Slice by Mesh & Boundary Curves

[Simon]

You can now easily extract the edge of an object as a curve. This can then be used to make new Curvy Objects that fit exactly along the original edge.

Along with dropping curves onto mesh surfaces and duplicating objects along curves this makes for some very interesting tools.

For this coat I used Slice by Mesh to neatly cut an opening out of a Mesh.



Then I used Extract Mesh Boundary to turn the edge into a Curve to reuse in different ways. I think the Extruded Slab would work well too if you need a square edge.



You don't have to actually cut the mesh to extract curves, any masked selection will work too.

Here are a couple of examples of adding a border to a shape. These are Slabs (drawn shapes) extruded and oriented to a pair of curves (the rails) one on the boundary and one inset a little bit using the "Slice Near Curve" action.

These should turn out with good UVs ready to add a texture or bumpmap along the border to add extra detail.

[franklejp]

Fantastic!

[granada]

Very cool Simon

Dave

[Simon]

I've added another Slice command that lets you use a Curve and a Radius as input. This is great for creating new masks and curves that are inset cleanly a fixed distance from the edge.

Along with the warp on rails, and proxy on rails - using two curves inset from the same edge will allow easy placement of all kinds of details and custom bevels.

Even a simple extrusion of a fixed width border adds a lot of definition to the shapes.

[Simon]

Here are a couple of examples of adding a border to a shape. These are Slabs (drawn shapes) extruded and oriented to a pair of curves (the rails) one on the boundary and one inset a little bit using the "Slice Near Curve" action.

These should turn out with good UVs ready to add a texture or bumpmap along the border to add extra detail.