Draws a sequence of lines and arcs or, anyway, a curve composed of lines and arcs.
How to use
1. Click the Line-Arc icon or choose the Tools > Curves > Arcs > Line-Arc command.
2. The program console prompts Local axes origin.
3. Place the local axes of the composite curve either by clicking and dragging in any view (release the mouse button to confirm placement) or by typing its XYZ coordinates in the console. Values must be separated by a comma, i.e. 1,2,3, and confirmed by pressing Enter . If you press Enter without typing any value, the axes origin of the curve will be placed in correspondence with the XYZ origin.
4. Successive clicks will define the composite curve alternating lines to arcs, each arc being tangent to the preceding line. If you prefer, you can type exact coordinates from the keyboard at the console prompts. You can add points in any view regardless of where you have started drawing.
5. Press Spacebar to stop points insertion.
To interactively define the point position, hold the mouse button down after the click or click while pressing the Shift key.
Options
XYZ coordinates
To modify XYZ coordinates of a point.
Views. Choose the Edit mode. Click the point whose position you want to modify and drag it. Release the mouse button when you reach the desired position.
Modeling Tool panel. Select the point from the scroll list that appears when you click the [&ldots;] button. Type the new values in the three XYZ data fields and confirm them by pressing Enter.
Remove
To remove a point.
Views. Choose the Edit mode. Pick the point you want to remove. Choose the Edit > Delete command or press Del .
Modeling Tool panel. Click the [&ldots;] button and select the point you want to remove from the scroll list (the views will display it in yellow). Press the Remove button.
Insert
To add new points to the composite curve.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Switch the Insert check button on and click in any view. If you have previously selected two adjacent points you can add points between them.
Curve type
To open/close the selected curve.
Modeling Tool panel. Just switch the related radio button on.
On insert
To create a composite curve only with lines or arcs.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Terminate points insertion by pressing Spacebar . Switch the Insert check button on, followed by one of these options: Alternated (default), Line, Arc. Start clicking within any view to insert points that define the curve.
On remove
To specify whether to remove the previous or the next portion of curve when removing a control point.
Modeling Tool panel. Switch the chosen radio button on. You can choose either Leave previous or Leave next.
Snap
To make lines tangent to arcs.
Modeling Tool panel. Switch off the check button to disable this option, which is enabled by default.
Arc type
To specify whether the arcs must be weighted (exact) or non-weighted (approximated).
Modeling Tool panel. Switch the chosen radio button on. You can choose either Weighted or Non-weighted. If you choose the first option, the number of control points is automatically defined. With the second option you can set the number of control points in the section below.
Note: in general, you could use Weighted if you do not plan to modify the original shape and Non-weighted if you want to edit it.
Points
To determine the number of control points of the arcs in case you have chosen Non-weighted in the above section.
Modeling Tool panel. Set the value either by moving the slider or by typing it in the data field and pressing Enter. (remember: the more the control points, the more approximated the circle).
See also: