Compound Curves

[Anonymous]

Hi all.

I've been working on this for a couple of hours now, and no joy. I need to make a structural beam bend in an arc two ways, as in a compound curve. Basically imagine a circle which is also bent. Is there a way to do this in AC?

Regards.

Andrew.

[TomWaltz]

There might be, but I'm not aware of one. If there is, it will be a workaround of some kind, not an actual command.

[Anonymous]

OK thanks. As a trainer, can you tell me if it is common practice to model the more complex forms in external packages then import them into AC? If so how to people deal with scale?

[Anonymous]

Andrew,
Is the shape you are referring to similar to a spiral ?
In plan it is circular arc and in elevation it curves upward ?
If so, and it has a rectangular cross section you may
be able to use one of the basic shapes library parts in the AC library.
Peter Devlin

[TomWaltz]

Andrew wrote:
OK thanks. As a trainer, can you tell me if it is common practice to model the more complex forms in external packages then import them into AC? If so how to people deal with scale?

It depends on how complex the form is and what you need it to look like in plan, section, or 3D.

[Anonymous]

Hi.

The part isn't too complex, it is basically a semi circle rotated along it's axis, to make it a compound arc. It has a little more to it then that but that is the easiest way to describe it. Kind of like a section of an Orange if cut into eight parts.

I'll build the part in Maya and import. Thanks for the help.

Andrew.