Faucet - Double Sweep in Hexagon

by Aine

Starting out with Line Tools. There are many options to pick from in Line Tools, while my choices may not have been the easiest to build this project. They were able to get the job done. Make sure you play around with the different Tools later to find the ones you like to use.

There is in this tutorial little hints and clues to tell you why you may not be able to select a line, point or face. Many times it is only a matter of looking at the different select types, the Scene box and the Tool box to find out if you have the correct options turned on to do so.

--Aine

View Reference from the Z
1. Translate manipulator
2. Select by Object
3. Click on the Circle by Diameter, which is found on the Lines tab.
4. As soon as you pick this Tool it is working to set the diameter. If you move your mouse around on the screen, the box line will follow it. Click in the drawing area to set this point.
5. Notice the number values change in the Object's Properties box and in the Tool Properties box as you moved around.

1. Once you have clicked the mouse to set the point, you will also notice any mouse movement will pull out a circle. Watch the values in the Tool Properties box while you pull out.
2. Click to set the second point on your diameter, at the same time, the Tool Properties changes to show Nb Pts and your cursor (not shown) changes to show a plus - minus sign. You can change the value (number of points) by two methods =one- Use the Plus or Minus key on the numbers pad to increase or decrease the count =two- Click in the Nb pts value field and change the number to what you want.
3. In this case I took it up to 24. Once you have the values you wanted, you can either click on the Validate button in the Tools Properties box, or press the Enter Key.
4. Shows the figure you have finished, is now ready to go on, it has the Translation Manipulator in place and the Tool Properties box reflects this.

1. We will now Center the object in the Object Properties box - Position, X=0(red)
2. Click on the Scale Manipulator (we are going to scale this)
3. Make sure you have Select by Object, selected
4. Click on the Y translator arm (green) and pull down.

Setting up one of the path lines.
1. View from the X
2. Click on the Translation manipulator
3. Click on Select by Point
4. Click on Polyline icon
5. Notice the Tool Properties box now reflects the use of this tool
6. Click the mouse 10 times to place a point for your line.
7. Notice when you move the mouse it is still in this mode.
8. Click on Validate in the Tool Properties box, or press enter to end the use of this tool.
(notice the extra point is now gone)

1. Set or make sure the values in size for X and Y (red and green) are set at 0
2. Moving the line in place at the side of the oval. Click on the Translation Manipulator
3. Click on Select by Object
4. Click on each of the arrows on the drawing Manipulator to pull the line into place. (don't forget about the X location too.)
5. With it now in place, click on Select by Point
6. Start clicking on each point and moving them to form the bend in your faucet.
Things to remember:
You can move the points by the arrows, or you can click on the white triangle corner to move diagonally
You can select more than one point by pressing the Shift key and holding it down while you select the additional points.
7. The basic shape of the faucet opening.

Now we are going to add in an extra point to allow for a flaring of the faucet opening.
1. Click on the Add Point icon on the Lines Tab
=Notice the Tool properties will change to this tool
=Notice Select by Line has become active. (some tools will auto switch to the selection type it needs to work)
2. Move the mouse over the last section of the path line.
=Notice the line section is highlighted
=Notice a yellow box is visible showing the location on the line you are at.
=Notice that if you move the mouse the square will slip along the line section
3. Click the mouse somewhere about midway between the line end points
=Notice if the mouse is used, the square is setting up for another point.
3a. Press the Enter key to validate and close the use of the tool.
=Notice the Properties box now goes back to the manipulator tool.
=Notice Select by Point is again active. ( some tools will auto switch back to the last selection type you used after you pressed Enter.)
4. Click on the last point in your and click and pull the Z (blue arrow) on the Translation Manipulator to move it out just a little bit.
5. Turn to the Z view
6. Move some of the points toward the spout opening out, to create a flaring out from the sides.

One of the noted items when using the Sweep Tool was it stated it needed two paths, which should have an equal number of points.
They don't have to be the same, just make them equal count. Since in this project I need the other side to be exactly the same as the one just created and since I tend to be lazy in some things (;
Use of the Symmetry Tool was used.
1. Click on Select by Object
2. Click on the Symmetry Tool icon found on the Vertex Tab
3. In the Tool Properties box, make sure 'by bounding box' is selected (blue highlight means selected)
4. You will notice a light blue bounding box outline now around your path
5. Place the mouse on the right (inside), of your path, notice it presents a blue plane. This plane tells you where the symmetrical copy will start. Click there to create the copy.
6. You will now notice several things about the Scene Tree box.
=There will be a listing for each path you have created
=The copy you just created is at the bottom of the list
=The copy isn't selected, but the one you copied from is.
Click on the last item listed to select your copy
Then click on the X Translation arrow(red) to move it over to the other side of your oval and line it up.

We have our 3 lines, one Section and two Path lines.
We are ready for the fun part of Double Sweep.
1. Click on the Translation Manipulator to select it.
2. Click on Select by Object
3. Click anywhere on your Oval to select it as the 'section' piece.
4. Click on the Double Sweep Tool located in the Surface Modeling Tab
5. Notice when you clicked on Double Sweep the Tools Properties box changed to Double Sweep
Make sure you click the two options highlighted in blue
6. Also notice when you clicked on Double Sweep, the Oval became Green.
7. Click on one of the Path lines, doesn't matter which you click. Notice it becomes Red.
8. Now click on the other Path line. Notice your form has been created.
= Notice also Tool Properties is still in use, if you are happy with the results, you can press the Enter Key to Validate the changes.

That's it, you did it!

--Aine

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