Autodesk AliasStudio 2009

AliasStudio Concepts

March 2008

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Contents

AliasStudio Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 History of splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mathematical representations of curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CVs, hulls, and edit points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Moving edit points vs. moving CVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Multi-knots and CV multiplicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Rational vs. non-rational geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Constructing quality curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Blend curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Keypoint curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Isoparametric curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 What NURBS surfaces cant do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Curves-on-surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Object properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Parameters and parameterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

iii

Normals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pivot points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modeling concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Absolute and relative addressing . . . . . . . . . . Momentary and Continuous buttons . . . . . . . . Curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laying out curves and surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and measuring curvature continuity . . . New Method of Curvature Continuity Evaluation . The construction plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic Shape Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What is a mesh? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Difference between meshes and polysets . . . . . .

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Chapter 1

Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The rendering workflow . Shaders . . . . . . . . . Shading models . . . . . Textures . . . . . . . . . Rendering methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . 60 . 60 . 61 . 61

Chapter 2

Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Animation in AliasStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Chapter 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Introduction to Data Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Learn how Solid Modeling Theory works . . . . . . . . . . . . Learn the Solid Modeling workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Learn about the tolerance requirements for Solid Modeling . . Learn how to get the topology right before transferring data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . 66 . 67 . 68 . 69

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

iv | Contents

AliasStudio Concepts

Explains basic concepts and terminology used in the AliasStudio interface.

Background
Explains the origin and meanings of some of the basic concepts used in AliasStudio.

Points
A point is a location defined by three spatial coordinates. It has no size. The most basic visual entity is the point. The point has no size, but it has a location. To determine the location of points, we first establish an arbitrary point in space as the origin. We can then say a points location is so many units left (or right) of the origin, so many units up (or down) from the origin, and so many units higher (or lower) than the origin.

These three numbers give us the 3D coordinates of the point in space. For example, a point 7 units right, 4 units down, and 3 units above the origin has the 3D coordinates (7,4,3). To specify points on the opposite side of the origin, we use negative numbers. In the example, a point at (-5, -2, -1) would be 5 units left of the origin, 2 units up, and 1 unit below.

In computer graphics, we dont really say the point is left/right, up/down, or higher/lower. Instead we call the three dimensions the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis.

History of splines
Describes the history of the representations of curves, from shipbuilding to modern computer modeling. Splines are types of curves, originally developed for ship-building in the days before computer modeling. Naval architects needed a way to draw a smooth curve through a set of points.

The solution was to place metal weights (called knots) at the control points, and bend a thin metal or wooden beam (called a spline) through the weights. The physics of the bending spline meant that the influence of each weight was greatest at the point of contact, and decreased smoothly further along the spline. To get more control over a certain region of the spline, the draftsman simply added more weights. This scheme had obvious problems with data exchange! People needed a mathematical way to describe the shape of the curve. Cubic Polynomials Splines are the mathematical equivalent of the draftsmans wooden beam.

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Polynomials were extended to B-splines (for Basis splines), which are sums of lower-level polynomial splines. Then B-splines were extended to create a mathematical representation called NURBS, which are used by AliasStudio.

Mathematical representations of curves

Explains the mathematical basis of the curve representation used by AliasStudio.

Polynomial equations
Starting with the simplest mathematical representation, we all remember from geometry class that we can represent a (two dimensional) line with an equation like y = 2x. For each value of x, we multiply it by 2 to get the value of y, and plot the two values on a graph. The generalized form of this type of equation is ax + by = c. The expression to the left of the equals sign is called a polynomial (poly means many. It refers to the fact that the expression has more than one term). We can make more complicated expressions where x is multiplied by itself, as y = x * x * x. Instead of writing out all the xs in a term, we usually just count them and write the count as a superscript. The superscript is called the exponent. So the expression above is written as y = x3. We can write polynomials with exponents, such as: y = ax2 + bx + c (You may recall from math class that this is a quadratic equation). The exponent (the 2) on the first occurrence of x means that the graph of this function is curved rather than straight.

Degree
The degree of a polynomial equation is the largest exponent in the equation. Recall that the largest exponent on the equation for a line was 1. (When a term has no visible exponent, that is the same as an exponent of 1.)

The degree of a linear equation is 1. A quadratic equation, which has a term x2, is degree 2. A cubic equation, which has a term x3, is degree 3, and so on.

Background | 3

Parametric representations
There are two general ways to write an equation for a curve. The implicit representation combines every variable in one long, non-linear equation, such as: ax3 + by2 + 2cxy + 2dx +2ey +f = 0. In this representation, to calculate the x and y values to plot them on a graph, we must solve the entire non-linear equation. The parametric representation rewrites the equation into shorter, easily solved equations that translate one variable into values for the others: x = a + bt + ct2 + dt3 + ... y = g + ht + jt2 + kt3 + ... Using this representation, the equations for x and y are simple. We just need a value for t, the point along the curve for which we want to calculate x and y. You can visualize parametric curves as being drawn by a point moving through space. At any time t, we can calculate the x and y values of the moving point. This is a very important point, because the concept of associating a parameter number with every point on the line is used by many tools. This corresponds to the U dimension of the curve.

Creating complex curves

The lower the degree of a curve equation, the simpler the curve described. What if we want to represent complex curves? The simple answer might be to increase the degree of the curve, but this is not very efficient. The higher the degree of the curve, the more computations are required. Also, curves with degree higher than 7 are subject to wide oscillations in their shape, which makes them impractical for interactive modeling. The answer is to join relatively low-degree (1 to 7) curve equations together as segments of a larger, more complex composite curve. The points at which the curve segments, or spans, join together is called an edit point. Degree 5 and degree 7 curves are only available in some products or as purchasable options. Higher degree curves should not be completely discounted, however. Degree 5 and 7 curves have certain advantages such as smoother curvature and more tension. They are often used in automotive design.

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Smooth joins
A type of curve developed in the auto industry and familiar to anyone who works with common illustration programs is the Bezier curve. Bezier curves combine cubic curve segments, each with four control points (the start and end points, and two handles). The problem with Bezier curves is that the joins between segments are not necessarily smooth. The solution to this problem, used by NURBS, is to use the last control points of the previous span as the first control points of the current span. This ensures smooth joins between curve segments. (Bezier curves can still be simulated perfectly using NURBS curves with multi-knots). The degree of the curve determines the smoothness of the joins between spans. Degree 1 (linear) curves give positional continuity at the join. Degree 2 (quadratic) curves give tangent continuity. Degree 3 (cubic) curves give curvature continuity.

NURBS
Describes the meaning of NURBS, the curve and surface representation used for modeling in AliasStudio. NURBS stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines.

Non-Uniform refers to the parameterization of the curve. Non-Uniform curves allow, among other things, the presence of multi-knots, which are needed to represent Bezier curves. Rational refers to the underlying mathematical representation. This property allows NURBS to represent exact conics (such as parabolic curves, circles, and ellipses) in addition to free-form curves. B-splines are piecewise polynomial curves that have a parametric representation.

For more information on NURBS objects, see the following: Curves on page 6 Surfaces on page 15 Object properties on page 20

Background | 5

Curves
Describes curves as they appear in the AliasStudio interface.

CVs, hulls, and edit points

Explains the origin and use of the different curve features.

CVs

CVs (control vertices) control how the curve is pulled from a straight line between edit points. They are the most basic and important means for controlling the shape of a curve. Lines between consecutive CVs form the control hull. You cannot add CVs to the interior of a curve: there is always a set number of CVs for each span. The number of CVs is equal to the degree of the curve plus one. So, for example, a degree 3 curve has four CVs per span. AliasStudio draws CVs differently to let you tell the difference between the start and the end of a curve. The first CV (at the start point of the curve) is drawn as a box. The second CV is drawn as a small U, to show the increasing U dimension from the start point. All other CVs are drawn as small Xs.

Multiple spans
Longer and more complex curves require more than a single span curve. As you draw what appears to be a single long curve, AliasStudio is actually adding several curve spans together. The last CV of the previous curve span become the first CV of the next curve span, creating very smooth transitions between the curve segments.

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Edit points

You can tell when a curve is made from multiple spans in several ways. One is to look for edit points on the curve. Edit points mark the connection point between two spans. AliasStudio draws edit points as small crosses. Unlike the on-curve control points of Bezier curves (used in many 2D illustration programs), NURBS edit points are not usually used for editing curves. CVs control the shape of a NURBS curve, and edit points are just indicators of how many spans a curve has. There are, however, a few tasks that use edit points:

If you want more control in a curve, you can insert an edit point to increase the number of spans in the curve and give you more CVs to work with. You can also delete edit points to decrease the number of spans in a curve (and probably change the shape of the curve). It is possible to move edit points to change the shape of a curve, but you should avoid doing this except for minor adjustments. AliasStudio does not actually move the edit point itself, but instead moves the CVs to reshape the curve so the edit point is where you specified.

Hulls

As a curve gets more spans/edit points, you might lose track of the order of the CVs. To show the relationship between CVs, AliasStudio can draw lines between them. These lines are called hulls. (AliasStudio also provides other feedback to show the order of CVs. For example, when you pick a CV, AliasStudio highlights its span within the curve.)

Curves | 7

Moving edit points vs. moving CVs

Describes why moving CVs is preferable to moving edit points when reshaping a curve. In theory, moving edit points would be an excellent way to edit a curve, since they lie on the curve itself. Unfortunately, it doesnt work out that way. This is because the shape of the curve determines the positions of edit points, not the other way around. AliasStudio does allow you to move edit points by reverse engineering the curve from the edit point. When you move an edit point, the Move tool tries to find a curve which passes through the new edit point location. Because this process is time-consuming and has an infinite number of solutions, the tool must place constraints on how moving the edit point affects the curve. Because of these constraints, you usually cannot make major changes well by moving edit points. Moving edit points is best for small scale reshaping. Even though it is slightly less intuitive, the only way to reshape the curve with complete power is by moving CVs.

