedure
above.
3. Select Measure | Quadrics | Slot to extract the slot hole.

Set the parameters to the same values as the circle procedure
above.
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Check the alignment accuracy

1. Zoom into the area of RPS1_HxzFy (the first alignment point).
2. Select Measure | Distance | Between Points and set the interaction to
Quadric Center.
Pick both circles. The absolute deviation should be around 0.01
mm.
3. Zoom into the area of RPS2_Hz (the second alignment point).

4. Select Create | Curve Primitive | Line to create a diagonal line (with
Knot Point as the interaction).
5. Select Measure | Distance | Between Points and set the interaction to
Curve Mid Point.
Pick both diagonal lines. The absolute deviation should be around
0.05 mm in the Z- direction.
You should measure some surface points at the cloud. The difference
to picking just an error needle is that we can exactly determine the
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location of the measurement. An error needle exists only at points of
the scan whose relative position to the part is more or less random.
6. Hide all of the entities except a_pillar, PKT_PRS*, and L1* Aza.
7. Select Display | Names | Show Selected Name(s) to display the
names of the measurement points. Select all PKT* and L1* clouds and
press Apply.
8. Select Measure | Quadrics | Piercing Point.
Select a-pillar for the cloud and PKT_RPS1 as the point.
Set the detection normal to the Y-axis, the patch size to 5 mm and
the control points to 3. Press Apply.
9. Repeat for the other points and change the parameters accordingly:
The normal should be orthogonal to the nominal model.
The actual points around the nominal points within the patch size
should be plain, but should contain at least 10 points because the
function fits a very plain surface through it with the given number
of control points for each direction.
The function creates the actual points at the determined nominal
location. To get the deviation between actual and nominal you can
use Measure | Distance | Between Points or compare all created
piercing points to the nominal model.
10. Hide a_pillar and make the surface group nomsurfs visible.
11. Select Measure | Surface To | Cloud Difference.
Specify nomsurf as the surface and the new pierce points as the
clouds.
Specify to create a needle plot and set the checking distance to 5.
Uncheck the 'Probe Compensation' option and press Apply.
Create annotation labels and a PDF screendump of the labels:
1. Select Create | Annotation | Error Needle Label.
Check the 'Needle option.
Set the outer tolerances to 0.3 mm and uncheck the 'Create Label'
checkbox.
Click inside the Pick Needle panel and start picking the needle
labels. Then click the location for each needle.
2. Select Display | Label | Display to change all of the white labels to
black.
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3. Select File | Hardcopy | PostScript Output.
4. Select Display | Label | Display to change all of the black labels to
white.
Finishing up
1. Delete all of the plots and labels. Hide all of the clouds except for
a_pillar.
2. Select Construct | Cross Section | Surface -Cloud.
Specify nomsurfs as the surface and a_pillar as the cloud.
Create parallel cross sections in the X direction.
Set the start location at 850, the spacing to 50, the number of
sections to 7, and the max checking distance to 15.
Uncheck the 'Create Section Curves' checkbox and make sure the
'Difference Analysis' checkbox is selected. Press Apply.
3. Change the needle scale to 2 in the upcoming Display Difference
dialog box. Rotate the view so that you look along the part.
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Unit 6
Extracting
In this unit, youll learn about the following
extracting commands:
Slice / Cloud Parallel Cross-section
Extract Scan Lines
Sort by Direction and by Nearest
Changing Scan Cloud Start Points
Interpolate Curve
Curve-Cloud Difference
Needle Error Distance
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Extracting
SLICE
MODIFY | EXTRACT | SLICE
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Slice
Creating Slices
This operation segments a cloud into bands of points, which are
perpendicular to world X, Y, or Z axes, or at an angle determined by
vectors. A new cloud is created, but the original cloud is not altered.
Uses
Used when the desired data lies within a known X, Y, or Z range. This
command can be used to trim a point cloud and can be used to cut a
cloud into 2 clouds at a specific dimension. Creating slices is very
useful for symmetrical point clouds.
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Extracting
CLOUD PARALLEL
CONSTRUCT | CROSS SECTION | CLOUD PARALLEL
Interactive verification
planes
Imaginary lines connect each

point with its nearest neighbor on
the opposite side of the cross
section plane.
Where each line crossed the cross

section plane, a point is generated
in the new cross section cloud.
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Cloud Parallel
Cloud Parallel
This command creates cross sections at a user-specified number of
parallel planes. The result of this command is a single cloud consisting
of any number of cross sections. The quality of the cross sections is
closely tied to the quality of the data. If the data is noisy, each section
(scan line) will pick up and duplicate this noise.
All points falling within a certain distance on either side of the
specified plane are included (see Neighborhood Distance below). An
imaginary line is drawn between each point and its nearest neighbor on
the opposite side of the plane. Points are generated in the cross section
cloud where these imaginary lines meet.
Direction of Cross Section Planes
Controls the angle of the created cross sections. The direction can be
perpendicular to any axis or at any angle based vector input.
Start Point
The X, Y, Z location from which the software creates the first plane.
Number of Cross Sections
The number of planes displayed on the screen will be updated as this
value is changed.
Spacing Between Cross Sections
The software determines the spacing based on the specified number of
cross sections and the size of the cloud.
Neighborhood Distance
The value the software will use when searching for points on each side
of the plane to include in the cross section. This value is automatically
derived from the point cloud; the denser the cloud, the smaller the
neighborhood distance. The value may be increased manually if more
data is required from each cloud / plane intersection, but there is an
internal maximum after which no more points will be considered.
Section Cloud
The "Parallel Cross Sections" operation results in the creation of one
cloud compromised of multiple cross sections. This new cloud is a
scan line cloud named "SectCld." It becomes the active cloud upon
creation.
Note: Review this dialog box before picking the apply button. Changing some
settings may cause other settings to be redefined.
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Extracting
EXTRACT SCAN LINES

MODIFY | EXTRACT | SCAN LINES
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Extract Scan Lines

Extract Scan Lines by:
Picking the scan line desired (creating a single scan line cloud).
Entering the scan line number (creating a single scan line cloud).
Extracting all scans in one operation. If this is used, the new
separate scan line clouds are stored in a group.
Cross Section Cloud
When applied to a scan line, cross section cloud, this command makes
copies of each separate scan line chosen. The original cross section
cloud remains visible after extracting scans.
Naming
Original name scan 1 of n, original name scan 2 of n, etc.
Other Comments
Some point clouds look like a scan line cloud but are not organized as
such (you can determine this by getting information about the cloud).
If this is the case, the command Point | Extract Points | Break Into
Scan Lines reorganizes a cloud into a multiple scan line cloud.
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Extracting
SORT BY NEAREST
MODIFY | DIRECTION | SORT POINTS BY
NEAREST
Scatter Mode
Polyline Mode
Sort by Nearest
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Sort by Nearest
Sort by Nearest
Sorts points in selected point clouds so that points spatially close to
one another are ordered accordingly
Options
Sorting the points of a point cloud is important primarily for properly
fitting curves to data. For complicated curved shapes, use Nearest
Neighbor sorting. For closed clouds, use the Change Scan Start Point
command to set the starting point at a desired position.
Note: For organized clouds (scan clouds or gridded clouds), each scan is sorted
separately so that the clouds do not lose their organization.
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Extracting
CHANGING SCAN CLOUD START POINTS

MODIFY | DIRECTION |
CHANGE SCAN START POINT
MODIFY | DIRECTION | CURVE ALIGNED
SCAN START POINTS
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Changing Scan Cloud Start Points

Change Start Point
Allows you to pick a new start point for a closed scan line. If you
select the preferred start location on the scan line and pick apply this
will cause the start point to be changed to your preferred location.
Curve Aligned Scan Start Points
Aligns the starting point of each scan in a selected cloud with a
selected curve.
Use this function on a cross-section cloud of a closed object if you
want all the scans to start in a particular location.
This function sets the starting point of each scan in the selected cloud
to be aligned with the selected curve. The function creates the best
starting point for each scan and reorders the scans accordingly. All
scans will be consistently aligned with one another.
Scans are assumed to be closed and to contain a single loop. If the
cloud is an arbitrary type (non-organized), it is treated as a single
closed scan.
Note: This operation discards all polygons, reliability, and matrix
information.
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Extracting
INTERPOLATE CURVE
INTERPOLATE CURVE
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Interpolate Curve
Interpolate Curve
This fitting method creates a curve that goes through every single
point in the cloud but is non-uniform in its parameterization. You
should therefore use this method only with accurate data. You may
need to sort the data prior to creating the curve. The software
automatically names the new curve InterpCrv.
Note: This type of curve is used mostly for evaluation, not creation.
The advantage to using Interpolate Curve as a method is that the curve
is extremely accurate. The disadvantage is that the curve may be
densely populated with control points and will only be as smooth as
the point data.
Number of Control Points
For open curves, the number of control points is equal to the number
of data points. For closed curves, there are three more control points
than the number of data points.
Closed Curve
This option creates curvature continuity across the wrap-around point.
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Extracting
DISPLAYING PLOTS AND COLOR MAPS

DISPLAY | PLOT | DISPLAY
DISPLAY | PLOT | HIDE ALL PLOTS
(CTRL + K)
DISPLAY | PLOT | HIDE ALL COLOR MAPS
(SHIFT + K)
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Displaying Plots and Color Maps

Display | Plot | Display
This command allows you to turn on and off plots and color maps
individually, as well as change the colors and widths of the plot
vectors.
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Extracting
CURVE TO CLOUD DIFFERENCE

MEASURE | CURVE TO |
CLOUD DIFFERENCE
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Curve-Cloud Difference
Inspection tool for computing differences between the chosen cloud
and the chosen curve. You also can group curves to compare them
with a cloud. This function can display errors within a specified range
and shows the balance of error. Outlier points can skew results.
Error Tolerances
Specifies an acceptable tolerance band to be ignored.
Color Plot
Color-coded normal error vectors are displayed for each point. These
error vectors can be scaled. Increase the Display Resolution to increase
the resolution of the color map.
Maximum Checking Distance
Specifies the radius of a theoretical sphere around each point. The
software checks the sphere for curves to which the point can be
compared.
Maximum Angle
Specifies a cone about the normal of each point. The software
compares the point to curves falling within the cone.
Euclidean
Distance
Normal
Distance
Lateral
Distance
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Extracting
ERROR NEEDLE LABEL

CREATE | ANNOTATION |
ERROR NEEDLE LABEL
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Error Needle Label

Error Needle Label
Gives you specific information about one or more whiskers or
needles of an error plot. You can get information on individual needles
or multiple needles contained in a circular area you select. This
information is helpful for pinpointing problem areas and highlighting
them for reporting purposes.
Selection methods
Once youve created a needle error plot using one of several diagnostic
operations such as Poly-Cloud to Cloud Analysis, Curve-Cloud
Difference, or Surface-Cloud Difference, this function allows you to
pick a particular error needle on an error plot or select a circular area
containing multiple needles. If you pick an individual needle you get
the nominal coordinates by default. You can also get the point
location, exact distance to the nominal, the poly cloud, the curve, or
the surface, or the measured point ID. Options for displaying normal
vector information or delta distance for the needle are also available. If
you choose Select Circular Region, you can get the minimum,
maximum, and average error for the area you select. Needles that are
out of the specified tolerance range are displayed in red.
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Extracting
(Blank)
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Unit 6 / Lab A
Lab 6A: Analysis Phase

In this lab you will compare the differences
between two airfoil scans. With the emphasis
on analyzing already-existing data, you will
learn about the following methods:
Slice and Cross Sections
Cleaning scans
Curve Fitting
Needle Analysis
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The object of this portion of the lab is to compare the differences between
the two scans.
1. Open the file named NASA AF afteralignment.imw.
To analyze the data, you need to look only at the pertinent information
of the wing. First, delete the half of the cloud that doesnt need to be
analyzed. Then, take a series of cross sections through the cleaned
wing. Next, you will construct curves through the cross sections of the
cleaned wing data. Then a curve to cloud difference will show the
differences from the data sets.
2. Change to the Top (F1) view.
3. Select Modify | Extract | Circle-Select Points. Circle select the
trailing edge of both clouds and delete it.
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To further prepare the scans, you will create a slice of the two scans so
the edges are straight, and then create reference planes for the extent
of the slice and the start and end points of the cross sections.
4. Change to the Front (F5) view.
5. Select Create | Surface Primitive | Plane. Create two planes in the z
direction near the middle of the scan. Pick a point in the scan then
change the Z value to 193 and 73. Make the plane extents about 150.
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6. Using Construct | Cross Section | Cloud Parallel, create a cross
section through both scans at the reference plane locations.
Set the cross section dialog to the following parameters:
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The result is below:
7. Show the original clouds and the planes.
8. Select Modify | Extract | Slice.

