Curves SketchOnSurface

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Curves SketchOnSurface

Menu location
Surfaces → Sketch on Surface
Workbenches
Curves
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
-
See also
None

Description

This tool maps a sketch onto an arbitrary curved face, like a label on a bottle. The sketch must be actually attached to a face (see Sketch.Support). The Map mode of the sketch has no effect on the result.

Above: shows the Sketch_On_Surface object applied to the cylinder face (left) and the source sketch in edit mode (right)

Usage

  1. Switch to the Curves workbench (install from Addon Manager is necessary, if not previously installed)
  2. There are 2 methods to use the SketchOnSurface tool:
    You already have a sketch that you want to map on a face
    1. Attach the sketch to the target face:
      • In the attachment dialog selet the face
      • Set the mode to Deactivated while leaving the face as the first reference
      • Close the Attachment dialog
      • Set Placement.z=0
    2. Edit the sketch and add a Construction (blue) rectangle around the geometries. This rectangle will be the parametric bounds of the face.
    3. Exit edit mode.
    4. Select the sketch.
    5. Activate SketchOnSurface by either:
      • Pressing on the button
      • Using the Surfaces → Sketch on Surface entry in the Curves menu
    You have no sketch to map yet
    1. Select the target face in the 3D view
    2. Activate SketchOnSurface by either:
      • Pressing on the button
      • Using the Surfaces → Sketch on Surface entry in the Curves menu
    3. A Sketch_On_Surface object appears in the Tree view.
    4. Expand this object to make the Mapped_Sketch appear below.
    5. Edit the sketch and add geometries inside the blue construction bounds.
    6. A SketchOnSurface object will be created on the surface of your object based on this sketch.

Options

  • Fill Extrusion: When the Thickness value is not null, this will generate lofting faces (the blue faces in the above screenshot).
  • Fill Faces: This will fill all the geometrical figures closed in faces (the red faces in the above screenshot).
  • Offset: This will push the shapes mapped above into the target face. Do not put an offset greater than the thickness, it makes the face disappear on the inside.
  • Thickness: If not null, this will give thickness to the surfaces created above.

Notes

It is assumed that all geometry in the sketch is enclosed within the blue construction frame. This includes all other construction geometry, as well as the visible internal geometry of complex curves (Bezier, Ellipse). If this is not the case the bounding box of the sketch will be larger than the construction frame and the final mapping will be scaled down accordingly. If required hide the internal geometry that is not fully inside the construction frame.

Properties

Scripting