Multi-knots and CV multiplicity

Describes two ways of achieving sharp bends in NURBS geometry. While these features are supported to a large degree in AliasStudio, they can cause problems with certain tools and other software. A multi-knot is multiple edit points at the same location in space. CV multiplicity is multiple CVs at the same location in space. Multi-knots are usually the result of curve or surface editing operations that require a sharp turn in a curve. CV multiplicity is created by manually placing adjacent CVs in the same location (using the Magnet tool). Multi-knots and CVs with multiplicity are generally undesirable. Some tools (such as Rail Surface) cannot work with them, and many CAD packages will not accept models with multi-knots. Multi-knots and CV Multiplicity achieve similar effects, even though they are different mathematically.

Multi-knots and continuity

Multi-knots eliminate one level of automatic continuity for each extra edit point.

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For example, a degree 3 curve normally has curvature continuity (G2) at edit points.

If you create a multi-knot of two edit points, you lose automatic curvature continuity, so you only have tangent continuity (G1) at the multi-knot. If you create a multi-knot of three edit points, you lose both automatic curvature and automatic tangent continuity, so you only have positional continuity (G0) at the multi-knot. NOTE Only the intrinsic continuity is lost. As with Bezier curves, clever placement of CVs can restore continuity.

AliasStudio only creates full multiplicity knots, i.e. knots which have a multiplicity equal to the degree of the curve.

Rational vs. non-rational geometry

Explains the differences and pros and cons of rational and non-rational geometry. Non-rational geometry is a sum of polynomials. Rational geometry is a ratio of sums of polynomials. Rational geometry is considerably more complex mathematically. Therefore:

It may not be transferable to downstream CAD packages that cant deal with complex descriptions It can be slower to manipulate when modeling, and slower to render.

The following tables lists the differences between the two types of geometry. Nature
Non-rational

Pros
More flexibility for transformations.Faster. Precise geometry (that is, exact conics).

Cons
Sacrifices some precision for modeling flexibility. Weighted CVs not supported by many CAD packages.Weighted CVs harder to manipulate.Creates multi-knots.Slower to display and render.

Rational

Curves | 9

This illustration shows two circles drawn with the two types of geometry.

The circle on the left is a non-rational curve with CVs that are all weighted equally. To have a non-rational curve, all weights must be 1.0. The circle on the right is a rational curve with different weights applied to the CVs, and multi-knots.

You can see the difference in two ways:

If you attach a radius measurement to the circles, you will see that the non-rational circle is not a perfect circle (although it is pretty close): it has different radii depending on where you measure. The rational circle is a perfect circle. Attach curve curvature combs to the circles. The curvature on the non-rational circle on the left varies. The curvature of the rational circle on the right is constant.

Constructing quality curves

Contains tips for constructing curves that will make building high quality surfaces easier. To create quality surfaces you need quality curves. These guidelines will help you create good curves.

Simple curves
Use the simplest curves that can describe the shape you want. Simpler curves mean simple, faster rendering surfaces.

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One effective method for achieving simple curves is:

1 Begin a curve by drawing a single span. 2 Move the CVs to achieve the shape you want. 3 If you cant achieve the shape, add an edit point to create more CVs. 4 Continue until you have the shape you need. This iterative process ensures your curve only has as many spans as are absolutely necessary. You can also use the Rebuild curve tool to simplify existing curves. The tool can simplify a curve while maintaining its shape within a tolerance you set.

Parameterization
It is often best to build curves with uniform parameterization, because it makes inserting edit points and detaching curves at exact locations easier.

When drawing Edit point curves with Uniform parameterization, the resulting CVs may be placed awkwardly. To fix this, move the CVs to prevent crossing hull lines. Try to consistently use either Uniform or Chord length parameterization when drawing curves. If you mix and match curve styles, it could result in cross knot insertion when the curves are used to build a surface.

Intersections
Some surfacing tools require curves to intersect:

To draw intersecting curves, use curve snapping (hold down Ctrl + Alt, or click the curve snapping button curve to the right of the prompt line).

Curves | 11

To make existing curves intersect:

Pick an edit point and use the Move tool with curve snapping. Use the Object editor with curve snapping.

Planning for surfaces

When creating curve, plan ahead to the surfaces that you want. Try to have the same number of spans in all the construction curves for building a surface. A simple way to achieve this is to start with one curve, then duplicate it to create more construction curves. When you create a surface from curves with different numbers of spans, the new surface will have an extra isoparametric curve corresponding to every extra edit point. This is known as cross knot insertion. It makes the new surface more difficult to edit and more complex.

Blend curves
Describes the features and concepts behind blend curves, which allow you to create curves by specifying constraints on their shape. Palette tool: Curves > Blend curve toolbox. Blend curves provide higher-level, simpler methods for shaping and manipulating curves. They provide a level of abstraction on top of the actual geometry of the curve. Blend curves let you focus on what the curve needs to do, and have the system calculate the right curve to fulfill those requirements.

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Blend curves are normal NURBS curves with more construction history: you can use all the normal curve tools on blend curves, and when you are not using blend curve tools, they look like any other curve. Blend curves are controlled by blend points acting as constraints:

You create the curve by setting up the constraints, such as

what points in space the curve should pass through, which surfaces it should be tangent to, which existing curves the blend curve should intersect, what direction it should be travelling at a certain point,

...and so on. AliasStudio draws the curve to satisfy the constraints, and automatically updates the curve when the constraints, or the objects the curve is constrained to, change.

Types of blend points

There are three main types of blend points.

Location: forces the curve to pass through the blend points location in space. This is the type you create when you first draw a blend curve. Direction: forces the curve to pass through the blend points location in space travelling in a certain world space direction. There are two sub-types of direction:

Directed: you set an actual direction for the curve tangent. Use this type when the specific tangent direction at the point of the blend point is important.

Curves | 13

Parallel: you set a line along which the curve passes (in either direction) at the blend point. This is easier to enforce and results in better curve continuity.

Geometry: forces the curve to pass through a point on a curve or surface and travel in a direction relative to that curve or surface.

The following table shows the icons used to represent the different constraints: Type Not attached Attached to blend curve Attached to regular curve

Location

Direction

Keypoint curves
Describes the concepts behind keypoint curves, which allow you to create CAD-like lines and arcs.

Overview

Keypoint curves retain more information than other curves. They remember relationships and constraints, and apply them when you edit the lines. You can also edit these special attributes in the Information Window. For example, a keypoint arc has edit points and CVs just like a normal curve, but it also has a radius, sweep angle, and center point, all of which can be edited. During editing, the arc stays an arc: it will not lose its shape from keypoint editing.

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When you combine keypoint curves into composite curves (for example, with the Line-arc tool), relationships between the individual lines and arcs are still maintained.

Keypoint curve tools create guidelines, which are very useful for aligning curves with each other as you draw. Keypoint curves are especially useful for CAD and drafting applications. However, any part of your model requiring geometric accuracy or ease of editing will benefit from keypoint curves. NOTE Most tools that work on normal curves also work on keypoint curves.

Surfaces
Describes how isoparametric curves, U and V coordinates, and possible trims combine to form a surface.

Isoparametric curves
Isoparametric curves are line running along the surface in the U and V directions, showing the shape of the surface as defined by the CVs.

Surfaces | 15

AliasStudio draws a NURBS surface as a mesh of curves, called isoparametric curves, running in the U and V directions. Isoparametric curves are sometimes called isoparms. Unfortunately, the term isoparametric curve is used to describe two related but subtly different features of a surface:

Edit point isoparametric curves

A line of constant parameter at an edit point. The isoparametric curves at edit points are special, since they represent the boundaries between patches. Like CVs, these isoparametric curves are important in representing the surface within the system. AliasStudio draws these types of isoparametric curves using solid lines.

This is the type of isoparametric curve created by the Insert tool. Adding this type of isoparametric curve actually changes the geometry of the surface. You can only delete an isoparametric curves of this type. Using this definition, a surface has the same number of isoparametric curves in the U and V directions as it has edit points.

Descriptive isoparametric curves

Any line of constant parameter in either U or V. For example, if you join together every point on the surface where U=1.5, the resulting line is a U isoparametric curve:

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AliasStudio draws these types of isoparametric curves using dotted lines.

You can increase the number of this type of isoparametric curve that is drawn for a surface with the Patch precision tool. Using this definition, a surface has an infinite number of isoparametric curves.

You can use these isoparametric curves to help you understand the surface shape, but the system doesnt use them to represent the surface internally.

Patches
Patches are the regions between adjacent edit point isoparametric curves. The four-sided regions between adjacent edit point isoparametric curves or edges are called patches. You rarely need to think about patches, since the focus in AliasStudio is on the isoparametric curves. One tool that works with patches is the Patch precision tool, which sets how many U and V isoparametric curves are drawn for each patch.

What NURBS surfaces cant do

Describes the fundamental limitations imposed by the geometry of NURBS surfaces and how to work around them. Because of the underlying representation of NURBS surfaces, there are some things they cannot model:

Topologies that are not equivalent to a rectangular sheet. Spheres, cones, tori, and triangles can all be built from sheets by attaching or collapsing sides. But more complex shapes, for example a star shape, cannot be represented with a simple NURBS surface. To get a complex surface outline, you must use a trimmed surface or a network or collection of four-sided surfaces. Holes. To create a hole in a surface, use a trimmed surface. Surfaces that cannot be mapped with regular U and V coordinates. For example, you can model the shape of a Mobius strip, but the surface will have a seam.

