Bas Vellekoop Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Hi, Trying to use the deform >bend tool, but not getting it to work as I want too. What I try is to let an extrude 'follow' a rounded rectangle, but im not getting it. Anybody any idea how to do this with the bendmode? Thanks! Quote Link to comment
mike m oz Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 (edited) METHOD A - Use Offset to create a larger copy of the rounded rectangle. - Send this rounded rectangle to the back. - Select both rounded rectangles and use Clip Surface to get the 2D shape to be extruded. - Extrude that shape to the required height. METHOD B - Extrude the 2D rounded rectangle to the height required. - Convert the extrude to a nurbs and ungroup. - Give the required parts a thickness using the Shell tool. Edited February 16, 2015 by mike m oz Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 - It's tricky & incomplete (only bends 3 sides) but here's how: Step 1: Calculate (copy from OIP) the arc length of your corners. Line the start of your extrude with the arc point of the rounded rectangle: Step 2: Deform Tool>Bend Solid Mode>Finite Length Mode. Select your extrude Set the protractor on the arc point & layer plane Enter the fixed length (paste into the heads up display) Enter the start angle >Click Enter the bend angle (-90º Click) etc. The process failed on the 4th side. As Mike says above there are other/easier solutions but it's an interesting study nonetheless. Quote Link to comment
Bas Vellekoop Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 Thanks for al the trips and tricks! I want to do it with the bend tool so I can see what happens if I use a perforated sheet of metal with the exact placement of the wholes etc. In this way, by using the bend tool, its pretty close to the real thing I suppose. And relatively ease to make different iterations with different patterns and see the result. Quote Link to comment
Benson Shaw Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Cool, BCD! I wonder if process would complete the shape if the surface started at midpoint of straight segment, then 4 bends, leaving a straight length at the end to meet the start? Image mask textures are another way to look at this, but if the shape has thickness, there will be lots of trouble aligning the holes among the various faces and edges. -B Quote Link to comment
Benson Shaw Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) Tried it. Apparently the Bend function somehow links the end planes of the object being bent so that a 4th bend causes the start and end planes to deform in concert. Often causing a fail of the operation. This example can be completed per BCD's method if the object is split. Two bends per section. -B Edited February 17, 2015 by Benson Shaw Quote Link to comment
Kevin McAllister Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Cool discussion thread! KM Quote Link to comment
Bas Vellekoop Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Nice to see that it works! Curious why you have to split the object, maybe Jim can give some feedback on that? I tried to make more then two bends, but that wasn't possible. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted February 17, 2015 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted February 17, 2015 In my original testing during 2015s alpha/beta stages, the Deform tool was not able to bend an object more than once at all. I and others insisted that users would want to do exactly what is detailed in this thread, so more resilience was added. Good thing too, it looks like. As far as I understand, there is no hard set limit on how many bends can be performed, just on the level of complexity an object can reach before bending it fails. However, I still get much less luck bending objects once it hits 4 or 5 repetitions of a bend. And even in some cases, a simple pipe extrusion wont allow more than one. Not sure why sometimes it will chug through and finish the operation, when in other cases it will immediately fail or slog through a few minutes before failing, I'll submit something to see if I can clarify this. Quote Link to comment
Benson Shaw Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Try bending something around a rounded rectangle. during the 4th bend, both ends of the object deform. Maybe because the object will intersect itself if the bend is successful? Anyway, I'm pretty impressed with the bend tool whatever its current limitations. The geometry is spot on. If I Solid Add the green and blue bent segments, they form a new object with no edge/line at the join. -B Quote Link to comment
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