Face

Create a face by selecting the edges that form its outline. There is no limit to the numbers of edges the user can select, but there should be no overlapping outlines in order to create a normal plane.

[Tolerance]

The criterion that determines whether an edge is connected. For example when the distance between the edges is 2.0e-006, although the value is not zero, it is determined to be connected with a tolerance of 0.0001 (distance larger that the value between edges).

If there is an outline inside an area formed by another outline, it is still possible to create a plane that considers both the exterior and interior outlines. However, if the exterior and interior outlines are not on the same plane, the interior face is projected onto the exterior face.

Coons face

Create a 3D curved face using 2 or 4 outline edges.

When using 4 edges, the selected outline needs form a closed area to generate a normal curved face.

When using 2 edges, the curved face is created by the two outlines and the closest distance between them. When creating a Coons face using 2 edges, the face is formed by connecting the selected edges in a straight line. Because the face is created by connecting the Start points and End points of the two edges, it creates a twisted face if the edge directions do not match. In this case, use the reverse direction option to connect the Start and End points of each edge to create a normal face.

A Coons face is a curved face that has small errors and a fast production rate. However, using more than 4 outlines to create the face is inconvenient. When using 4 edges to create a Coons face, use the join line function to reduce the number of outlines to at most 4.

The face is not created if the shape is not shaded in the preview window after the edges have been selected. A face that cannot be shaded is one that has a problem in its configuration and has an effect on future modeling processes. In this case, it is recommended that the edges be modified or recreated or rejoined before creating the Coons face again. If there is no appropriate solution, it is safe to remodel the abnormal face using the shape modification function in the modification toolset.

Grid Face

Set an imaginary grid on the XY plane of the GCS and input the height information for each grid point to create a compound shape-curved face.

M(X direction number), N(Y direction number) represent the number of grid lines in each axis direction.

Origin X and Origin Y are the X, Y coordinates of the grid start point. LX and LY are the length in the X and Y direction of the plane.

The height information can be directly entered into a table dialog box or input from a .txt file.

Point

Create a curved face in the space that contains all selected points.

The points can be selected on the screen or their coordinates directly entered into a table dialog box.

When using a table to input the coordinates, the [Make Points] becomes active. Check this option to create the input point and un-check this option to create the face only.  Check [Make Points As Compound] to create points that are grouped as a compound shape.

Geometry set

Register the created face on the Geometry set. The user can specify the name of the Geometry set.