<!doctype HTML public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Frameset//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Extrusion along a path</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta name="generator" content="RoboHelp by eHelp Corporation www.ehelp.com"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="default_ns.css"><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" title="WebHelpSplitCss"> <!-- if (navigator.appName !="Netscape") { document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' href='default.css'>");} //--> </script> <style type="text/css"> <!-- table.whs1 { x-cell-content-align:top; width:100%; border-spacing:0px; } col.whs2 { width:50%; } tr.whs3 { x-cell-content-align:top; } td.whs4 { width:50%; padding-right:10px; padding-left:10px; border-right-style:none; border-left-style:none; border-top-style:none; border-bottom-style:none; } img_whs5 { border:none; width:335px; height:323px; border-style:none; } td.whs6 { width:50%; padding-right:10px; padding-left:10px; border-top-style:none; border-bottom-style:none; border-right-style:none; } img_whs7 { border:none; width:350px; height:323px; border-style:none; } p.whs8 { margin-left:40px; } img_whs9 { border:none; width:27px; height:24px; border-style:none; } img_whs10 { border:none; width:434px; height:541px; float:none; border-style:none; } ul.whs11 { list-style:disc; } p.whs12 { margin-left:84px; } img_whs13 { border:none; width:26px; height:25px; border-style:none; } img_whs14 { border:none; width:29px; height:28px; border-style:none; } --> </style><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" title="WebHelpInlineScript"> <!-- function reDo() { if (innerWidth != origWidth || innerHeight != origHeight) location.reload(); } if ((parseInt(navigator.appVersion) == 4) && (navigator.appName == "Netscape")) { origWidth = innerWidth; origHeight = innerHeight; onresize = reDo; } onerror = null; //--> </script> <style type="text/css"> <!-- div.WebHelpPopupMenu { position:absolute; left:0px; top:0px; z-index:4; visibility:hidden; } --> </style><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whmsg.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="whver.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whproxy.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whutils.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whtopic.js"></script> </head> <body><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2"> <!-- if (window.gbWhTopic) { if (window.addTocInfo) { addTocInfo("MESH module\nModifying meshes\nExtrusion along a path"); addButton("show",BTN_TEXT,"Show","","","","",0,0,"","",""); } if (window.writeBtnStyle) writeBtnStyle(); if (window.writeIntopicBar) writeIntopicBar(1); if (window.setRelStartPage) { setRelStartPage("smesh.htm"); autoSync(1); sendSyncInfo(); sendAveInfoOut(); } } else if (window.gbIE4) document.location.reload(); //--> </script> <h1>Extrusion along a path</h1> <p>In principle, Extrusion along a path works in the same way as Extrusion, the main difference is that we define not a vector, but a path of extrusion which must be a meshed edge or wire. To get an idea of how this algorithm works, let's see the left image, where we have a 1D circle edge and a 2D hexagon to be extruded along this path (in the picture they are angular because we show the wireframe of the mesh). And now let's see the right image, showing the result of the operation. </p> <p> </p> <table x-use-null-cells cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="whs1"> <col class="whs2"> <col class="whs2"> <tr valign="top" class="whs3"> <td width="50%" class="whs4"> <p><img src="image102.gif" width="335px" height="323px" border="0" class="img_whs5"></td> <td width="50%" class="whs6"> <p><img src="image104.gif" width="350px" height="323px" border="0" class="img_whs7"></td></tr> </table> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p class=TODO>To use Extrusion along a path:</p> <p class="whs8">1. From the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Modification </B></span>menu choose the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Extrusion along a path </B></span>item or click <img src="image101.gif" width="27px" height="24px" border="0" class="img_whs9"> button in the toolbar. The following dialog box will appear:</p> <p class="whs8"> </p> <p class=TODO style="margin-left: 80px;"><img src="pics/a-extusionalongapath2.png" x-maintain-ratio="TRUE" width="434px" height="541px" border="0" class="img_whs10"></p> <p class="whs8"> </p> <p class="whs8">2. In the dialog box you should </p> <ul type="disc" class="whs11"> <li class=kadov-p><p class="whs12">select the type of elements which will be extruded (1D or 2D),</p></li> <li class=kadov-p><p class="whs12">specify the IDs of the elements which will be extruded by selecting them in the 3D viewer or <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Select the whole mesh, submesh or grou</B></span>p,</p></li> <li class=kadov-p><p class="whs12">specify the path along which the elements will be extruded, for this you should specify the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Mesh</B></span>, the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Shape</B></span>, and the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Start point</B></span> for the extrusion. </p></li> </ul> <p class="whs8"> </p> <p class="whs8">3. There are two optional parameters, which can be very useful.</p> <ul type="disc" class="whs11"> <li class=kadov-p><p class="whs12">If the path of extrusion is curvilinear, at each iteration the extruded shape is rotated to keep its initial angularity to the curve. By default, the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Base point</B></span> around which the shape is rotated is the mass center of the shape, however, you can specify any point as the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Base Point</B></span> and the shape will be rotated with respect to this point.</p></li> <li class=kadov-p><p class="whs12">The shape can also be rotated around the path to get the resulting mesh in a helical fashion. At the picture above we see both "oblique-angled" and "right-angled" mesh elements because <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Rotation Angles</B></span> have not been set for all iterations. You set the values of the angles at the right and add them to the list of angles at the left by pressing the <img src="image105.gif" width="26px" height="25px" border="0" class="img_whs13"> button and remove the values from the list by pressing the <img src="image106.gif" width="29px" height="28px" border="0" class="img_whs14"> button. </p></li> </ul> <p class="whs8">4. Click the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Apply </B></span>or <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>OK </B></span>button.</p> <p class="whs8"> </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>See Also</B></span> a sample TUI Script of an <a href="modifying_meshes.htm#bookmark10">Extrusion along a Path</a> operation. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2"> <!-- if (window.writeIntopicBar) writeIntopicBar(0); //--> </script> </body> </html>