Style

® ®
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0
Freeform Surfacing (ISDX)

Help Topic Collection
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Table of Contents
Freeform Surfacing......................................................................................... 1
Using Freeform Surfacing ............................................................................. 1
Tutorials.................................................................................................. 1
An Overview of the Freeform Surfacing Tutorials ................................................ 1
Overview of the Freeform Surfacing User Interface ............................................. 1
Freeform Surfacing Toolbar........................................................................... 2
Freeform Surfacing Quickbar......................................................................... 2
Freeform Surfacing Analysis Quickbar............................................................. 3
Styling Menu .............................................................................................. 4
Freeform Surfacing Commands on Other Menus............................................... 5
Shortcut Menus........................................................................................... 7
Four-View Layout ........................................................................................ 8
Overview of Modeling Techniques ..................................................................... 9
To Build Four Curves.................................................................................... 9
Displaying Points........................................................................................11
To Build a Surface ......................................................................................12
To Connect the Free Curves to the Surface ....................................................13
Understanding Updates ...............................................................................14
To Connect the Freeform Surfacing Surface to the Pro/ENGINEER Surface ..........14
To Create a Normal Connection ....................................................................15
To Exit the Freeform Surfacing Feature..........................................................17
To Redefine the Freeform Surfacing Feature ...................................................17
Creating Curves and Surfaces .........................................................................19
To Open the Start Part ................................................................................19
Create Curves on the Model .........................................................................21
To Create a COS by Drop..........................................................................21
Create the Remaining Curves .......................................................................22
To Create the Curve for the Blister .............................................................22
To Create the Bottom Curve......................................................................23
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Table of Contents
Create Surfaces and Change Connections ......................................................24
To Create the Surfaces .............................................................................24
To Break the Default Surface Connections ...................................................24
Make a Solid Cut with the Freeform Surfacing Quilt .........................................25
Understanding Connections ............................................................................26
About Curve to Curve Connections .............................................................26
To Redefine the Free Curves .....................................................................27
About Surface Connections .......................................................................28
About Normal Connections ........................................................................29
To Make Freeform Surfacing Surface Connections.........................................29
Making Further Modifications........................................................................30
Creating Different Surface Types in Freeform Surfacing ......................................30
Redefine Freeform Surfacing surfaces and change their type ............................32
Redefining Surfaces.......................................................................................36
To Create a Curve to Redefine a Surface........................................................36
To Redefine the Boundary References of the Surface .......................................38
To Add Internal Curves to the Surface ...........................................................39
Add the Internal Curve to the Surface ...........................................................39
Using Proportional Update ..............................................................................40
To Begin the Exercise .................................................................................42
To Redefine a Feature Proportionally .............................................................43
To Make Proportional Updates to the Rest of the Model ....................................46
Creating Curves on Surfaces (COSs) ................................................................47
To Create the Curve Profiles ........................................................................47
To Drop the Profile Curves onto the Surfaces..................................................49
To Create a Fillet Surface from the Dropped Curves.........................................50
To Add Detail to the Surfaces using COS........................................................53
To Create COSs .......................................................................................53
To Trim the Fillet Surface..........................................................................56
Creating Radial Path Planar Curves ..................................................................58
To create a radial planar curve .....................................................................61
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Table of Contents
Creating Draft Connections.............................................................................62
Creating Freeform Draft Connections ...............................................................66
Using the Internal Resolve Mode .....................................................................69
To Understand Resolve................................................................................69
Make Another Change to the Phone Model .....................................................73
Make a Third Change to the Phone................................................................74
Other Options on the Resolve Dialog Box .......................................................74
Using Freeform Surfacing with Reference Data ..................................................75
Part 1: Freeform Blending between Pro/ENGINEER Features .............................75
To Connect the Curves to the Surfaces ..........................................................77
Tangent Edge Connection ............................................................................77
Surface Tangent Connection ........................................................................78
To Create Surfaces .....................................................................................78
Part 2: Scan Data.......................................................................................79
Analyze the Data........................................................................................82
Redefine the Feature ..................................................................................82
Part 3: Facet Data ......................................................................................82
