Creates a surface that fits across a number of cross-sectional curves arranged in space.
The Skin tool is also used for creating a Ruled surface: a surface whose defining curves are connected by straight lines.
How to use
1. Click the Skin icon or choose the Tools > Surfaces > Skinning command.
2. The program console prompts Select curves to skin on their starting endpoint.
3. You can pick as many curves as you want: the skinned surface will be interactively displayed as you select them. To end curves selection, press Spacebar.
Important note: The point where you pick the cross-sectional curves determines how the skinned surface will result. In order to avoid a twisted surface, curves should be picked as illustrated in the pictures below.
Options
Remove
To remove cross sectional curves from use in the skinning operation. Removed curves are not deleted from the scene.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Select the Skin surface by picking it with the mouse. Choose the curves you want to remove from the list. Press the Remove button.
Insert
To add new cross sectional curves to be used in the skinning operation.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Switch the Insert check button on and pick the curves you want to use in the scene.
Interpolation
To instruct how the resulting surface is fitted across curves.
Modeling Tool panel. Switch the chosen radio button on. You have four options: Skin for the usual skinning behavior, Spline if you want to use the control points of the curves as the control points of the generated surface, thus allowing more control of the tangent at each curve. Periodic Skin if you want to generate a wrapped surface with an interpolative behavior. Periodic Spline if you want to generate a wrapped surface with a spline-based behavior.
Spline V order
To control V order in case you have chosen the Spline interpolation option.
Modeling Tool panel. Set the value either by moving the slider or by typing it in the data field and pressing Enter. To obtain a ruled surface, the order value must be 2.
See also:
Loft (also known as spine-based-skin) to create a surface by sweeping two or more profile curves along a path.