MicroStation CONNECT Edition Help

B-spline by Points

Used to place a B-spline curve.

You can access this tool from the following:

Ribbon: Drawing > Home > Placement > Create Curves split button
Ribbon: Modeling > Curves > Create Curves
Toolbox: Create Curves

Method	Description	Illustration
Control Points	The poles (vertices) of the control polygon are defined by data points or the vertices of the selected line string or shape. The number of poles must be greater than or equal to the order. If Closure is Open, the curve is placed between the first and last points or vertices.
Through Points	The curve passes through the points defined by the data points or the vertices of the selected line string or shape and is interpolated at each point. The curve is cubic (Order=4) with continuous second derivatives — this minimizes the curvature.
L[east]-Square[s] By Tol[erance]	The curve is approximated based on the points defined by the data points or the vertices of the selected line string or shape. The maximum deviation of the input points from the curve is adjustable using the Tolerance setting. After the approximation curve is created, the maximum deviation and the mean deviation display in the status field.
L[east]-Square[s] By Num[ber]	The sum of the squares of the distances from the data points or the vertices of the selected line string or shape to corresponding points on the curve is minimized. The control polygon has the active number of Poles. If the number of data points or vertices is the same as the number of Poles, the curve passes through all the data points or vertices, If Closure is set to Open, the curve begins and ends at the first last data points, respectively. If Closure is set to Closed, the curve approximates all data points or vertices and need not pass through any of them, unless there are the same number as the number of Poles. If the maximum error exceeds the Tolerance, the maximum error displays in status bar. The Tolerance is set in the B-splines dialog.
Catmull-Rom	Fourth-order (cubic) NURBS curve that is interpolated. Extra poles are added to closely resemble the shape defined by the data points entered, using this formula: Number of Poles = 3 × (Data Points - 1) + 1

Setting	Description
Method	Sets the manner in which the curve is generated (see large table above).
Input By	Sets the manner in which the input points are located. Points (AccuDraw) — The curve is placed by entering data points, using AccuDraw. Picking Line String — The curve is constructed based on the vertices of an selected line string or complex chain (results in open B-spline) or shape or complex shape (results in closed B-spline).
Keep Line String	(Input By set to Picking Line String only) If on, the line string is retained in the model.
Closure	Sets whether the curve is Open or Closed. Not available if Method is Catmull-Rom.
Order	(Method set to Control Points or L-Square By Num only) Sets the order of the equation that defines the curve (2-15).
Poles	(Method set to L-Square By Num only) Sets the number of poles (3–5000).
Tolerance	(Method set to L-Square By Tol. only) Sets the fitting or approximation tolerance. The distance from any one of the input data points to the curve is less than this value. The distance is computed by projecting a point to the curve.
Tangents	(Method set to Through Points or L-Square By Tol and Closure set to Open only) Sets the manner in which the curve's tangency to adjacent elements is controlled. None — Default tangent directions are automatically computed. Both — Starting and ending tangent directions are defined graphically. Start — Starting tangent direction is defined graphically. End — Ending tangent direction is defined graphically.
Through End Points	(Method set to L-Square By Tol only) Sets the manner in which the curve's beginning and ending points are located. If On, the curve passes through the first and the last input points. Otherwise, the curve's endpoints are computed based on the Tolerance setting.
Fill Type	(Closure set to Closed only) Sets the Active Fill Type. None - If on, the complex shape is not filled. Opaque - If on, the complex shape is filled with the Active Color. Outlined - If on, the complex shape is filled with the Fill Color.
Fill Color	(Closure set to Closed only) Sets color with which the element(s) are filled. To define the Fill Color, use the controls on the Active Color, True Color, Color Book, or Gradient Fill tab. If Fill Type is Opaque, the element(s) are filled with the Active Color, which is also the color of the element's outline. If Fill Type is Outlined, the element(s) can be filled with a color that is different from the Active Color.

Key-in: PLACE CURVE ICON