John_M

I used the shape that doesn't clip and copy/paste to create the other shapes that do clip, so they all should be the same (other than a rotation) and if that original one was not closed they all should be not closed. But I'll check tomorrow at work to see if I did anything later on to the original shape that would make it not closed. However, after the first clip attempt, when I repeat the three steps in my original post, the shape that didn't clip the first time does clips the second time around - without having done anything to close it. I'm not sure what you mean by locating the object that is misbehaving. There is one object that after the Modify/Clip command that misbehaves by not clipping. No problem to locate it. Thanks.

I am using VW 12.5 (Fundamentals, RenderWorks). I create a 2-D shape using the polyline tool. Within that shape, I create other, smaller shapes using the same tool. All these shapes are traces using an image that I delete after the tracing. This is what I have always done to cut the smaller objects out of the large object: o Use Send to Back for the outer object o Use the 2D Selection Tool to select everything o Use Modify/Clip Surface For some reason, one of the inside objects doesn't clip. I can't determine how this one object is different from the others. Note: if I select and delete the objects that successfully clipped and then repeat the above three steps, the reluctant object then clips as expected. Any suggestions as to what may be causing this? Thanks.

Okay, thanks. So far I'm not sure what I am supposed to get when I use the tool - looks a bit confusing - but I'll give it a try.

I am using VW 12.5 (Fundamentals, RenderWorks). I will have some 2-D objects for which I would like to divide the outer surface, or part of the outer surface, into a specified number of segments - I just need to mark where the segment dividing points are rather than actually break the surface into new segments. With a straight line or a circular arc, I can use Arc into Segments or Line into Segments in the Modify/Drafting Aids menu item. If I have a general 2-D shape it won't do it. I can do something in a very manual way using the Tape Measure Tool and the Locus Tool, but was wondering if there were some automated perimeter segmenting tool that I'm not aware of. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I set the 3D Conversion Res to Very High and it indeed did improve the smoothness of the circular cross section after extrusion. I then extruded two circular geometries and exported each as IGES files. One geometry was created using Medium for 3D Conversion Res and the other using Very High. While the difference in VW was very noticeable, there was possibly a very slight difference when I viewed the two IGES files in external programs. They were so close it was hard to tell. Was just wondering why the two cases would look so different in VW but not anywhere else. Is it some kind of display issue in VW? Thanks again.

Okay, thanks. I'll check that out when I get back to work next week.

I am using VW 12.5 (Fundamentals, RenderWorks) and am having an issue with the creation of rods, in particular circular ones. Got a lot of help with this here previously and was going along fine until now, so I am back. My procedure is as follows: I use the Ellipse Tool to create a circle. I then extrude the circle and export as an IGES file (because a second program that uses the rods requires IGES files). I noticed recently after importing the IGES file into the second program that the circular cross section appears as a polygon approximation to a circle. I also downloaded a free IGES file viewer and confirmed the polygon structure there also. So I went back to VW and discovered that the polygon structure happens when I do the Extrude command - what starts out as a perfectly smooth circle becomes a polygon approximation to a circle. I'd appreciate if someone can shed some light on this. Are there options for doing the extrude that would avoid this? Thanks.

Yes, that seems to do the trick. I tested on a rectangle drawn using the Rectangle Tool and one drawn using the Polyline Tool. In both cases, the rectangles modified using the 2D Fillet Tool showed up as one surface in the IGES file (in addition to front and back trim surfaces, which are easily deleted in my other program) whereas without using the tool they had multiple surfaces - one for each side of the rectangle. The 2D Fillet Tool is also a much easier way to round off corners compared to what I had been trying to do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Looks like you are correct about IGES and straight edges. First, I created a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool, extruded and exported as IGES to confirm that multiple surfaces were created. Then, as suggested, I created rectangles and tried the three Poly Smoothing options. These didn't seem to do anything to the rectangle and I still found multiple surfaces. 2D Reshape Tool/Change Vertex didn't seem to work with such rectangles either, so I created a rectangle using the Polyline Tool and confirmed that it also led to multiple surfaces. I then modified the corners by using Arc Points - it was crude as I have never done this before - but after extruding and exporting I found that it was indeed one surface. So if I trace in all my geometries using the Polyline Tool in Arc Vertx Mode, hopefully I can avoid the multiple surface issue. For completeness - I also found that Poly Smoothing did affect a Polyline-created rectangle and led to a single surface. The amount of smoothing is excessive, however, with the rectangle turning into an ellipse. Is there an option somewhere to control the amount of smoothing? Thanks again.

Will do next week when I'm back at work. Have a nice weekend and thanks for your help.