Fundamentals of the Style Surface Edit Tool .....................................................85
1. Introduction...........................................................................................85
2. Getting into the Surface Edit tool ..............................................................86
3. Setting Mesh Density ..............................................................................87
4. Moving Mesh Points ................................................................................89
5. Display Options ......................................................................................91
6. Alignment (Connections) .........................................................................93
7. Popup Menus .........................................................................................95
8. Multi-Resolution Editing ...........................................................................95
9. Surface Edit History ................................................................................97
10. Conclusion ...........................................................................................98
User Interface .........................................................................................98
About Freeform Surfacing Features..................................................................98
To Start Freeform Surfacing ...........................................................................99
v
Table of Contents
To Exit Freeform Surfacing .............................................................................99
Styling Menu ................................................................................................99
Edit Menu .................................................................................................. 100
View Menu ................................................................................................. 101
Analysis Menu ............................................................................................ 102
Info Menu .................................................................................................. 103
Freeform Surfacing Toolbars ......................................................................... 103
Freeform Surfacing Quickbar...................................................................... 103
Freeform Surfacing Toolbar........................................................................ 104
To Customize the Freeform Surfacing Toolbars ................................................ 105
Shortcut Menus .......................................................................................... 105
Modifier Keys ............................................................................................. 106
To Enable the ALT Key ................................................................................. 107
About Snapping in Freeform Surfacing ................................................... 107
About Snapping .......................................................................................... 107
To Enable Snapping..................................................................................... 107
Enable Snap With Menu Option................................................................... 108
Enable Snap With the SHIFT Key ................................................................ 108
To Select a Reference Entity for a Soft Point ................................................... 108
Setting Preferences ............................................................................. 108
To Set Freeform Surfacing Preferences........................................................... 108
To Display Surface Mesh .............................................................................. 109
Views and Datum Planes ........................................................................... 109
About Multiple Views ................................................................................... 109
About Setting the Active Plane Orientation...................................................... 110
About Selective Display of Entities ................................................................. 110
Creating and Editing Curves in Multiple Views ................................................. 111
To Set the Active Plane ................................................................................ 112
To Set a View to the Active Plane Orientation .................................................. 112
To Show All Views ....................................................................................... 112
Example: Four-View Display ......................................................................... 113
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Table of Contents
To Resize the Panes in a Four-View Display..................................................... 113
To Show the Next View ................................................................................ 114
To Reset a View .......................................................................................... 114
About Creating Datum Planes ....................................................................... 114
To Create an Internal Datum Plane ................................................................ 114
To Edit an Internal Datum Plane.................................................................... 115
To Manipulate and Regenerate an Internal Datum Plane ................................... 115
Example: Internal Datum Plane Offset from a Surface ...................................... 116
Style Tree ............................................................................................... 116
About the Style Tree.................................................................................... 116
To Display the Style Tree ............................................................................. 117
To Show or Hide Entities in the Style Tree ...................................................... 117
About Selecting Entities in the Style Tree ....................................................... 117
To Select Entities in the Style Tree ................................................................ 118
Using the Mouse ...................................................................................... 118
Using the Keyboard .................................................................................. 118
To Perform Actions Using the Style Tree ......................................................... 118
About Adding Informational Columns to the Style Tree ..................................... 119
To Add Informational Columns to the Style Tree .............................................. 119
To Remove Informational Columns from the Style Tree .................................... 119
To Change the Order of the Informational Columns in the Style Tree .................. 120
Curves.................................................................................................... 120
Understanding Curves ............................................................................ 120
About Creating Curves in Freeform Surfacing .................................................. 120
About Defining Points for Curves ................................................................... 122
Soft-Points .............................................................................................. 122
Fixed Points............................................................................................. 122
Point Types ................................................................................................ 123
Interpolation Points .................................................................................. 123
Editing Control Points................................................................................ 123
Example: Curve Control Points ...................................................................... 124
vii
Table of Contents
Creating Curves .................................................................................... 124
