2011

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34 
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Figure67.Patchsurface
ThenewNetworktoolenablesyoutocreateasurfacethroughasetofcurvesintheUandVdirections.
ItissimilartotheLOFTcommandbu tmorestreamlinedandflexible.Youcanevenchooseaselectionof
curvesthatarenotconnectedtooneanother.
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Figure68.Networksurface
Ifyoudefinetheedgesofanetworkedsurfaceusingedgesfromexistingsurfaces,thenewlycreated
surfacewillhaveadditionalgripsenablingyoutocontrolthecontinuityconditionbetweenthenewly
createdsurfaceanditsadjacentsurfaces.
Theoffsettool(SURFOFFSETcommand)isaccessiblefromtheCreatepanelofthe
Surfaceribbontab.It
enablesyoutoeasilycreateanewsurfacebyoffsettinganexistingsurface.
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Figure69.Offsetsurface
YoucanturnonSurfaceAssociativitypriortoperformingaBle nd,Patch,orOffsetoperation,accessible
fromtheCreatepaneloftheSurfacesribbontab,toconstrainthenewsurfacesbasedontheoriginating
surfaces.Forexample,ifsurfaceassociativityisenabledwhenyoucreateanoffsetsurfaceandablend

betweenthetwosurfaces,allthreesurfacesareassociative.Ifyouedittheoffsetdistance,usingthe
Propertiespaletteorgrips,theblendsurfacewillupdateaccordingly.