Slice the outer cloud points on the outside of the planes, leaving
just the internal points. Make sure to slice both of the original
clouds.
Set the parameters as in the following dialog box.
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Make sure you use the interactions to select the 73 Z value plane as
the starting point. The slice width should be 120 mm.
The Slice Cloud dialog box should give two names in the list
after you apply the command. The names are slice 1 of 1 and slice
1 of 1 2. You may want to change the names. Remember the slice
is a subset of the original.
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9. Delete the original clouds.
The edges of the slices are the only thing different from the original.
The interior points are in the same location. The clouds are simply
narrower.
10. Open the cross section command, Construct | Cross Section | Cloud
Parallel.
Take five cross sections through both slice clouds.
Set up the options as shown in the following dialog box.
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11. Delete the outlying points.
12. Hide the slices to view only the cross sections.
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13. Change the scan to polyline mode for easier viewing (Display | Point |
Polyline).
There may be a need to reorder or change the start point in the scan. This
will make it easier to fit a curve through the scan line.
Use these commands only if needed:
Modify | Direction | Change Scan Start Point
Modify | Direction | Sort Points by Nearest
Fitting Curves
The reason you will fit a curve through the scan is to get a normal distance
from the curve to the ice scan.
First, fit interpolated curves through the scan lines. The interpolated curve
will go through each and every point in the scan making the curve 100%
accurate to the scan line. This will give a very accurate representation of
the error distance.
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1. Use Construct | Curve From Cloud | Interpolate Curve to fit a
curve through the scan clouds (NASA AF no ice SectCld and Slice 1 of
1 SectCld).
2. Show the ice scan that corresponds to the curve.

3. To begin comparing the curve to the cloud, use the command Measure
| Curve to | Cloud Difference.
Set the Max Checking Distance to about 40mm to make sure you
have a number that is larger than expected maximum error
distance.
The max result will be listed in the Difference Display box.
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4. Zoom into the ice location of the scan.
There should be a label with the largest distance displayed. If you

dont see the label, there is a check box under Edit | Preferences |
Display Plot tab Show Max. Errors.
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5. To get the distance for each individual needle, select Create |
Annotation | Error Needle Label. Examine the errors and ask the
instructor any other questions you have.
6. Save the file for the next lab as Phase4_Lab1.imw.
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Unit 7
Surface to Cloud Analysis

In this unit, youll learn about the following
evaluation commands:
Surface Construction
Reverse and Harmonize Curve Direction
Change Curve Start Point
Loft Curves
Redisplay Surface Difference
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REVERSE CURVE DIRECTION AND HARMONIZE

CURVE DIRECTION
MODIFY | DIRECTION | REVERSE CURVE
DIRECTION
MODIFY | DIRECTION | HARMONIZE CURVE
DIRECTION
Reversed curve direction
190
Harmonized curve direction
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Unit 7
Reverse Curve Direction and Harmonize Curve

Direction
Reverse Curve
Reverses the direction of the selected curve. This is useful for
reversing curves that will be used to trim or loft surfaces.
Harmonize curve direction
This operation takes in a set of curves and modifies them such that
they are all going in the same direction. It's important to harmonize the
direction of curves before using them to build a surface. For example,
when constructing a loft surface from a set of curves, the surface
direction depends on the direction of the curves. If all curves don't
flow in the same direction, the surface will be completely messy (e.g.
the curves may twist and/or fold).
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CHANGE CURVE START POINT

CHANGE CURVE START POINT
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Allows you to pick a new start point for a closed curve. If you select
the Use Spine Curve feature, the start point will be moved to the
intersection of the closed curve with a specified spine curve (this
option is disabled if there are no closed curves present).
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LOFTING SURFACES
CONSTRUCT | SURFACE | LOFT
Traditional Lofting
Lofting Curves
Five Features Aligned
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Lofting Surfaces
Lofting Curves
This function creates a surface that spans a series of parallel or nearly
parallel curves.
Curve Order
Always remember to select consecutive curves in order. The first
curve can be selected as the last curve to form a closed surface, such as
a doughnut or a tire mold.
Curve Compatibility
Before a surface can be lofted, all of the loft curves must have the
same number of knots and their directions need to be same. If the
curves are closed, the start points should be aligned as well. Use the
commands Modify | Data Reduction | Clean Curve, Modify |
Direction | Reverse Curve Direction and Modify | Direction |
Change Curve Start Point to make the loft curves compatible.
Continuity
Constructing with continuity is enabled when the first or last curve is a
curve-on-surface or surface edge.
Cleaning Tolerance
You can adjust this value to establish the extent to which a surface will
change in order to become compatible.
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REVERSE SURFACE NORMAL

REVERSE SURFACE NORMAL
Before (Left side only)
After (Left side only)
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Flips the normals of the selected surfaces. When the surfaces are
shaded, the normal side of the surface is viewed in color, while the
other side is a dark gray.
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SURFACE TO CLOUD DIFFERENCE

MEASURE | SURFACE TO |
CLOUD DIFFERENCE
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Computes distance from a selected surface to each point in a selected
cloud. There are Advanced and Basic modes of interrogation; you can
set the mode in system preferences. This function helps determine the
quality of the fit between a surface and a point cloud. To optimize the
time of calculation, use only the points that are within the surface
region. Includes: max-positive, min-positive, max-negative, minnegative, average distances.
Error Tolerances
Specifies the acceptable tolerance band to be ignored.
Color Plot
Color-coded normal error vectors are displayed for each point. These
error vectors can be scaled. Increase the Display Resolution to increase
the resolution of the color map.
Maximum Checking Distance
Specifies the radius of a theoretical sphere around each point. The
software checks the sphere for surfaces to which the point can be
compared.
Maximum Angle
Specifies a normal cone about the normal of each point. The software
compares the point to surfaces falling within the cone.
5
Maximum Angle
Maximum Checking Distance (r)
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REDISPLAY SURFACE DIFFERENCE

MEASURE |
REDISPLAY SURFACE DIFFERENCE
Note: This displays up the Display Difference dialog box without having to execute a
surface difference command again (ie. Measure | Surface to | Cloud Difference).
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Unit 7 / Lab A
Lab 7A: Surface to Cloud Analysis

In this lab, you will compare the differences
between two airfoil scans. Youll learn how to:
Construct a lofted surface
Evaluate surface to cloud differences
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The object of this portion of the lab is to compare the differences between
a surface and the ice cloud scan of a plane wing. Using a surface of the noice cloud, you will compare it to the ice cloud.
1. Show just the curves created from the cleaned no ice wing data.
2. Select Construct | Surface | Loft.
Pick the curves in order on the screen and apply the function, dont
worry about the other options in the dialog box.
3. Shade the surface using Display | Surface | Iso-Lines. (if it is not

automatically shaded.)
Notice all the isoparameter lines through the surface. The surface is
very complex and heavy with math.
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4. Shade the surface using Display | Surface | Shaded.
5. To begin with the surface-to-cloud difference, first show only the

surface and the ice cloud slice (Slice1of1 2).
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6. Open the command Measure | Surface to | Cloud Difference.

Reset the max checking distance to the shortest distance you are
interested in.
Apply the function.
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The result is below:
You can now change the values in the display difference dialog box to
view the critical errors.
7. Select Measure | Redisplay Surface Difference (if the dialog is not
already open). Open the tolerance settings in the display difference
dialog box.
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Reset the tolerance setting to mimic the following dialog box.

You need only these tolerances for this analysis. The negative and
positive values below 4 mm are of no consequence for this
analysis. Only the color areas are significant in this case.
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Hide the needle plot to view only the surface resolution colors.
This is the region that needs a de-icing mechanism.
Discuss any questions with instructor.
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(Blank)
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Unit 8
Surface Preparation
In this unit, you will learn more about some of
the methods that lead up to surface processing.
These include:
Elements of a curve
Curve processing
Constraints and Associativity
Elements of a surface
Constructing surfaces using curves
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Surface Preparation
CURVE PROCESSING
Create an appropriate curve on

each point network, using
continuity if possible
Interrogate curves
For accuracy and
Smoothness
Is each curve accurate

(relative to its parent point network)
- orIs each curve
smooth enough?
No
Re-create more accurate curves,

smooth existing curves, or
re-create smoother curves.
Yes
Are the simillar curves

parameterized properly.
No
Clean and / or
reparametrize curves
Yes
Interrogate curves
For continuity
Do all curves have / need

some type of continuity?
Yes
Surface Processing
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No
Stitch, blend, or merge