To Create a New Curve ................................................................................ 124
To Create a Free Curve ................................................................................ 125
To Create a Planar Curve ............................................................................. 125
To Create a Circle ....................................................................................... 126
To Create an Arc ......................................................................................... 127
About Curves on Surfaces ............................................................................ 127
To Create a COS by Points............................................................................ 128
To Create a COS by Drop ............................................................................. 128
To Create a COS by Intersect........................................................................ 129
About Offsetting Curves ............................................................................... 129
Multiple Offset Curves ............................................................................... 129
Redefining Offset Curves ........................................................................... 129
Editing Offset Curves ................................................................................ 130
To Create an Offset of a Free Curve ............................................................... 130
To Create an Offset of a Curve on Surface ...................................................... 130
To Create an Offset of a Curve On Surface by Intersect .................................... 131
To Create an Offset of a Planar Curve or Radial-Path Planar Curve ..................... 132
Example: Offset of a Curve On Surface .......................................................... 133
About Curves from Surface........................................................................... 133
To Create a Curve from Surface .................................................................... 134
About Radial-Path Planar Curves ................................................................... 134
To Create a Radial-Path Planar Curve............................................................. 134
Example: Radial-Path Planar Curve................................................................ 136
Editing Curves....................................................................................... 136
About Proportional Update............................................................................ 136
To Select Curves for Edit .............................................................................. 137
To Edit Curve Points .................................................................................... 137
To Change the Curve Type ........................................................................... 138
To Constrain Point Movement While Editing..................................................... 138
To Change the Soft-Point Type...................................................................... 139
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Table of Contents
To Change a Planar Curve Position ................................................................ 140
To Add Points to Curves ............................................................................... 140
To Combine Curves ..................................................................................... 141
To Split a Curve .......................................................................................... 141
To Extend a Curve....................................................................................... 141
To Extend a COS to Boundary ....................................................................... 142
To Extend a COS by Drop to Boundary ........................................................... 142
About Making Curves Planar Between Their Endpoints ...................................... 142
To Make a Curve Planar Between Its End Points............................................... 143
To Redefine a Radial-Path Planar Curve .......................................................... 143
About Unlinking and Converting Curves.......................................................... 144
To Unlink Curves and Surfaces...................................................................... 145
To Convert Curves ...................................................................................... 145
To Convert a COS by Intersect ...................................................................... 145
About Importing Curves ............................................................................... 146
To Import Curves........................................................................................ 146
Editing Multiple Curves ........................................................................... 147
About Multiple Curve Edits............................................................................ 147
To Edit Multiple Curves ................................................................................ 147
To Change the Location of Multiple Points ....................................................... 148
To Change the Tangent Options for Multiple Curves ......................................... 148
To Offset Multiple Planar Curves .................................................................... 149
To Convert Multiple Curves........................................................................... 149
Freeform Surfacing Parameters ............................................................... 150
About Parameters in Freeform Surfacing ........................................................ 150
To Make Freeform Surfacing Parameters Visible............................................... 150
To Edit Parameters Outside Freeform Surfacing ............................................... 150
To Obtain Information on Parameters ............................................................ 151
Surfaces ................................................................................................. 151
About Surfaces ........................................................................................... 151
About Composite Surfaces............................................................................ 151
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Table of Contents
About Triangular Surfaces ............................................................................ 151
To Create a Boundary Surface....................................................................... 152
To Create a Loft Surface .............................................................................. 153
Example: Loft Surface ................................................................................. 154
To Create a Blend Surface ............................................................................ 154
Example: Radial and Non-radial Blend Surfaces ............................................... 155
Example: Uniform and Non-uniform Blend Surfaces ......................................... 156
About Chains in Freeform Surfacing ............................................................... 156
About Internal Curves.................................................................................. 157
About Internal Curves in Triangular Surfaces .................................................. 159
About Editing Surfaces................................................................................. 159
About Trimming Surfaces ............................................................................. 159
To Trim a Surface ....................................................................................... 160
About Redefining Trimmed Surfaces .............................................................. 160
To Redefine Trimmed Surfaces...................................................................... 161
To Delete Trimmed Surfaces ......................................................................... 161
