Loft surface using no rails

Mode

Tool

Tool set

Shortcut

No Rail

 

Loft Surface

 

3D Modeling

Shift+K

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

Click the tool and mode.

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.

Shapes201381.png 

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.

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.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

ruled_loft.png 

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

solid_loft.png 

Keep Curves

Retains the cross sections after the loft is created

Preview

Displays the proposed loft surfaces based on the current settings

Creating a loft surface

 

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