Surfaces | 17

Curves-on-surface
Curves-on-surface are special curves the exist on a surface, and are used mostly for defining the line along which to trim the surface. Curves-on-surface are special curves that are drawn in the UV space of a surface, rather than in the XYZ space of the scene. Curves-on-surface do not have CVs. They are controlled by moving on-curve edit points. You can create curves-on-surface by drawing directly on the surface, by projecting existing curves onto a surface, and by intersecting existing geometry with a surface. Curves-on-surface are usually used to trim surfaces, or to form the edge of new surfaces.

Trimming
Describes the process of trimming, through which you can alter the visible shape of a surface by trimming away parts. Since NURBS surfaces are intrinsically four-sided and do not allow holes, you need a way to visually simulate irregular shapes and holes when using NURBS. The answer is trimming. Trimming lets you visually cut or divide a surface along a curve-on-surface so it appears to have holes or missing pieces. The trimmed surface, however, is not actually cut. It exists in a hidden form that does not render or affect modeling. You can recover the trimmed part of a surface using the Untrim tool. Creating curves-on-surface and then trimming is the most common way to combine NURBS surfaces in industrial design.

Shells
Shells are a special type of surface or collection of surfaces you can use for special modeling operations, or for export to solid modeling packages. Shells are collections of adjacent NURBS surfaces. Every surface stitched into a shell must meet the edge of another surface in the shell at some point. Shells are stored as a single node in the DAG. Shells can be open or closed. For closed shells, the normals should always point outward. This is necessary for the Boolean operations.

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The main uses of shells are:

To improve data transfer to some CAD packages. Some CAD packages deal with shells much better than normal trimmed NURBS surfaces. To prepare for Boolean operations. The Boolean tools (Shell subtract, Shell intersect, and Shell union) only work on shells. Often you will simply stitch surfaces into shells, apply a boolean operation, then unstitch back into surfaces. To check adjacencies between surfaces. Surfaces can only be stitched into shells if they are within an adjacency tolerance. If the tolerance is set correctly, you can easily check whether a group of surfaces will export or build properly by checking whether they will stitch together into a shell.

To identify open edges in stitched shells: Use Object edit > Query edit to check for open edges in shells. Red arrows clearly mark gaps in the shell.

Shells have the following limitations:

Depending on the options in the Shell stitch option window, a stitched shell may not match the original surfaces exactly. In this case, unstitching will not produce surfaces that match the originals exactly either. You can not edit CVs of a shell. If you need to reshape the surface of a shell, you must unstitch the shell.

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You cannot use the isoparametric curves of shell surfaces as input for other tools. You cannot maintain continuity with a shell in tools such as Square and Rail Surface. You cannot create fillet surfaces on shells or between shells and other surfaces. If you stitch an object, then scale it, then unstitch it, you not be able to re-stitch the object. This is because the scaling operation can increase the gaps between surfaces, thereby causing any subsequent stitch operations to fail (within the current tolerance settings). In this case, scale the object before you first stitch it.

Object properties
Explains the properties common to NURBS objects.

Degree
Degree is a mathematical property of a curve or of a surface dimension that controls how many CVs are available for modeling.

The number of CVs for each curve span is controlled by the degree of the curve. The default curve type in Studio is degree 3, which has four CVs for the first curve span. You can choose to have fewer CVs per span, or, if you have an advanced version of Studio, you can create curves with more than four CVs per span.

Degree 1 creates curves or surfaces with straight lines. Degree 2 curves or surfaces do not automatically have smooth transitions between spans or patches. Degree 3 is the default degree for new curves and surfaces.

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Degree 5 and degree 7 curves are generally used in automotive design. They are slower, but give you smoother curves, better internal continuity, and more control.

The degree of your curves can affect data transfer to CAD packages. Some other packages cannot accept curves with degree higher than 3. Surfaces can have different degrees across their width and length. So, for example, a surface could be degree 3 along its width, and degree 5 along its length.

Parameters and parameterization

Parameters are the unique numeric values (like a coordinate) of points on a curve or surface.

What are parameters?

You can think of a curve as made up of an infinite number of points. Each of these that make up a curve has a number, called its parameter. Parameters let you refer to specific points along the length of a curve. The higher the parameter, the further is the point along the curve. Just as points in space have three dimensions, called X, Y, and Z, the parameters of a point are measured along the one internal dimension (length) of the curve. We call this dimension U. Since surfaces have two internal dimensions (length and width), we need another parameter (in addition to U) to specify a point on a surface. We call this parameter V. Just as every point along the length of a curve has a U parameter, every point across a surface has a pair of U and V parameters.

What is parameterization?

The method Studio uses to number the points along a curve is called the curves parameterization. Studio has two parameterization methods: uniform and chord-length.

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Each method has advantages and disadvantages depending on how the curve will be used. You can choose which parameterization method to use when you create a new curve, and you can rebuild existing curves to use a specific parameterization.

Uniform

Uniform parameterization assigns integral parameter values to the edit points, and evenly distributes parameters along the spans between edit points. So the first edit point is always parameter 0.0, the second edit point is always 1.0, the third is always 2.0, and so on. A bonus feature of uniform parameterization is that the parameter value of the last edit point is the also the number of spans in the curve. However, unlike chord-length parameterization, the parameters of a uniform curve have nothing to do with the actual length of the curve.

Chord-length

Chord-length parameterization assigns parameter 0.0 to the start of the curve, then increases the parameter value proportionally to the chord length, or the shortest linear distance, between the surrounding edit points. Unlike uniform parameterization, the parameters of a chord-length curve are irregularly spaced between the edit points, and the edit points do not have integral parameters.

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Comparison
Each parameterization method has advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you will use the curve or surface. Type
Chord-length

Pros
Parameter value gives some indication of the points relative position along the curve.Minimizes stretching and squeezing of textures. Easy to reckon parameters (for example, 1.5 is about half-way between edit points at 1.0 and 2.0).

Cons
Parameters are not obvious.Surfaces built from chord-length curves can be more complex because of cross-knot insertion. In many cases, interpolation between edit points is not as good.Can lead to unpredictable stretching of textures during rendering.

Uniform

Just as with degree, surfaces can have different parameterization methods for their U and V dimensions. For example, the U isoparms of a surface can be degree 3 with uniform parameterization, while the V isoparms are degree 1 with chord-length parameterization.

Normals
Normals are imaginary lines perpendicular to each point on a curve or surface.

The direction of U and V isoparms on a surface determines the direction of the surfaces normals.

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Normals are a mathematical side-effect of NURBS.They are often used as a way of specifying which side of a surface points inside or outside (for example, when creating shells). Normals are also an indirect indicator of the shape of a curve or surface. Since they are always perpendicular to the curve or surface, the way normal lines point toward or away from each other can reveal subtle curvature. Starting with AliasStudio 13.5, we treat surface sidedness differently from in the past. Previously, sidedness has been a geometric concept based on the so-called right hand rule, and has been dictated by the U and V directions of surfaces and the triangle vertex ordering of meshes. This has had unintended consequences for users, in that the front and back of surfaces were subject to the way U and V directions happened to be, and operations like negative scaling and mirroring would tend to turn surfaces inside out.

Starting in 13.5, surface orientation is controlled not only by handedness and transformation, but also by the Opposite flag that has, until now, only been part of the rendering workflow, and is shown in the Render Stats window. So the Orient Normals tool leaves handedness and transformations alone, and sets the Opposite flag appropriately. The Opposite flag is also used and set by other operations, such as Zero Transform.

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This allows orientation to be controlled independently of handness and transformation. Flipping orientation no longer involves transposing UVs, and so it is possible to preserve history. Also, surfaces can now be reoriented without flipping texture maps, something that would happen if you transposed UVs. Having better control of orientation means that orientation sensitive operationsa long list including ambient occlusion, surface offset, mass properties, and STL outputare now more reliable. You can see for yourself how this works by creating some simple geometry (a plane primitive in what follows) and turning on the Multi Color diagnostic shade (the blue icon), along with Show Reversed Normals. Open Windows > Information > Information window and Render > Editors > Render stats. The top of the plane should be blue, the underside yellow. If you flip the Opposite flag in the Render Stats Window, the color should change. If you add a negative sign to the X component of Scale in the Information Window Transform Info, the color will not change. Leave the scale negative, then choose Transform > Zero transforms. The color still does not change. But note that the Opposite flag has changed. If you perform this experiment in AliasStudio 13, you will get quite different behavior. In AliasStudio 13 the Opposite flag is ignored, except for rendering. And a negative scale affects orientation. Also examine the Reverse Direction option box, which has a new default option, Reverse Normal Direction.

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If you use this, the UVs are unchanged, but the Opposite flag toggles on or off. In fact, there's no difference between choosing Reverse Normal direction and toggling the Opposite flag. What is the result? AliasStudio 13.0 and 13.5 are not compatible with respect to orientation. The exportBakedOrientation plug-in can be used to export oriented geometry so that it has the same orientation in 13.0 and earlier. However, the exported file will have zeroed transforms, and no history. Changes have been made to some data translators. The main change is that orientation will be baked into geometry, by swapping UVs and reversing mesh winding (the baking occurs in the exported file, not the Studio geometry).

Pivot points
The pivot point is the point around which an object rotates and scales, and which represents the point location of the object when it moves. When you pick objects in the view windows, you can see a small blue-green dot associated with every object. This is the pivot point of the object.

