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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Simple techniques to reorder and organize your T-spline using the Box display mode.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
5 min.
Transcript
00:04
To start,
00:04
I will edit the form in the timeline and suppress the old design in the browser.
00:10
I'm going to spend the majority of my time
00:12
refining my model while using the box display setting
00:15
as it gives me the best view of how my faces are organized
00:19
and what I need to do to refine them.
00:23
The first technique I'm going to use is to use edit form and scale
00:27
edge loops that are not horizontal vertical or in line with one another.
00:32
I'm going to use the scale zero technique where I can
00:35
simply double click an edge to select the edge loop,
00:38
right, click select edit form
00:42
and then click the scale handle.
00:45
Remember if you scale the edges to a larger value, you will exaggerate the edges,
00:51
but I will enter zero as the value and
00:53
effectively flatten the edges out to the pivot point.
00:57
You can see there are several edges around my saw that are slightly disorganized
01:02
and I will use the same technique repeatedly to align the edges and vertices.
01:08
Another technique that will come in handy is to move and
01:11
rotate the pivot point to hold an edge or a vertue
01:15
this will add a lot of control when you are scaling and aligning these edges.
01:22
Also remember to select and deselect where appropriate,
01:26
especially when you do not want to flatten out an entire edge loop.
01:30
The edge that runs along the top of the saw and down the handle is one,
01:35
I will remove edges leaving only the horizontal edges on the top of the saw.
01:42
In the next example,
01:43
I want to reorganize the topology of the faces that run up the handle and down the saw.
01:50
It's a best practice to maintain an even topology of faces wherever possible
01:56
to reorganize this area. I will use the insert point tool in the modify pull down,
02:08
insert point will allow me to pick insertion
02:10
points along edges and split the corresponding faces.
02:15
Once I split the faces, I'll simply delete those faces that are not four sided
02:20
and use the face tool to build back in four sided patches.
02:30
When I'm complete,
02:31
I'll have a continuous edge loop that runs down the side of the saw.
02:47
The next area I want to focus on will be the handle
02:54
to align the edges of the handle.
02:56
I will first flatten out one of the edges by selecting the edge
03:01
setting my pivot and scaling to zero
03:09
with one edge organized. I'm going to put a plane through three points
03:14
and then use that plane as a tool to flatten my other edges to
03:25
I will preselect the edges
03:27
and use the flatten tool
03:30
to flatten edges parallel to the new plane that I've created.
03:38
I will repeat the same process to align and flatten the
03:42
edges going around the depth of the handle as well.
04:11
Next, I'll address some of the N sided faces and T intersections
04:17
using the insert point tool.
04:19
I can easily divide and better align faces and control my highlights.
04:39
After dividing up those several faces,
04:42
let's take a minute to repeat the previous steps and clean
04:45
up a few more key areas in our concept model.
05:18
Next,
05:18
we can analyze the T spine body to identify and auto heal any star points or T points.
05:26
We'll use the repair body tool under the utilities,
05:29
pull down and select the T spine body
05:33
that will graphically show faces and intersections that are not four sighted
05:40
star points are not necessarily bad.
05:42
And in some cases they're needed when we have complex intersections of surfaces
05:48
that said it's a best practice to control them.
05:50
And in some instances,
05:52
it might be ideal to move them away from a specific area like a highlight
05:57
and perhaps move them near a parting line. As one example,
06:03
using the same techniques as before,
06:05
I will use insert point to break up the faces and patch back, four sided T
06:11
blinds using the face tool.
06:14
Let's take a minute to go through these operations.
07:15
You can see after breaking and recreating some of the faces,
07:19
I now have continuous face loops that run around
07:22
the inside of the handle and down my part,
07:25
this will give us better surface quality
07:28
and better control over the highlight on the side of the saw
07:36
in this area, I will break up the faces to eliminate the star point.
07:40
You can see by the handle
07:42
by inserting edges to the top of the saw, removing the triangular face
07:48
and replacing it with a four
07:49
sided face.
07:51
I have removed the star point.
08:04
Last, I'll go over my design once again to refine the faces and edges.
08:08
Always looking for a smooth
08:10
even and uniform topology of the T spine control frame.
08:43
Let's take a look at what we've accomplished in a short amount of time.
08:47
You can see the difference between the rough
08:49
conceptual T spine model that we started with
08:52
and the design that we've started to refine and control.
08:56
This model is now another step closer to being a virtual prototype and
09:00
something that might be ready to visualize and communicate our design intent.