As suggested, I used the Rectangle Tool to draw a rectangle, extruded it and exported an IGES file. In my other program, it imports as six surfaces, one for each side. (I tried with and without the "Export Solid as Trimmed Surface" box checked - no difference.) I tried converting the extrusion to NURBS and exporting, same result - six surfaces. I can delete the front and back surfaces in the other program's geometry tree, but the protocol there requires only one surface for the rest of the rod. We may be focusing in on the real issue now. It appears there was no problem with the result of using Trace Bitmap (other than the potential limitation that it draws straight lines) as even a simple extruded rectangle has the same multiple surface issue. Unfortunately, the only other format the the other program will import is STEP, which does not appear to be an option in VW 12.5. So if I use the Polyline Tool to create an object, extrude and export as IGES, I get the desired single surface for the rod. If I just create a simple polygon with one of the drawing tools, or if I use Trace Bitmap, I end up with multiple surfaces - in the latter case, apparently one for each segment between vertices. There is some fundamental difference between these ways of creating a geometry, as far as the IGES format is concerned. Any insight would be appreciated.

You may have just said the magic words - that you believe Trace Bitmap only draws lines! I confirmed your suspicion and that could be a show stopper for my application. Why didn't you say that before? :-))) However, since we've gone down the road this far, I'd like to follow through - if I import a high enough resolution image and generate a lot of vertices, it could still work. After Trace Bitmap, I zoomed in all the way with Zoom Line Thickness off and it appears the line ends are indeed coincident. After I do Compose, the Object Info Palette just says "Polygon" i.e. one object. I will post a couple of example images. > If you get a single object after the compose then you should be able to extrude the object to get your rods. Just to clarify again, I am able to extrude the object to get a rod. It's just that the IGES file shows up in my other application as a collection of many surfaces, not one.

The image files that I work from are raster-based, not vector. I turned off the snap options and that helps a lot with the polyline tool. I also learned to use some of the vertex editing tools which should be useful also. I think using the polyline tool that I can do what I need to do - the resultant extrusion shows up as one surface when the IGES file is imported into the other program I am using. Thanks again to all for the help. But coming back to Trace Bitmap again maybe for the last time as your patience may be running out...It's inviting to use this as it is automatic and fast. I don't understand all the potential issues that people are referring to. Keep in mind that the images I am working with are very clean JPEG's e.g. a filled black circle on a white background. The result of Trace Bitmap is a set of vertices with connecting curves - no gaps, no extra lines and it all seems to be one "object." So it doesn't seem all those editing steps referred to above should be necessary. If I highlight all the vertices and do Modify/Compose, the inside of the ellipse gets filled (covering up the grid behind it) and it appears to be one simple object. However, extruding and exporting as an IGES file results in multiple surfaces in the other program's geometry tree. It looks like a separate surface for each segment between the vertices.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I have tried the polyline tool and as suggested it seems to do the trick for creating extruded objects that turn up as a single surface (aside from front and rear trim surfaces) in the other program. A few more questions please: 1. Can someone recommend a tutorial on tracing with the polyline tool? I'm used to using the pen tool in Photoshop and none of the polyline modes seems to mimic that. I'm finding I have to use the Arc Vertx mode and move in small steps. If I use the Cubic Vertex mode, I can cover a lot of distance with the first three points that I lay down, but then when I proceed with the next point all the preceeding curves start to change - I just don't get it. 2. After completing the trace with the polyline tool, I would like to smooth things out just a little bit to correct for small hand tracing inaccuracies. Modify/Poly Smoothing seems to make too gross of a change. Are there options to control how much smoothing these do? 3. Finally, I still don't want to give up on Trace Bitmap. For my types of images e.g. a black circle on a white background, the result of Trace Bitmap is a very clean, smooth trace, much better than I can do by hand with the polyline tool. As far as I can tell there are no gaps. Can someone please explain a step-by-step procedure for converting the result of Trace Bitmap to the same kind of object I get when I use the polyline tool? Thanks again.

Thanks for the suggestions. If I use Modify/Compose on the bitmap trace, then extrude, it still gives multiple surfaces. Is there something else I need to do before or after using it? I had tried the Polyline tool already, but the automated Trace Bitmap gave much cleaner traces than I could make by going around the object by hand. I just made up a quick shape by hand using Polyline, extruded and saved as IGES. It does indeed import into the other program as a single surface (plus front and back trim), which is good. Any hints on getting better traces, i.e. closer match to object, would be appreciated. I looked into the Combine/Connect tool as you suggest but frankly don't understand how to apply it in this case. The hint says "First click an object's end point. Then click on the boundary." Not sure how that applies here. Thanks.