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Creating a spline

Use the SplineA continuously curved line, without sharp boundaries (that is, without vertices). Create a spline by defining a set of points using the Spline tool. A spline becomes an edge when you pull it with the PullTool used to distort or deform geometry. Use the Pull tool to offset, extrude, revolve, sweep, draft, and blend faces; or to round, chamfer, or extrude edges. When converting a sketch to 3D, pulling a line creates a surface and pulling a surface creates a solid. tool. tool to sketch splines in 2D or to draw splines between points on objects in 3D. A spline is a continuously curved line, without sharp boundaries (that is, without vertices). Splines can become edges when you pull your sketch into 3D with the Pull tool. Sweeping along a spline in 3D lets you create smooth, curvy shapes.

The sketch grid must be visible in the workspace before you can draw.

To draw a spline on a sketch plane

1. Click Spline in the Sketch group.

2. If a sketch plane is not active, click on an object or objects in the Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace. to make a sketch plane.

3. Click to set the first point of the spline.

   Hold Alt and click to set the point if you want it to be tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge. When highlighting the vertex (which is actually an end point of one of the intersecting edges which has influence at the time) scroll the mouse wheel to select other adjacent edges with which to set the tangent vector direction, as previewed by the green tangency symbol.

4. Click to set the next points of the spline.

   You can Dimension spline points by entering the coordinate distance from the start point to each point, or dimension each point relative to another sketch object.

5. End the spline:

   • Double-click to set the end point of the spline.

   • Hold Alt and click to make the end point tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge.

   • Right-click and select Finish Spline.

   • Press Esc.

   • Connect the end point to the start point.

   • Click any other tool (except the Clipboard and Orient tools).

To draw a continuous spline

1. Click Spline in the Sketch group.

2. Select Draw continuous spline from the Spline section of the Sketch options panel.

3. Click and drag to draw the spline.

4. Release to finish drawing.

To draw a spline between points in 3D

1. Click Spline in the Sketch group.

2. Switch to 3D mode:

   • If a sketch plane is not active, press Esc.
   • If a sketch plane is active, click 3D ModeThree ways of designing: Sketch, Cross-section, or 3D. You can switch between modes at any time. in the Mode group or press D.

3. Click to set the first point of the spline.

   This can be any point on an object in your design.

   Hold Alt and click to set the point if you want it to be tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge. When highlighting the vertex (which is actually an end point of one of the intersecting edges which has influence at the time) scroll the mouse wheel to select other adjacent edges with which to set the tangent vector direction, as previewed by the green tangency symbol.

4. Continue selecting points to draw spline points.

5. End the spline:

   • Double-click to set the end point of the line.

   • Hold Alt and click to make the end point tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge.

   • Right-click and select Finish LineA straight line, arc, or spline drawn in Sketch mode or on a layout plane. Lines have length but no area. When you pull a sketch into 3D with the Pull tool, lines become edges..

   • Press Esc.

   • Connect the end point to the start point.

   • Click any tool (except the Clipboard and Orient tools).

To create a closed spine

You can create a closed spline in the following ways:

• When drawing a spline, end it on the start point.

• When editing the spline, drag one end point on top of the other point.

Once you have created a closed spline, you cannot edit it into an open spline.

Options

The following options are available for every sketch tool:

• Cartesian dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Cartesian dimensions from the point. Cartesian dimensions show you the X and Y distances from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the X and Y distances from the origin.

• Polar dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Polar dimensions from the point. Polar dimensions show you an angle and a distance from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the angle and distance from the origin.

• SnapConstrain to objects, angular and linear increments, or grid points while you are sketching or editing solids. You can customize the snapping behavior in File>Options. Pressing Shift while dragging snaps the tool based on your snap settings. You can use the Snap to grid tool to constrain or lock all drawing to grid points only. to grid: Select this option turn snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the minor grid spacing increment while you sketch. The defaults are 1mm for Metric and 0.125in for Imperial units. See Units options to change the minor grid spacing.

• Snap to angle: Select this option to turn angle snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the angular snap increment while you sketch. The default is 15 degrees. See Snap options to change the angular increment used for snapping.

• Create layout curves: The sketch curves are created as layout curves. If you move the design to a drawing sheet, with Sketch modeMode for drawing in two dimensions using the sketching tools on the sketch grid. A sketch is a collection of lines and other 2D objects on a sketch grid. Sketching creates regions that can be pulled into 3D. When you pull your sketch into 3D with the Pull tool, regions formed by intersecting lines will become solids and lines will become edges. selected you must select the Create layout curves checkbox again in the Sketch Options group of the Options panelArea of the user interface that enables you to modify functions specific to tools. in order to create layout curves on the drawing sheet. See Layout Curves.

• CurveIn 3D, any line in space. Fitter Options: If the Sketch plane passes through a Mesh objectObjectAnything recognizable by the tools. 3D objects include vertices, edges, faces, surfaces, solids, layouts, planes, axes, and origins. 2D objects include points and lines. created by importing an STL fileFile format native to the stereo lithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. You can export parts and assemblies (.stl).See Stereo lithography. lightweight (facets only). Mesh objects have the ability to snap to the facets., the system will fit curves through the facet points. Lines are displayed green and arcs are displayed blue. The following options apply to the system-generated curves.

  • Fit curves - Uncheck this option if you do not want the system to fit curves through the points.

  • Tolerance - Determines how many points will be found, which also determines how many curves will be created. The smaller the tolerance, the more points will be found and the curves will be generated.

  • Auto-merge - When checked On, the system will merge lines and arcs to form splines. Splines are displayed pink.

Examples

Sketching a spline between points in 3D