But, the actions behind this simple sounding command, are anything but not imposing. LOFT is a LOT more lofty than one might suppose. It is just plain impressive in function.
What LOFT does is to produce a special type of extrusion that moves from the outline of one shape to another in a series of shapes. For instance, it can begin with a circle shape and morph into a rectangle shape in smooth transitions.
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| LOFT - Circle to Rectangle |
It's ability to make these transitions smoothly is remarkable. Here are just a few challenging examples of LOFT in action. In the second example, we reverse a shape and move from the original profile to the reversed profile.
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| LOFT - Reverse Shape |
In this third sample, we go from a 5 pointed star to a 10 pointed star. This is challenging since it requires each high and low point to map to both a high and low point.
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| LOFT - 5 Point Star to 10 Point Star |
This next example shows the result of LOFTing through a series of triangles mapped to a curve that closes back on itself. Both items are the same object in different orientations.
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| LOFT - Series of Triangles along a Path (Closed) |
But, the best way to see LOFT at work is with a video showing how to use it. In this first video, we create a bugle using a series of circles that we placed along a path.
We continue to explore LOFT in this video where we try different combinations of shapes and placement of shapes to test the results. A LOT of fun.
LOFT is one of those commands that invites us to simply explore for exploration's sake. The wide variety of end results from LOFTing the same set of shapes that we can achieve by changing the combinations of LOFT options is amazing and sometimes downright surprising. I urge you to play around with this wonderful command with no goals in mind. Soon you will hit on something that ignites a creative spark and you will be creating things you never thought possible.
I just wanted to say thanks for this blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome! I'll be adding more as time permits.
ReplyDeletelook forward to new post's...
ReplyDeletethank you
I love your videos! Thank you very much! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love creating the videos because Moment of Inspiration is such a joy to learn and use. Soon, there will be more videos on the YouthQuest Foundation's 3D ThinkLink blog. They cover almost all of the operations in MOI.
DeleteI'm really looking forward too it! You have a good educational approach on your way of teaching.
DeleteIf I was to request a video form you, I really would like to learn more about faces, and how to make objects solid so they can be printed, how to rebuild faces that are missing, etc.. :)
Thomas
That's a good topic. Every now and then, some faces will inadvertently disappear. I've seen it; but, haven't thought about tackling it. However, in studying the manual, I think I know were to look to fix that situation. I will test it as soon as the next need crops up.
DeleteI tested creating 6 separate planes to form a box and then using Union to create what appears to be a solid. I then brought it into the Cube Client and it appears to think it is a solid. What I can't do with the Cube Client is to look at the layers to confirm that. But, from this little experiment, it does appear that we should be able to Union individual planes to form a closed solid. We can also use OFFSET or EXTRUDE on the bottom plane to form a solid.
DeleteThe PLANAR command can also be used. This has turned out to be a very useful experiment as sometimes our cadets will find themselves with non-solid features that in the past we would find difficult to fix. Yet, the solution now looks simple. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, I've been peeking at your tutorials for years. I finally bought the program and am starting to learn how to use it. I just wanted to say THANK YOU! It is a pleasure to watch your videos. - Rik
ReplyDelete- Rik
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Tom,
ReplyDeleteYour explanation was very useful.
Which software you used in this video?
Thanks
Ashish