Pivot points allow you to control how objects rotate and scale, and also represent the exact locations of objects in space. All transformations to an object are relative to the pivot point: Transformation
Move

Relationship to Pivot
Moves the pivot point (and the object travels along with it).

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Transformation
Scale

Relationship to Pivot
Scales object out from or in toward the pivot point.

Rotation

Rotates object around the pivot point.

There are actually two separate pivot points: one for rotation and scale, and one for movement. They can be separated by using Transform > Local > Set Pivot. Placing the two pivots at different locations can be useful for creating animations, where you may want the movement of an object to follow a path while it rotates or scales about another point.

Construction history
Construction history is the saved information about how an object was created. When you edit the construction history the object will automatically update. For almost every tool, AliasStudio gives you the option of saving the history of how an object was constructed. This means you can edit the curves, surfaces, manipulators, tool options, and so on that were used to create an object, and the object will automatically update. For example, when you use the Revolve tool to create an object with construction history, you can:

reshape and edit the curves you revolved... re-display the construction manipulator that created the revolved surface...

...and the surface(s) will update automatically. To create construction history when working with tools, turn on the Create History option in the option window. This option is on by default in all tools.

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Objects that have construction history are drawn in green in the default color scheme. NOTE If a surface or curve has been built with construction history, it cannot be moved, scaled, or rotated even if its constructor objects are transformed along with it.

Modeling concepts
Describes general and AliasStudio specific concepts that you will use when modeling.

Absolute and relative addressing

Choose whether translations are made in absolute values, or relative to the objects current placement, rotation, and size. By default, the system addresses view coordinates in Absolute mode as indicated by the (ABS) notation as part of the move prompt on the information line. While addressing in absolute mode, an object will be moved to the grid position specified, or rotated to the absolute degree value specified for each of the three axes, or scaled based on its original size. If you want to rotate an object on only one or two axes without affecting the rotational position on the third axis, the current values on the axis you do not want to change must be re-entered. For example, if an object is currently rotated to 45 degrees on both the x and y axes, and you want to change the rotation on the x axis to 65 degrees, the rotational amounts would be entered as 65, 45, 0 at the prompt line and then press the Enter key. Trailing zero values can be omitted, so in this case, 65, 45 followed by pressing the Enter key would work as well. You can switch into relative addressing mode at any time by typing a lower case letter r followed by the translation amounts. The notation on the information line will change to (REL) to show that the system is accepting input for relative addressing. When in relative addressing mode, objects are rotated the amount specified for each axis, relative to the objects current rotation. If you want to change the current rotation on only one or two of the axes without changing the current rotational position on the other axis, the values on the axis you do not want changed must be entered as zero.

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For example, if an object is rotated to 45 degrees on both the x and y axes, and you want to rotate the object an additional 4 degrees on the x axis relative to its current position, the rotational amount would be input as 4, 0, 0 followed by pressing the Enter key. The zero values for the y and z axes result in no positional adjustment on these two axes. Once again, trailing zero values can be omitted. In this case, typing 4 followed by the Enter key at the prompt line achieves the same result as well, since the relative rotational change for both the y and z axis are null. To switch back to the absolute addressing mode at any time, enter the lower case letter a followed by the translation values. NOTE The addressing mode switch (a or r) can also be typed, followed by pressing the Enter key, without typing in any values.

Momentary and Continuous buttons

There are two types of tools in AliasStudio: momentary and continuous. Momentary functions, such as Pick > Nothing, perform an operation once, every time you select the function. A continuous function, like Pick > Object, remains selected and highlighted, letting you use the function repeatedly without reselecting the button. To stop a continuous function, just select another continuous function. You can select momentary function without interrupting a continuous one. When the operation of a momentary function is finished, the system reverts to the operation of the last continuous function. For example, if you select Pick > Object and after picking a few things, want to view the scene in another window, select Layouts > Top. After the Layouts operation is performed, you will automatically continue in the Pick operation without having to re-select the Pick button.

Curvature
Curvature is a measure of how much a curve curves.

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Curvature is measured by fitting a circle into the curve, then taking the reciprocal of the circles radius. In the illustration at left, at point x, the curve is best described by a circle with radius r. At this point, the curvature is 1/r. (We use the reciprocal, 1/r, instead of just r because a flat line has an infinite radius. Taking the reciprocal gives us 0 instead of infinity.)

Several tools in AliasStudio, such as the Locators > Curve curvature tool, allow you to display a comb plot of a curves curvature. At regular points along the curve, the tool samples the curvature, and draws a line (sometimes called a quill because it looks like a spine on the back of a porcupine). The length of the line represents the curvature value at that point.

Laying out curves and surfaces

As you create curves and surfaces, or fit curves and surfaces to scan data, you will have to decide how to use separate surfaces to create the overall model.

Introduction
For all but the very simplest models, you will not want to create the entire model using a single surface. Sometimes the choice of boundaries between separate surfaces will be obvious. But in cases where there is no clear natural boundary, you will have to decide how to break up a large-scale areas into individual surfaces. This is decision is a bit of an art, with different modelers making different decisions to emphasize different priorities. In this topic, we will attempt to give you a broad overview of the process.

Deciding where to separate surfaces

Consider the following cross sections:

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The shape on the left has low curvature. The shape in the middle has high curvature. The shape on the right has two changes in curvature. You will want to break up large-scale areas into areas of low curvature and high curvature at the points where the curvature begins to increase.

Low curvature
In areas of low curvature, not as many CVs are needed to describe the shape, so you can use a single span and a lower degree curve. Using separate surfaces for these areas lets you use simpler geometry.

High curvature
In areas of high curvature, you will want more CVs to describe the shape more accurately. Using separate surfaces in these areas lets you use high degree surfaces or multiple spans to get more CVs. Note that even if you can get away with describing the shape with a small number of CVs, the CVs may be doing too much work. That is, each CV is responsible for controlling such a large area of the curve or surface that making small changes to the curve or surface later will be very difficult.

Changes in curvature
You will want to break up shapes where the curvature changes direction (called inflections, shown below on the left), and where curvature begins to change (shown below on the right).

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CV distribution
In each case, breaking the model up involves maximizing the use of CVs. That means creating conditions where no CVs are overworked (having too much influence on the shape of the curve or surface), and the CVs have a smooth distribution, both of which make maintaining shape and continuity easier.

Overworked CVs
Overworked (or high tension) CVs are CVs that are distant from the curve they control, or have a significant influence on the shape of their curve or surface. In the following simplified example, the second CV in the curve on the left is clearly doing a lot of work: its almost solely responsible for pulling the shape of the curve to the left.

This makes editing the shape of the curve difficult. Because a single CV is largely responsible for the shape of a section of the curve (marked below), and any reshaping you want to do anywhere within section must be accomplished by moving that one CV.

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This leads to extremely minute and frustrating adjustments of the CV, as you find each movement affects a larger area than just the small part of the curve you wanted to improve. Using separate curves (as shown below on the right) immediately improves the situation. Now each CV in both curves is exerting roughly the same amount of influence.

Good vs. poor CV distribution

A good distribution:

Puts more CVs in areas of high curvature.

Has even or smoothly changing spacing between hulls.

Has consistent direction change along hulls, with no zigzags, W shapes, or pronounced peaks.

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Continuity
Continuity is a measure of how well two curves or surfaces flow into each other. Palette tool Curves > Blend curve toolbox.

Why you would set continuity and curve degree

To get more visual smoothness at intersections, increase the level of continuity. To increase the amount of flexibility available to achieve high levels of continuity, increase the curve degree.

Types of continuity
Continuity is a mathematical indication of the smoothness of the flow between two curves or surfaces. The following lists the five types of continuity possible with AliasStudio tools, G0 to G4. Note that G3 and G4 continuity are only available with blend curves.

Positional (G0)
The endpoints of the two curves meet exactly. Note that two curves that meet at any angle can still have positional continuity.

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Tangent (G1)
Same as positional continuity, plus the end tangents match at the common endpoint. The two curves will appear to be travelling in the same direction at the join, but they may still have very different apparent speeds (rate of change of the direction, also called curvature).

For example, in the illustration at left, the two curves have the same tangent (the double-arrow line) at the join (the dot). But the curve to the left of the join has a slow (low) curvature at the join, while the curve to the right of the join has a fast (high) curvature at the join.

Curvature (G2)
Same as tangent continuity, plus the curvature of the two curves matches at the common endpoint. The two curves appear to have the same speed at the join.

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Curvature with constant rate of change (G3)

Same as curvature (G2) continuity, plus the rate of change in the curvature matches between the curves.

Curvature with constant rate of change of the rate of change of the curvature (G4)
Same as G3 continuity, plus the rate of change of the rate of change of the curvature matches between the curves. This is the smoothest type of join.

The concept of rate of change of the rate of change may be hard to conceptualize. Consider the following graphs:

In graph A on the left, the value of x does not change, so the rate of change of x is 0.

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In graph B in the middle, x has a constant rate of change, which we can calculate as the slope of the line. In graph C on the right, the rate of change is not constant: it is slow at first, then fast, then slow again. The rate at which the rate of change itself changes is the rate of change of the rate of change.

Creating and measuring curvature continuity

Additional information, hints, and tips about how AliasStudio establishes and measures curvature continuity within different tools.

Tools that use curvature continuity

Throughout AliasStudio, many surface creation tools such as Rail Surface, Square, Fillet flange, etc, attempt to maintain curvature continuity wih adjacent surfaces (if that option is chosen). Most of these tools also possess a Check continuity option that will test the level of continuity established across the boundaries after the new surface is created. See Curvature for an explanation of curvature. See Continuity on page 34for a definition of curvature continuity. In the Evaluate palette, Evaluate > Continuity > Surface continuity is a global tool that measures continuity across any number of surface boundaries in your model and displays the results with color-coded locators. Evaluate > Check model is another global evaluation tool that, among other things, checks curvature (G2) continuity between surfaces of a model for the purposes of Product Data Quality.

