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Extrude along path


taoist

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Sharing some info being a newbie.

Most of you probably know this already.

When using extrude along path I have discovered that you must offset the path 1/2 the thickness of the object. I did a test of using a crown moulding at the top for cabinets. Offset the "extrude path" 1/2 the thickness of the crown moulding away from the face of the cabinets, set heigth for the extrude and Voila! I added a vertex to have the crown moulding return back to the cabinet face and it worked perfectly as well.

taoist

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Yes, the path is defined as the geometric center of the profile at creation, and must be modified afterwards.

You can enter the EAP after creation and move, modify or even swap out the profile.

The path is much more difficult to adjust (one of my long standing gripes). VW turns the path into a nurbs curve, so 2d tools no longer apply. It would be REALLY nice if we could substitute a revised 2d poly for instance (just like we can with the profile), or if we could add a corner vertex in some rational manner, or use the marquee-move of the reshape tool on the nurbs vertices.

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Chad

You can use the 3d Reshape tool in Top view and change the configuration of the nurbs curve path or you can use it in a 3d view and snap to the wall edges if the two coincide. One just has to take care when editing in Top view that either the Z value or K value remains the same as you adjust the position. If you have the Profile placement in relation to the path at a point that would allow you to snap to logical 3d positions it works fairly well.

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Guest Wes Gardner

Another method for modifying the path - Click on path, the path will be a NURBS curve, convert it to a polygon by going to Modify > Convert to Polygon, choose Hidden Line Rendering, this will change it to a group, ungroup it then Compose it. You now have a polygon that you can modify with the 2D Reshape tool. Once you're done modifying, convert it back to a NURBS curve and Voila....

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Another method for modifying the path - Click on path, the path will be a NURBS curve, convert it to a polygon by going to Modify > Convert to Polygon, choose Hidden Line Rendering, this will change it to a group, ungroup it then Compose it. You now have a polygon that you can modify with the 2D Reshape tool. Once you're done modifying, convert it back to a NURBS curve and Voila....

Uh, yeah, sure. Like I said, it would be nice if it was easier to be able to reshape the path.

Most other solid objects can be edited to their primitives, which can be adjusted or have adjusted substitutes put in place, and the solid object will still be valid. Not so with the EAP. If the EAP can take a 2d path object and convert it to a nurbs path at the time of creation, it sure should be able to do so during an edit.

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Most other solid objects can be edited to their primitives, which can be adjusted or have adjusted substitutes put in place, and the solid object will still be valid. Not so with the EAP. If the EAP can take a 2d path object and convert it to a nurbs path at the time of creation, it sure should be able to do so during an edit.

The problem though is that unlike in previous versions, the path object doesn't necessarily lie flat on a plane in VW2009. The EAP also works with more complex 3d nurbs as your path object.

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The problem though is that unlike in previous versions, the path object doesn't necessarily lie flat on a plane in VW2009. The EAP also works with more complex 3d nurbs as your path object.

I think that should be my issue to deal with. If I have a planar path that was created from a 2d poly, the EAP command should not act as a one-way filter preventing me from using one again upon editing.

IF I am using 3d geometry for my path, I certainly wouldn't expect to be able to substitute a 2d path and get the same result, but I don't think VW should then just fail to create a shape.

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The following work around may help in some circumstances:

Edit the path. Convert to Polygons. Activate the 2D Selection tool. Ungroup. Compose.

Now you can modify your path as necessary.

Before you exit the path object, Convert to Nurbs.

This will work best with an object made of straight lines with corner vertices. Curves will be converted to multiple straight segments.

And, yes, there should be a better way.

Pat

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I think that should be my issue to deal with. If I have a planar path that was created from a 2d poly, the EAP command should not act as a one-way filter preventing me from using one again upon editing.

IF I am using 3d geometry for my path, I certainly wouldn't expect to be able to substitute a 2d path and get the same result, but I don't think VW should then just fail to create a shape.

Some may prefer still prefer the resulting nurbs path (ie. for sloped handrails) though.

What kind of editing do you actually need? If you need to do an offset, you have to move the origin of the profile instead. If you need to add or move several vertices, my workflow (hope this is clear) is to create a temporary 2d polygon as snap points, cut/copy to clipboard, paste that when you enter the path object, modify the nurbs, delete the polygon, exit.

Having said that, I wish NNA would allow in-place editing of the EAP --- similar to how C4D and Revit do it.

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Some may prefer still prefer the resulting nurbs path (ie. for sloped handrails) though.

AAARGH! I'm NOT saying converting the path to nurbs in and of itself is a bad thing, just the way that I CAN'T substitute a path object identical to the one used to create the object while in the edit mode. This in no way limits our ability to continue to use a nurbs for handrails and other non-planar paths.

What kind of editing do you actually need? ... If you need to add or move several vertices, my workflow (hope this is clear) is to create a temporary 2d polygon as snap points, cut/copy to clipboard, paste that when you enter the path object,

delete the nurbs, exit, and you'd be done, if VW treated the pasted path "properly"....

...thus eliminating all this:

modify the nurbs, delete the polygon, exit.

Where this gets tedious is where a complex path gets a bunch of its vertices moved. Say, one exterior wall of a building with lots of relief/indents gets moved, and I've used the same path with various profiles (offset from the profile origin, obviously) for gutter, fascia, and soffit.

It's easy to move large groups of vertices with the 2d reshape tool, but we must do them one at a time with the 3d reshaper. Or use Pat's or Wes' "around the block to get next door" workarounds.

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