curves to achieve
positional , tangent, or curvature
continuities (need to close the
curve network)
Unit 8
CURVE PROCESSING
Create a curve on each point network
Interrogate curves for accuracy and smoothness
Is each curve accurate
(relative to its parent point network)?
(Or is each curve smooth enough?)
Re-create more accurate curves, smooth existing curves, or re-create smoother
curves.
Are the simillar curves parameterized properly
Clean and / or Reparametrize curves
Interrogate curves for continuity
Do all curves have / need some type of continuity
Match or blend, curves to achieve positional , tangent, or curvature continuities
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Surface Preparation
ELEMENTS OF A CURVE
Control Points
Knots
Direction
Arrow
Span
Start of
Curve
212
End of
Curve
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Unit 8
Elements of a Curve
Elements
Direction
Important when used for lofting surfaces across curves. If the curve
has good parameterization (balance), the arrowhead will appear at
about 3/4 along the length of the curve.
Knots
Locations on the curve where two spans come together.
Spans
Arc portions of the curve attached at knots. Also called patches.
Start / Endpoints
These may be separate locations (open curve) or coincident (closed
curve).
Control Points
Mathematical points which influence and constrain the shape of a
curve over a small region. In most cases, the user specifies the number
of control points. Each control point is a physical entity with its own
weight and location.
Information
Order
By default, Imageware uses a 4th order polynomial curve formula, but
it will accept up to a 22nd order curve. A straight line curve is
generally a 2nd order curve, an arc or circle is generally a 3rd order
curve, and most all other curves can be described using a 4th order
curve.
Other Comments
There are benefits and drawbacks to having a high or low number of
control points. Too many control points can cause a ripple effect on a
future surface. Too few control points can cause the desired shape of
the curve to be lost.
Parameterization of Control Points
Uniform
Uniform control points are spaced evenly along the curve. This type of
parameterization makes a smoother curve.
Non-Uniform
Non-uniform control points are more control points in areas of high
curvature and fewer control points in flatter areas.
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TYPES OF CURVES I
BEZIER CURVES VS. NURB CURVES
Bzier Curve
NURB Curve
Control Points
Multiple Spans
Single span
Direction arrow
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Knots
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Unit 8
TYPES OF CURVES I
Most CAD systems use all NURB or a combination of NURB and Bzier curves and
surfaces.
Bzier Curve
Named after Frenchman Pierre Bzier from Regie Renault. These
curves have no internal knots. This is the most widely used math for
Class A engineering because it gives such a smooth result. The time it
takes to create Class A finishes is approximately 4 to 8 times longer.
Class A surfaces are those that are used in automotive exterior body
surfaces and internal instrument panels. It can also be used in many
consumer products that need extremely smooth surfaces with no
visible transitions or post- manufacturing texturing applied.
NURB Curve
Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline. This is a curve that is very dynamic.
It must have one or more internal knots. It used in Reverse
Engineering most of the time. The Basis math is very similar to the
Bzier math.
Curve Math
# of Control Points = # of internal knots + Degree + 1
Most math for curves and surfaces is rated by order, where:
Order = Degree + 1
Therefore
# of Control Points = # of internal Knots + Order
For Example
A NURB Curve that has 5 Control Points (1 internal Knot);
5 Control Points = 1 internal Knot + 4 Control Points
A Bzier Curve that has 5 Control Points (0 internal Knots);
5 Control Points = 0 internal Knot + 5 Control Points
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Surface Preparation
TYPES OF CURVES II
3D Curves
Freehand 3D B-Spline
Uniform Curve created from points
Fit Line curve created from points
Fit Circle curve created from points
Surface Curves
Intererereractive B-Spline
Isoparametric Curve
3D Curve
Surface Boundary curve
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Projected Surface Curve
Unit 8
Types of Curves II
3D Curve
This type of curve is independent of any other object in space.
Most 3D curves are used to construct the wire frames on which
surfaces are generated.
Curve on Surface
Also known as CONS or 2D curves. This type of curve is required to
lie on a surface, because its mathematical definition is dependent on
the surface. If the surface changes shape or is deleted, the curve will
change or be deleted also.
Curves on Surfaces can be defined and constructed by using a Surface
Boundary Edge, an Isoparametric Line, a 3D Curve projected onto a
Surface, an Interactive B-Spline or Polyline, or a Circle.
Uses for curves on Surfaces are needed for surface trimming
operations and some merge surface creations.
Curve Type
To create a 3D curve copy from a Curve on Surface, use the command:
Construct | Curve From Surface | Surface Curve to 3D Curve.
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TRIMMING SURFACES
MODIFY | TRIM | TRIM W/CURVES
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Trimming Surfaces
Trim w/Curves
This operation uses the selected family of curves to create a trim
curve. If all selected elements do not form a closed boundary, the
system adds parametric space linear curves on the surface to close the
trim. Any 3D curves selected must be near the active surface or the
resulting trimmed surface may not appear as expected. The display of
the surface is then updated based on whether it is an outer or inner trim
curve. If it is an outer trim, the portion of the surface within the curve
is displayed. If it is an inner trim curve, the portion of the surface
outside the curve is displayed.
Required Conditions
The conditions that must exist for this operation to be successful are
described in the following paragraphs:
The curves should be picked in the correct order, and the
orientation of the selected curves must be consistent. (i.e. All
the curves should be flowing in the same direction.) When this
condition fails, a message is given out saying "Selected trim
intersects itself. Check the order and the directions of the
curves".
The family of curves selected should not be self-intersecting.
This means the curves should not intersect one another or
intersect with themselves. Also, wiggles at the ends of the
curves could cause problems. If a violation of this condition is
detected, a plot is created to display the location of intersection.
Hints
Turning "on" the two boolean (Snip and Align) flag buttons may help
to solve the above problems.
When trimming the surface, tiny curves may be created to join up the
gaps. The Trim Gap tolerance value plays a big role in preventing the
creation of these curves. If these curves are created, it can lead to some
shape loss for the trimmed surface. If any undesirable shape loss is
noticed, set the Trim Gap value (in System Defaults | Surfacing
Defaults) to 0.0 and re-trim the surface.
If the trim curve lies along an isoparametric line, you can also use the
Snip Surface option.
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Surface Preparation
FREEHAND 3D B-SPLINE
CREATE | 3D CURVE | 3D B-SPLINE
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Freehand 3D B-Spline
3D B-spline
Interactive curve creation allows you to dynamically view the shape of
the curve while it is being created. Once the command is active, the
point corresponding to your current cursor location is tracked in the
viewport as you move your pointing device. Simply pick the points
you need in the viewport until you are satisfied with the results. Use
the MMB when you're done picking and want to create the curve.
Note: The full screen cross-hairs may be distracting during this
operation. Use the Edit | Preferences | Systems Interactions tab to
switch to the standard cursor if desired.
Interactions
There are several interactions available to help you pick the points you
need. Several options allow you to snap to different types of geometry.
For example, the "Slide Point on the Curve" interaction allows you to
snap the curve points you are creating onto any other existing curve,
while "Point in Cloud" snaps to the closest point in the active point
cloud. Yet another interaction allows you to pick any point on the
current view.
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Surface Preparation
CONSTRAINTS
The use of constraints lets you create curves that will have predictable performance
while modifying those objects. Constraints also help you build certain levels of
connection between two or more curves
The principal of constraints with Imageware tools is to allow the user to decide when,
where and for how long a constraints condition is needed. It is possible to reverse the
constraint relationship and to remove a constraint all together. You can also re-apply
the same constraint or use a different on at any time there is no penalty in terms of
model size or robustness. In addition, you can apply any of the standard post-creation
constraints to imported legacy models.
Saving constraints
Constraints are saved as part of the imageware .imw format as a result
they are saved with the file and may be re-used when the file is reopened. This process is also supported when the model is part of a
freeform feature with I-DEAS.
Types of Constraints
Hard Point:
Here the curve will always pass through the location (or
locations) specific in 3d space
Coincidence: This specifies position continuity will be held between

two curves. Position may be held end to end or end to
a point on the mid span or at two mid span locations ie
where two curves cross.
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Tangency:
In this case the curves are held tangent continuous, this

can be either end point to end point or end point to mid
span.
Curvature:
In this case the curves are held curvature continuous,

this can be either end point to end point or end point to
mid span.
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Constraints
Determining Constraint Status
In an associative relationship between an existing set of constrained
curves, one curve is independent (Master)while the other curve is
dependent (Edit). You can use the Edit | Preferences | Display
Curve tab to check the color set for the independent and dependent
curves. By default, the master curve is green and the edit curve is red.
You can also view the status of a given constrained curve, position the
mouse over the constraint symbol and click with the RMB. The curve
will highlight with the color associated with its status.
Switching the Master Edit Curve Relationship
In addition, it is possible to click the RMB over a constraint and select
an option to reverse the master/edit relationship. This allows editing to
be driven from the other direction the master becomes the new edit,
and vice versa. The ability to invert a constraint allows a great deal of
freedom in modeling and alleviates the need for excessive planning at
the outset, which would be required in a more history-based approach.
Modifying constraints
Constraints may be modified by selecting the modify constraints
command (Modify | Continuity | Constraints). Selecting the modify
option allows the user to change constraint settings. Constraints may
be selected for modification by picking the constraint symbol from the
graphics viewport just like any other entity.
Parameter type
The option to lock, or free, the parameters of the constraint curves
exist to allow one curve to slide over the other during edit. Setting
lock master prevents the edit curve from sliding on the master,
setting lock edit allows the edit curve to slide on the master but the
same point of contact is always maintained. Setting lock both fixes the
contact location on both curves the only way of moving the end of
the edit in this case is to move the master curve. Setting lock none
allows both curves to slide along each other.
Creating constraints with 3D B-spline
Additionally the create 3D B-spline command allows constraints to be
placed during creation by holding down the space bar at the same time
as picking a point for the curve to pass through. The constraint type is
picked in advance from the new panel at the bottom of the dialogue
box.
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Surface Preparation
ASSOCIATIVITY
The following creation tools feature associativity (a pre-defined constraint). In these
cases, the output is dependent on changes to the input entities. For example, a loft
surface will update in real time if one of the loft curves used to create it is edited.
Other examples include fillet surfaces, where a change to the input surfaces is
reflected in a recalculation of the resulting fillet surface (including all parameters set
within the command on its first application).
Associative commands
The following commands feature associativity:
Loft surface commands
Sweep surface commands
UV Blend Surface
Fillet Surface commands
Flange Surfaces
Intersect Surfaces
Offset Curve
Offset Surface
Create curve operations
Match 4 Boundaries
Match 2 Curves
Match 2 Surfaces
Extrude
Draft/Angle Plot (silhouette curve portion)
Project Curve to Surface
Surface of Revolution
Additionally, the create 3D B-spline command allows constraints to be
placed during creation by holding down the SPACE bar at the same
time as picking a point for the curve to pass through. The constraint
type is picked in advance from the new panel at the bottom of the
dialog box.
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Associativity
Types of associativity
Surfaces are built with two types of associativity. The first type will
form associativity to the objects that created the surface, like lofting
curves, swept curves, revolved curves, or boundary curves.
The second type will form connections between surfaces that are built
with some type of continuity. For example, the fillet surface command
will create a filleted surface that will modify when one of the two
surfaces chosen for that function are modified within the boundaries of
the radius of fillet and tangent connection.
Removing associativity
Associations between created entities such as fillet, flange, loft, and
so on may be deleted by using the cut command and selecting the
constraint filter from the interactions palette.
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Surface Preparation
UNIFORM CURVE
UNIFORM CURVE
Use the model 3_Curves.imw to practice using this command

and the next two lecture commands.
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Uniform Curve
Uniform Curve
With a uniform curve, you can fit a B-spline curve to a given set of
point clouds. To define the curve, you need to provide a specified
number of control points. The default is in the System Defaults dialog
box. Use this number in the Uniform function.
Open vs Closed Curve
For an open curve, you can control the continuity of the curve at its
ends with the following options:
Free - nothing is fixed
Fixed - the boundary of the curve is fixed to the first or last data
point.
For a closed curve, you can specify an order value of 2 to 22 (between
2 and 12 is typical). For closed B-spline curves, the order is fixed at 3.
Order
Order (degree +1) refers to the number of control points per segment
of the curve. Typically, geometry with higher order will more
accurately follow the underlying information. However, it also has
more control points.
Control Points
Specifies the number of control points. If you are not sure how many
control points to use, try the Fit to Tolerance curve first. Then get
information on the curve to find out how many controls points it has.
Use Fitting Parameters
Tension
(0 to 1 - Parametric weighting factor)
The higher the value, the more the curve is pulled toward the control
points. If the tension is too high, the curve may wrinkle.
Smoothness
(0 to 1 - Parametric weighting factor)
The greater the value, the smoother the curve will be. High
smoothness forces high curvature properties.
Standard Deviation
(.01 to 1)
This is based on the expected noise variations in the data. If the data is
noisy, set Standard Deviation high to allow the curve to be smoother
than the point data. If the data is reliable, set Standard Deviation low
to force the curve to keep very close to all the points (both noisy and
clean).
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Surface Preparation
TOLERANCE BASED CURVE

TOLERANCE CURVE
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Tolerance Based Curve

Tolerance Based Curve
Fits a curve to the specified tolerance, using the fewest possible
control points and knots. This creates a non-uniform parameterization;
there are more control points where curvature is high and less where
curvature is low.
Note: When you create tolerance based curves, the software
automatically names them using the following convention:
FitToTolCrv, FitToTolCrv 2, etc.
Closed Curve
Specifies that the curve begins and ends at the same location in
tangency.
Tolerance
The meaning of this value depends upon the tolerance mode set. If you
use the Max. Error mode, the tolerance value is the greatest distance
the curve will be allowed to deviate from the point cloud. Avg. Error
mode gives a tolerance value that is the average error between the
curve and the cloud. If you select Percentile mode, you will be able to
enter a percentage value for the points that must fit the curve within
the specified tolerance.
Feature Size
This value should be set to the smallest desired feature along the curve
shape. If there is noise in the point data, set the feature size smaller
than the noise spikes in the data.
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Surface Preparation
SNIP CURVE
MODIFY | SNIP | SNIP CURVE
MODIFY | SNIP | SNIP W/CURVE(S)
Snipping point
Snipping curve
Use Snip_Curves.imw to practice using this command

and others contained in this lecture.
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Snip Curve
Snip Curves
Snip Curve allows you to break a curve into two curves at any point.
You can specify to snip the curve in one or two locations. You can
also use the Select Knot Location check box to force all pick points on
the snipped curve to be coincident with knot locations.
Snip With Curves
Splits the selected curve where it is intersected by the snipping knot or
curve.
Snip Type
If you select 3D Intersection from the Snip Type drop-down list, the
selected curve or curves will be snipped at the point intersecting with,
or closest to, the specified Snipping Curve. If you select the View
Intersection option, the selected curve or curves will be snipped where
they appear to intersect with the snipping curve in your view the
curves don not need to intersect or even be close to one another at the
snipping point.
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Surface Preparation
EXTENDING CURVES
MODIFY | EXTEND
Curve extended to a
point
Curve extended by a
specified length
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Extending Curves
To Point
Extends the selected curve to a specified point. This allows you to
select the curve and point you wish to extend to.
By Length
Extends the selected curve by the length you specify. This allows you
to select the curve and endpoint you wish to extend by picking with
the LMB. The Model option allows you to experiment before
picking Apply
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Surface Preparation
CURVE CURVATURE
EVALUATE | CURVATURE |
CURVE CURVATURE
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Curve Curvature
Curve Curvature
The curvature plot displays the rate of change of the tangent direction
along the curve. The curvature plot is displayed as a set of needles of
varying size along the curve. The size of the needles (its radius) is
proportional to the curvature value. The curvature is inversely
proportional to the radius of curvature.
Curvature = 1/Radius of Curvature
A radius of curvature plot (green needles) identifies inflection points
on curves. At inflection, points in the radius of curvature directions
will reverse.
Radius of Curvature = 1/Curvature
The radius of curvature plot (red needles) displays the radius of the
circle that is tangent to the curve at the computed locations. The radius
of curvature plot is displayed as a set of lines connecting the curve to
the mirror point of the center of the curvature circle along the curve.
The radius of curvature is proportional to the curvature.
Because the radius of curvature for straight lines goes to infinity, lines
over a system-defined limit are clipped. At straight-line areas of a
curve, the line segments appear on both sides of the curve.
Note: This technique is useful because a 3D curve may have one
aspect/view with a very flat curvature and another with much more
curvature. Analyzing the 3D curvature will tend to 'drown out' subtle
variations that can be critical in high quality work. By diagnosing the
curvature in a particular view, this problem is eliminated.
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Surface Preparation
REPARAMETERIZE CURVE
MODIFY | PARAMETERIZATION |
REPARAMETERIZE CURVE
Before control
points are not uniform
After control points are

uniformly distributed
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Reparameterize Curve
Reparameterize Curve
This command will either add or remove control points on a curve.
You have the option to uniformly distribute the control points or you
can use a base curve to force the selected curve(s) to match that curves
control point parameterization.
Method
Specifies how the control points will be distributed. Choices include
As Specified, Curve Based or Retain Existing.
Control Points
With the As Specified option, you can specify how many control points
will be placed along the curve.
Distance Type
With the As Specified and Retain Existing options, you can specify
how the control points will be placed along the curve by selecting from
the following two options:
Parameter Space
Distributes the control points evenly along the length of the curve.
Real Space
Distributes the control points along the length of the curve evenly
based on real world distances.
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Surface Preparation
INSERTING AND REMOVING KNOTS