Curvature deviation calculation

Curvature is defined as the inverse of radius. For example, a curve with a radius of 10 at a given point will have a curvature of 0.1 at that same point. Hence, curvature increases as radius decreases. Starting with version 13.0, all the modeling and evaluation tools use the following computation for curvature deviation:

Here R1 and R2 are the radii of curvature of the two surfaces at a matching point on their boundary.

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See New Method of Curvature Continuity Evaluation on page 39 for more information on this new way to compute curvature. This calculation is carried out at several points (called checkpoints) across the boundary. Each deviation value is compared to the Continuity curvature tolerance given in the Tolerances:Continuity section of Preferences > Construction Options. If at least one of the deviation values is larger than the tolerance, then we say that the surfaces are not curvature continuous. As you can see, the curvature continuity test may succeed or fail depending on the tolerance chosen, as well as number and location of the checkpoints where the calculations are done. Curvature deviation values are dependent on one more parameter, and that is the direction in which the radius of curvature is measured. AliasStudio uses a direction perpendicular to the boundary for all curvature calculations.

Checkpoints and Tolerance

AliasStudio uses two basic methods to choose the checkpoints where curvature deviation will be calculated along a boundary: # Per Span The same number of points (at evenly spaced parameter values) are used within each span. This number is equal to the value of the Curve Fit Checkpoints option in the Tolerances:Fitting section the Preferences > Construction Options window. The default is 5. This is the method used by all surface creation tools that maintain curvature continuity, as well as the default option for Evaluate > Continuity > Surface continuity. Arc Length The points are equally spaced along the surface boundary. The spacing is determined by the Distance Between Checks option located in the Evaluate > Continuity > Surface continuity option box (and visible when the Arc Length option is turned on). Evaluate > Check model uses whatever method is set within the Surface continuity tool. All tools use the same curvature continuity tolerance from the Constructions options. Hence, this value has to be chosen carefully.

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Inconsistencies and errors

You may occasionally find yourself in a situation where your surface tool tells you that curvature continuity has been established across a boundary while an evaluation tool asserts the opposite. Inconsistencies between the curvature continuity status assigned to a boundary by different tools have a variety of causes. Possibilities are:

The number and position of checkpoints used by both calculations is different. The original curves used to build the surface dont intersect at the corners. The surface creation tool should warn you of this (check the promptline history). This situation can create inconsistent curvature continuity checks by different tools. There is a gap between the surfaces which is slightly larger than the Maximum Gap Distance in Preferences > Construction Options, so the evaluation tool views the surfaces as failing positional continuity (and hence higher levels of continuity). This gap might have been created when the original curves were rebuilt to create the surfaces. The tolerance used for rebuilding curves is given by the Curve Fit Distance in Preferences > Construction Options. Setting Curve Fit Distance to a value smaller than Maximum Gap Distance may remove the discrepancy.

In conclusion, if any tool warns you of a discontinuity or problem where you didnt expect one, you should examine your geometry closely. Some continuity calculations, especially those done at the time a new surface is built, tend to be more forgiving than those that check the boundary after the surface has been built.

New Method of Curvature Continuity Evaluation

In AliasStudio 13.0, the way in which Curvature Continuity is evaluated was changed. This section describes the changes, the reasoning behind the changes and also explains how you can interpret the results during the modeling process.

The difference
For users of previous versions of Studio, this new method can appear significantly different from the way curvature continuity was evaluated in the past.

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The intention of this section is to assure you that the change is not something that you need to worry about while evaluating the quality of your models, and to help you better interpret the results of curvature continuity evaluation at surface boundaries. Starting with version 13.0, Studio uses a relative check for curvature continuity evaluation instead of the absolute difference check that was used in prior versions.

V12 and before The Absolute Curvature Difference Method

where Curvature is

That is,

(1)

V13 The Relative Curvature Deviation Method

(2) NOTE There are other software packages that use a similar relative curvature continuity check but have a factor of 2 built into their deviation calculation. In other words, their method of calculating can be expressed as:

NOTE You need to be aware of this so that you can specify your Continuity Curvature tolerance in Construction Options to match those of other software packages if required.

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The reason for the change

The curvature continuity calculation has been modified for better control of surface transitions and accuracy. Specifically, the relative check was implemented in V13.0 for the following reasons:

To be in line with other engineering or CAD software packages since most of them calculate curvature deviation with a similar relative calculation. The relative evaluation is independent of the scale of the models, whereas the absolute deviation-based check was scale dependent.

The user experience

The curvature continuity evaluation is much stricter now with the relative curvature continuity checking. For example, in V12.0, the third curvature CV could be moved freely, yet the curvature evaluation might have stayed within tolerance. For example, as long as R1 and R2 were larger than 10 centimeters and 1/R1 1/R2 was less than the tolerance of 0.1, changes could be made to the third curvature CV without breaking the curvature continuity. In contrast, in V13.0 onward, curvature continuity checking is more sensitive and flags errors more strictly.

In V12.0, the curvature deviation would change as the model was scaled. Hence, curvature continuity could be achieved within tolerance simply by scaling up the model. This can be considered acceptable as curvature discontinuity between two surfaces becomes less visibly obvious if the radius values of the surfaces become larger.

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In V13.0 (and later), the curvature deviation does not change by scaling the model to make it larger or smaller until a point is reached when a surface is scaled such that the radius is large enough to be considered flat. Flat surfaces are an important consideration now with the new curvature continuity calculation. (See Flat surfaces below).

Understanding the evaluation

Curvature continuity evaluation indicates a transition between surfaces and the quality of the highlight flow across surface boundaries. It is not necessary to have the same radius value on both surface boundaries for an acceptable transition and aesthetic highlight. A small difference may cause a curvature deviation value larger than 0.1 (curvature tolerance) and result in a yellow or red locator when using the Surface continuity tool, yet the quality of the highlight may be good. The curvature locator is just one factor in judging curvature continuity. You need to judge the curvature deviation value, highlights, curvature combs on cross sections etc,. and these may satisfy the desired result even with a curvature locator indicating a failure. When Show Edge Labels is turned on (in the Surface continuity tool or Information Window), clicking with the right mouse button on the sample points of the locator shows you the radius of curvature values and the curvature deviation. The number of sample points can be increased by dragging the middle mouse button up or to the right, and decreased by dragging down or to the left. The radius of curvature values along the boundary depend on the direction in which the curvature is measured. The direction used in Studio is perpendicular (90 degrees) to the common boundary between the surfaces.

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In the Surface continuity tool, or Information Window, turn on Show Comb to display the curvature comb. The curvature comb may appear broken as shown below. This indicates that there is a change in the type of continuity failure, and is helpful when working with individual CVs.

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Flat surfaces
When a relative calculation for curvature continuity deviation is used, as one radius keeps increasing, the curvature deviation tends toward the value 1.0. This is not necessarily a visual curvature problem, but it is necessary to inform you that the radius of curvature on one of the surfaces is approaching an infinitely high value. A purely flat surface is one which has an infinite radius of curvature; therefore this condition is flagged as FLAT. A radius larger than 100000 centimeters is considered infinite. The curvature evaluation shows a yellow locator labeled FLAT only if the radius is infinite on one surface across the common boundary, and not infinite on the other one. If both radii are infinite, then the curvature deviation will tend toward zero and the curvature evaluation check will pass. Seeing such a failure condition (as indicated by the continuity check locators color) does not mean that there is a noticeable curvature break. It just means that there might be a potential problem and you should use other diagnostic tools, such as highlight lines (zebra stripes), curvature combs on sections etc., to decide if the result is acceptable. This method of indicating a flat surface in the continuity check is not unique to Studio, but is common in many other engineering or CAD software packages.

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By contrast, the absolute (old) method of curvature deviation would often show that curvature continuity had been achieved in this case, even if the two surfaces had widly different curvatures at the join. To see this, substitute R1=10 and R2=1000 in formula (1). The result is 0.099, which is smaller than the default tolerance of 0.1.

Tolerances
Since curvature continuity is calculated differently in V13.0, its tolerance value (Continuity Curvature in the Construction Options) now has a different meaning. In Studio, the tolerance is expressed as a number in the range of 0.0 to 1.0.

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Other software packages may express the same value as a percentage. For example, a value of 0.1 in Studio corresponds to a value of 10% in other packages, and you need to be aware of this to map Studios values relative to that of the system under consideration.

Customization
You can set environment variable ALIAS_G2_INFINITY_TOL to any value that should be considered as an infinite radius (in centimeters). Any radius greater than this value will be considered infinite in determining flat surfaces during curvature continuity checks. AliasStudio default value is 100000 centimeters. If this value is increased, the word FLAT appears less frequently, but curvature deviation values such as 0.999 (as its nearing 1.0) will appear instead. If this value is decreased, more green curvature continuity locators appear, because both surfaces have a radius greater than this value, and the curvature continuity check indicates a pass.

Using and interpreting the results

Finally, here are some important points to keep in mind while using curvature continuity evaluation during the modeling process.

