Creating Conic Curves

You can create conic curves using arcs of parabolas, hyperbolas, or ellipses.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
About Creating Conic Curves

Use Two Points and Two Tangents

You can create a conic curve using two points and start and end tangents.

  1. From the Sketch section of the action bar, click Conic .
  2. Select Two Points in the Tools Palette.
  3. Click to locate the Start Point of the curve.
  4. Click to define the Start Tangent.
    The start point and tangent are created.
  5. Click to locate the End Point of the curve.
  6. Click to define the End Tangent.
  7. Specify the required value in the Parameter box in the Tools Palette.

    Tip: The parameter value decides the nature of the conic curve.
    • If parameter = 0.5, the resulting curve is a parabola.
    • If 0 < parameter < 0.5, the resulting curve is an arc of ellipse.
    • If 0.5 < parameter < 1, the resulting curve is a hyperbola.


    Note: You can also specify the passing point to create a conic.

    The conic curve is created.

Use Two Points and Tangent Intersection Point

You can create a conic curve using two points and the tangent intersection point.

  1. Click Conic .
  2. In the Tools Palette, select Two Points .
  3. Select Tangent Intersection Point .
  4. Click to locate the Start Point of the curve.
  5. Click to locate the End Point of the curve.
  6. Click to locate the Tangent Intersection Point.
  7. In the Tools Palette specify the required value in the Parameter box and press Enter.



    Note: You can create a conic curve by specifying the passing point.

    The conic curve is created.

Use Two Points with the Nearest End Point Mode

You can create a conic curve using two points with the nearest end point mode.

  1. Create two lines.
  2. Click Conic .
  3. Select Two Points .
  4. Select Nearest End Point .
  5. Click to locate the Start Point of the curve.
  6. Click to locate the End Point of the curve.
  7. Click to locate the Passing Point.
    The conic is created. The tangents at the start and end points have been defined by the lines. The start and end points taken into account are the nearest extremities of the lines during the selection.

    Note: When you redo the previous steps deactivating the Nearest End Point mode:

    • The tangents at the start and end points have been defined by the lines.

    • The start and end points taken into account are the selected points on the lines.



Use Four Points with a Tangency at Passing Point

You can create a conic curve using four points with a tangency at passing point.

  1. Click Conic .
  2. Select Four Points .
  3. Click to locate the Start Point of the curve.
  4. Click to define the Start Tangent.

    The start point and tangent has been created.

  5. Click to locate the End Point.
  6. Select Start and End Tangent .
  7. Click to locate the First Point.
  8. Click to define the First Tangent.
  9. Click to locate the Second Point.
    The conic curve is created. The defined tangent at the start point has been released and the construction line representing the tangent has been removed.

Use Five Points

You can create a conic curve using five points.

  1. Click Conic .
  2. Select Five Points in Tools Palette.
  3. Click to locate the points in the following order:
    1. Locate the start point.
    2. Locate the end point.
    3. Locate the three more points on the curve.

      You can also enter the coordinates of each of these points in the Tools Palette.

    The conic curve is created.