tlehnhaeuser Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 We are trying to create a blend that actually has a varaible blend that has the start and end the same but a variable in the middle of this arc. I want to consider this an ER as well, but in the meantime has anyone developed a workaround that would make a nice smooth blend to achieve the blend that I was trying to achieve in the image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmccall Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I had a really good result just now using the "loft tool" and "remove material". I selected the raw edge using the " project 3d geometry" tool. (It won't let you do a right click to associate the loft to the edge... like the examples we talked about in the past see http://www.ironcad.com/support/community/index.php?showtopic=576) Then you simply sketch each section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmccall Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Here's the file I did... One side has the current variable option... the other uses the loft. Hope it works for you. variable blend.ics variable blend.ics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Unfortunately, the loft doesn't follow the locator curve between the cross sections (you can try to adjust the tangency handles, but that takes a lot of fiddling) so the blend is only tangetial at the planes of the individual cross sections. You can easily see that if you section the part. That's why quite a few of us have asked for a sweeping loft (i.e. a loft tightly following and staying perpendicular to the guide curve. With that, you could do pretty much any kind of blend you can think of (and much more). Currently, the only way I know to create a fully tangetial smooth variable blend is to create a UV mesh and the split the part with it. It's a lot of work though and if you want to change the radii, you basically have to start from scratch again. The attached file might give you a hint how it can be done. You can unsupress the section tool and move it through the part to see that the blend is always tangetial. Cheers, Beat UV mesh variable blend.ics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmccall Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Yes.. I noticed... You would have to put alot more sections or like you said, do alot of adjusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IronKevin Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Great example Beat, I like the way you came up with the U curves. One thing that might save you a few steps is using the Surface itself to Boolean. IronKevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Thanks for the compliment. It's the only way to project a 2-D curve onto a bent surface, at the moment. It would be nice if there was a direct function to achieve this along with the possibility to create a 3-D curve with the option to have it attach to a surface. The latter would actually be hugely useful for the new surface functions and allow you to create the most convoluted blends you can think of Still, a variable blend (a la Vellum) would be much more efficient for everyday industrial design. Cheers, Beat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cborer Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I agree, very nice example for U lines! Beat I asked for that tool and called it "face pencil" ( attach and keep 3d line on surface as 3d line option) I was unhappy to have not much response. Drawing a 3d line on a face would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mwalls Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 If the part is symetrical, could you not just split the part and put the variable blend on half and then mirror that half over? It is not the best solution, and would be limited to parts that can be mirrored, but it should work fine for that type of model. Just a thought. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Twining Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 I love an easy solution ! MikeT [EDIT] In thinking about this more, this solution would only work if you are not worried about the tangency of the blend in the middle. If you are, then Beat's way will give you the correct results, otherwise simply mirroring the part is $$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlehnhaeuser Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Thanks for all the input , I haven't look at beats stuff yet. But in response to mirroring the part is not right. Thats what the image shows. I really do need a smooth continuous blend. What I did was after mirroring part, I added another blend in the middle which is not ideal, but actually is good enough for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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