As explained earlier, the results of the curvature continuity evaluation in V13.0 can and will appear different from prior versions of Studio. You need to be aware of the changes that were madein order to use the results of the new method effectively to produce aesthetically pleasing highlights across surface transitions. Interpreting curvature continuity across surface boundaries is quite different from using position and tangent continuity evaluations. Curvature continuity checks always have a subjective aspect because of the users intent: the need to provide good highlight flow across surface transitions in the model. On the other hand, positional and tangent continuity conditions have many implications that are related to manufacturing process, which is different than aesthetic evaluation. You must keep this distinction in mind while using curvature continuity evaluation, deciding tolerance values, and considering the success or failure of the curvature continuity checks. Given that the relative check is stricter than the earlier absolute difference, surfacing tools providing curvature continuity may now produce heavier results. You need to consider this in relation with the tolerance value set

46 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

in Construction Options, which the tools are using to build curvature continuous surfaces. You can loosen (i.e. increase) the Continuity Curvature tolerance value in Construction Options (under Tolerances:Continuity) to produce results that are similar to the surfaces built in prior versions of Studio. As always, you are the final judge of what you consider to be acceptable quality of surface transitions, highlights, and reflection lines in your model.

The construction plane

The construction plane defines a temporary coordinate space that can be moved or rotated away from the absolute world space. Any reference plane can be set as the construction plane.

What is the construction plane?

Tools in AliasStudio place objects in an XYZ coordinate system. Normally this is the world space coordinate system, the absolute frame of reference for your scene. However, there will be times when you want to align objects where the orientation, position and rotation are different from the world space axes and origin. A construction plane lets you create and work in an alternative coordinate system. When the construction plane is active, the points you click or coordinates you type use the construction planes coordinate system, instead of world space. You create a construction plane by using the Construction > Plane tool. You can position and rotate the construction plane freely, or constrain it in relation to a curve or surface. You can switch between world space and an active construction plane by choosing Construction > Toggle Construction Plane.

What is the relationship between construction planes and reference planes?

You can have many reference planes in your scene performing various jobs, but only one plane at a time can be the construction plane. You can tell AliasStudio to use any reference plane as the construction plane by choosing Construction > Set Construction Plane.

Modeling concepts | 47

Dynamic Shape Modeling

AliasStudio has two tools for dynamic shape modeling: a Lattice Rig tool and a Transformer Rig tool.

Providing two separate tools gives you the following benefits:

The Lattice Rig is an easy-to-use tool that doesn't require deep user experience. The advanced Transformer Rig allows a more detailed and specific shaping process.

For information about these toolboxes and tools, see Object Edit > Dynamic Shape Modeling > Transformer Rig and Object Edit > Dynamic Shape Modeling > Lattice Rig.

Why we developed dynamic shape modeling

The Dynamic Shape Modeling tool family was developed to support global modification of datasets. While it is relatively straightforward to modify just one piece of geometry, it can be a very time-consuming task to change the proportions of an entire model composed of many pieces of geometry. As a designer, you need to explore the proportions of the model. To play with it, you need to be able to modify the whole set of geometry, sometimes as a single unit. The result doesn't need to be a production model, just a model that holds together, expresses the intent of your design, and enables you to make a choice before you finalize your design.

The purpose of dynamic shape modeling

The Dynamic Shape Modeling tools give you the ability to globally change the model easily. Think of it as an advanced non-proportional modification tool that stretches and compresses the model. The basic relationships of parts

48 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

of your model to each other will not change, and features can not be added or subtracted, but within the model, relative sizes, proportions, and shapes can be modified.

What Dynamic Shape Modeling doesn't do

There is no guarantee that surface continuities are maintained while the global shape is being modified. After the shape modification, you'll need to check the model, and perform additional work to fix the continuty breaks, as necessary.

What to expect from the tools Using Dynamic Shape Modeling for communication and concept development

Use these tools for balancing proportions of geometry sets. The output of the tool may not necessarily provide production surfaces, even when the input is of production quality. This tool can easily be used as a communication tool for designers and surface modelers.

Using Dynamic Shape Modeling for further modeling and modification

Because the warping of the global shape will not destroy the surface parameterization, the modified surface set can be used for further modeling. This tool can be used for Class A surfacing work, as long as you realize that further work may be required to bring the model back to production quality.

Common concepts of Dynamic Shape Modeling

While the tool sets have significant differences, they share the following concepts. Targets: A target is any geometry that is being modified. Targets can be surfaces, meshes, or curves. Modifiers: A modifier is geometry used to define the desired changes to the targets. Constraints: Constraints are used to secure parts of the target geometry to prevent shape modifications.

Modeling concepts | 49

What happens with the target geometry?

As soon as the targets are picked and accepted, the tools duplicate the targets. Shape modifications will happen on the duplicated model. The original geometry is made invisible. While you are modifying the shape of the geometry, the dynamic shape modeling tools allow you to toggle the visibility of the originals and the modified geometry. This makes it easier to compare your modifications with the original. If, for any reason, the duplicated geometry (visible geometry with dynamic shape history) is modified in such a way that the construction history has to be deleted, the original geometry will be set visible and made into a template.

The tools allow you to revert a modifiction by deleting the duplicated geometry and restoring the original, or commit to a modification by deleting the original and the history.

About the Lattice Rig

The Lattice Rig tool uses a lattice to effect global shape modification. The geometry is shaped by moving the lattice points, which squeeze and pull the model.

50 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

Glossary of terms
Target: The geometry that can be globally modified is called a target. Targets can be surfaces, meshes, or curves. Lattice: A manipulator used to articulate the desired changes to the targets. Proxy A proxy is a lightweight wireframe representation of the targets being deformed by an engaged lattice. The proxy interactively updates while you modify the engaged lattice to show what the targets look like after deformation. Meanwhile, the targets remain unchanged until you release the mouse button (when auto-recalc option is ON) or when you click GO (when auto-recalc is OFF).

What is the lattice?

The lattice is a manipulator in the Lattice Rig tool. It is initialized as a bounding box around the target geometry. The lattice has two modes: disengaged and engaged. A disengaged lattice is drawn with dashed lines, and when modified, has no influence on the target geometry. This gives you the ability to refine the lattice to suit the intended modifications of the target geometry. An engaged lattice is drawn with solid lines, and when manipulated, will modify the targets geometry.

Modeling concepts | 51

Constraining
You can shape the disengaged lattice so that it does not fully enclose the targets. When the lattice is engaged, everything that is outside the lattice will remain unchanged; everything that is inside the lattice will be modified. To facilitate this, parts of the lattice that intersect the targets are locked and drawn in red.

In disengaged mode, the lattice points are modifiable; in engaged mode these points are not modifiable.

52 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

NOTE For the purposes of locking the lattice, this tool treats trimmed surfaces as if they were not trimmed.

What is the lattice rig used for?

The Lattice Rig tool is especially suited to general volumetric shape changes to a model. Consider using the Lattice Rig for more conceptual and fast explorations.

About the Transformer Rig Glossary of terms

Target: The geometry that can be globally modified is called a target. Targets can be surfaces, meshes, or curves. Modifier: Modifiers are geometry used to articulate the desired changes to the targets. In the Transformer Rig toolbox, these are Modifiers. Constraints: To secure parts of the target geometry to prevent shape modifications, use constraints. Dynamic shape modeling analyzes the transformer rig and assumes the constraints delimit a region of interest (ROI). Parts of the targets that lie outside of the ROI will be clamped (they will not move). The estimate of the region of interest, however, is not always correct. If there are inaccuracies in the ROI, use clampers. Clampers Clampers are hints you place outside the intended region of interest to help the tool understand the desired ROI. Clampers help ensure that modifications don't happen outside the ROI. Rigid targets In some cases, there are geometries or objects within the target geometry that should keep their shape. Usually these are parts like buttons,

Modeling concepts | 53

door handles and lights. These rigid targets will be moved embedded in the flexible targets, but they will not lose their shape during the warp. Making a target rigid helps preserve the shapes of the parts while allowing them to move with the surface. Imagine grommets moving on a rubber tarp that is stretched to cover a load: the grommets remain the same shape and size on the flexible surface of the tarp.

What is the Transformer Rig used for?

The Transformer Rig tool is used for more controlled shape modifications driven by specific features of the model.

Why choose the Transformer Rig over the Lattice Rig? Custom modifiers and constraints:
The Transformer Rig enables you to create custom modifiers specific to the model being changed. This provides tighter control of the surface modification. The Transformer Rig also enables you to constrain parts of the selected target geometry. You can select real geometry to constrain the modifications, which makes the entire warp result more precise, and enables you to make finer-grained changes.

54 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

The Transformer Rig offers more flexibility with NURBS fitting options
The Transformer Rig offers an additional NURBS fitting method called Adaptive.

Set up a Transformer Rig Use Transformer Rigs Change Transformer Rigs Add a clamp to surfaces in Transformer Rigs Use predefined modifiers with Transformer Rigs Use rigid targets with Transformer Rigs Set up a Lattice Rig to modify shapes Use a lattice to modify shapes

Meshes
Describes what meshes are and how they can be used in AliasStudio.

What is a mesh?
A mesh is a large polygonal object resulting from scanning and digitizing physical objects to create data models in AliasStudio. Meshes can contain several million triangles and, because of their internal representation, are a more efficient way than the old AliasStudio polysets to store large and detailed data models representing real objects.

Meshes | 55

Difference between meshes and polysets

How to differentiate between the two types of polygonal objects. You cannot select and manipulate individual vertices or triangles in meshes like you could in polysets. However, meshes can be separated into pieces that can be shaded independently, deleted, or toggled invisible. Conversion tools are provided to transform meshes into polysets and vice-versa. As of version 13.0, you cannot edit polysets in AliasStudio anymore.

Visual cues
Beside having a different internal representation, meshes are different from polysets in the following ways:

The default inactive color of a mesh is the same as that of hulls and edit points (brown). Using Object edit > Query edit on a mesh will show the TYPE as Mesh.