MODIFY | PARAMETERIZATION |
INSERT/REMOVE KNOT(S)
Before operation: Curve

with 5 knots
After operation: Same curve with 10

knots
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Inserting and Removing Knots

Inserting and Removing Knots
Adds and removes curve spans, while maintaining curve order based
upon the addition or removal of knots. You can remove knots to
smooth the curve in a particular region or insert knots to add more
control.
This remove/insert operation can be used to modify the knot spacing
on a curve created using a command such as Tolerance Based Curve,
where the system automatically places knots along the curve. Using
this command, you can add new knots at more desirable locations and
then remove the old ones.
Caution:
Be sure to add new knots, before removing old ones. If
unwanted knots are removed first, large deviations to the curve
may be seen before the new knots are added.
To quickly switch between inserting and removing knots, you can use
the "Automatic" option. When "Automatic" is selected, simply pick on
an area with no knot to insert one, or pick on an existing knot to
remove it. As you add and delete knots, the curve is updated
immediately to show the effect of your modifications.
If you need more control in a particular area of the curve, you can
insert knots. To insert knots specifically, select the "Insert" option and
pick on an area without a knot.
The "Fixed" option essentially locks the knots in their current locations
while modifying the shape of the curve. By fixing the knots, however,
you limit the extent of the changes that can occur to the shape of the
curve. When "Fixed" is not selected, the curve shape and the knot
locations both change.
You can undo and redo your modifications at any time before hitting
the Apply button. Press Undo to revert the curve back to its
unmodified state. Press Redo to return the curve to its current modified
state.
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Surface Preparation
CURVE CONTINUITY
Before Matching
A1
A1
B2
B2
After Matching
Positional (C0)
Tangency (C1)
R1
R2
R1 R2
R1
R2
R1 R2
Curvature (C2)
R1
R2
R1
R2
R1 = R2
R1 = R2
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Curve Continuity
Three forms of continuity
Positional - The curves meet one another, totally closing the gap.
Tangency - The curves meet one another and share the same
centerline at the last radius where they meet, but they do not share
the same radius. This type of continuity produces very smooth
curve transitions. For example, if you mirrored a curve, the ends of
that curve would meet to produce a tangent continuity.
Curvature - The curves share the same radius where they meet.
They also share the same centerline. The curves do not necessarily
have the same center point, however. This type of continuity is
very difficult to obtain and requires exact radius information.
Implied Continuity
This operation allows a curve to be built to the continuity of a plane
specified by the user. Very useful when symmetrical models are being
created.
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Surface Preparation
CHECKING CURVE CONTINUITY

EVALUATE | CONTINUITY |
CURVE TO CURVE
SnipCrv 4
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Checking Curve Continuity

Curve Continuity
Determines whether two curves have positional or tangential
continuity between them within a specified tolerance.
Curvature Continuity
To verify curvature continuity, select: Measure | Radius of
Curvature | Curve.
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Surface Preparation
JOINING CURVES
Before:
Two Separate Curves
Curve 1
Curve 2
After Matching:
Two Continuous Curves
Curve 2
Curve 1
After Matching
(with Make One Blended Object option): One Curve
1 Curve
After Blending:
Three Continuous Curves
Curve 3
Curve 1
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Curve 2
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Unit 8
Joining Curves
Methods for Joining Curves
The diagrams on the following page compare the three major methods
for joining curves.
Match
Brings two curves together to meet while maintaining them as separate
entities. The end result is two curves.
Match, Make one Blended Object
This option of Match 2 Curves brings two curves together to meet,
then adds them together. The end result is one curve.
Note: Avoid blending two complex curves, as the resulting curve will
be very complex.
Blend
Adds a new curve to span the gap between the original curves, without
altering them. The end result is three curves.
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Surface Preparation
MATCH 2 CURVES
MODIFY | CONTINUITY | MATCH 2 CURVES
Use the model Match_Curves.imw to practice using this command

and the next two lecture commands.
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Match 2 Curves
Match 2 Curves
This command will match two curve end points to each other using the
specified continuity and scale of blend. It can also be used to match a
curve to a surface with the same options.
Effect Extent
This setting will define the area of the curve that can be modified.
Note however, this will be overridden based on the level of continuity
you select and the position of the related control points.
Tangent Scale Factor
You can use this option to adjust the shape of the portion of the curve
that is matching to the other curve.
Make One Blended Object
Turn this option on to blend the two curves together and create one
new curve from the original curves.
Continuity Type
The choices are Position, Tangent or Curvature.
Seam
Will set which curve modifies and which curve will anchor its
position, available choices are:
First
Will lock the selected end of the first curve, and the second curve will
transform to meet that locked location.
Second
Will lock the selected end of the second curve, and the first curve
transforms to meet the second curve end point.
Average
This option finds a common location between the two selected
endpoints and both curves transform to meet at that location.
Point
Can be used to transform both curve endpoints to a selected point.
Modify Tangent
When continuity is set for tangent or curvature, use the modify tangent
to set which curve is going to twist to close based on the level of
continuity.
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Surface Preparation
BLENDING CURVES
CONSTRUCT | BLEND | CURVE
Original curves
One curve after the blend operation

(tangent scale factor of 1.0)
One curve after the blend operation

(tangent scale factor of 10.0)
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Blending Curves
Blend Curve
Constructs a new curve between two selected curves. The curves meet
with tangent or Curvature continuity. The Model feature allows you
to experiment with different Tangent Scale Factors before picking
Apply.
Note: If the selected curve is a fillet, the system prints out a radius.
Tangent Scale Factor
Allows you to increase or decrease the last radius of the curve this
scale factor. This operation creates a curve that meets the picked
boundaries of two specified curves with the selected continuity. The
scale factors indicate the relative contributions of the beginning and
end curve tangents in creating the merge curve. Changing one or both
scale factors results in different blend curve shapes.
Model button
The order of the blend curve is four. When the "Model" button is
pressed, the blend curve is created with the values provided and the
two scale factor panels are highlighted indicating that these values can
be changed interactively. Using the sliders, the tangent scale and/or
curvature factor of the curve can be adjusted. This gives you
immediate visual feedback of the changes. By adjusting the curve in
this manner, you can manipulate the location of the blend curves peak
point so that it is closer to one of the end points rather than centered
between them.
Apply button
When the "Apply" button is pressed, the blend curve is created. If the
"Esc" key is pressed before the "Apply" button, the operation is
aborted and the blend curve is not created.
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Surface Preparation
MOVING CONTROL POINTS

MODIFY | CONTROL POINTS
Curve with control plot displayed
Control point
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Moving Control Points

Modifying Control Points
The curve and any plots on it are updated as the control point is
moved. The control point can be moved interactively by dragging the
mouse or by changing its values in the panel.
The direction of movement can be arbitrary (XYZ), along a direction
(Along), perpendicular to direction (Perp), or normal to curve (Norm).
Arbitrary moves the control points in all directions. Along direction
(probably the most used option) lets you specify the movement along a
particular direction. The direction can be specified by using the X, Y,
Z checkboxes and any of the interactions allowed by the panel. When
you specify a movement direction, the "Step" option becomes active.
In this case, clicking on Step brings up additional options, which allow
you to enter a value by which the control point will move. Using the
+/- button next to the value moves the control point(s) by exactly the
specified amount along the specified direction.
Selecting control points
Control point editing is done in relation to the selected primary point
on the curve being edited. The primary point is the one that will move
the most during the edit. This primary point is highlighted in red. To
change the primary point, hold the CTRL key while picking the new
point. This way all other selected points will remain selected while you
are making the change. Holding the CTRL key will also deselect
points or select multiple points during normal editing and picking of
points. You can also use selection box (rubber banding) to select
control points.
Control point colors
Some of the control points that might not preserve the specified
continuity are rendered non-editable. The editable control points are
displayed in BLUE and the non-editable control points are displayed in
WHITE. The picked control point(s) are displayed in GREEN and the
primary control point is displayed in RED.
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Surface Preparation
ELEMENTS OF A SURFACE
NURB Surface 1x1 Per Span
Knots
Multiple Spans
(between knots)
Control Plot
Control Points
Bezier Surface
(spans but no internal knots)
U and V
Designators
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Elements of a Surface
Normals
Similar to polygon facets, surfaces have a normal positive side
(surface color) and a negative side (gray). Displaying a Normal Plot
will show the direction the normal is pointing.
U and V directions
Each NURB surface has four sides. The mathematical surface is
divided into U directions and V directions that are perpendicular to
one another.
Knots and Spans
Surfaces have these exactly as curves do as surfaces are usually
created from curves.
Control Points
These are math points, which influence and constrain the shape of a
surface over a small region of the surface. The number of control
points is specified by the user or by the curves from which the surface
was created in most cases.
Degree
The mathematical degree of a surface also specifies its complexity. By
default, the software uses a 4th Order Polynomial Curve formula, but
it will accept up to a 22nd order curve. A plane is generally a 2nd
order surface. A partial tube or full sphere is generally a 3rd order
surface, and most all other surfaces can be described using a 4th order
surface. It is generally best to keep the order as small as possible
unless extremely complex shapes are being defined.
Trimming
NURBS Surfaces have the unique ability to be trimmed by userdefined curves. The entire mathematical surface still exists, and if the
curves are removed or untrimmed, the surface will resume its original
shape.
Bzier Surface
A Bezier surface is simple and has high degree of curvature. It is most
often used in the Class A styling world. It contains no internal knots
but may have multiple control points in relation to its order.
If the number of Control Points = its order then it is a Bzier surface.
NURB Surface
A NURB Surface is more complex. It is used when you need a curve
that is dynamically changing. It also has the ability to be trimmed.
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Surface Preparation
SURFACE BY BOUNDARY CURVES

CONSTRUCT | SURFACE |
SURFACE BY BOUNDARY
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Surface By Boundary Curves

Surface by Boundary Curves
This allows you to create four-sided B-spline surface patches. The
boundaries of these patches can be curves or surface edges. If the
curves don't meet in the corners, internal meeting points will be
calculated. This function will not consider the cloud data within the
closed contour of the curves.
Qualifications should be met to blend with boundary curves:
Curves should to be stitched
Opposing curves should have matched knots.
Clean curves must be picked in clockwise or counter clockwise
order.
Surface Normals
Pick four boundaries in a clockwise direction if you want the normal
of the surface to face you. Pick counterclockwise if you want the
surface normal to face away from you.
Continuity
Continuity can be arranged for any surfaces that may be already
attached to any one of the four side curves.
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Surface Preparation
FIT WITH CLOUD AND CURVES

CONSTRUCT | SURFACE | FIT W/CLOUD AND
CURVES
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Fit with Cloud and Curves

Fit w/Cloud and Curves
This function allows you to use both data points and the boundary
curves for surface creation. The cloud must be single-valued or results
may be unpredictable. The term single-valued indicates that no
possibility exists for two points to be directly in line or under each
other from the viewing direction or from the normal direction of a
best-fit plane.
Best Fit Plane
This option allows you to change the direction in which the fit surface
will be applied. If this option isnt checked, the surface will be applied
to the cloud and curves along the viewing normal. Therefore, the cloud
must be single-valued in your view. If you do check the Best Fit Plane
option, however, the surface will be applied along the normal to the
best-fit plane through the cloud.
In the example below, the first set of points would create an accurate
surface, whereas the second point cloud would not create an accurate
surface.
Viewing direction or
normal direction of the
best fit plane
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Viewing direction or
normal direction of
the best fit plane
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Unit 8 Lab A
Lab 8A: Saddle (Curve) Model

In this lab, which takes you through a step-bystep process of creating an optimal closed curve
wire frame network, youll learn how to:
Snip curves at specified locations
Extend curves by various methods
Create new curves on clouds
Make curves compatible for surfacing
Understand different types of curve and
surface continuity
Build adjoining surfaces with continuity
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Before attempting this exercise, complete the previous modules and make
sure you're familiar with the softwares basic functionality and commands
(i.e., preset views, zooming, activating and displaying point clouds,
curves, surfaces, etc.). This module won't show you the entire menu or
icon picks for basic operations.
1. Open Saddle.imw. Make sure the unit setting is in millimeters.
Your screen should contain the following dataset:
2. Determine if the point cloud is an arbitrary cloud or a scan-based

cloud.
Arbitrary______
Scan-Based______
3. What is the name of the point cloud?

