Loft Surface Using No Rails

To create a loft surface from two or more NURBS curve cross sections:

1. Click the Loft Surface tool from the 3D Modeling tool set, and then select No Rail from the Tool bar.

2. Click on each cross section. The cursor changes into an arrowhead when over a valid cross section. The point nearest to the click is selected.

 

The proposed curve alignment displays in red as each section is selected.

Cross sections are created using NURBS curves which do not need to be the same shape or planar. All NURBS curves must be either closed or open objects, not a mixture of the two. 3D loci can be used in a loft, but must display at the ends of the loft.

3. Once all curves are selected, press Enter or click the check mark button on the Tool bar.

The Loft Creation dialog box opens. Specify the desired loft creation settings.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Select Curve	Selects the previous or next cross section curve. Reverse changes the direction of the curve to twist or untwist the loft surface.
Reverse	Click to reverse the curve direction
Select Alignment by Point	Selects the previous or next point on the selected cross-section curve. If the cross section does not have any corners, this option is disabled.
Select Alignment by Percentage	Selects points along a geometrically continuous cross section (such as a circle) by a specified percentage, or by adjusting the slider
Ruled	Creates a linearly interpolated object
Closed	Creates a loft surface that closes in on itself. Because the start point cannot be selected as the end point of a loft, the Closed option automatically completes the connection.
Create Solid	Creates a solid loft surface with capped ends; deselect to create a group of NURBS surfaces instead of a generic solid
Keep Curves	Retains the cross sections after the loft is created
Preview	Displays the proposed loft surfaces based on the current settings

4. Click OK to close the dialog box and create the loft surface.

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Creating a Loft Surface

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