Skin multiple curves

00:00

So typically we'll use Skin to just connect to input sets, but we can use it to connect as many as we like.

00:08

So the first two selections will create the first straight line skin,

00:13

and then if I want to add more and blend between them, I need to use the Shift key.

00:17

So if I Shift and hold down and keep selecting,

00:22

you can see that a single skin surface is being blended between all of those selections.

00:31

Now, if I forget to add some curves in there, I can do a query edit and go back in,

00:38

but I can only select curves that come in the right place in the sequence of selections.

00:44

And I also need to use the Shift key again, so I'll Shift connect that one and Shift connect that one.

00:51

So we don't use this very often because the blending can be unpredictable and a bit difficult to control, but it can occasionally be useful.

01:01

You'll generally get better results with fewer curves

01:05

and also if those curves are very well matched in terms of their prioritisations and CV layouts.

01:11

So again, the first two creates the straight lines again as you'd expect, and then the Shift key to connect the third one.

01:20

And of course we've got construction history, so we can use in this case that center curve to shape and modify the surface.

01:31

Another situation where working with three curves works well is across a center line, like on this windscreen.

01:39

Now my curve is using layer symmetry to create the mirrored copy on the other side,

01:45

and it is possible to use this in creating a skin between three inputs, and it works quite well initially.

01:53

So if I turn those CVS on there, move those up and down, you can see that that's updating.

02:00

But this is not very reliable.

02:03

For example, if I turn off the symmetry on my curves layer, it tells me I'm going to lose the construction history on that surface.

02:11

So now there's no updating and connection between the curves and the surface.

02:16

And that break in history will also happen if you save the file and then open it back up again.

02:22

So more typically, we'd take a mirror of that curve and then do a standard skin between those three curves.

02:32

And then just be careful to make sure we pick them equally on either side when we want to do any changes.

02:41

So don't forget to use the Shift key for the third input set.