Drawing splines ⤴

Drawing a spline by specifying fit points

Drawing a spline by specifying control vertices →

Drawing a spline by specifying fit points

Splines can pass through or near fit points that you specify to define the spline shape.

By default, a spline passes through all of the fit points, but when you draw a spline, you can change this by specifying the fit tolerance. The fit tolerance value determines how closely the spline fits the set of points you specify. For example, a fit tolerance value of 0 causes the spline to pass through the fit points. A value of 0.01 creates a spline that passes through the start and endpoints and within 0.01 units of the intermediate fit points.

Fit-point splines are additionally affected by knot parametrization, can include tangents, and can be open or closed.

 

The start point and endpoint (A) of a closed fit-point spline.

To draw a spline that passes through or near fit points   

   1   Do one of the following to choose Spline Fit ():

    On the ribbon, choose Draw > Spline Fit (in Draw) or Draw 3D > Spline Fit (in Curves).

    On the menu, choose Draw > Spline > Spline Fit.

    On the Draw toolbar, click the Spline Fit tool.

    Type spline, press Enter, choose Method, then choose Fit.

   2   Specify the first fit point of the spline.

   3   Optionally choose Knots, and choose Chord, Square root, or Uniform to determine how the curve segments between successive fit points within a spline are blended.

   4   Optionally choose Fit Tolerance, enter a new fit tolerance, and then press Enter.

   5   Specify the second fit point of the spline.

   6   Continue specifying as many fit points as you want, then press Enter or choose Close to close the spline.

   7   Specify the start tangent point to give the spline additional shape, or press Enter if you do not want to add a start tangent.

   8   Specify the end tangent point to give the spline additional shape, or press Enter if you do not want to add an end tangent.

If you are drawing a closed spline, you are prompted for only one tangent.

 

 

 

Initial spline and resulting spline with starting tangent point (A) and ending tangent point (B).                                                

The display of control vertices can be turned on or off, even for fit-point splines.
Use the Show CV command to display control vertices; use the Hide CV command to hide them.