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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:02
How to use complex sketch entities?
00:05
After completing this video,
00:06
you'll be able to
00:07
create a sketch spline,
00:09
create a conic,
00:10
and create a blend curve.
00:13
To get started in Fusion,
00:14
we want to open the supplied data set ComplexSketch.
00:17
F3D.
00:19
We're going to begin by editing sketch one.
00:21
Sketch one contains a couple of lines on the left hand
00:24
side and a couple of arcs on the right hand side.
00:27
In this video,
00:27
we're gonna be exploring the use of complex sketch entities.
00:31
Specifically,
00:31
we'll talk about two different types of spines,
00:34
conic curves,
00:35
as well as the blend curve.
00:37
To get started,
00:38
first,
00:38
let's take a look at splines.
00:40
There are 2 different types of spines that we can use in fusion,
00:43
a flip point spline and a control point spline.
00:46
Both will create complex curves,
00:48
but they have slightly different uses.
00:50
The fit point spline allows us to create a spline that
00:53
has the fit points directly on the spine curve itself.
00:57
Once the spine is created,
00:58
you'll notice that we have green handles with dots on the ends.
01:01
If we hit escape to get off of our spine tool,
01:04
as we move these handles about,
01:06
we're controlling the tangency direction
01:09
as well as the weight or influence of that tangency.
01:12
We can apply dimensions and constraints directly to the handles.
01:15
For example,
01:16
we can use the co-linear constraint between this and the line on the left hand side.
01:21
We can also apply constraints such as tangent
01:24
between this line itself and other curves.
01:27
If we need to,
01:28
we also have the ability to add or remove splind
01:30
points or control the curvature at each individual point.
01:34
If we had escape to get off of our constraint tool,
01:37
we can move about the points.
01:39
And then we can also activate their handles.
01:42
It's important to note that generally with the points blinds,
01:45
the fewer number of control points,
01:47
the better curvature you'll get.
01:49
So you want to limit the number of points you
01:50
have to only manage to get the curvature you need.
01:54
We can select points and use delete on the keyboard to remove them.
01:57
In this case,
01:58
we'll delete both,
01:59
and we can also select a spline,
02:01
right click,
02:02
and insert a fit point spline if we need.
02:04
For example,
02:05
if we need to add a point back in the center.
02:07
Let's hit escape and delete that 0.1 more time.
02:11
In addition to applying constraints like tangency,
02:14
we also have constraints such as curvature.
02:17
There's a difference between tangency or G1
02:19
continuity and curvature or G2 continuity.
02:22
Tangency only controls the direction,
02:24
which means we still have the ability to apply a dimension here.
02:28
Go to right click and use this as an aligned dimension
02:30
and give it a value of 20 millimeters.
02:33
We can do the same thing over here,
02:35
applying an aligned dimension.
02:37
And in this case,
02:38
we'll set this one at 40.
02:40
Now our spine is fully defined.
02:43
Let's go ahead and select Create spline and use a control point spine.
02:48
Unlike a fitpoint spine,
02:49
a control point spine has an external cage for the spine curve.
02:54
Control point splines allow you to define the degree of the
02:57
spine by selecting 3 or 5 at the creation time.
03:00
This is going to determine the number of points required
03:03
in order to calculate that spine.
03:05
Once again,
03:06
we can use tools like co-linear,
03:08
and co-linear will allow us to take one of the
03:10
sly controls and make it co-linear with another entity.
03:14
If we use the curvature constraint,
03:16
this is gonna dictate that the curvature direction as well
03:19
as the radius of that curvature or the amount of influence
03:23
is dictated by that constraint.
03:25
You can see that this first construction line in the control cage is now black,
03:29
while the others are still orange.
03:31
If we had a skate to get off of our constraint tool,
03:34
we still have control over the geometry by manipulating these internal points.
03:38
But keep in mind,
03:39
just like with a 5 point spine,
03:41
the fewer control points generally the better the curvature will be.
03:45
In this case,
03:45
if we select a point and delete it,
03:48
we'll be able to reduce the number that we have on the spine.
03:51
There will be a situation where it'll start to remove constraints,
03:54
so you do have to be careful once you create your spinets.
03:58
You can use tools like dimensions
04:01
to create a completely fully defined spine.
04:04
Keep in mind,
04:04
however,
04:05
that this is much more difficult as the spines become more complex.
04:10
Let's go ahead and take a look at the blend curve option.
04:13
With Blend curve,
04:14
we can either drive tangency or curvature continuity of the blend curve.
04:18
We then need to select two entities,
04:20
and it'll generate a curve between them.
04:23
All three of these are valid options for us to create and generate complex curves.
04:28
If we had escape to get off of our tool,
04:30
note that with each one of these,
04:31
we have the ability to turn on curvature combs.
04:34
Curvature combs are a great analysis tool
04:36
that allows us to see the curvature direction
04:39
and amount
04:40
at each blind or curve.
04:43
The use of advanced tools like spines and the blend curve,
04:47
as well as the use of curvature combs to analyze the curvature and geometry,
04:51
are more advanced sketching techniques.
04:53
But it is a good idea to become accustomed to these
04:56
tools and figure out how they work for your own designs.
04:59
There is one more tool that we want to take a look at,
05:01
and that's the conic curve.
05:03
The conic curve is another way to define a
05:05
great curve as the starting point of your designs.
05:08
Conic curves are defined by 3 points and a row
05:11
value or an arrow slider that we can adjust.
05:14
A conic curve mathematically is a plane that's
05:17
slicing through a cylindrical cone at an angle.
05:20
The higher this number is closer to 1,
05:23
the steeper the point will be on the top and the closer to a true triangle.
05:27
As we get lower,
05:28
the closer we are to a straight line.
05:31
The great benefit here for conic curves is that the curvature is well defined,
05:35
and the input is going to be a very nice set of curves for any of your designs.
05:41
Keep in mind that it does take a bit of practice to
05:44
understand and be able to apply these curves in your own designs,
05:47
but without practice,
05:49
you won't get any better.
05:50
So make sure that you do play around with them before moving on to the next step.
Video transcript
00:02
How to use complex sketch entities?
00:05
After completing this video,
00:06
you'll be able to
00:07
create a sketch spline,
00:09
create a conic,
00:10
and create a blend curve.
00:13
To get started in Fusion,
00:14
we want to open the supplied data set ComplexSketch.
00:17
F3D.
00:19
We're going to begin by editing sketch one.
00:21
Sketch one contains a couple of lines on the left hand
00:24
side and a couple of arcs on the right hand side.
00:27
In this video,
00:27
we're gonna be exploring the use of complex sketch entities.
00:31
Specifically,
00:31
we'll talk about two different types of spines,
00:34
conic curves,
00:35
as well as the blend curve.
00:37
To get started,
00:38
first,
00:38
let's take a look at splines.
00:40
There are 2 different types of spines that we can use in fusion,
00:43
a flip point spline and a control point spline.
00:46
Both will create complex curves,
00:48
but they have slightly different uses.
00:50
The fit point spline allows us to create a spline that
00:53
has the fit points directly on the spine curve itself.
00:57
Once the spine is created,
00:58
you'll notice that we have green handles with dots on the ends.
01:01
If we hit escape to get off of our spine tool,
01:04
as we move these handles about,
01:06
we're controlling the tangency direction
01:09
as well as the weight or influence of that tangency.
01:12
We can apply dimensions and constraints directly to the handles.
01:15
For example,
01:16
we can use the co-linear constraint between this and the line on the left hand side.
01:21
We can also apply constraints such as tangent
01:24
between this line itself and other curves.
01:27
If we need to,
01:28
we also have the ability to add or remove splind
01:30
points or control the curvature at each individual point.
01:34
If we had escape to get off of our constraint tool,
01:37
we can move about the points.
01:39
And then we can also activate their handles.
01:42
It's important to note that generally with the points blinds,
01:45
the fewer number of control points,
01:47
the better curvature you'll get.
01:49
So you want to limit the number of points you
01:50
have to only manage to get the curvature you need.
01:54
We can select points and use delete on the keyboard to remove them.