Name_____________
Think of how youre going to approach this model. For example,

where should you create curves on the model to base the surface on?
Tolerances include a requirement that the curves be within a 0.1 mm
tolerance and the surface to cloud difference error is less than 0.2 mm.
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Extracting clouds
Remember a surface has four sides, and you want to create the largest
surface possible. If you need a more complex surface to capture all the
features, you can always split the part into smaller pieces.
The best place to start is to extract the four edges of the cloud and create
curves on those four edges. You will then have a very large surface that
will encompass all the features on the cloud. If this surface cant capture
the data close enough, you can always add more curves and re-create a
surface that will capture more of the detailed characteristics of the model.
To begin, you will extract the edge information by first creating a cross
section at the bottom of the cloud. This will be used to create curves for
the bottom boundary of a surface.
1. Change to a Front (F5) view.
2. Use the Pick Location command to pick points along the bottom of
the cloud in order to determine the Z-value.
What is the Z value? _______
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3. Select Construct | Cross Section | Cloud Parallel to create a crosssection on the cloud at the determined Z value. Set the dialog options
as shown below:
The software creates a new point cloud named cloud 1 SectCld.

4. Just show the cross section cloud.
5. Change to the Top (F1) view.
6. Select Modify | Extract | Circle-Select Points to separate SectCld
into two pieces in order to create two individual curves. The top view
will make the Circle-Select operation easier.
7. Rename the clouds after you separate them as shown in the following
picture.
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8. Make cloud 1 the only visible cloud.
9. While in the top or front view, Circle-Select the left and right scans
from cloud 1. Use the multi-dialog function to rename each to left
cloud and right cloud.
The following figure shows your four new clouds.
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Exercise 2: Curve Creation

1. Create four tolerance- based curves on the scan lines. Use 0.1 mm as
the tolerance (leave the other options set as their defaults).
Make sure you can see the knots on all of the curves.
2. Rename the curves so they correspond to the scan lines previously
made.
Look closely at the curves where they meet at the corners. Two of the
intersections look great and the other two intersections have gaps. A visual
interrogation of the curves that touch is not accurate enough. Lets make
absolutely sure they are touching.
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3. Use Evaluate | Continuity | Curve to Curve to measure the
continuity between the curves. When picking the two curves, pick near
the end points you want to interrogate.
Pick here
Pick here
Only positional continuity is required at the intersection. The two

intersections of curve end points touch with curve positional continuity.
At the two intersections that visually touch everything is fine. The other
two intersections have a problem that needs to be fixed.
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Modifying the Curves
To fix the problem you have to go through a few steps:
First, extend the curves so they intersect.
Then, trim the curves back to a view intersection.
Last, match the curves together with positional continuity.
1. Zoom to the gaps in the curves.
2. Using Modify | Extend, extend the curves so they visually intersect.

Pick near the endpoint you want to extend.
Extend all of the curves that dont intersect. You can extend both
ends of a curve and many endpoints on many different curves at
the same time.
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3. Notice the insertion of knots. These knots will affect certain processes
later.
Note: This is why you need to see the math that makes up the curves.
If you couldnt see the math, you would not know these problems exist
and would not fix them.
4. Save your file.
Next, you need to snip these curves back to an intersect location. You will
use the bottom rail curves intersection that is located at Z = 0 to snip these
curves. The bottom rail curves should not be raised off the Z = 0 plane.
Remember, this scan was created from a surface plate. The rails should
always be on Z = 0. This Z=0 is the reason to use a view intersection snip.
You want to be sure the arcs come down to meet the bottom rails.
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5. Use Modify | Snip | Snip /w Curve(s) to pick the curves near the end
points you want to snip.
Note: Dont apply the function until after you perform the following
steps.
6. After you pick the curves that you want to snip, change to the F5 view
for your view intersection.
7. Rotate the view with the green slider bar to offset the view, then apply
the function.
8. Snip both ends of the part in the same manner.

9. The names will change to SnipCrv and SnipCrv 2.
10. Change the names back to top, bottom and left curves.
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At this point the curves may look like they touch, but in fact they dont.
11. Zoom into the intersection of the left curve and the bottom curve.
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12. Open the Match 2 Curves command.
Pick the two curves to match.
Keep the bottom rails from moving. The bottom two curves at Z =
0 should not come up to meet the two arc curves.
Use positional continuity and model the function.
There should be a problem with the match. The knots are an extra
constraint in the movement of the curve. Remember, these knots were
created when you extended the curves.
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Fixing the Match
To fix the match problem, you need to remove the knot. The curve will
move just a bit. When you remove the knot, the function will tell you how
far the curve has moved from its previous location.
1. Using Modify | Parameterization | Insert / Remove Knot(s), pick
the curve then pick the knot you would like to remove.
The curve will relax because of the removal of the math knot. The
movement of the curve is minimal.
Pick this
knot
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2. Rematch the curves. Note that the transition is much smoother because
of the knot removal.
3. Do the same to the other side. Remove the knot from the arc and
match the arc to the bottom rail.
After the matching of the two arcs down to the rails, look for knots
that were inserted on the two bottom curves at Z = 0. These two curves
at Z = 0 are very straight and dont need a lot of math. You should
remove these knots.
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4. Remove the two knots that where created during the extend command
from the bottom curve. The movement should be minimal.
Pick this knot

Pick this knot
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You may remember when you first created these curves. At that time, the
tolerance used was 0.1 mm. With all the changes made since then,
however, they may now be out of tolerance.
Next, perform a final check to see if you are in tolerance between the
curve and the scan lines. (It doesnt matter if you are just slightly out of
tolerance; you can move the curves back into tolerance.)
Making the Curves Compatible
The next step is to make the opposing curves compatible with each other.
If the math in the curves is equal, the math in the surface will flow as the
curve math flows.
1. Using Modify | Parameterization | Reparameterize Curve, make
one of the arc curves uniform.
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2. Now make the opposing arc curve uniform and compatible with the
first arc using the Curve Based method within the Reparameterize
Curve command.
3. Open the curve information dialog box and check to see if the
opposing curves are uniform and have the same number of control
points.
The next step is to check accuracy to the scan lines. Although you started
with a tolerance based curve of 0.1 mm to the scan cloud, the following
processes may have affected the accuracy of the curves to the scan line
data:
Extending the curves
Snipping the curves
Rmoving knots
Matching the curves
Reparameterizing the curves
The effect of these processes is that you may now be a long way from
tolerance. However, performing these steps in order would minimize the
tolerance stack.
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4. Use Measure | Curve to | Cloud Difference to check the accuracy to

the scans.
Select all the curves and all the corresponding scan lines.
Set the max checking distance to 5.0.
Apply the function.
The result is shown on the next page with the needle scale increased to
50 times normal. Only one of these curves in the picture is outside the
tolerance of 0.1 mm.
You need to move the curve so it is within tolerance. However, since
you dont want to reparameterize the curve again (as this may create a
greater tolerance distance), you want to keep the curve uniform while
moving it.
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5. Zoom in to the curve you need to fix.

6. Using Modify | Control Points, move the control points in one
direction at a time, and move in a direction to keep the curves planar.
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7. Use the step command in the control points dialog box, and recheck
the accuracy with curve to cloud difference.
Exercise 3: Creating a Surface

Remember that all surfaces have four sides. You have four curves, so you
can create a surface with four curves.
1. Use Construct | Surface | Surface by Boundary to create a surface.
Pick the four curves in a clockwise or counter clockwise manner.
2. Select Display | Surface | Iso-Lines to show the internal structure of
the surface the knots.
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The surface isoparameter lines should only touch the knot locations on
the curve. If your iso-lines on the surface dont touch only at the knots,
then your curves are not compatible with one another. You should
delete the surface and make the curves compatible, then create a new
surface.
3. Shade the surface and show cloud 1.

Upon visual inspection youll notice the surface doesnt wrap to the
cloud very closely.
4. Check the maximum error with a surface to cloud difference.
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Here youll note that the maximum error is 1.175 mm. The tolerance
from the surface to the cloud needs to be under 0.2 mm, so this surface
doesnt capture enough of the clouds features.
5. Delete the surface.
6. Show all the curves and the cloud1 scan.
Using the curves and the main cloud1 scan together, you will create
a surface using more elements to help capture the features of the scan.
When using a cloud to create a surface it is always best to align the cloud
to a view. This alignment will create a singled valued cloud within the
view.
7. Using View | Align view to | Cloud, align cloud1 to the view.
8. Using Construct | Surface | Fit /w Cloud and Curves, construct a

surface.
Pick the four curves in a clockwise or counter clockwise manner.
Make sure the surface isoparameter lines are only at the knot
locations.
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9. Measure the surface to cloud difference. If the model has been done
carefully, the tolerance error should be within 0.2 mm.
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Unit 9
Surface Generation
In this unit, you will continue to develop your
surface generation skills by learning how to
create finished surfaces from scan data. In
particular, youll learn how to use the following
commands:
Project Curve on Cloud
Extraction using Curves
Subtracting Point Clouds
Surface Continuity Verification
Match 2 Surfaces
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Surface Generation
PROJECT CURVE ON CLOUD

CONSTRUCT | POINTS | PROJECT CURVE
ON CLOUD
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This operation is useful for obtaining points at specific locations to
capture surface features by freehand sketching of curves or importing
design curves and projecting them to the point cloud.
Projection Mode
Selects the projection mode: Normal to Cloud, Along Direction, or
Along View Vector.
Choosing Along Direction selects the direction of projection. Pick a
directional vector (axis, line/curve tangent, surface/plane normal, or
plot segment) in the viewport, or enter the DX, DY, and DZ
coordinates in the appropriate input boxes.
Number of Points
Specifies the number of points to distribute along the projection curve
(1-100).
Neighborhood Size
Specifies the neighboring distance of points that will be considered in
determining a cross section point. A larger value takes more
computation time, but too small a value will prevent any cross section
points from being created.
Extent
If you chose Normal to Cloud, you can enter a specified maximum
distance from the curve within which points are to be considered for
projection. The range depends on Numeric Display default settings.
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Surface Generation
EXTRACTION USING CURVES

MODIFY | EXTRACT | POINTS WITHIN
CURVES
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Extraction using Curves

Keep Points Within Curves
Extracts a portion of a selected cloud that lies within the boundary of
specified curves in the current view. Use this operation before
computing the surface-cloud difference in order to work with only the
relevant portion of the cloud. This command is view specific.
Ordered Bounding Curves
Select the curves that will define the boundary within which the
operation will occur. The curves must be picked in order, and they
must create a closed boundary in the current view. To remove an
unwanted curve from the list, highlight its name and click the Delete
button.
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Surface Generation
SUBTRACTING POINT CLOUDS

MODIFY | EXTRACT | SUBTRACT CLOUD
FROM CLOUD
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Subtracting Point Clouds

Subtract Point Clouds
Finds all points in a specified point cloud that are farther than a
specified distance away from any point in a second point cloud, and
creates a new cloud from those points.
To visualize this operation
Consider placing spheres with a radius equal to the specified distance
around every point in cloud B. The new cloud will consist of the points
in cloud A that are not included in any of the spheres. Use this
function to avoid overlaps when the same part of an object has been
scanned from more than one direction.
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Surface Generation
CURVE ALIGNED CROSS SECTIONS

CONSTRUCT | CROSS SECTION |
CLOUD CURVE ALIGNED
Cross sections
Fitting curve
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Curve Aligned Cross Sections

Curve Aligned Cross Sections
This command takes cross sections of a cloud at a user-specified
number of planes that are arranged along a curve and lie perpendicular
to it. All points that fall within a designated Neighborhood Distance of
a specified plane are referenced to that plane and included in the cloud.
The result of this command is a single cloud consisting of any number
of cross sections.
View Aligned
Each plane is perpendicular to the current view orientation, but the
plane center is located on the curve.
Three Dimensional Curve
Indicates where each plane center is located on the curve and is
perpendicular to the curve on that location.
Extent of Cross Section
Limits the width of the section. It can be used to prevent sections from
overlapping.
Curve Aligned Section Cloud
Creates a new cloud comprised of cross section planes referencing a
curve. The new scan line cloud is named CrvAlignSectCld and
becomes the active cloud.
Other Comments
The quality of the cross section is closely tied to the quality of the
data.
Manually Create a Reference Curve
Create | 3D Curve | 3D B-spline
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Surface Generation
CLOUD INTERACTIVE
CONSTRUCT | CROSS SECTION |
CLOUD INTERACTIVE
Original point data with interactive

cross sections
Interactive section clouds (4)
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Cloud Interactive
Interactive Cross sections
To create an interactive cross section, pick 2 screen points with the
LMB across the selected point cloud. Every two locations chosen
creates a plane, so multiple cross sections are created by picking
multiple pairs of points. Use the RMB to end the routine.
Interactive Section Cloud
Each cross section becomes a separate new cloud; the last new cloud
becomes the active cloud. These single scan line clouds are named
InteractSectCld, InteractSectCld 2, etc.
View Perpendicular
Your section is perpendicular to the current view.
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Surface Generation
POLYGONIZE
CONSTRUCT | POLYGON MESH |
POLYGONIZE CLOUD
Original point cloud
Polygonized point cloud
Shaded polygon cloud
Open the file pocket.imw, which can be used to explain this command
and the following lecture pages.
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Polygonize
Polygonize
This command creates a triangular mesh connecting all the points to
neighboring points in the selected point cloud. Polygonizing can help
you to visualize the surfaces you should build on your point cloud.
Maximum Similar Distance
This value specifies the maximum distance between two vertex points.
The cloud points are "sampled" for mesh generation; any two vertices
will be farther apart than this distance, and any point in the cloud that
is not selected as a vertex will be, at most, this distance away from a
vertex. This parameter lets you set the density of the resulting mesh by
specifying which points to retain as vertex points. It also helps
eliminate problems with overlapping scan data. This is the minimum
vector length.
Neighborhood Size
This value specifies the maximum distance between two points on the
same triangular polygon. This parameter acts similarly to maximum
operating distance. Setting this value higher than the maximum
operating distance forces the maximum operating distance of the point
cloud to be this value. Neighborhood size is the maximum vector
length.
Polygon Mesh
Once a point cloud has been polygonized, you can use this display
mode (available in the Display | Point menu) to see the line segments
connecting the points.
Shading
You can also view polygonized point clouds in flat-shaded or
Gouraud-shaded modes (available in the Display | Point menu). These
modes approximate the appearance of surfaces and are most useful in
planning your surfaces.
Unpolygonize
Removes the polygonized organization of the point cloud.
Reverse Polygons
Like surfaces, polygons have a normal (positive, lighter-colored when
shaded) side. This operation simply reverses the normal side of the
polygon.
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Surface Generation
CLOUD CURVATURE
EVALUATE | CURVATURE |
CLOUD CURVATURE
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Cloud Curvature
Cloud Curvature
This function shows where the high and low curvature areas lie,
making it easier to visualize areas of high and low curvature and to
locate features for feature extraction operations. Feature extraction on
fillets, fillet lines, and flat areas will be easier to perform after running
this operation. To further increase visualization, you can view the
curvature using a Hot-Cold coloring of points where green indicates
low curvature and red indicates high curvature.
Removing Curvature Colors
To remove curvature colors, use Display | Point | Remove Cloud
Colors. To remove the curvature information stored in the cloud,
which will free up memory, use Display | Point | Remove Cloud
Curvature.
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Surface Generation
CHANGING CLOSED CURVE ENDPOINTS

MODIFY | DIRECTION | CHANGE CURVE
START POINT
Using a Spine Curve
Using the Pick Point Option
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Changing Closed Curve Endpoints

This operation is useful when lofting a surface using a number of
closed curves. In this case, if the starting points of all the curves are
not aligned, you need to align them by changing the starting point of
one or more curves.
Using the spine curve
There are two ways in which the start points of a set of curves can be
aligned. If Use Spine Curve option is chosen, the user needs to pick a
3D curve, which will be intersected in the current view with all the
closed curves to determine the locations of start points. If there is more
than one intersection, the one closest to the user in the current view is
chosen.
Using Match Start Points
If the Use Spine Curve option is switched off, the user can click on the
"Match Start Points" panel and manually match the start points of the
curves by dragging the feature lines.
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Surface Generation
SURFACE OF REVOLUTION
CONSTRUCT | SURFACE |
SURFACE OF REVOLUTION
Axis
Curve to rotate
Resulting surface after curve

was rotated 180 deg. around
the axis
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Creates a surface of revolution using a 3D curve and a rotation axis.
The surface of revolution is a NURBS surface.
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Surface Generation
SURFACE CONTINUITY VERIFICATION

EVALUATE | CONTINUITY | MULTI-SURFACE
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Surface Continuity Verification

Multi-surface Continuity Checking
This operation checks the continuity between a list of selected surfaces
and displays the information. It can also check the continuity between
matched surfaces. When checking multiple-adjacent surfaces you must
select individual surfaces for the comparison. When comparing
matched surfaces, you must select surface-to-surface edges
(connecting edge and reference edge) to calculate the comparison. To
activate the match surface comparison, click the "Interior" option.
This operation can be used to investigate whether neighboring surfaces
are smooth and water tight. To determine if two surfaces are
neighbors, you must specify a maximum allowable gap distance and
minimum significant distance (usually a very small number).
Maximum Allowable Gap
Specifies the maximum distance that can exist between two surfaces
for them to be declared as neighbors. Maximum acceptable gap should
be set to a value close to the maximum gap that exists in the surfaces
selected
Minimum Significant Distance
This is the distance beyond which two edges are taken to be distinct..
If it is difficult to see the plot that is generated, you can select Hide
Surface(s), to temporarily remove the selected surfaces from the
screen.
To get a quick idea about the discontinuities that exist between the list
of selected surfaces, set "Show Gaps" to ON. This displays all the
boundaries of the selected surfaces that do not have neighbors for the
given Maximum Allowable Gap
To get the exact value of the discontinuity across the boundaries of the
selected surfaces, set "Show Gaps" to be OFF. If the operation is in
"Model" mode, the discontinuities are shown as numbers in the
"Result" panel and plots on the screen. If the surfaces are
position/tangent discontinuous, the amount of discontinuity is
reported.
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Surface Generation
BRIDGING BETWEEN SURFACES

CONSTRUCT | BLEND | SURFACE
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Bridging between Surfaces

Blend Surface
A surface boundary is defined as either a surface edge or a visible
curve on that surface. The curve on surface can be any curve including
trim elements. If a surface boundary is chosen, a curve is created on
that boundary internally.
Continuity
Continuity conditions can be imposed on each of the boundaries.
These can be position, tangent plane, or curvature. If tangent plane
continuity is to be maintained at a boundary, the tangent plane at that
boundary can be controlled by selecting either Feature Matched
Direction or Cross Boundary Direction. In the first case, the
emanating direction of the blend surface at a boundary is determined
based on the other boundary. In Cross Boundary Direction, the
emanating direction of the blend surface at a boundary depends
entirely on that boundary.
Scale
The scale parameters indicate the relative contribution of the surface
tangents in creating the blend surface. By changing one or both scale
factors, you can create different shapes.
Flow
You can also control the flow direction of the surface by matching
features across the two boundaries. To do this, select the number of
feature lines from the dialog box and move these lines on the screen.
Degree and Control Points
The degree of the blend surface in each of the parametric directions is
three. The number of control points of the blend surface in the u
direction is four. The locations of the control points in the v direction
are such that the blend surface interpolates each of the two specified
curves. The tolerance to which the merge surface interpolates the two
boundaries is specified using position and tangent plane continuity
tolerance.
Model Button
When you press the Model button, the two tangent scale factor panels
get highlighted indicating that the tangent scale factor of the surface
can be changed using the sliders.
While moving the slider, the blend surface is updated real-time in the
viewport, giving immediate visual feedback as to the effects of
changing the scale factor. When the Apply button is pressed, the blend
surface is created. If the Esc key is pressed before the Apply button,
the operation is aborted and the blend surface is not created.
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Surface Generation
MATCH 2 SURFACES
MODIFY | CONTINUITY | MATCH 2 SURFACES
Partial Match
Full Edge Match
Parametric Effect Extent
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Match 2 Surfaces
Match 2 Surfaces
The first surface selected, called the match surface, is modified to meet
the edge condition of the second selected surface known as the
reference surface. The reference surface is not modified and is used to
guide the match surface. Surface markers identify the match and
reference surfaces: M for match and R for reference. You can also
modify both surfaces by modifying the common boundary.
Note: Many of these options can be used together to vary the effect of
the match (i.e., change the final shape of the surfaces.) Also, the match
command is approximate. For example, if "insert knots" is checked,
the system will add knots as required to get a good match. In the single
span case, the user must find the best compromise between continuity
and surface order/shape. The ability to make compromises such as this
is a prime requirement for class A surface modeling.
Match
The surface edge to be connected to the reference edge. This is the
surface that gets modified to match the reference surface.
Location
An isoparameter line back into the surface from the edge selected to
match, similar to snipping.
Extent
NURB based matching places a knot on the match surface(s) to
prevent the surface from changing outside a certain region of the
surface again an iso-line pick.
Reference
The surface edge that determines the shape that the match surface
will adopt. This edge is held and is not modified in the process
Location
An iso line back into the surface from the edge selected, similar to
snipping the reference patch back and matching into the new edge
but you dont cut the reference in essence it does a match to iso-line.
Both
Modifies both surfaces (i.e., there is no reference surface). If
both is selected the user has the option to have the surfaces modify
to an average edge or can select a 3D curve (from a pick box) to use as
the seam.
Interior
When the selected surface edge of the match surface is projected
into a region inside of the reference surface (i.e. no edge-to-edge
calculation is used).
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Surface Generation
Match 2 Surfaces (cont.)

Position
Maintains a G0 positional continuous transition between surface
edge boundaries (edges must touch). Typically this may not produce a
smooth transition, but does connect the surface edges together.
Tangent
Maintains a G1 tangent continuous transition between surface edge
boundaries. Tangency is controlled by the first two control points from
a surface boundary assuming that these points lie in one line.
Curvature
Maintains a G2 curvature continuous transition between surface
edge boundaries. The first 3 control points from a surface boundary
control curvature. Shaded curvature continuous surfaces will display
as smooth where a tangent continuous
Plane
Control points will be modified in the specified plane direction (X,Y,Z
or other). If not active, control points will be modified in the tangent
plane normal direction. If control points move in the incorrect
direction, users can select the neg pushpin to reverse the movement
direction.
Order
Sets the order of the match surface as specified. Initial order value is
automatically chosen from the match surface edge. Used together with
the continuity readout to get a required tolerance of continuity.
Typically, raising the order will produce a tighter surface (closer \ to
desired continuity). Users can input a physical number or use the
arrow buttons to raise or lower the surface order.
Blend
If selected, the control points within the surface will all be moved
apart from the position & tangent rows at the opposite end of the
surface to the match edge (the one being changed.) The control points
move a proportion of the amount that the matching rows move to
achieve continuity - the slider changes the proportion.
Partial
Allows partial matching of the match surface into a portion of the
reference default is perpendicular projection of the match edge
points onto the reference edge user can adjust by sliding the bars for
the beginning and end of the partial match.
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Unit 9 / Lab A
Lab 9A: Surfacing a Faucet

This exercise is designed to extend your surface
generation skills. You will create the finished
surfaces from the scan data. With this project,
youll:
Visualize the surface model
Clean the data
Develop a curve patch network
Create surfaces
Match surfaces together
Interrogate the surface structure
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Open and examine the cloud
1. Open Faucetcad.imw.
2. Determine if the point cloud is arbitrary or scan-based.
Scan-based
_____
Arbitrary
_____
This information may be useful for planning the curve network.