Video transcript
00:04
To start,
00:04
I will edit the form in the timeline and suppress the old design in the browser.
00:10
I'm going to spend the majority of my time
00:12
refining my model while using the box display setting
00:15
as it gives me the best view of how my faces are organized
00:19
and what I need to do to refine them.
00:23
The first technique I'm going to use is to use edit form and scale
00:27
edge loops that are not horizontal vertical or in line with one another.
00:32
I'm going to use the scale zero technique where I can
00:35
simply double click an edge to select the edge loop,
00:38
right, click select edit form
00:42
and then click the scale handle.
00:45
Remember if you scale the edges to a larger value, you will exaggerate the edges,
00:51
but I will enter zero as the value and
00:53
effectively flatten the edges out to the pivot point.
00:57
You can see there are several edges around my saw that are slightly disorganized
01:02
and I will use the same technique repeatedly to align the edges and vertices.
01:08
Another technique that will come in handy is to move and
01:11
rotate the pivot point to hold an edge or a vertue
01:15
this will add a lot of control when you are scaling and aligning these edges.
01:22
Also remember to select and deselect where appropriate,
01:26
especially when you do not want to flatten out an entire edge loop.
01:30
The edge that runs along the top of the saw and down the handle is one,
01:35
I will remove edges leaving only the horizontal edges on the top of the saw.
01:42
In the next example,
01:43
I want to reorganize the topology of the faces that run up the handle and down the saw.
01:50
It's a best practice to maintain an even topology of faces wherever possible
01:56
to reorganize this area. I will use the insert point tool in the modify pull down,
02:08
insert point will allow me to pick insertion
02:10
points along edges and split the corresponding faces.
02:15
Once I split the faces, I'll simply delete those faces that are not four sided
02:20
and use the face tool to build back in four sided patches.
02:30
When I'm complete,
02:31
I'll have a continuous edge loop that runs down the side of the saw.
02:47
The next area I want to focus on will be the handle
02:54
to align the edges of the handle.
02:56
I will first flatten out one of the edges by selecting the edge
03:01
setting my pivot and scaling to zero
03:09
with one edge organized. I'm going to put a plane through three points
03:14
and then use that plane as a tool to flatten my other edges to
03:25
I will preselect the edges
03:27
and use the flatten tool
03:30
to flatten edges parallel to the new plane that I've created.
03:38
I will repeat the same process to align and flatten the
03:42
edges going around the depth of the handle as well.
04:11
Next, I'll address some of the N sided faces and T intersections
04:17
using the insert point tool.
04:19
I can easily divide and better align faces and control my highlights.
04:39
After dividing up those several faces,
04:42
let's take a minute to repeat the previous steps and clean
04:45
up a few more key areas in our concept model.
05:18
Next,
05:18
we can analyze the T spine body to identify and auto heal any star points or T points.
05:26
We'll use the repair body tool under the utilities,
05:29
pull down and select the T spine body
05:33
that will graphically show faces and intersections that are not four sighted
05:40
star points are not necessarily bad.
05:42
And in some cases they're needed when we have complex intersections of surfaces
05:48
that said it's a best practice to control them.
05:50
And in some instances,
05:52
it might be ideal to move them away from a specific area like a highlight
05:57
and perhaps move them near a parting line. As one example,
06:03
using the same techniques as before,
06:05
I will use insert point to break up the faces and patch back, four sided T
06:11
blinds using the face tool.
06:14
Let's take a minute to go through these operations.
07:15
You can see after breaking and recreating some of the faces,
07:19
I now have continuous face loops that run around
07:22
the inside of the handle and down my part,
07:25
this will give us better surface quality
07:28
and better control over the highlight on the side of the saw
07:36
in this area, I will break up the faces to eliminate the star point.
07:40
You can see by the handle
07:42
by inserting edges to the top of the saw, removing the triangular face
07:48
and replacing it with a four
07:49
sided face.
07:51
I have removed the star point.
08:04
Last, I'll go over my design once again to refine the faces and edges.
08:08
Always looking for a smooth
08:10
even and uniform topology of the T spine control frame.
08:43
Let's take a look at what we've accomplished in a short amount of time.
08:47
You can see the difference between the rough
08:49
conceptual T spine model that we started with
08:52
and the design that we've started to refine and control.
08:56
This model is now another step closer to being a virtual prototype and
09:00
something that might be ready to visualize and communicate our design intent.
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