solidThinking Curvature Display offers you the possibility to dynamically analyze smoothness, curvature and other important properties of your models by evaluating surface curvature, reflection lines and environment mapping. can be used to visually while you edit them.
The Curvature Display
panel (Tools >
Curvature... command) provides you a series of visual surface analysis
techniques. These commands use NURBS surface evaluation to help you visually
analyze surface smoothness and curvature.
solidThinking allows you not only to perform this analysis
interactively but also dynamically, i.e. you can analyze how the curvature
change while you modify the surface itself.
Once opened, the Curvature panel displays three main sections: Curvature, Reflection lines, Environment.
Curvature analysis
This technique shows the curvature of a surface representing it by a false color 'rainbow'. The curvature is displayed as a rainbow of colors going from red for the minimum curvature to magenta for the maximum curvature.
Three different computation methods are available: Mean, Gaussian, and Absolute.
If you know the range of values of curvature you want to analyze, you can enter those values in the Min and Max data fields in the Curvature range section. The values you enter for red (min) should be different from the value you enter for magenta (max). Any point on the surface with curvature values between the values you enter will be displayed using the corresponding color.
Reflection lines
A traditional method of assessing the curvature of complex surfaces such as car bodies has been to place them within a brightly lit cylinder (or half-cylinder) which has longitudinal stripes (or bands).
This technique simulates the reflection of a cylinder with longitudinal bands surrounding the surface being considered.
You can set the stripes direction Along X, Along Y, or Along Z by simply switching the appropriate radio buttons on.
The Bands field allows you to adjust the bands number.
Environment mapping
Environment mapping is a rendering technique that makes it look like a scene is being reflected by a polished metal.
Any texture can be chosen as environment map. Just click the Choose button and browse to select the texture whose selection path will be displayed in the text field.