Deforming Elements According to Curve Wrapping

You can deform elements on the basis of the deformation on curve wrapping, that is matching each reference curve onto a target curve.

The deformation is then defined by the transformation of the reference curves into target curves. The curves used for the deformation do not necessarily lie on the initial element.

This task shows you how to:

Deform the Element
Deform Using a Fixed Reference
Edit a Deformed Element

Before you begin:

You must have access to the Generative Shape Morphing app.
Create a 3D shape containing a surface and at least three curves.

Deform the Element

You can deform element by defining reference curve and target curve.

From the Morphing section of the action bar, click Wrap Curve .
In the Element to deform box, select the curve or the surface to deform.
In the Curves tab, successively select the first reference curve and the first target curve.
Repeat this operation by selecting the second reference curve then the second target curve.
Click OK.

Important:

The reference and target curves can be multi-cells. Joined, blended, or matched curves, for example, can be used as reference or target curves.
You must always select successively a reference then a target curve to define a pair. You cannot select all reference curves, and then all target curves for example.
You need to select only one pair of curves (reference and target) to be able to define the deformation by clicking Preview.
When several pairs of curves are selected, they must be ordered, not randomly selected.
The reference curves as well as target curves should not intersect each other.

Deform Using a Fixed Reference

Sometimes, you need to create a deformed element in relation to another element, when you want to match two elements for example. The curve wrapping capability lets you fix an element that can be used by another one, thus allowing you to retain a connection between elements while deforming the initial surface.

Click Wrap Curve .
Successively select the element to be deformed, and the first reference curve.
Right-click in space and select Fixed reference curve.

The reference curve you selected previously now is fixed, that is, you do not need a target curve, this curve being used to create the deformation.

In the target area of the list, no element is displayed.
Select another pair of reference and target curves and click Preview.

A new surface is created based on the first reference curve and the second target curve.
Click OK to create the deformed element.

The connection between the two surfaces is retained, as the first reference curve is an element used by the blended surface.

Edit a Deformed Element

You can edit the deformed element.

The deformed surface can be modified by:

Inserting curve pairs
Removing curve pairs
Fixing reference curves
Adding constraints onto the first and last curve pairs.

Double-click the wrap curve surface you have just created.

The Wrap Curve Definition dialog box appears containing the creation information.
Within the list, select the second line (Reference: Line.9, Target: Spline.7) and click Insert Before.

The Reference box of the Current curves area gets active.
Select a new reference curve (Line.8) and a new target curve (Spline.6), and click Preview.

The deformed element now takes into account the new pair of curves.

To add a pair of curves as the last entry in the list, you need to select the ... line, and directly select the reference and target curves.

In our example, we selected the ... line, then selected Line.7 and Spline.8 as reference and target curves respectively.

Just like you fixed a reference curve at creation time, you can do it when editing a wrap curve surface.
Select the fourth line from the list in the dialog box, and select the Fixed reference curve check box.

The target curve is automatically removed from the Target column and box.
Click Preview.

The resulting surface looks like this:
Select the third line from the list in the dialog box, and click Remove, and click OK.

The selected pair of curves no longer being used to compute the resulting surface, the latter looks like this:

You can define further constraints on the deformed element by means of the options available in the Constraints area. You can choose to retain the initial surface's curvature or tangency constraint on the first, and/or last; pair of curves.

In case of a curvature or tangency continuity, the original continuity between the deformed area and the surface outside the deformation area will be at best kept but may be approximate in certain cases.

Not keeping initial surface's constraint on last reference/target curves

Keeping initial surface's tangency constraint on last reference/target curves

Keeping initial surface's curvature continuity on last reference/target curves

Tip: When the spine or the first reference/target curve (default spine) is too short in relation to the corresponding surface's bounding box, the curve is extrapolated according to this bounding box. Then other reference/target curves are extrapolated as well, in relation to this extrapolated spine.