Connections ............................................................................................ 161
About Curve Connections ............................................................................. 161
To Create Curve Connections Using Tangent Constraints................................... 162
About Editing Curve Tangents ....................................................................... 163
About Direct Modification of Curve Tangents ................................................... 163
To Change a Tangent's Directional Constraints ................................................ 163
About Surface Connections ........................................................................... 165
Controlling Surface Connections in Composite Surfaces.................................. 166
About Default and Smart Connections ............................................................ 166
To Connect Surfaces.................................................................................... 167
About Draft Connections for Surfaces............................................................. 168
To Create Curve Connections Using Draft Tangent ........................................... 168
About Second Constraints Definition for Curves ............................................... 169
To Create Second Constraint Definition for Curves with Surface Tangent, Surface
Curvature, or Draft Tangent Constraint .......................................................... 169
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Table of Contents
Tip: Setting the Second Constraint Definition .................................................. 170
About Surface Connections with Triangular Surfaces ........................................ 170
Freeform Surfacing Editing Tools ................................................................ 170
To Select Entities ........................................................................................ 170
Using Selection for Move and Copy ............................................................. 170
About Moving and Copying Freeform Surfacing Geometry ................................. 171
Copying Curves with Soft-Point Constraint Proportionally ............................... 171
To Move and Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry............................................. 171
Example: Move and Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry ................................... 174
To Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry Proportionally ....................................... 174
Example: Copy Proportional.......................................................................... 175
To Redefine Geometry ................................................................................. 175
To Get Information on Freeform Surfacing Features ......................................... 176
To Get Information on Selected Entities.......................................................... 176
To Repeat a Freeform Surfacing Command ..................................................... 176
Deleting Geometry................................................................................. 176
About Deleting Geometry ............................................................................. 176
To Delete Geometry .................................................................................... 176
To Delete Curve Points................................................................................. 177
Editing Surfaces Directly ........................................................................... 177
About Editing Surfaces Directly ..................................................................... 177
To Edit a Surface Directly ............................................................................. 177
To Preserve and Align Boundaries While Editing Surfaces Directly ...................... 180
To Use Multi-Resolution Surface Editing.......................................................... 181
To Use Knots While Editing Surfaces Directly................................................... 183
Editing Special Surface Types ....................................................................... 184
Regeneration ........................................................................................... 185
About Freeform Surfacing Regeneration ......................................................... 185
To Regenerate the Freeform Surfacing Feature................................................ 185
To Automatically Regenerate Curves .............................................................. 185
To Automatically Regenerate Surfaces............................................................ 185
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Table of Contents
About Resolve Mode .................................................................................... 186
To Resolve a Freeform Surfacing Feature........................................................ 186
Curve and Surface Analysis........................................................................ 187
About Curvature Plots.................................................................................. 187
About Curve and Surface Analyses in Freeform Surfacing.................................. 189
Pro/ENGINEER Integration......................................................................... 190
To Redefine or Reroute Freeform Surfacing Features ........................................ 190
To Redefine Features ................................................................................ 190
To Reroute Features ................................................................................. 190
To Resolve Freeform Surfacing Features from Pro/ENGINEER ............................ 190
To Create Freeform Surfacing Parameters in Pro/ENGINEER .............................. 191
Trace Sketch ........................................................................................... 191
About Trace Sketch ..................................................................................... 191
About Fitting Sketches ................................................................................. 191
To Insert a Sketch on a Default Datum Plane .................................................. 191
To Insert a Sketch on a Datum Plane or a Planar Surface.................................. 191
Example: Trace Sketches on Datum Planes and Planar Surfaces ........................ 192
To Insert a Scene........................................................................................ 193
To Remove, Show, and Hide a Sketch ............................................................ 194
To Align the Inserted Sketch......................................................................... 194
About Creating Geometry from Sketches ........................................................ 195
Glossary ................................................................................................. 196
Glossary for Freeform Surfacing .................................................................... 196
Index ........................................................................................................ 201
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Freeform Surfacing
Using Freeform Surfacing
Tutorials
An Overview of the Freeform Surfacing Tutorials
This project contains several short tutorials addressing different Freeform Surfacing
functionality. The tutorials are:
• Overview of the Freeform Surfacing User Interface
• Overview of Modeling Techniques
• Creating Curves and Surfaces
• Understanding Connections
• Creating Different Surface Types in Freeform Surfacing
• Redefining Surfaces
• Using Proportional Update
• Creating Curves On Surface (COSs)
• Creating Radial Path Planar Curves
• Creating Draft Connections
• Creating Freeform Draft Connections
• Using the Internal Resolve Mode
• Using Freeform Surfacing with Reference Data
Overview of the Freeform Surfacing User Interface