3. How many points are in the cloud?
With the large quantity of data in this model, it may be desirable to
reduce the amount of visible point data graphically. Look for a
visually reducing form that will not affect the existing cloud. Using a
sampling or filtering process will modify the original cloud data.
View the Data
Get a feel for the object by visualizing the data. Use any of the softwares
stored views or dynamically rotate the object using the mouse. Visualize
the surface structure that could adequately describe the part.
4. Does the cloud appear to have a scan direction? If so, what direction
is it?
5. The Front (F5) view displays the part so it can be easily understood.
Notice that the extreme positive X-axis (the tip of the spigot) is sparse
data. This is a typical characteristic of uni-directional scanners.
Youll need to remember this when surfacing that region. Look for
more areas that have sparse data. You'll need to remember these areas
when selecting cloud data for curves or surfaces.
The object can be broken down into basic features. This will help
minimize the work and complexity of the surfaces created.
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One suggested surfacing strategy is illustrated below:
Merge Surface
Lofted Surfaces
Exercise 2: Creating the main body

For the first surface, the main bell-shaped body, well revolve a curve
around an axis. Creating a single cross section through the point cloud can
act as the base element to generate the curve.
1. Inspect the cloud in all views, especially the left or right as shown.
It becomes apparent that the cross section should not be along the Yaxis, but instead should follow the scan direction in the X-axis. This
area, where the data is fuller, captures the true design intent of the
faucet.
Typically
sparse scan
data
2. View the cloud in relation to the World axes (if the axes display is not
on, turn it on, even if only temporarily).
Note the part centerline is parallel to Z. Also note that X0, Y0 is
coincident with the bell-shaped center. This will help center the cross
section in the middle of the part.
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3. Create the cross section using Construct | Cross Section | Cloud

Parallel.
Note: The default Neighborhood Size is the optimum value for this
cloud. A larger value produces no more points in the cross section but
results in greater processing time.
4. To make visualization easier, hide the point cloud, full, and the
curves.
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5. Use Modify | Extract | Circle- Select Points to select the point data
needed to create a profile that you can use for a revolved surface.
Next, you need to create a curve from the remaining portion of the section
cloud. While surfacing, keep in mind the model's requirements for
accuracy and smoothness. In general, you'll need to keep a balance
between them. For this type of part, however, smoothness has a higher
priority than overall accuracy.
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6. Using Construct | Curve From Cloud | Tolerance Curve, create a
tolerance-based curve with a tolerance of .1 mm.
7. Rename the curve number 1.

8. Make the curve knots visible.
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9. Show all of the curves.
Attach number 1 to the top and bottom circles:

1. Zoom into the top portion of number 1.
The next step is to connect curve number 1 to the top circle. You need to
do this because during the revolve of number 1 you need a particular
radius for the top of the part. Also, number 1 needs to be flat across the
top of the faucet.
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2. Using Create | 3D Curve | 3D B-Spline, draw a 3D B-spline from the
center of the circle to the knot on the circle closest to the new curve
end point.
3. Rename this curve number 2.
4. Show the control plot structure for number 1.
5. Using Modify | Continuity | Match 2 Curves, match number 1 to

number2 with curvature.
Make sure your seam and modify tangent are set correctly.
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After the match, the curvature tolerance should be a very large

number; the number is going to infinity with the line.
6. Zoom into the bottom circle so you can attach number 1 to the
bottom circle knot point.
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7. Using Modify | Control Points, control point edit the curve end point
over to the knot on the circle.
Set the interactions to curve knot point.
8. Show only number 1 and hide the control plot.
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Evaluating the curve
Next, evaluate the smoothness of number 1. Curve number 1 needs to be
made uniform, but you want to preserve accuracy to the scan. This will
maintain the curves shape.
Follow the steps in the next section very carefully to convert number 1
into a uniform curve (which is a smoother curve) with minimal movement,
while maintaining accuracy and shape.
1. Using Evaluate | Curvature | Curve Curvature, evaluate the radius
of curvature for this curve. The following plot shows the smoothness
and the inflection points in the curve.
The radius of curvature indicates a relatively smooth curve. However,

the curve is not uniform and therefore needs to be reparameterized.
2. Save the file.
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3. Zoom into the bottom portion of the curve.
4. Reparameterize the curve to create a uniform curve.
Note that before reparameterization, number 1 is accurate to the
scan, and its shape is visually pleasing.
After reparameterization, number 1 is uniform. However, the shape

and accuracy have been lost.
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5. Undo the reparameterized curve.
Now, try something a little different to maintain the curves shape and
accuracy to the cloud. The reason the curve changes shape is because the
curve has a very large region where the curvature rate of change is low
and two regions where the curvature rate of change is high. The
reparameterization command redistributes the knots over the curve
without regard to its features. The curve therefore loses shape everywhere,
with the maximum deviation within the high rate of curvature change
areas.
The solution is to break the curve up into three sections, one that
encompasses the unchanging region and two sections where there is a high
rate of curvature change.
6. Fill the screen with the curve (Ctrl + F).
7. Using Modify | Snip | Snip Curve, snip the curve at a flat section at
the closest knot.
Snip at this
knot
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Snip at this knot
Now that you have three curves, you could reparameterize them to make
them uniform. However, that would also cause the curves to lose
continuity with each other. Instead, you will create curvature constraints at
each curve end point.
8. Rename the curves as in the following picture.
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9. Show the curve 3D created on the top circle. You will create a
curvature constraint for this curve also.
10. Using Modify | Continuity | Create Constraint(s), create curvature
constraints at the snip endpoints. Check both knot pick boxes in the
dialog box. Lock the parameters of both curves.
Since the long low curvature rate of change section should be the
master curve for both ends, Curve 3D should be the master for this
joining.
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The curves will change shape during reparameterization. Your goal is to
define the correct amount of math on the curves to keep the shape defined
and to make the knot spacing equal. Make sure to reparameterize the
master curve first. The master curve will update the edit curves during
reparameterization
11. Zoom into the master curve.
12. Find the smallest span distance, which is the smallest distance between
knots.
This is the smallest distance and shape to keep defined. This is the
optimal spacing for the knots. To establish this spacing for the knots,
you need to add some knots. The reparameterization command will
create the proper number and spacing for the knots to maintain shape
and create a uniform curve.
Smallest span
distance
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13. Open the reparameterize command (Modify | Parameterization |
Reparameterize Curve). Choose the master curve, use as specified
and change to real space and drag a span distance of the smallest span.
This will insert the correct amount of math to hold the shape of the
smallest span.
The curve will still be non-uniform.
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14. Change the distance type in the reparameterize curve dialog box back
to parameter space and apply the function again.
15. Do the same to the top and bottom curve.
Smallest span
distance
16. All three curves should be uniform. (Check the information dialog
box.) If the curves arent uniform, reparameterize them in parameter
space.
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17. Evaluate the smoothness of the curves with the radius of curvature
command.
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18. Show the section cloud and create a curve to cloud difference.
You should now have a smooth curve thats within a tolerance of .1
mm. If you are slightly out of tolerance, as in this picture, control
point edit the curve back in tolerance.
19. Control point edit the curves back into tolerance of 0.1. Also use the
radius of curvature plot to help smooth the curves.
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20. Revolve each curve to create three surfaces using Construct | Surface
| Surface of Revolution. The surface will only be as smooth as the
curves.
Exercise 3: Creating the spout

The lofted surface forming the body of the spout can be created with a
series of closed curves. Use the interactive cross section tool to create two
cross sections: one at the transition of the spout to the tip and one from the
spout to the revolved surface.
The following steps will guide you through creating these two cross
sections.
Cross sections
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When you are creating the first cross sections the curve geometry will help
in the creation of the cross section near the tip.
1. Show all of the curves.
2. Using Construct | Cross Section | Cloud Interactive, create a cross
section. Keep in mind that this interactive cross section should be
parallel to the circle at the tip. Hint (align the view to the circle).
Note: Be careful not to go too deep into the tip, as the data is double
valued in this area
3. Next, create the interactive cross section near the revolved surface.
4. Show all of the surfaces.
5. Change to the Front (F5) view.
6. Zoom into the transition between the cloud and the revolved surface.
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7. Create a 3D-polyline where the cloud intersects the surface. Be sure to
set the interactions to point on the view. This curve will aid in
creating a cross section parallel to the intersection of the surfaces.
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8. Align the view to the new curve. Rotate the view as in the picture
below and create another cross section.
9. Zoom back out and create more cross sections to define the cloud.
10. Make all the cross sections in the Left (F3) view.
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The resultant cross sections are shown below:
11. Show only the new cross sections.
12. Develop closed curves through your selected scan lines using the
tolerance based curve construction method. Use 0.1 mm as the
tolerance.
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13. Creating a reference line will help align the beginning and end of the
circular curves. First change to the F2 view and then use the command
Create | Curve Primitive | Line.
14. To align the start and end points of the curves, first align the start
points by using an alignment curve.
This operation can be done easily in the bottom view. This will align
the start of the points on the underside of the faucet. Use Modify |
Direction | Change Curve Start Point.
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15. If necessary, use Modify | Direction | Reverse Curve Direction to
reverse any curves so that they all point in the same direction.
Before lofting a surface over the curves, reparameterization is necessary

for the curves to be compatible with one another and uniform.
16. Reparameterize the most complex curve. This is the one with the most
control points. The control point count should be around 20. If one of
the curves has more than 40 control points check to see if something is
wrong with the curve. Use the option As specified.
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17. Then reparameterize all the other curves to mimic the good one. Use
the curve based method.
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18. Loft a surface over the curves. Check your medium resolution of the
lofted surface. You should only see isoparameter lines through the
curve knot locations.
Exercise 4: Creating the tip of the spout

The tip of the spout can be created as a revolved surface. Upon close
inspection of this region, you will see the scanner captured some of the
data inside the spout. It is not necessary to surface this inner cavity. Well
remove it later.
1. Show only the lofted surface, the full original cloud, and the circle at
the tip of the faucet.
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2. To begin the surface generation process, first rope the tip to separate it
from the full scan using the Circle-Select command.
Be sure to rope just below and parallel to the surface edge, to ensure
that adequate point data is captured from the shape. Later, you can trim
away what you dont need. Rename this cloud to keep track of it.
Align the view to the circle and rotate to a flat view so the circle
select with the use of the Ctrl key will draw horizontal sections.
3. Show just the new cloud and circle.
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This curve will serve a two-fold purpose:
To throw away the points inside it
To generate cloud sections
The curve can now be used as a bounding curve to remove points inside it,
much like the roping tool. The points lying inside the curve profile, in the
current viewing direction, become a new cloud. The original cloud has
not changed.
4. Align the view to the circle.
5. Select Modify | Extract | Points Within Curves.

This operation created two clouds from the tip of the faucet cloud and
renamed them accordingly. Sort the clouds out and rename them.
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Note that this operation has not altered the original cloud. That still
needs to be done. You can change the original cloud by subtracting the
new interior set of points from the original.
6. Select Modify | Extract | Subtract Cloud from Cloud.
Choose the original cloud as Subtract from cloud A and the inner
cloud as B.
Set the distance threshold to 0.1 mm and dont keep the old cloud.
The net result of this operation is the original cloud without these
undesirable points. Dont keep the old data.
7. Hide the incurve cloud.
8. Rename the new cloud.
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Evaluating the tip
1. Using this new cloud of the faucet tip without the inner cloud and the
single, circular curve, create one Curve Aligned cross section.
2. Remain in the current view, since Curve Aligned Cross Section is
view-dependent.
Select SubCld as the cloud to cross section and tip circle as the
curve.
Set the cross section type to View Aligned.
Indicate to create two sections with an extent of 14.300.
3. Visually inspect the results since the data in this area of the faucet tip
is weak.
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4. Create a Tolerance based curve with 0.1 mm as a tolerance on the

section.
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There may be a need to extend, control point edit, and to

reparameterize the curve.
5. There will also be a need to extend the curve to the bottom circle for
the revolution. Make sure the curve will connect at the circle knot
point.
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6. Revolve the curve 360 degrees with the axis of the revolution being
the axis of the bottom circle. Set the interactions appropriately.
7. Show the lofted surface and the tip surface.

