SolidWorks and Bezier Curves

Its been a while since I used SolidWorks so this may be a dumb question, but can the software create and edit(not just import) Bezier splines in addition to Nurbs?

This requirement is more for working with 2D graphic design rather than surfacing.

Many thanks

Alec

Reply to
Alec Thorne
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Alec.

Nope,,, Nurbs only.

The only CAD programs that I know of that use beziers are Catia V4, and some older European systems like Strim.

Regards

Mark

Reply to
MM

Alec.

Nope,,, Nurbs only.

The only CAD programs that I know of that use beziers are Catia V4, and some older European systems like Strim.

Regards

Mark

Reply to
MM

Interesting...

So if I am receiving 2D bezier based artwork from the likes of Corel or Illustrator, I take it then that I would need to export/import in DXF/DWG format and as Nurbs or Polygon splines??? Has anyone had any experience in this?

Howabout when creating a 2D technical illustration from a 3D part (in SW) and then touching this up in Illustrator. Can the SW 2D drawing views be exported as *.ai or *.eps (or only DXF)?

Last but not least, any ideas on how to import, vectorise and smooth a bitmap image with SW?

Lots of questions I know, but as you can see I have to deal with lots of graphic design / illustrations, and it seems the link between SW and graphic design packages is not so strong as I had hoped.

Isn't there any add on product for SW that will allow me to work with Beziers???????

Thanks again

Alec

Reply to
Alec Thorne

True of surface reps, but not curves?

Ashlar and CSI both list Bezier splines in their data sheets.

Disclaimer I share with jon: I don't know from Adam.

Reply to
Sniffles

I don't know if it's of any practical use to you (no firsthand knowledge of your type work) but Rhino has some support for Beziers and some degree of interoperability with AI. It can't vectorize, but there are a few freeware / shareware / cheap programs that will at least attempt it.

Reply to
Jeff Howard

Alec,

Corel subdevides curves into line segements when exoprted as DXF, don't know about Adobe. It would be nice if SW could import these types of curves directly.

DWG is also an option

Sw isn't intended to be an illustration tool. It "will" produce all of the

3D views in a variety of formats. These can then be used in any (more suitable) illustration program. This isn't a shortcoming of SW, just the right tool for the right job.

This can be done with any number of raster to vector programs, and imported.

it's not an illustration program, but the toos are there to work with one

Why would you want too ? They're not necessary for solid modeling or surfacing, and like I said, it's not an illustration program.

Baren-Boym may be able to write something that will allow you to read beziers in as nurbs.

Regards

Mark

Reply to
MM

Mark

Thanks for the reply. So why the need for Bezier curves??

We do a lot of different work from technical illustration through to jewellery design. This means that we work with anything from a pencil sketch (that needs vectorising and smoothing) through to a ready made solid. Sometimes with the likes of the jewellery design we create a solid model, but the original 2D design has to be completed using Bezier curves as they are so much more flexible than Nurbs.

Thus the reason of wanting a system that is as strong in 2D design as it is in 3D design.

Hope that explains things a little better.

Thanks for the feedback.

Alec

Reply to
Alec Thorne

Hoping to learn something here; could you elaborate / expand on that? Are you talking about actual shape creation (don't think so, but like I said I'm here to learn) or do you mean that there is better support in the software packages you use?

Reply to
Jeff Howard

Alec,

Sounds like your trying to use the wrong tool (Solidworks) for your particular needs then.

In SW, (and all of the other solid packages for that matter), 2D data is either a mathematically defined basis for a 3D shape (sketch) or a projected view of a 3D object (drawing). This is all that's needed for the engineering tasks the program was designed to perform. There is some 2D drawing capabilty, but it's intended to augment "detailing" of engineering drawings.

I don't know that a "single" program even exists that meets all your needs.

Regards

Mark

Reply to
MM

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