Surface CurveOnMesh

Description
creates approximated spline segments on top of a selected mesh.

If the object is not a Mesh, but a parametric Shape or surface, it must be converted first to a mesh using.

These edges created on top of the mesh may be further used to re-create the surface in a parametric way by using tools such as and.





Usage

 * 1) Make sure you have a mesh object. This can be created by the Workbench_Mesh.svg Mesh Workbench, or by importing a mesh file type, like STL, OBJ, or DAE. If a solid object or solid file type (STEP) is used, it can be converted to a mesh using.
 * 2) Press.
 * 3) Press.
 * 4) Using the mouse pointer, pick points on the surface of the mesh in the 3D view; pick as many points as necessary to draw a smooth preview line.
 * 5) When enough points have been added, right click on the 3D view to open the context menu, and select . Depending on how smooth the original mesh is, one spline or multiple splines will be created in the tree view.
 * 6) Repeat the sequence  → Pick →, to add more approximated splines.
 * 7) The new spline will be created, and will appear in the tree view, immediately after choosing ; the task panel will remain active.
 * 8) Press  to close the task panel, and terminate the command completely.

After pressing, the context menu (right-click) in the 3D view shows various options beside.
 * : if at least three points have been picked, this option will be available to join the last point to the first point with a line.
 * : it will erase the tentative points that have been picked on the mesh, and will allow you to pick new ones.
 * : it will erase the tentative points that have been picked, and will stop the picking operation. Press again to pick points once more.

Options
section:
 * : it defaults to ; it indicates the minimum distance between one point and another when picking with the pointer.
 * : it defaults to ; it indicates the angular deviation from one point in the mesh to another point necessary to create a new spline instead of extending the previous spline.

, if it is, it will create spline objects, otherwise, it will create simple straight line objects (polyline).
 * : it defaults to . It is a parameter that takes into account the imperfections of the mesh; the smaller this number the more precise it will consider the mesh, particularly if it is a very fine mesh.
 * : it defaults to . It determines the continuity of the spline; it can be (touching),  (tangent),  (curvature), and  (acceleration curvature).
 * : it defaults to . It determines the maximum degree of the spline to approximate the surface; it can be a value from to.

Properties
If is unchecked, the Curve on mesh tool creates a basic Part Feature.

If is checked, the Curve on mesh tool creates a  ( class) which is derived from the basic Part Feature ( class), therefore it shares all the latter's properties.

In addition to the properties described in Part Feature, the Part Spline has the following properties in the property editor.

View

 * : it defaults to ; if set to, it will show an overlay with the control points of the surface.