Allowed operations
The following tools can be used on mesh objects:

All tools from the Mesh tab: Some Evaluate tools:

Evaluate > Parting line Evaluate > Deviation map

56 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

Evaluate > Cross section Evaluate > Dynamic Section xsect tool on Control Panel

I/O tools from the File menu:

File > Open File > Import > File File > Save File > Save as File > Export > STL

Some Display tools:

WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade ObjectDisplay > Visible ObjectDisplay > Hide Unselected ObjectDisplay > Template Diagnostic Shading modes on Control Panel Mesh Display parameters on Control Panel

Some Geometry tools:

Curves > Blend curve toolbox NOTE Blend curve tools that depend on parameter values or those related to curvature will not work on meshes since meshes are polygonal objects.

Some Locators tools:

Locators > Move locator Locators > Annotate Locators > Measure > Distance Locators > Measure > Angle

Meshes | 57

Locators > Deviation > Closest Point Locators > Deviation > MinMax Mesh-Surface deviation

Some Utilities tools:

Utilities > Mesh/Polyset > Mesh to polyset

Tools that operate on dag nodes:

Pick > Object Delete > Delete active Transform > Move, Transform > Rotate, Transform > Scale, etc See Work with meshes for more information. See also Visualize the deviation between mesh-surface, surface-surface or mesh-mesh.

58 | Part 1 AliasStudio Concepts

Rendering

Describes the process of and theory behind rendering images of your 3D models.

The rendering workflow

Describes the basic steps that go into rendering an image. Rendering your scene in AliasStudio uses a similar workflow to photographing a scene in the real world: 1 First you must create and lay out the scene, placing objects in position for the shot. 2 Next you assign shaders to your model. This is somewhat analogous to painting objects in the real world, except that shaders control much more than just the color of the objects. They control what kind of material the object appears to be made of: plastic, chrome, leather, smoke, water, and so on. If you do not add shaders to the model, objects will render using the default matte blue color. 3 Next, you must light the scene. Without light, the scene will be completely dark and the camera will simply photograph pitch black. 4 Next, you position the camera to get the angle you want on the scene. The camera in AliasStudio is a near-perfect simulation of a real camera. 5 Next you can preview the shot. In the real world this might involve looking down the viewfinder. In AliasStudio, it means checking the shaded view, and making quick test renders to make sure the scene is set up correctly. 6 Finally, you render the scene. In the real world, you snap the shutter, rendering the picture on film. In AliasStudio, you use the Render command to pass the scene to the renderer, which saves the picture in an image file.

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Shaders
Shaders are descriptions of surface materials or effects that control what a surface looks like when it is rendered. To render a surface, you need a description of what the surface is supposed to look like. Is it gray or red? Smooth or bumpy? Shiny or matte? Should it look like gold or gravel? This description of what a surface should look like is called a shader. Shaders have literally hundreds of parameters that let you simulate virtually any material you can imagine. But this infinite variety is based on two basic decisions: what shading model to use, and how to set or apply textures to the parameters of that shading model.

Shading models
A shading model is a representation of how light bounces when it hits a surface. Different models simulate different types of materials better. Model
Lambert

Useful for...
Matte materials (chalk, matte paint, unpolished surfaces).

Example

Phong

Glassy or glossy materials (plastic, glass, chrome).

Blinn

Dull metallic materials (brass, aluminum).

Lightsource

A special lighting model that has no shading. Can be used to represent, for example, the surface of a switched-on lightbulb.Objects shaded with this model do not actually cast light into the scene.

60 | Chapter 1 Rendering

These shading models and their parameters (for example, color, shininess, and reflectivity) determine the base look for a shader. You can then modify the base look by mapping different types of textures onto the shader parameters.

Textures
Textures allow you to vary the look of a shader across a surface by mapping values to shader properties. The basic shaders have properties that can be measured at each point on a surface: color, shininess, displacement, and so on. In a new shader these values are uniform, so for example the entire surface has one color. To create more interesting materials, you can map a texture onto the properties of the shader. There are many different types of textures available: color ramps, checkerboard patterns, fractal noise, and more. For example, you could map a blue-to-green ramp to a shaders color parameter, and a checkerboard pattern to a shaders reflectivity parameter, to create a material with a smooth transition from blue to green across the surface, and that alternates between reflective and dull in a checkerboard pattern.

Rendering methods
Describes the different methods available in AliasStudio for rendering images, and the pros and cons of each.

Raycaster
Raycasting produces smooth shaded renderings that include shadows. Raycasting is faster than raytracing, but does not produce reflections or refraction (although you can simulate these using clever shaders).

Raytracer
Raytracing produces smooth shaded renderings that include optical effects such as reflections and refraction. It is the most realistic rendering possible, but much slower than raycasting.

Hidden Line Renderer

Hidden line rendering produces outline renderings of objects that are filled with flat, unshaded color. Silhouettes of surfaces include the effect of any bump or displacement maps.

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62

Animation

Describes the process of and theory behind creating animations with your 3D models.

Animation in AliasStudio
Describes the processes and workflow of creating animation in AliasStudio. AliasStudio provides two types of automatic animation, where you just plug in parameters and AliasStudio creates the animation, as well as manual, freeform animation. In AliasStudio, manually creating animation involves establishing a timeline, then varying one or more properties of objects (for example, position or color) over time. The basic workflow for manually creating an animation is: 1 Create the models. 2 Decide how long you want the animation to be and create the necessary number of frames in AliasStudio. 3 Use basic techniques to vary the scene through the length of the animation:

Place objects you want to animate, including the camera, where you want them, and with the values you want, at each point in the time line, then mark those frames as keyframes. and/or Establish motion paths for objects to move along through time.

For more advanced animation, AliasStudio is capable of varying almost every property of an object or shader along the timeline, not just position. 4 Decide how the objects should transition from frame to frame. More advanced animation can use the Action window, expressions (mathematical formulas describing relationships between time and object properties), and constraints, to create more realistic and automated effects. 5 Preview or render the animation.

63

Parameters
Parameters are properties of objects that can be varied over time to create animation.

Objects have many parameters that can be animated. Examples are the objects X, Y, and Z positions, rotations, scaling, and visibility. Different types of objects have different animation parameters. For example, you can animate a cameras field of view, and the color and intensity of a light. In AliasStudio, you control which parameters of an object are animated using the Param Control window.

64 | Chapter 2 Animation

Introduction

Learn the theory behind CAD data transfer and how it works within AliasStudio. It is not necessary to read this information to complete a data transfer. However, it may help you understand how data can be transferred successfully.

Introduction to Data Transfer

Explains the general workflow of data transfer used in AliasStudio. AliasStudio provides translators of industry standard data exchange formats as well as DirectConnects file formats.

Data transfer workflow

1 Set your model environment to match your CAD system. Preferences > Construction Options > Construction Preset 2 Create your model. 3 Use evaluation tools to verify that the geometry is suitable for data transfer. Evaluate > Check model Use this tool to analyze a model (or portions of a model) for geometry that has particular characteristics. Depending on the options you choose, a report is generated describing the contents of a model and the results of the checks performed. See Prepare a model for import into CAD systems for a sample workflow. Evaluate > Continuity > Surface continuity This tool checks the position, tangent and curvature continuity between and within surfaces.

65

Locators > Deviation Use these tools to check the maximum distance between surface boundaries in AliasStudio to confirm the integrity of the model before transferring it to the target CAD system. Surface Edit > Stitch > Shell stitch This tool enables you to create a valid solid model topology within AliasStudio. Stitching surfaces within AliasStudio creates a shell. When the shell is exported to a downstream (CAD) system, it includes an extra layer of information. The stitching process also identifies surface boundaries that exceed the prescribed tolerances. These problems can then be corrected by the designer prior to the translation of the data. TIP Save the original model before stitching. TIP Stitching is not required prior to transferring Unigraphics , Pro/ENGINEER, or CATIA files. If the geometry is stitched, it comes into the target system with topology information. If it is not stitched prior to transfer, the geometry comes into the target system as NURBS geometry.

Learn how Solid Modeling Theory works

Learn how geometric and topological data works together to form a solid model. You should be familiar with the concepts of solid model data types to understand how geometric and topological data work together to form a complete model.

Geometric data Surfaces contain the geometric data of a solid model. The geometric data describes the basic shape of an object and can be represented using NURBS ( Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines). Topological data Loops, edges, and vertices contain the topological relationships between the individual surfaces that form the solid model. Topological data describes how the geometric components are connected together. In solid modeling terminology, surfaces are called faces, and each face is made up of loops, edges, and vertices.

66 | Chapter 3 Introduction

How does it work

The following is an example of a solid model of a cube which has six surfaces (faces) labeled S1 to S6 which form the geometrical and topological information required to define it as a solid model. Each of the surfaces has a loopset, but in this case each surface has only one loop. The loop for S1 has four edges and four vertices.

The edges are used to connect two loops from adjacent surfaces. The vertices are used to connect two or more edges. This solid box consists of six surfaces, twelve edges, and eight vertices that form the geometrical and topological information required to define it as a solid model. For example, if a hole is placed in the box through S1 and S6, S1 and S6 would each have a loopset containing two loops.

Learn the Solid Modeling workflow

Learn what requirements are expected in a solid modeler. Creating solid geometry from imported AliasStudio models is a common workflow when integrating AliasStudio and CAD systems. When exporting the model from AliasStudio, you must ensure that the geometry is built to the correct tolerance and that it can also be stitched. Stitching in AliasStudio identifies gaps between surfaces so that you can repair the geometry before exporting the file. During stitching, the surfaces are twinned. This means that the surface boundaries may be split to accommodate adjacent surfaces, and periodic geometry is detached into multiple surfaces. For this reason, you should save the AliasStudio wire file before stitching so that if further modifications to the AliasStudio model are required, the construction history will be intact.

