Idea for Offset Curve

Hello,
I’ve been using Offset Curve for vertical geological sections construction which works very well (see the image for geological section example from Suppe, 1983 PDF.
In certain geological situations the rock layers are constant thickness, and the offset tool is perfect for this construction.
In constructed geological sections, the boundaries to each planar segment are bisectors and are projected (dashed lines in the image). Where the bisectors coalesce, a new bisector is generated from the two adjacent planar segment - this is where the cross-overs occur in Offset Curve in Rhino. One suggestion might be to be able to choose which part of the cross-over in Rhino is kept and which part deleted? Or maybe visualise and manipulate bisectors in Rhino?
Thanks,
Paul.

Hi Paul - can you make a simple example in Rhino to show the problem ?

thanks,

-Pascal

Hello Pascal,
Not really a problem for me, just suggesting :slight_smile:as Offset Curve works well. I’ve attached the published section in Rhino as a PictureFrame (not scaled) with an example line (in red) that could be used for Offset Curve. If you offset the curve (Sharp and Through Point) downwards, you can see it fits well with the image. If you offset the red curve upwards, you can see where the cross-overs appear and Rhino chooses to keep parts of the cross-overs that you might not want. Offset_curve.3dm (427.5 KB)

OK- thanks - I see we’re on the Mac here, I’ll check that - as far as I can see on Windows (should be the same) the offsetting looks pretty much the same either way…

http://screencast.com/t/Nysw8odJ0jl

I am too dense to see what you might be after here. Are you saying that where the lines cross in the dynamic feedback you might want them to be trimmed the other way or not trimmed at all - just return the raw offsets?

-Pascal

Hi Pascal, thanks for the screencast - need to learn how to do that.
I really like the way Rhino automatically trims the cross-overs, like in your example. If the cross-overs get a bit more extensive, then the trim has problems in certain situations - but not often.
Here is an example using a distance of 1.82 (upwards), and I think the trim might get confused depending on where you place the black location line to define the point thickness.Offset_curve_crossover.3dm (563.9 KB)
Thanks,
Paul.

Hi Paul - 1.82 works here … I guess I need to check the Mac, I don’t get that ‘reverse’ trim. Anyway, thanks, I’ll try to verify this buglet on the Mac side.

-Pascal