What is fastest way to model blinds like this?
I wonder about some deforming methods…
You could split the surface with a quarter of a pipe…
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Thanks. What if they wouldn’t be so regular? Any way to push out it from the surface?
no, also that would not bring much if it would be possible since the upfolding surface has no tangencies with the plane.
how i would do that in an eye blink: make a curve that resembles the opening curve and one straight line below the surface that has the same width, extrude them and loft the edges with option match start end then trim the area below the surface.
it looks like the surface was part of a bigger surface and got stuck through and trimmed, you could also try that instead for a test to see what works better.
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I like this approach. Thanks
Are both images made with the same method? The bottom one looks a bit different (smooth). I like the bottom one more.
I did something like this but I like your bottom one more. I did a few helpers surfaces and blendsrf between them.
yes, its the same model, just seen from above makes it look different and after trimming you are left with the upper portion of surface. also keep your history enabled, then you can adjust the height and width of the lower straight edge and the shape of the opening curve to your likings in real time to match your target before you trim.
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I think @theoutside has somewhere some video on doing such gills, but can’t find it - or maybe I’m misremembering.
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could you record few seconds video about doing that? I can`t get my lofts close to yours.
I have that yellow built from 3 surfaces and I can’t do loft with tangents. Merging curve destroys shape.
Edit: OK. My bad. I needed the roundness option set to 0 on MergeCrv.
I make these with the “Revolve” command. Simply draw your profile curve and revolve it along the axis from left to right.
Another user case is to create the straight middle section, then build a revolve at either end.
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I do these with a filleted cube , then boolean that cube into the surface and remove a face
you can flow along surface if the surface is not flat.
if you want it as one surface you can do them like this-
I have several styles of “plug” saved in a clip art file and I simply import them, array them and flow along surface or bend as needed to make them fit up to the surface I’m working on.
Here is an alternative method (there are many) to create vents around more complex target surfaces, such like curved car fenders. Note that the video only repeats what I already have done on an old model from year 2007, so the mistakes you see there could be avoided by simplifying the input geometry with the modern tools of Rhino 7 or Rhino 8 (such like converting the split ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv surface and the split side vertical surfaces by the RefitTrim tool). The latter will let you build considerable cleaner blend surface with fewer control points.
Many Rhino users are not aware of the ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv command, because its icon is quite inappropriate and located far from the other main tools that use a similar approach. This is why, they struggle to accomplish the desired shape with Sweep1 or Sweep2. In my opinion, its icon must be located next to Loft, Sweep1 or Sweep2, because all of those commands use rails to create curved surfaces. Also, the ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv icon must include two white curves shaped like the letter “T”, in order to accentuate on the input geometry and the type of shapes it creates.
Download icon (32x32 pixels):
ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv 32x32 X.rar (1.9 KB)
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Thanks for this. I like your approach above. I haven`t used ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv before. How is it different from sweep1? I like your sides they feel smooth and organic.
I did it like this (below). I used mostly blendSrf and ExtrudeCrv and a little of xNurbs plugin:
it`s too round for me I would prefer it to be more organic (freeform-like).
I should point that if I was going to create the same shape today in Rhino 7, I would use a single-span flat surface with degree 5 and 6 control points where the number 2 is located on your screen-shot of my video. And I prefer to place them a bit lower, so that they will not be part of the final shape. You will notice that the old model consists tiny triangle on either side.
Then, I would use “RefitTrim” to convert the trimmed middle surface into a single-span surface, too. That will Rhino create a very clean blend surface between those single-span surfaces.
With regards to your question, the ! _ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv command preserves the original shape of the extruded curve(s) along the entire length of the rail, whereas the ! _Sweep1 command will create a deformed surface that will try to follow the shape of both, the rail and the profile curve.
Also, in many occasion ! _Sweep1 fails to create surfaces with control points that correspond with the input curves, leading to very dense control points that are difficult to edit. On the other hand, the ! _ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv command will try to preserve the same structure as the input curves with the bare minimum of control points.
You can actually see the difference between ! _ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv and ! _Sweep1 in my screen-shot just above your post. There are 3 surfaces created by the same input geometry:
- On the left side is
! _ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv. - Sitting in the middle is
! _Sweep1surface using the white curve as a rail. - On the right side is
! _Sweep1surface using the white curve as a profile curve (Rhino fails to create a full surface, and builds just a halve instead).
You can mimic the clean ! _ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv by moving the white profile curve at the end of the top cyan curve and using ! _Sweep1. Or, you can copy the white curve at either end of the cyan curve and use ! _Sweep2.
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I wondered also if it’s possible to use the RailRevolve command somehow to build ends but I failed on that idea.
Is it possible to use RailRevolve with a different starting (A) and ending (B) profile?
I`ve thought about something like that: WISH v7: RailRevolve with multiple profile curves - #2 by davide76