About the Surface Edit User Interface
The Surface Edit tab consists of commands, tabs, a glyph, and shortcut menus. Click Style > Surface Edit to open the Surface Edit tab.
Commands
collector—Shows the surface to edit.
Max Rows—Sets the number of mesh or knot rows. Type a value greater than or equal to 4.
Columns—Sets the number of mesh or knot columns. Type a value greater than or equal to 4.
Degree Rows—Sets the row degree when Advanced Options is selected.
Columns—Sets the column degree when Advanced Options is selected.
Move—Constrains the movement of the mesh points:
Normal—Moves all selected points along the point's surface normal direction.
Normal Constant—Moves all selected points along a common surface normal direction defined by the active point.
Normal to Plane—Moves points normal to the active datum plane.
Free—Moves points in a plane parallel to the active datum plane.
Along Bar (Alt+Shift)—Moves points along their adjoining row and column mesh.
In View (Alt)—Moves points in a plane parallel to the current view plane.
Filter—Constrains the movement of the selected points surrounding the active point.
—Moves all selected points the same distance as the active point.
—Drops the motion of the selected points off linearly in relation to the distance from the active point.
—Drops the motion of the selected points off quadratically in relation to the distance from the active point.
Adjust—Sets a value to nudge a mesh point. The default increment is 0.01.
Direction arrows—Nudges a mesh point up, down, left, or right.
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The availability of the direction buttons depends on the Move type selected.
Comparison options—Compares the edited surface with the original surface by changing the display:
—Hides the base surface.
—Shows the base surface as shaded.
—Shows the base surface as a point cloud.
—Shows the original control mesh at the beginning of the current operation for comparison.
—Shows the edited surface as translucent or opaque.
Control point display
—Shows the surface control mesh.
—Hides the surface control mesh.
—Shows the control points that were moved in the current operation.
—Shows the surface knot lines for editing the control mesh structure. Available when the Advanced Options check box is selected on the Options tab.
Tabs
List
List box—Shows a chronological list of the surface edit operations you performed on the selected surface.
—Moves the insertion point to the top of the list.
—Moves the insertion point up one item.
—Moves the insertion point down one item.
—Moves the insertion point to the bottom of the list.
—Deletes a selected operation.
Options
Use this tab to manage surface knots.
Advanced Options check box—Makes the knot tools available.
Replace Base Surface—Makes the base knots editable and removes all other knots. Clears the Keep Base Surface check box.
Rows per Knot—Sets the number of rows that use each knot.
Columns per Knot—Sets the number of columns that use each knot.
Rows—Sets the global surface continuity in the row direction. Type a value up to one less than the degree value set for rows.
Columns—Sets the global surface continuity in the column direction. Type a value up to one less than the degree value set for columns.
Keep Base Surface check box—Retains the original base knots after you edit the surface.
Align
Use this tab to align the boundaries of two or more surfaces and to match knots across surfaces.
Neighbor collector—Shows an edge or curve to which to align the child surface. You cannot select a composite curve.
Details—Opens the Chain dialog box.
Side collector—Shows a surface on one side of the neighbor edge when the edge or chain selection yields more than one parent option. Shows a planar surface or datum plane to define the normal direction when you select Align Normal or Align Normal Position as the constraint.
Constraint box—Sets the continuity level of the aligned boundary.
Merge Neighbor Knots check box—Merges the knots of the child surface with the adjacent parent surface’s knots.
Replace—Replaces the child surface's base knots with the parent surface’s knots.
Display
Use this tab to increase or decrease the point cloud density.
Rows box—Sets the number of rows shown in the base surface point cloud. Ranges from 20 to 200.
Columns box—Sets the number of columns shown in the base surface point cloud. Ranges from 20 to 200.
Glyph
A glyph near the mesh corner indicates the direction of the rows with R and the columns with C.
Shortcut Menus
Right-click the graphics window to access shortcut menu commands.
Surface Collector—Activates the collector on the tab.
Neighbor Collector—Activates the Neighbor collector on the Align tab.
Side Collector—Activates the Side collector on the Align tab.
Deactivate Collector—Deactivates the currently active collector.
Clear—Clears the currently selected collector.
Curve—Opens the Curve tab.
Surface—Opens the Surface tab.
Edit Definition——Opens the appropriate Curve Edit or Surface Edit tab.
Standard Orientation—Displays the model in standard orientation.
Active Plane Orientation
Set Active Plane
Show All Views
Show Only——Hides the display of all the Style entities except the selected entities.
Show All—Displays all the previously hidden features or Style entities.
Right-click control points that were moved during the current operation to access shortcut menu commands.
Reset—Returns the selected points that were moved during the current operation back to their initial position.
Reset All—Returns all the points that were moved during the current operation back to their initial position.
Right-click a control row or column to access the shortcut menu commands.
Planarize—Moves the points of the selected control row or column onto a plane that is the best fit between the start and endpoints and the internal points on the line.
Right-click a surface mesh row to access shortcut menu commands.
Deactivate Row—Deactivates the selected mesh row.
Remove Row—Deletes the selected mesh row.
Right-click a surface mesh column to access shortcut menu commands.
Deactivate Column—Deactivates the selected mesh column.
Remove Column—Deletes the selected mesh column.
Right-click the surface you are editing to access shortcut menu commands.
Add Row Knot—Adds a row knot to the surface mesh.
Add Column Knot—Adds a column knot to the surface mesh.
Clear All Boundaries—Clears all mesh boundary constraints for the surface.
Normal—Moves all selected mesh points along the point's surface normal direction.
Normal Constant—Moves all selected mesh points along a common surface normal direction defined by the active point.
Normal to Plane—Moves mesh points normal to the active datum plane.
Free—Moves mesh points in a plane parallel to the active datum plane.
Along Bar (Alt+Shift)—Moves mesh points along their adjoining row and column mesh.
In View (Alt)—Moves mesh points in a plane parallel to the current view plane.
Activate All—Activates all deactivated rows or columns in the mesh.
Right-click a boundary of the selected surface mesh to access shortcut menu commands.
Preserve None—Does not constrain the selected surface mesh boundary. You can edit its control points. When you select this option, the following commands become available:
Align Position
Align Tangent—Sets the continuity level of the aligned boundary to tangent.
Align Curvature—Sets the continuity level of the aligned boundary to curvature.
Align Normal Position
Align Normal
Swap Ends—Switches the start and end points of the align boundary.
Flip—Reverses the direction of the tangent or curvature.
Preserve Position—Constrains the type of surface connection for the boundary to preserve its position.
Preserve Tangency—Constrains the type of surface connection for the boundary to preserve its tangency.
Preserve Curvature—Constrains the type of surface connection for the boundary to preserve its curvature.
Align Menu—Available when you right-click a mesh boundary for which the Preserve None command is selected. Choose an alignment constraint, or choose Complete Align to finish the align operation.
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When you select Align Normal, you must select a planar reference.
Knots Menu—Available when the Advanced Options check box is selected. Choose a command to add rows or columns, to deactivate a knot, or to remove it.