# Curve array behavior

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390>\
**Category:** Grasshopper\
**Created:** [June 5, 2018, 9:08am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390 "2018-06-05T09:08:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Yuliya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/yuliya/32/62939_2.png) [@Yuliya](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Yuliya)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:08am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390/1 "2018-06-05T09:08:18Z")

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Hi everyone

I’m new to Grasshopper and my question is about the CurveArray component.  
It seems that array is aligned with the curve when the curve start matches the position of geometry.  
And the array does not have the exact shape of curve otherwise.

 ![Curve%20array](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/original/3X/3/7/37125dde6c5a398f9e7043202446620bc50ced5b.png)

 ![Curve%20array%20shifted](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/original/3X/4/f/4fe78cbedb220669ead34fba15d0c22e5c709b08.png)

This seems a bit strange to me. I would expect the shape of the curve to be preserved no matter what position of the curve is.  
Is the component behavior correct?  
Could you please give me more details of how the component works?

Thanks  
Julia

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**Author:** ![Pietro\_Pedone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/pietro_pedone/32/281915_2.png) [@Pietro\_Pedone](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Pietro_Pedone)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390/2 "2018-06-05T09:37:22Z")

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Hi Julia! It is the same with the ArrayCrv command on Rhino, though. It doesn’t preserve the curve shape, but creates an array following a loose offset of the curve. Have you tried doing it on Rhino? It should return the same result.

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**Author:** ![Yuliya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/yuliya/32/62939_2.png) [@Yuliya](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Yuliya)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:49am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390/3 "2018-06-05T09:49:34Z")

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Hi Pietro!

Thank you for the quick response. Yes, I’ve tried it in Rhino, it does pretty the same.  
Unfortunately, it does not explain how the curvature of the array is built.  
Could you please give me more details about:

> [@Pietro\_Pedone](#):
>
> an array following a loose offset of the curve

Thank you.

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**Author:** ![Pietro\_Pedone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/pietro_pedone/32/281915_2.png) [@Pietro\_Pedone](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Pietro_Pedone)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:55am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/curve-array-behavior/64390/4 "2018-06-05T09:55:17Z")

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Well, I actually don’t know how that works, let’s wait for someone to explain the technicalities! 😃 of course, if you need an array following the shape of the curve, you could just move the curve start to match the center of the object you’re arranging.