Problems with Extrude along path

[theob]

I've had a little bit of difficulty getting this extrude along path object to work like I want it to. Can anyone tell me why?

The railing is upside down in the one extrude along path I was able to create (not sure what happened), but I would like it right side up.

Thanks!

[michaelk]

The extrude along path has two parts: the path and the profile.

The path gets converted to a NURBS curve when you run the command.

The profile stays as whatever kind of geometry it was when you ran the command.

To fix your issue:

Double click the extrude along path. In the Dialogue box choose Profile.

You can edit the shape and position of the profile from here.

To edit the position or orientation of the profile, think of the 0,0 point being the position of the profile relative to the path. Or maybe a better way to say it is: The shape in the profile will slide down the path hanging onto the path at the 0,0 point.

When you create an Extrude Along path, it always defaults to the center of the profile geometry.

So just flip your profile upside down and it will be fixed.

hth

michaelk

[theob]

Thanks for the quick response michael, but my problem is that vw gives me an error message when I try to create the extrude along path object (from scratch, using the path and profile objects I put in the file) OR, when i try to flip the profile object rightside-up in the *existing* extrude along path object. The error message says something to the tune of "Invalid path or profile object. Would you like to delete the object?"

When I accept, it deletes the entire extrude along path object (if I am editing the existing extrude along path object), or it just doesn't create the object if I'm starting from scratch with the path and profile I provide. I have no idea why this is happening. I am using exactly the file I have posted online.

Sorry, I should have clarified this in my first post.

[michaelk]

I think I see the problems...

Something weird happened with the existing EAP. Try looking at the path of the extrude that you have.

Double click it. Choose Path. Select all. I see two objects. One a NURBS curve and one and Extrude Along Path. That might confuse it.

Having your file open makes VW unstable on my computer. Something may have gotten corrupted in this file.

I think the curve you have has a twist at the end that might be too tight for the profile. Scale the profile down by 1/4 and it will extrude along path with the nurbs curve you have on your drawing.

hth

michaelk

[theob]

I don't know how that extra EAP object got in there, but sure enough, there it is.

Still, I tried scaling down the profile by 1/4 and it still wouldn't create the profile. However, when I scaled down the object a further 50%, it could create the EAP. Maybe the problem lies in the beginning arc (the tight radius one).

It's odd because i actually recreated the path object when the old one was giving me problems and this new path is what I put into the drawing file I posted. Odd.

Footnote - AHHHH! Found the problem. It indeed was the tight radius "beginning" arc. My guess is that the path caused the profile to loop back on itself and didn't like it.

Thanks for the help Michael.