Notice the gap between the surfaces. You will match the surfaces together.
But first you need to snip the surface into two pieces.
8. Show the control plot.
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Notice that the surface is rational. As you match this surface to the
lofted tube it will change from rational to non-rational.
9. In order to keep the end of the surface Rational and circular, you need
to snip the surface at the first knot location from the inner circle.
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10. Show the control plot structure of the surfaces.
11. Save the file before the match.

12. Show the tip surfaces and the tube loft.
13. To close the gap between the tip and the tube, open the match
command and pick the tip as the match edge and the tube as the
reference.
14. Use the following settings for the match:
Position, Tangent
Linear Begin and End
Exact
Blend at .5 or 50%
Adjust band to coincide with the reference surface in the match
direction
There should be a little movement in the surface and the control plot
should look clean and neat.
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If there is a need to take the continuity to curvature ask your instructor to
explain the procedure.
The surfaces at the tip should not have changed their continuities. They
should still be curvature continuous.
15. Save the file.
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Exercise 5: Creating Blended Surfaces

Blended surfaces can be defined using Curves on Surfaces or the actual
surface edges. This faucet will use a combination of the two. The lofted
surface ends where the blended surface begins. The surface of revolution
however, has no transitional edge for the blended surface. You will need
to define a Curve on Surface at the transition.
1. Show the middle revolved, the lofted surface, and the full original
cloud.
2. In front view, circle-select the points in the transition area.
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3. Show the circle that was used to create the lofted surface.
You can offset this curve to match the transition line. The optimal
viewing direction for this part of the lab is looking down the axis of
the spout.
4. Align the view to the circle. This will orient the view so you are
looking through the spout axis, just like you did earlier in this exercise.
(View | Align View to | Circle)
5. Create a surface to cloud difference with the circle- selected points and
the middle revolved surface.
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6. Offset the curve used for the lofted spout. Offset the where it
intersects the surface to cloud difference. Look for the transition
between the green and the yellow colors.
7. Use Construct | Surface Curve | Project Curve to Surface to project

the offset curve to the surface in this view.
The curve projected to the surface is very heavy with math and is not
uniform.
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8. Reparameterize the curve on surface to mimic the math in the tube
surface curve. Use curve- based reparameterization.
9. You now have the necessary geometry for creating the blended
surface. The lofted surface needs to be visible since you need to pick
one of its edges. Use Construct |Blend | Surface.
Note: Make sure you pick the tube surface edge and the curve on
surface for the blend. Decrease the tangent tolerance to .04.
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10. You may also wish to trim away the piece of the surface of revolution
bounded by your blended surface. Use Modify | Trim | Trim
w/Curves.
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11. Create a final surface to cloud difference. You should be within a 1.0
mm tolerance.
If you are a little out of tolerance, ask yourself if you can improve the
surface fit.
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(Blank)
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Unit 9 / Lab B
Lab 9B: Creating Fillets

In this lab, you will create several types of
fillets between two surfaces. There are many
different combinations of options for creating
fillets. This lab will introduce the following
types:
Constant radius fillet
Trimming fillets
Parallel fillets
Curvature analysis of fillets
Higher order fillets
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The object of this lab is to compare the differences between many types of
surface fillets.
1. Open Fillets.imw.
2. Use information (or other resources) to find what type of math is
involved in the two surfaces.
3. Open Construct | Fillet | Surface.

You will create a 70 mm radius fillet between the surfaces and trim the
surfaces back. After the fillet is created you will analyze the curvature
and the control plot structure of the fillet, then delete the file and start
again with different options.
Pick the vertical surface for list 1 and the horizontal surface for list
2.
Select the Radius option.
Select None.
Select to use Rolling Ball.
Select Arc.
Select B-spline.
Select Trim.
Do not split the fillet.
Extend the begin and end of the fillets so they reach the farthest
edges of the surfaces. Dont use a trim here. This trim uses a
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normal to the surface trim, which in this case, will not be straight.
We will have to do a manual trim.
Change the edge and arc order to 4. For reverse engineering you
will work with NURB surfaces that are of 3rd degree.
Open the Tolerances and change the positional tolerance to .001
mm and the tangent tolerance to .01. In this case, only the
continuity to the level of tangency will be considered.
Model the fillet and Apply the fillet.
The fillet created is a B-spline fillet. This means the fillet is comprised
of a Bezier single span in the arc direction and NURB multiple spans
in the edge direction.
4. Hide the curves.
5. During the trim, curves are added to hold the new boundary edges.
At this point, you have trimmed the surfaces but not the extended
fillets. You need to trim off the extended fillets. Since the fillet is
working from the normal of the underlying surfaces, the fillet
extensions may be a little short to trim at the vertical X boundaries of
the underlying surfaces. The solution is to lengthen the fillet
extensions, then trim.
6. Select Modify | Extend and extend the length of the fillet extensions
with a natural extension. Natural extensions do not add any knots in
the surface, and the continuity throughout the extension should remain
intact.
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Note: Now would be a good time to check the continuity at all the
seams.
7. Use Multi-surface continuity to check the interior of the fillet edges
to the surfaces.
To trim the extended fillets back, the surface needs a curve. In this
case, you will use an intersection curve with a plane.
8. Create a 3-point plane using the boundary corner points of the
underlying surfaces at each end. Use the interactions to choose corner
point of surface.
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9. Use Construct | Intersection | With Planes to create an intersecting

curve on one of the fillet extensions.
10. Use Modify | Trim | Trim Surface to trim the extended fillet by
region with the curve on surface intersection. Pick the surface then
pick the portion of the surface to keep.
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11. Use the same trim command except this time change the option to
With Plane, this will automatically create an intersect curve and trim
off the extension.
Use the interactions to help choose the plane and the plane
direction.
Evaluate the fillet and the intersection edges

1. Hide the curves.
2. Shade the surfaces and reverse the normals if necessary.
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3. Show the control plot structure of all the fillets.
4. Select Evaluate | Curvature | Surface Needles. Create one curvature

cross section through all of the surfaces. There may be a need to
choose the Other option as the plane direction of the curvature
needles.
Notice that the fillet is of constant radius and is tangent continuous.
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A profile view of the curvature cross section is below:
5. Delete the file and reopen it.
Exercise 2: Creating the second fillet type

The next step is to create a different style fillet and slowly increase the
continuity to curvature, as well as increase the flow through the seam of
the fillet. The flow of the surface is the trend of curvature. The curvature
should gradually increase or decrease at a proportional rate. Another goal
is to hide the highlights or reflections of the tangent lines of light through
the seams of the surfaces.
1. Create a 3- point plane on one of the edges choosing the corners of the
surfaces.
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2. Open the fillet command and re-pick the same surfaces.

Keep all the defaults as with the previous fillet but select these
options: Radius, No Approach, Base Radius of 70mm, and
Parallel.
Use the normal direction of the 3-point plane. (Use the interactions
to pick the normal of the plane). Select Arc, B-spline, Trim None,
Edge and Arc order at 4, and set the tolerance values to be the
same as the previous fillet.
With the Parallel option, you can start and end the fillet planer to the
edge of the surfaces. This will reduce the extension and trimming.
However, the end of the fillet is not guaranteed to match exactly with
the end edge of the underlying surfaces.
Apply the fillet.

3. Hide the plane and curves and show the control plot structure.
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4. Create a curvature plot through the surfaces.
This fillet is the same as the first except the edges of the fillet start and
end on a plane.
Modifying the fillet
Now, take the fillet one step further to create a more pleasing shape.
1. Undo the fillet.
2. Open the fillet command.
recreate the fillet with the same defaults but add the option of Acc
Tangent and change the percent to 60.
The specified center radius is the minimum center radius. This inturn accelerates or elongates the tangent row of control points
towards the middle of the fillet.
Apply the fillet.
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3. Show the control plot of the fillet and create a curvature section
through the surfaces.
The tangency of the fillet is the same, but the curvature of the fillet is
accelerating towards the center of the fillet. This fillet has a better
trend, or smoother transition, around the corner
Moving onto something more complicated, the next step is to create a

curvature continuous 4th order fillet surface. In keeping a 4th order fillet
there is a limitation in creating a curvature continuous fillet. The limitation
is that there are not enough control points in the arc direction to achieve
curvature continuity.
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Create a curvature continuous 3rd degree fillet surface
1. Reparameterize the fillet surface to have 6 control points in the arc
direction and 21 control points in the edge direction. You need a
sufficient number of control points to achieve the desired continuities.
2. Use Modify | Continuity | Match 2 Surfaces to match the fillet edges

to the underlying surfaces. Use the curvature, interior and projection
options.
Notice that the curvature needles are the same length at the seams of
the fillet, indicating a curvature continuous seam. However, the
curvature of the fillet is not fluid since the needles are not gradually
increasing and decreasing and the curvature is not changing at an equal
rate.
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Next, smooth out the curvature needles with control point edit.
3. Use Modify | Control Point and select the curvature option. Move
the curvature control point row until the curvature needles show a
smooth transition from fillet edge to fillet edge.
Taking the fillet to the next level

In this section of the lab, you will create a curvature continuous fillet in
one motion with the option of order- raising.
1. Undo the fillet.
2. Open the fillet command and use all of the previous defaults. Add Acc
Curvature and increase the order in the arc and the edge direction to 7.
3. Create the fillet.
4. Hide all of the curves.
5. Show the control plot structure of the fillet.
6. Create curvature needles through the surfaces.
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Notice the number of control points in the rows. They should be seven in
each direction. Also notice the curvature flow in the needles of the fillet.
They are very smooth and symmetric. The curvature needles at the seams
are the same length signifying curvature continuity.
The structure of the control points in the arc direction resembles a W.

This particular control point row can be moved inline with the other
control point rows.
7. Open the control points edit, select the entire middle row of control
points. Edit this row normal to the surface until a very smooth
transition is achieved.
368
2003 EDS

Mda190 Imageware Course

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EDS

Unit 4: Point Processing............................................................................................ 85

Unit 8: Surface Preparation ................................................................................... 209

TYPICAL REVERSE ENGINEERING PROCESS

Determine the Downstream Process Needs

Read in the Point Data (Clouds)

Create Point Networks

Determine Types of Curves to Create

Determine Types of Surfaces to Create

Create Surfaces from Clouds,

REVERSE ENGINEERING OVERVIEW

TYPICAL INSPECTION PROCESS

Virtual Model Defined on Paper or with CAD

Physical Model Created

Scan or digitize Physical Model

Measurement Model created from Physical Model

Align the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model

Correct the Physical Model

Update the Virtual Model

Remove undesired points from the Measurement Model

Compare the Measurement Model to the Virtual Model

Feedback created to identify differences

Use Feedback to document Differences

Use Feedback to make changes to the

MODEL VERIFICATION OVERVIEW

If needed, make changes to Virtual Model - or - Physical Model

Concepts and Interface

Concepts and Interface

Upper docking area

Status bar (message area)

User Interface Options

Concepts and Interface

MODEBAR AND STATUS BAR

View pull-down list

Save view button

Status bar (message area)

Layers pull-down list

Showing the Modebar or Status Bar

Modebar and Status Bar Options

Pressing the Save View button will save a custom view.

Concepts and Interface

Using the scroll bars

This entity has been transformed

Concepts and Interface

TYPICAL DIALOG BOX

Whats This help

Typical Dialog Box Options

Concepts and Interface

Typical Dialog Box Options (cont.)

Typical Dialog Box Options (cont.)

Concepts and Interface

CHANGING SOFTWARE SETTINGS

ACCESSING EDIT | PREFERENCES OPTIONS

Edit | Preferences | Import/Export

Concepts and Interface

Accessing Edit | Preferences Options (cont.)

Accessing Edit | Preferences Options (cont.)

Concepts and Interface

USING THE MOUSE

RMB = Displays the pop-up toolbars

MMB = Applies the command

Pop-Up (RMB) Toolbars

USING THE MOUSE

Concepts and Interface