Evaluate designs using sketch splines and curvature comb plots

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In this lesson,

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we're going to look at the set up of

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our design including importing and calibrating a canvas image,

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creating some sketched blinds which we use to create our surface

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and had to review their cage

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kind plot for ca

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consistency.

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Let's insert our reference image as a canvas under our main body component

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which can be retrieved locally from your desktop

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or from within the data panel itself.

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If you or anyone else on the project has previously uploaded it.

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I'll select the side view image here

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and position on the exit plane.

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We can see our opacity is set to 50%

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and the display theory is checked.

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Although our image is back to front

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which you can create by clicking on the horizontal button

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press. OK?

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Then we'll calibrate it to a known approximate final dimension.

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We also need at least one more canvas

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which I've already added using the previous steps.

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So I reposition our timeline to unhide it

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and you can now see both images on canvases in the browser tree.

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Now we have our reference images in place.

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We next want to create some base blind sketches that will

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both highlight the main features of our casing for more simplified references

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and also used to create some of our sculpted faces.

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I'll create a new plane that sits approximately at

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the top of our canvas and start a sketch

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first adding a reference dimension.

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We don't need this plane to be exactly at the top.

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Now select the supplying command that will let us create a

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smooth curve as defined by a number of position points.

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You can create as many points as you need.

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Although be aware, the more points you have,

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the more difficult it is to achieve smooth transitions, which I'll explain shortly

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to complete this line,

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click on the green check mark and you

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will now see the respective tangy control handles.

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For each point you have appeared,

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we can adjust the position or tangy of our points by simply clicking

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and dragging on the respective points or handles to better match our canvas.

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It's worth noting that the Spline is live,

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meaning constraints can be automatically or

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manually applied to other sketch features

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including their tangy

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handles.

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Of course,

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you can always delete constraint if placed by mistake or hold

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control or command on a Mac to disable automatic constraints.

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When moving the point or handle around

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one quick tip.

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Here is to apply a horizontal or vertical constraint on a tangent handle where

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you know a flat face or mirrored feature is going to be placed.

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This constraint will result in a smooth transition between subsequently placed

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or mirrored bodies that also have horizontal or vertically adjoining features.

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Now we have our sketch in place,

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we can literally refine by using the comb curve plot feature.

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A curvature cone plot helps us further refine our

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curve by illustrating how smoothly one point leads into another

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to show this as an example.

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Here, I have two near identical splines.

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Although when I turn on the curvature comb display,

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you can see they are quite different.

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The left spine has smoother transitions when changing direction.

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Whereas the spine on the right is more irregular.

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And if I turn on show points in the sketch palette, you'll see why

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the left spine has far fewer control points.

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Meaning the overall transitional relationships are fewer,

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I can move the points in the spine on the

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right in an attempt to create a more uniform curvature.

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Although this requires more work can lead to errors.

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And the end result may still not be as consistent

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as a general rule.

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You want to position the points only when there is a change

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in direction on your reference image giving you the minimum amount needed.

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Going back to our sketch,

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I'll turn on the curvature comb and adjust as needed.

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I'll then copy this spline and move into position.