# Wish: "Loft" to produce "Straight sections" if only two curves are used

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672>\
**Category:** Rhino for Windows\
**Tags:** windows\
**Created:** [May 10, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672 "2023-05-10T13:48:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/1 "2023-05-10T13:48:16Z")

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Not sure why “Loft” is programmed to add an unnecessary and often unwanted amount of extra control points while building a lofted surface between two input curves with the default “Normal” style, but in my opinion it should use the “Straight sections” style instead. 🙂

 ![Smart Loft](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/d/4/f/d4fd89369a6a582eb59933b2b55625bc4fe351e7.png)

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/2 "2023-05-11T17:37:15Z")

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I just added a picture above to make the request easier to understand.

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**Author:** ![pascal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/pascal/32/479395_2.png) [@pascal](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/pascal)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/3 "2023-05-11T19:05:53Z")

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Hi Bobi -I am skeptical. I don’t see why it should be different than it is now - a user may well want and expect a degree 3 loft, being ‘smart’ means we create two differently behaving objects where the user does not ask for it…

-Pascal

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/4 "2023-05-12T03:17:52Z")

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Hi Pascal, I don’t think that the majority of Rhino users who build “Loft” between just **two input curves** need those extra control points. 🙂 In fact, the reason to build a lofted surface between two curves is to have a simple surface that connects them together, which is a Degree 1 surface.

It’s a totally different story when the intention is to build a lofted surface with **tangent sides** (additionally activated “Match start tangent” and “Match end tangent” options) between **two surface edges** or **a surface edge and a curve**. then Degree 3 surface is needed.

I guess that the Rhino developers will refuse to devote time to make “Loft” more intelligent. However, as a workaround I just figured out that it’s possible to force Rhino use “Straight sections” by default for an alternative command that I set as a RMB command to the “Loft” icon. 🙂 I called it “Simple loft” and the macro is:  
`! _Loft _Pause _Pause _StraightSections=Yes`

* * *

The same issue happens with the “Pipe” command, but I make a dedicated topic about it.

> [@Wish: Fix these several major flaws of "Pipe"](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-fix-those-two-major-flaws-of-pipe/159757):
>
> Flaw #1: The “Pipe” command creates unwanted extra control points while making a pipe from a simple straight line consisting just 2 control points. Rather than building a straight, simple pipe, Rhino will output an overly-complicated pipe with double the amount of control points that are not needed 99% of the time. I often use “Pipe” to build car tubular frames and waste a lot of time to remove the unwanted control points. Flaw #2: Another issue with “Pipe” is that extracting an isocurve or spl…

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**Author:** ![JimCarruthers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/jimcarruthers/32/504725_2.png) [@JimCarruthers](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/JimCarruthers)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/5 "2023-05-12T03:25:49Z")

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> [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](#):
>
> Hi Pascal, I don’t think that the majority of Rhino users who build “Loft” between just **two input curves** need those extra control points. 🙂 In fact, the reason to build a lofted surface between two curves is to have a simple surface that connects them together, which is a Degree 1 surface.

I don’t know what anyone actually uses Loft for, it just exists because it’s a thing people expect to have, it’s not hugely useful for NURBS workflows, but a common use case for any Rhino tool is to make a starting surface for further point editing, so…guess what’s useful in that case?

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:42am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/6 "2023-05-12T03:42:16Z")

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The majority of users expect more intelligent tools that produce good surfaces that won’t require an additional control point editing. “Loft” between two input lines or curves is most often used to build simple straight lofted surface that does not have unnecessary control points.

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**Author:** ![pascal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/pascal/32/479395_2.png) [@pascal](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/pascal)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 4:15am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/7 "2023-05-12T04:15:41Z")

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> [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](#):
>
> I guess that the Rhino developers will refuse to devote time to make “Loft” more intelligent.

Hi Bobi - I don’t think what you propose is hard technically, it would not be the end of the world, but I find it hard to see an advantage other than ‘on paper’. Different behavior from the same command depending on the number of inputs seems incorrect, to me, and in any case the need for a degree 1 or degree 3 surface is impossible to predict, so making the behavior inconsistent when a control is there specifically for that putpose, seems only confusing and not helpful, to me.

-Pascal

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/8 "2023-05-12T04:43:28Z")

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Hi Pascal, other Rhino tools produce different output surfaces based on the number or complexity of the input object. Also, as I mentioned already, nearly every time when two input curves are used for “Loft”, it’s to build a simple straight surface that connect both curves with the minimum amount of control points.  
I don’t think that making “Loft” smarter will cause any harm to those Rhino users who **in extremely rare occasions will want to further modify the control points of the lofted surface between two curves** , because the option to manually switch to the “Normal” style is still there. However, since **the majority of time the need is to create a straight surface** , picking just two input curves show tell Rhino that it must switch to the “Straight sections” style by default. 🙂

As a workaround I use `! _EdgeSrf` to make kind of a simple “lofted surface” between two curves, but my suggestion in this topic is to make “Loft” better in the future.

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**Author:** ![richard.aubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/richard.aubin/32/502374_2.png) [@richard.aubin](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/richard.aubin)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 4:58am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/9 "2023-05-12T04:58:45Z")

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I kind of like the explicit nature of the loft settings as they are, and I disagree that my primary use for joining two curves is two create a straight section with the least amount of control points by default. In fact I will often times use the loft to match other surfaces to. Since the Normal setting uses degree 3 and both UV, I can already match to tangency without doing any extra work. If I know I don’t need the extra control, then I set it to straight.

You are correct that you should create a macro for your use case, as it is not everyone’s primary lofting requirement.

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**Author:** ![richard.aubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/richard.aubin/32/502374_2.png) [@richard.aubin](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/richard.aubin)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 5:08am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/10 "2023-05-12T05:08:22Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I don’t know what anyone actually uses Loft for

Something I use loft for on a regular basis. No need for sweeps or profiles and I can quickly adjust the curve structure to get my desired shape.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/3/9/5/3954ea04c7897b46a6ed1f631675dfb81dbbac98.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/rhino_bulgaria/32/505284_2.png) [@Rhino\_Bulgaria](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Rhino_Bulgaria)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 5:18am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/wish-loft-to-produce-straight-sections-if-only-two-curves-are-used/159672/11 "2023-05-12T05:18:35Z")

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“Loft” is a very powerful tool, especially its “Loose” style combined with History that make it the preferred approach to create high quality editable freeform objects **with controlled tangency or curvature ends**. It’s perfect for creating bathtubs, sinks, architectural shapes etc. Examples:

[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/b/7/4/b741700b0f410e0e7faf3d1fa8aee36ea7a5ed85.jpeg "History enabled editable bathtub and sink design 2 (tutorial)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7dM0pKt2vw)

[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/4/6/d/46deaed439ad77462ab2e15aecf8a803b58c260f.jpeg "History enabled editable bathtub and sink design (tutorial)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGMqA0ncwso)

[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/e/1/0/e10ee404bbaf84cf0fe6ab66e5ed6073b2c575a0.jpeg "Clean, easy to edit shape with Loose Loft") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pstXECUqJwY)

[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/4X/b/0/9/b09820f72665293149c73ebf453bad11d3f8a045.jpeg "The magic of Loft with "Loose" option") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1kQdtWpPXs)