& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

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
Explore how to utilize the patch command to turn your surface into a solid, how to use the analysis tools to view a section of your model, and how to use the shell command to create an internal space.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
6 min.
Tutorial resources
These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:
Transcript
00:03
Before we proceed,
00:05
we have received some initial feedback but the dip section might be too
00:07
shallow and we need some space to add some holes of ventilation.
00:12
As always,
00:13
I could just quickly jump back into the edit form
00:15
command to rework this to a more appropriate size.
00:21
We now want to add some definition and detail to the
00:23
ridge that surrounds this section and proceeds to the front.
00:28
We can do either using the crease or insert edge command.
00:31
And in this case, I'll use the latter approach to give us a more smoother transition.
00:40
I'll repeat this command of the inner edges.
00:42
Although you will notice the in two edges cannot be selected at the same time.
00:48
The best thing to do here is create the edges first,
00:52
then use the inset point command to make
00:53
sure the vertices are coincident with one another.
01:00
You can see we have more definition
01:02
but now I have a potential issue where there are seven edges on the front section,
01:06
meaning any subsequent modeling will require more effort
01:11
to counter this. I can simply delete the edges to create a T point
01:15
as you'll see when I go to use the repair body command,
01:17
making sure the two points are selected in the geometry label section.
01:24
Generally speaking,
01:25
we should always aim to maintain four edges for each face.
01:28
However,
01:29
a T point can also be used to constrain detail to part of the service
01:38
moving on.
01:39
I want to make our lives easier when we subsequently lost this front section.
01:43
I'm going to edit this front section to be more circular.
01:46
As I know the target profile will also be circular
01:49
when using the L command,
01:51
the more the origin profile matches the target profile,
01:53
the more uniform and consistent the luff will be
01:58
notice that as we have removed some of the edges in the previous step,
02:01
you'll find less work needed to find the form you are. After
02:05
again, we can always add or remove sporting geometry when needed.
02:14
Now, we're ready to crate a loft.
02:17
If I turn the canvas back on and go to our front view,
02:20
we can see we'll first need to shift these
02:21
set of edges back slightly to make some space
02:24
and adjust some of these edges to maintain our uniform shape.
02:29
I'll then also need to create a new offset plane where our previous
02:32
set of edges used to sit and sketch a circle to loft to
02:38
again,
02:39
I'm just reviewing the canvas from other angles and
02:41
amending as necessary to make sure everything lines up.
02:45
Now make sure your sketches are visible
02:47
and using the loft command in the surface space.
02:49
We're going to select the mesh edges and recently
02:51
created circle profiles to lock the two together.
02:57
If you turn off our canvas,
02:59
you can see there is no smooth transition between our lofty profiles.
03:02
However, if you change your continuity to curvature in the drop down,
03:06
then adjust the tang of
03:07
weight, you can better match the canvas.
03:12
An alternative approach might be to leave it as
03:14
is then apply a parametric filet to this edge.
03:16
Instead
03:19
at the moment,
03:20
we are still working with the surface body, meaning it has zero thickness,
03:25
we're going to add some thickness in these next steps. So we can calculate, analyze
03:29
and compare different materials and their weights.
03:32
First, though
03:33
we need to cut these ends off
03:35
to do this, use the patch command on either end
03:39
followed by the stitch command which combines selected
03:41
surfaces into one by a defined tolerance value.
03:46
Once you press OK,
03:48
all selected surfaces will be stitched together to form one single solid body.
03:52
As you can see from the body's drop down in the browser tree.
03:56
Now,
03:56
I can go ahead and create a section analysis using
03:58
the central plane to confirm this is a solid body
04:01
as defined by the hatched areas.
04:04
As a note, you can change the color of the hatched area should you wish?
04:07
Or as I'm doing here
04:08
leaves a default from component
04:12
in the browser tree.
04:13
You will see the analysis drop down has now
04:15
appeared which includes our section analysis amongst others.
04:17
You create,
04:19
this means you don't have to recreate these each and every time
04:22
simply hide or make visible as necessary.
04:26
And finally,
04:27
we know this won't be a completely solid model as we
04:29
need room for internal components such as the motor assembly.
04:34
We're going to use the shell command,
04:36
a solid modeling tool to let us create some wall thickness.
04:40
The reason we use this command is so we have a parametric function
04:42
in our timeline that can be edited at any point in the future.
04:47
I'll turn on our section analysis again. So we can view the results.
04:53
In this case, we might want to add some more thickness to improve stability.
04:56
As we know, we have a moving part that sits inside,
04:60
we just need to simply edit the values
05:03
and the model will update parametric.
