Creating Contours

You can create a contour geometry from a set of curves on surface.

Before you begin: Open a 3D shape containing a surface and at least three curves.
  1. From the Shape section of the action bar, click Contour .
  2. In the Surface box, select the surface.


  3. Select curves to form a closed boundary.



    The first selected curve is highlighted in yellow color whereas the last selected curve is highlighted with red color. Once the closed contour is formed, the resultant contour is highlighted in blue color.

    Important:
    • The curves should lie on the base surface.
    • The curves must be continuous in point.
    • You can reorder selected points using the following options:
      • Click to add a line at the end of the list in the table.
      • Click to insert a line before the current line in the table.
      • Click to insert a line after the current line in the table.
      • Click to remove all the lines.

  4. Click Preview.
  5. In the Extrapolated distance box, type the value or use the arrows to change the value to define a distance by which the curves will be extrapolated.

    By default, the extrapolated distance is 0.003mm.

    Important:
    • The selected curves can have non-coincident end points. Therefore, an extrapolation is performed to allow creation of the closed contour.
    • The selected curves can intersect. Therefore, a relimitation of the intersecting curves is performed to allow the creation of the closed contour.

  6. Click OK to create the contour.
    The element (identified as Contour.xxx) is added to the tree.