MicroStation PowerDraft CONNECT Edition Help

Curves Tab

Create Curves Modify Curves Curve Utilities
Note: Select a link to "jump" to the desired Curves tab group.
 

Create Curves

  • Curve by Tangents
  • Used to create a B-spline curve that passes through a set of points while maintaining user-defined tangent directions at those points.
  • Composite Curve
  • Used to place a composite curve, which can have line strings, arcs, or Bézier curves (fourth order B-spline curves with four poles) as components.
  • Interpolation by Arcs
  • Used to place or construct a complex chain of arcs that passes through a given set of points.
  • Conic Curve
  • Used to place a conic section — a hyperbola, parabola, or partial ellipse — as a third-order uniform rational B-spline curve with three poles.
  • Spiral
  • Used to place a transitional spiral as a B-spline curve.
  • Helix
  • (3D only) Used to place a helix (3D B-spline curve).
 

Modify Curves

  • Extend Curve
  • Used to extend an element (line, line string, arc, ellipse, complex chain or B-spline curve) by a certain scale.
  • Blend Curve
  • Used to construct a B-spline curve between two elements (lines, line strings, arcs, ellipses, complex chains, complex shapes, or B-spline curves) that consists of the trimmed original elements and a transition curve connecting them.
  • Curve Handlebar
  • Used to modify the shape of a B-spline curve by interactively adjusting the location of a point on the curve, or the tangency direction at that point.
  • Edit Kinks
  • Used to insert or remove kink points on a B-spline curve.
  • Edit Nodes
  • Used to insert or move nodes on B-spline curves.
  • Edit Weights
  • Used to select a B-spline curve, then a control point to modify its weight using the text field input or the slider.
  • Split Curves
  • Used to split a B-spline curve into a defined number of sections by any one of three methods.
  • Edit Control Points
  • Used to show or hide the control points for a B-spline curve, or to change the number of control points for the curve.
 

Curve Utilities

  • Flatten
  • Used to flatten or project a curve-type element, such as a line string, complex chain, complex shape, or B-spline curve, into a specified plane.
  • Facet
  • Used to convert curved elements and B-spline curves to lines, a line string, a stream curve, arcs, or points.
  • Change Direction
  • Used to reverse an element's (line, line string, arc, ellipse, complex chain, complex shape, curve, or B-spline curve) direction.
  • Convert to Curve
  • Used to convert an element (line, line string, arc, ellipse, complex chain, or complex shape.) to a B-spline curve with the same shape.
  • Extract Points
  • Used to graphically and numerically evaluate the attributes of a B-spline curve (tangents, curvatures, and inflection points) at given locations on the curve.
  • Curve by Formula
  • Opens the Curve by Formula dialog, which is used to place any conceivable planar curve as a B-spline curve or a line string, based on a mathematical formula, from a library of pre-defined curves or by defining a custom formula.
  • Match Settings
  • Used to change the active B-spline curve settings to the B-spline attributes of a B-spline curve in the design.
  • Rebuild
  • Used to “clean up” a B-spline curve that has a large number of control points (poles), like those sometimes imported from other systems.
  • Fair Curvature
  • Used to minimize the curvature variation of a B-spline curve.
Parent topic: Drawing Workflow