Video transcript
00:03
Before we proceed,
00:05
we have received some initial feedback but the dip section might be too
00:07
shallow and we need some space to add some holes of ventilation.
00:12
As always,
00:13
I could just quickly jump back into the edit form
00:15
command to rework this to a more appropriate size.
00:21
We now want to add some definition and detail to the
00:23
ridge that surrounds this section and proceeds to the front.
00:28
We can do either using the crease or insert edge command.
00:31
And in this case, I'll use the latter approach to give us a more smoother transition.
00:40
I'll repeat this command of the inner edges.
00:42
Although you will notice the in two edges cannot be selected at the same time.
00:48
The best thing to do here is create the edges first,
00:52
then use the inset point command to make
00:53
sure the vertices are coincident with one another.
01:00
You can see we have more definition
01:02
but now I have a potential issue where there are seven edges on the front section,
01:06
meaning any subsequent modeling will require more effort
01:11
to counter this. I can simply delete the edges to create a T point
01:15
as you'll see when I go to use the repair body command,
01:17
making sure the two points are selected in the geometry label section.
01:24
Generally speaking,
01:25
we should always aim to maintain four edges for each face.
01:28
However,
01:29
a T point can also be used to constrain detail to part of the service
01:38
moving on.
01:39
I want to make our lives easier when we subsequently lost this front section.
01:43
I'm going to edit this front section to be more circular.
01:46
As I know the target profile will also be circular
01:49
when using the L command,
01:51
the more the origin profile matches the target profile,
01:53
the more uniform and consistent the luff will be
01:58
notice that as we have removed some of the edges in the previous step,
02:01
you'll find less work needed to find the form you are. After
02:05
again, we can always add or remove sporting geometry when needed.
02:14
Now, we're ready to crate a loft.
02:17
If I turn the canvas back on and go to our front view,
02:20
we can see we'll first need to shift these
02:21
set of edges back slightly to make some space
02:24
and adjust some of these edges to maintain our uniform shape.
02:29
I'll then also need to create a new offset plane where our previous
02:32
set of edges used to sit and sketch a circle to loft to
02:38
again,
02:39
I'm just reviewing the canvas from other angles and
02:41
amending as necessary to make sure everything lines up.
02:45
Now make sure your sketches are visible
02:47
and using the loft command in the surface space.
02:49
We're going to select the mesh edges and recently
02:51
created circle profiles to lock the two together.
02:57
If you turn off our canvas,
02:59
you can see there is no smooth transition between our lofty profiles.
03:02
However, if you change your continuity to curvature in the drop down,
03:06
then adjust the tang of
03:07
weight, you can better match the canvas.
03:12
An alternative approach might be to leave it as
03:14
is then apply a parametric filet to this edge.
03:16
Instead
03:19
at the moment,
03:20
we are still working with the surface body, meaning it has zero thickness,
03:25
we're going to add some thickness in these next steps. So we can calculate, analyze
03:29
and compare different materials and their weights.
03:32
First, though
03:33
we need to cut these ends off
03:35
to do this, use the patch command on either end
03:39
followed by the stitch command which combines selected
03:41
surfaces into one by a defined tolerance value.
03:46
Once you press OK,
03:48
all selected surfaces will be stitched together to form one single solid body.
03:52
As you can see from the body's drop down in the browser tree.
03:56
Now,
03:56
I can go ahead and create a section analysis using
03:58
the central plane to confirm this is a solid body
04:01
as defined by the hatched areas.
04:04
As a note, you can change the color of the hatched area should you wish?
04:07
Or as I'm doing here
04:08
leaves a default from component
04:12
in the browser tree.
04:13
You will see the analysis drop down has now
04:15
appeared which includes our section analysis amongst others.
04:17
You create,
04:19
this means you don't have to recreate these each and every time
04:22
simply hide or make visible as necessary.
04:26
And finally,
04:27
we know this won't be a completely solid model as we
04:29
need room for internal components such as the motor assembly.
04:34
We're going to use the shell command,
04:36
a solid modeling tool to let us create some wall thickness.
04:40
The reason we use this command is so we have a parametric function
04:42
in our timeline that can be edited at any point in the future.
04:47
I'll turn on our section analysis again. So we can view the results.
04:53
In this case, we might want to add some more thickness to improve stability.
04:56
As we know, we have a moving part that sits inside,
04:60
we just need to simply edit the values
05:03
and the model will update parametric.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved
Sign in for the best experience
Save your progress
Get access to courses
Receive personalized recommendations
May we collect and use your data?
Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?
Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.