Creating an Extruded Surface

You can create subdivision surfaces by extruding a curve along a direction.

Related Topics
Applying a Modification

  1. Click Extrude in the Sweep Primitives sub-toolbar.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing ALT+SHIFT+Z.
    A Tools Palette along with the screen dedicated for the curve creation are displayed.

    The following icons let you:

    • reframe on the drawing view
    • select new plane of drawing
    • add points to the curve being created (it is selected by default)
    • manipulate the points
    • align the points
    • add weight to the points
    • erase a point
    • pick a point
    • close the curve
    • apply the command

  2. Click Add Point if not already selected to begin drawing the curve.



  3. Click to add points and draw the curve.

    The entire curve is drawn so that all the options available in the Tools Palette can be described in this section.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing ALT+SHIFT+S.



    • The created points define the polygon of the curve of subdivisions.
    • The surface can be previewed as the points are created.
    • When a point is added, it can be moved as long as you keep the left mouse button pressed.

  4. Click Plane Selection to change the drawing plane.

    The Tools Palette is modified to this only one icon, that is selected by default.

  5. Select the new plane.

  6. Add a new point on the existing curve by clicking the left mouse button at the required position. The point can be previewed on the existing curve.

    Once the point is created the surface is immediately previewed.

  7. Click Move Point to move the point. The point closest to the mouse is manipulated.

    The point closest to the mouse is manipulated.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+M.

    When this command is activated, four new icons appear in the Tools Palette.

    They let you:


    • set the attenuation factor.

      For more information about setting attenuation, refer to Setting the Attenuation Factor.

    • allow the selection of edges for manipulation.
    • allow the selection of point for manipulation.
    • move the point or edge using the manipulator. This icon is not selected by default, i.e. the manipulators are in OFF state. When selected, i.e. manipulators are in ON state, its display is modified to .
      Important:
      • If a single point is selected, the manipulator is positioned on the point. If a single edge is selected, the manipulator is positioned at the center of the edge.
      • If multiple points or edges are selected, the manipulator is positioned on the barycenter of the selected points.
      • To move the point, hold down the left-mouse button and drag the manipulator to the desired location.
      • The direction of displacement is defined by the axis selected on the manipulator. For horizontal displacement, select the X' axis, for vertical displacement, select the Y' axis and for planar displacement select the X'Y' arc.

  8. To move the point, select the point and either:

    • manipulate keeping the left-mouse button pressed.

    • click Manipulator On/Off to activate the ON state and drag the manipulator to move the point.
      Single point selected

      Multiple points selected

      Multiple edges selected

  9. Optional: Select the point and click Pick a Point . You can select a previously created point.

    The selected point is moved to the projection of the picked point in the drawing plane.

    Selection of a point

    Picking of an existing point

    Manipulation of the selected point

  10. Click Align Point to align a point or an edge horizontally and vertically.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Q.

    When this command is activated, three new icons appear in the Tools Palette.

    They let you:

    • allow the selection of edges
    • allow the selection of points
    • align the point or edge using the manipulator. This icon is not selected by default, i.e. the manipulators are in OFF state. When selected, i.e. manipulators are in ON state, its display is modified to .
      Important:
      • The alignment using a manipulator is possible when at least two points are selected.
      • The manipulator is positioned on the barycenter of the selected points.
      • To align, click on the required interactive arrow.

  11. Move the cursor over the point you want to align.

    The segment closest to the mouse is highlighted. Horizontal and vertical segments are seen.

  12. Click the left-mouse button.

    The point close to the mouse is fixed. The second point moves along the horizontal or vertical segment. You can see that the point below the selected point has moved up.

    Important: The choice of horizontal or vertical segment is automatic and the direction depends on the smallest angle of rotation.

  13. Optional: Select two or more points and click .

  14. Click on the interactive arrow to align the point.

    For points:

    Multiple points selected

    Manipulation of points

    For edges:

    Multiple edges selected

    Manipulation of edges

  15. Click Attraction to add weight to the point or the edge.

    Three new icons are added to the Tools Palette. They let you:

    • select edges for the alignment
    • select point for the alignment
    • define the attraction mode. This icon has two states: the default state gives a sharp edge and the smooth state (activated when clicking the icon) gives a smooth edge.
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+F.

  16. Select the point or the edge.

    A slider indicating the value of the weight is displayed on the right of the screen and can be changed between 0 and 100.

  17. Hold the left-mouse button and move the mouse to reach the desired value on the weight slider. Release the left-mouse button when you are satisfied with the weight added to the surface.



  18. Click Erase Point to delete a point or an edge.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+E.

  19. Select a point or an edge.

    The selected element is deleted.

  20. Click Close Curve to close the curve.

    The icon has changed to .

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Y.


  21. Click Close Curve again to open the curve.

  22. Click Drawing view to reposition the view to the drawing view, that is the plan.

  23. Press and hold down the right and middle mouse button to rotate and change the view to see the number of sections and length modification options. The Tools Palette is modified in the appropriate view.

    A slider is displayed at the right of the screen to let you define the sections between 0 and 9.

  24. You can either:

    • drag the slider to the desired value to change the number of sections:

    • hold down the left-mouse button and drag either the start or end Z' manipulator to change the length. Double-click the Z' manipulator to get a symmetrical value for both sides of the extrusion.
    • click Extrusion Edition to open the Extrude Data dialog box and enter the number of sections, start and end sector length values or use the spinners to change the value. The field dynamically updates whenever you move the slider and vice-versa.

      Click OK when done.

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+E.

  25. To go back to drawing view (i.e. the plan), click Drawing view .

    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+X.

  26. Click Apply (Enter) to create the extruded surface.

    The Modification command along with the Tools Palette is automatically activated, allowing you to manipulate the surface.

    The final surface without any manipulation is as below:



    Important: The general representation of vertex, edge and mesh depends on the settings defined in Tools > Options > Shape > Imagine & Shape > Display tab, Base Mesh area. For more information refer to Display.
    Warning:
    • You cannot use a pre-existing curve to create the revolution surface.
    • The Redo command is not available.