Creating Tubular Surfaces

You can create tubular surfaces from sections drawn on a support and assemble them to efficiently rebuild the support surface.

Before you begin: Create a 3D shape with a closed surface.
  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Tube Drawing .
  2. Start drawing sections on the support surface.

    Each section defines a drawing cut. It is computed orthogonally according to the view plane of the first section. Its size is defined by the section plane and its orientation by each drawing stroke.



    Tip: By default, sections are defined on only one support. To define your sections on all the supports, you can press Alt when you create your sections.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click one of the following:
    OptionDescription
    Closed Extremities Closes the extremities of the tubular surface.
    Note: The Merge mode cannot be performed.
    Merge Switches to the merge mode.
    Note: This mode is available when at least a surface is selected or created. You can merge a face with a free edge or merge a free edge with another free edge, and define a smooth or a sharp edge.
    Erase Erases sections of the tubular surface.
    Merge Surface Selection Selects surfaces to be merged.
    Circular Section Creates a tubular surface with circular sections. This command is selected by default.
    Elliptic Section Creates a tubular surface with elliptic sections.
    Square Section Creates a tubular surface with square sections.
    Rectangular Section Creates a tubular surface with rectangular sections.
    Constant Dimension Defines the section size using a slider.
    Automatic Section Defines an automatic orientation of the sections.
    Link Mode Creates a circle associated to each section. The circle radius can be modified to resize the sections.
    Mesh View Hides or displays the base mesh.
    Apply Validates the creation of the tubular surface.
  4. Click Constant Dimension and use the slider to modify the section size.

    When both sizes of the section are different, the manipulated size is the biggest one, and the proportion between both sizes of the section is kept.



  5. Click Automatic Sections .
    Sections are oriented parallel to each other.

  6. To assemble an edge using the merge mode, press Alt.
  7. Click Apply .

    You can also click in the work area to validate.

    The modification mode is automatically activated.