01:57
In this case,
01:58
we'll delete both,
01:59
and we can also select a spline,
02:01
right click,
02:02
and insert a fit point spline if we need.
02:04
For example,
02:05
if we need to add a point back in the center.
02:07
Let's hit escape and delete that 0.1 more time.
02:11
In addition to applying constraints like tangency,
02:14
we also have constraints such as curvature.
02:17
There's a difference between tangency or G1
02:19
continuity and curvature or G2 continuity.
02:22
Tangency only controls the direction,
02:24
which means we still have the ability to apply a dimension here.
02:28
Go to right click and use this as an aligned dimension
02:30
and give it a value of 20 millimeters.
02:33
We can do the same thing over here,
02:35
applying an aligned dimension.
02:37
And in this case,
02:38
we'll set this one at 40.
02:40
Now our spine is fully defined.
02:43
Let's go ahead and select Create spline and use a control point spine.
02:48
Unlike a fitpoint spine,
02:49
a control point spine has an external cage for the spine curve.
02:54
Control point splines allow you to define the degree of the
02:57
spine by selecting 3 or 5 at the creation time.
03:00
This is going to determine the number of points required
03:03
in order to calculate that spine.
03:05
Once again,
03:06
we can use tools like co-linear,
03:08
and co-linear will allow us to take one of the
03:10
sly controls and make it co-linear with another entity.
03:14
If we use the curvature constraint,
03:16
this is gonna dictate that the curvature direction as well
03:19
as the radius of that curvature or the amount of influence
03:23
is dictated by that constraint.
03:25
You can see that this first construction line in the control cage is now black,
03:29
while the others are still orange.
03:31
If we had a skate to get off of our constraint tool,
03:34
we still have control over the geometry by manipulating these internal points.
03:38
But keep in mind,
03:39
just like with a 5 point spine,
03:41
the fewer control points generally the better the curvature will be.
03:45
In this case,
03:45
if we select a point and delete it,
03:48
we'll be able to reduce the number that we have on the spine.
03:51
There will be a situation where it'll start to remove constraints,
03:54
so you do have to be careful once you create your spinets.
03:58
You can use tools like dimensions
04:01
to create a completely fully defined spine.
04:04
Keep in mind,
04:04
however,
04:05
that this is much more difficult as the spines become more complex.
04:10
Let's go ahead and take a look at the blend curve option.
04:13
With Blend curve,
04:14
we can either drive tangency or curvature continuity of the blend curve.
04:18
We then need to select two entities,
04:20
and it'll generate a curve between them.
04:23
All three of these are valid options for us to create and generate complex curves.
04:28
If we had escape to get off of our tool,
04:30
note that with each one of these,
04:31
we have the ability to turn on curvature combs.
04:34
Curvature combs are a great analysis tool
04:36
that allows us to see the curvature direction
04:39
and amount
04:40
at each blind or curve.
04:43
The use of advanced tools like spines and the blend curve,
04:47
as well as the use of curvature combs to analyze the curvature and geometry,
04:51
are more advanced sketching techniques.
04:53
But it is a good idea to become accustomed to these
04:56
tools and figure out how they work for your own designs.
04:59
There is one more tool that we want to take a look at,
05:01
and that's the conic curve.
05:03
The conic curve is another way to define a
05:05
great curve as the starting point of your designs.
05:08
Conic curves are defined by 3 points and a row
05:11
value or an arrow slider that we can adjust.
05:14
A conic curve mathematically is a plane that's
05:17
slicing through a cylindrical cone at an angle.
05:20
The higher this number is closer to 1,
05:23
the steeper the point will be on the top and the closer to a true triangle.
05:27
As we get lower,
05:28
the closer we are to a straight line.
05:31
The great benefit here for conic curves is that the curvature is well defined,
05:35
and the input is going to be a very nice set of curves for any of your designs.
05:41
Keep in mind that it does take a bit of practice to
05:44
understand and be able to apply these curves in your own designs,
05:47
but without practice,
05:49
you won't get any better.
05:50
So make sure that you do play around with them before moving on to the next step.
After completing this video, you'll be able to:
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