CHAPTER 5

Shaping Curves

For many years AutoCAD wasn't very sophisticated when it came to shaping curves. Sure, you could create circles, arcs, and ellipses, but shaping complex curves wasn't accurate compared to the capabilities of programs such as Maya or 3ds Max. In AutoCAD 2011 all this changed with the introduction of an all-new SPLINE command that offered much more flexibility in shaping true NURBS (nonuniform rational basis spline) curves using fit points or control vertices. AutoCAD 2012 now expands on this by giving you the ability to shape curves however you imagine and even use them to model surfaces, which you'll learn more about in Chapter 17, “Modeling in 3D.”

  • Drawing and editing curved polylines
  • Drawing ellipses
  • Drawing and editing ...

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