Extacting a Centerline from a NURBS Surface/Solid

[Steve Gill]

Hi,

 

I'm in the process of modelling some steel work for a client. The object has been scanned by ourselves and imported into Vectorworks. The steel work is question is curved and undulates in height along its length.

 

For modelling I started with a NURBS curve, with points picked only the perimeter of the steel, I then extruded along path to create the surface. All of this worked nicely and I have been able to create the model needed.

 

I've now been asked to mark out the centerline of 2 of the lengths of steel. I can't seem to work out how to do this, do I need to convert the NURBS surface into another component for it to work.

 

I can re-create the original NURBS curve but I am pretty sure that I wont be able to simply offset the line.

 

Do you have any suggestions for how to tackle this?

 

Many thanks

 

Steve

[Guest Wes Gardner]

@Steve Gill, not sure how you set up your EAP (Extrude Along Path), but the path itself might very well be the centerline, particularly if the profile is symmetrical. The EAP typically uses the center of the bounding box of the profile object.

 

Wes