Learn the Solid Modeling workflow | 67

NOTE A stitched geometry saved to an AliasStudio wire file cannot be unstitched to its original state.

What happens when you import data into a solid modeler

When you import a AliasStudio model into a solid modeler, you provide the geometric and topological information of the model. When creating a solid model, the solid modeler system creates a valid data base from the supplied data, and the supplied data must satisfy the solid modeler's rules for topological and geometric data. The topology of a model defines how each surface relates to all other surfaces in the model. The important element of getting the topology right for data exchange to solid modelers is that an edge on one surface must have a twin edge on the adjacent surface. Edges are defined by natural surface boundaries or trimmed surface boundaries. TIP You can transfer surfaces and complete the stitch procedure in a CAD system or first stitch them in AliasStudio and then export the data.

Learn about the tolerance requirements for Solid Modeling

Learn how to achieve the tolerances required in solid modeling. To achieve the tolerance required by solid modeling, it is important to manage the modeling units and tolerances when creating your model. The millimeter (mm) or inch is generally used as the base linear unit. Standards for tolerances have been developed as they apply to engineering-based CAD systems. TIP If you are not sure of the standards your companies or clients use, ask your CAD system manager. Set up your units and tolerances at the beginning of your modeling session and save them as a preset in the Construction Options box. The next time AliasStudio is opened, the preset that was in use when AliasStudio was last exited, will be in effect. To successfully join or align surfaces in the target system, the gap between the surfaces of your model must be less than the accuracy defined within the solid modeler. TIP To specify various tolerances choose Preferences > Constructions options.

68 | Chapter 3 Introduction

Rational and non-rational geometry concerns for data transfer

In the Preferences > Constructions options window, you can specify whether or not the new geometry being created will contain the rational or non-rational component. Rational geometry contains CVs that do not have a uniform weight, while the CVs of non-rational geometry all have the same weight. Some CAD systems that do not support rational geometry will rebuild the rational element of geometry upon import. This will change the intended design and therefore the user should know ahead of time whether rational geometry is supported by the target CAD system. Rational fillets are created with fewer isoparametric curves and the tangency to the adjacent surface can be up to ten times more accurate. While this is an advantage in AliasStudio, it is even more apparent when the geometry has been transferred to a solid modeler. The closer adjacent surfaces are to exact tangency, the more usable the imported AliasStudio data is in downstream operations. For example, the further the geometry can be offset during the thickening operation. Once the above conditions have been met, you should try several sample translations to verify that the geometry is being passed from AliasStudio successfully. Before modeling a project in AliasStudio that is intended for export, you should model several sample pieces of geometry in mock modeling situations, then transfer them and attempt the stitching operation in the target CADS system. This will confirm that the model, when completed, will transfer successfully. Whether you are creating a model, verifying a model, or debugging a translation, there are a number of tools in AliasStudio you can use to check the quality of the geometry you have created. The most useful tools are the surface continuity checker (Evaluate > Continuity > Surface continuity) and the Min/Max measurement tools (Locators > Deviation). Use these tools to check the maximum distance between surface boundaries in AliasStudio to confirm the integrity of the model before transferring it to the target CAD system.

Learn how to get the topology right before transferring data

Learn how to get the topology correct for solid modeling.

Learn how to get the topology right before transferring data | 69

The Surface Edit > Stitch tools in AliasStudio creates a valid solid model topology.

Stitching surfaces can greatly improve the data transfer to a solid modeler. The stitching process also identifies surface boundary gaps that exceed your tolerances. The stitching process identifies duplicate surfaces in the model and unifies the direction of the surface normals of the completed shell.

The following illustration shows three individual surfaces (labeled S1, S2 and S3). The edges of each surface are represented by dashed lines.

When models are constructed using the AliasStudio advanced surface tools (Swept, Rail Surface and Square), it is common to create a number of smaller surfaces along the edge of one larger surface. This modeling technique does not create the twin edges required for a solid model. Stitching adds this information. NOTE Some modeling techniques, such as Trim, Intersect and Round, create twin edges.

70 | Chapter 3 Introduction

Index
A
about 24, 4751, 53, 55 construction planes 47 curves 3 dynamic shape modeling 4850 constraints 49 lattice rig 50 modifiers 49 targets 49 lattice rig 51 lattice 51 target 51 meshes 55 parametric representations of curves 4 splines 2 transformer rig 53 clampers 53 constraints 53 modifiers 53 rigid targets 53 targets 53 absolute addressing 28 accuracy 68 defining for solid modelers 68 addressing 28 absolute 28 relative 28 animating 6364 basic concepts 63 parameters 64 animation 63 manual 63 direction 13 geometry 14 location 13 parallel 14 buttons 29 continuous 29 momentary 29

C
CAD data transfer 69 rational and non-rational geometry 69 changes in curvature 31 checkpoints 38 and curvature deviation calculations 38 chord-length parameterization 22 comb plots 30 about 30 concepts 1 points 1 construction history 27 about 27 continuity 34, 38 curvature tolerance and deviation value 38 continuous buttons 29 control vertices 6, 8 multiplicity 8 creating 4, 37, 67 a solid model of a cube 67 and measuring curvature continuity 37 complex curves 4 curvature 3031, 36 changes in 31 constant rate of change of the rate of change (G4) 36 high 31 low 31

B
blend curves 12 about 12 blend points 1314 directed 13

71 | Index

curvature continuity 35, 39, 46 customizing tolerance 46 evalution method 39 interpreting 46 curvature deviation calculation 37 curve definition 5 curve degree 3, 20, 34 curve intersections, about 11 curve normals, about 23 curve parameterization 21 curve segments (about) 4 curve spans (about) 4 curves 34, 30, 32 computations 4 CV distribution 32 definition of degree 3 equations for polynomials 3 layout for optimal surfaces 30 mathematical representation 3 curves-on-surface 18 about 18 CV distribution 3233 good vs. poor 33 on curves 32 CVs 6, 8 about 6 multiplicity 8

D
definition 4951, 55 constraints 49 lattice (on lattice rig) 51 lattice rig 50 meshes 55 modifiers 49 target (on lattice rig) 51 targets 49 definition blend curves 12 definition construction history 27 definition construction plane 47 definition control vertex 6 definition control vertex multiplicity definition curves-on-surface 18 definition CV 6 definition CV multiplicity 8

definition dynamic shape modeling 48 definition edit points 7 definition EPs 7 definition hulls 7 definition isoparametric curves 15 definition isoparms 15 definition keypoint curves 14 definition non-rational geometry 9 definition normal 23 definition patches 17 definition pivot points 26 definition rational geometry 9 definition shells 18 definition trimming 18 degree 1 20 degree 2 20 degree 3 20 degree 5 20 degree 7 20 descriptive isoparms 16 detaching 11 curves 11 dotted-line isoparms 16 dynamic shape modeling 4950, 5253 and concept development 49 and target geometry 50 for further modeling 49 lattice rig and constraints 52 transformer rig 53 clampers 53 constraints 53 modifiers 53 rigid targets 53 targets 53

E
edit points 7, 16 definition 7 on isoparametric curves 16 exporting 67 solid model of a cube 67 surfaces(faces) 67

72 | Index

F
fillets 69 creating rational 69

L
layout 30 of curves 30 linear units 68 base for data transfer low curvature 31

G
geometry 6869 checking surface continuity 69 getting it right for data transfer 68

68

M
mathematical representation of splines 2 meshes 5556 how they differ from polysets 56 operations allowed on 56 momentary buttons 29 moving 8 CVs, about 8 edit points, about 8 multiplicity 8 of CVs 8

H
hidden line rendering 61 definition 61 high curvature 31 high tension CVs 32 hulls 7 about 7

I
identifying open edges in shells inserting 11 edit points into curves 11 intersecting 11 curves, how to 11 introduction 59, 63 to animation 63 to rendering 59 isoparametric curves 1516 about 15 at edit points 16 descriptive 16 isoparms 1516 about 15 and edit points 16 19

N
non-rational 9 geometry, about 9 numerical input 28 NURBS 3, 5 curves, about 5 curves, definition of degree

O
overworked CVs 32

P
parameterization 22 chord length 22 uniform 22 parameters 21 parametric representations of curves 4 patch precision 17 and internal isoparametric curves 17 patches, about 17

K
keypoint curves about 14 14

Index | 73

pivot points 26 about 26 planning 12, 30 surfaces 12 point 1 definition 1 points, about 1 positional continuity

34

shell limitations 19 shells, about 18 simplifying surfaces 12 splines 2 definition 2 surface degree 20 surface normals, about 23 surface parameterization 21 surface spans 12

R
rational and non-rational geometry for CAD 69 rational curves, definition 5 rational geometry, about 9 raycasting 61 definition 61 raytracing 61 definition 61 relative addressing 28 relative curvature deviation method rendering 5961 basic concepts 59 methods 61 shaders 60 shading model 60 textures 61 workflow 59 69

T
tangent continuity 35 textures 61 introduction to 61 tolerances 68 standards for CAD systems 68 transformations and pivot points 26 trimming, about 18 trouble shooting 19 open edges in shells 19 types of continuity 34

40

U
understanding curves 3 understanding mathematics of geometry 1 uniform parameterization 11, 22

S
shaders 60 introduction to shading 60 models 60

W
60 workflow 59 rendering 59

74 | Index