The Freeform Surfacing module has its own user interface (similar to Sketcher), and
it requires some explanation as to what actions the various icons, dialog boxes, and
menus perform. The following figure shows the Pro/ENGINEER window with the
Freeform Surfacing interface displayed. The Freeform Surfacing Quickbar is displayed
horizontally at the top of the window, and the Freeform Surfacing Toolbar is
displayed vertically at the right of the window.
1
Freeform Surfacing (ISDX) - Help Topic Collection
Freeform Surfacing Toolbar

The geometry tools in the following figure duplicate many of the functions found on
the Styling menu:
Select
Set the active datum plane / create internal datum plane
Create curve / circle / arc
Edit curve
Create COS by projection / create COS by intersection
Create surfaces
Connect surfaces
Trim quilts
Done / cancel
Freeform Surfacing Quickbar

The tools on the Quickbar shown are commonly used functions in Freeform
Surfacing.
2
Freeform Surfacing
Freeform Surfacing Analysis Quickbar

The tools on the Quickbar shown are commonly used analysis functions in Freeform
Surfacing.
Curvature: curvature, radius, tangent options for curve,

normal options for surface.
Sections: curvature, radius, tangent, position options for

cross sections and position for highlight.
Offset: curve or surface
Shaded Curvature: gaussian, max, section options

Reflection
Draft Check
Slope
Display the Saved Analysis dialog
Hide all saved analyses
Delete all curvature saved analyses
Delete all sections saved analyses
3
Styling Menu
The Styling menu contains several commands.
4
Freeform Surfacing
Freeform Surfacing Commands on Other Menus

The Edit menu contains several Freeform Surfacing commands.
5
The View menu also has Freeform Surfacing options.
Freeform Surfacing preferences are available on the Styling menu to set preferences
for display, curvature plots, and surface mesh. If you click Styling > Preferences,
the following dialog box opens:
6
Freeform Surfacing
Shortcut Menus
The shortcut menus are as follows.
Right-click anywhere in the main window to open the view shortcut menu.
Right-click a tangent to open the tangent shortcut menu.
Right-click a soft-point to open the soft-point shortcut menu.
7
Right-click an endpoint (not a soft-point) on the curve to open the point shortcut
menu.
Right-click an internal point (not a soft-point) on the curve to open the point shortcut
menu.
Right-click anywhere on a selected curve (not on a point) to open the curve shortcut
menu.
Four-View Layout
In Freeform Surfacing you can work in a single view as in top-level Pro/ENGINEER,
or you can click or click View > Show All Views and switch to the four-view
layout shown. Click again to return to single view.
8
Freeform Surfacing
1. Vertical sash
2. Horizontal sash
Overview of Modeling Techniques

This tutorial demonstrates an overview of some basic Freeform Surfacing modeling
techniques, including creating curves and surfaces, redefining surfaces, and
understanding surface connections. For more detailed tutorials on each subject, refer
to the Table of Contents for individual titles.
To Build Four Curves

In this exercise you use a cylinder as the basic shape for a pitcher and build four
curves to define the shape of a spout.
1. Drag the following file into the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window:
isdx_overview_start.zip
The File Open dialog box opens.
2. Select isdx_overview_start.prt and click Open. The start part, consisting of a

parametric cylinder and a datum point, opens in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics
window.
The cylinder height is 270, and the radius is 80. The point is offset from the
surface by 30.
9
3. Click Insert > Style.
4. Click . The Freeform Surfacing dashboard displays the curve-related options.
Now create a spout shape at the top of the cylinder. The shape consists of four
curves—two curves on surfaces (COSs) and two free curves.
5. Click COS.
6. Select two locations on the surface on which to create two points of a COS to be
the side of the spout.
7. Click or middle-click.
8. Select two locations on the surface on which to create two points of the COS to
be the bottom of the spout as shown in the following wireframe model. Press the
SHIFT key to snap the first curve.
10
Freeform Surfacing
1. Two free curves
2. Two COSs
9. Click or middle-click.
10. Click Free.
11. Hold down SHIFT and select two locations to create two points of a free curve to
be the top edge of the spout (one point is snapped to the datum point, the other
to the COS).
12. Middle-click.
13. Hold down SHIFT and select two locations to create two points of a free curve to
be the outer edge of the spout (one point is snapped to the datum point and the
other to the COS). See the preceding figure.
14. Click .
Displaying Points
When a curve references some other geometry, the curve is said to be the child of
the other geometry, and the points on the curve are said to be soft. A point is
displayed in one of four shapes depending on what it references.
• A free point in space is displayed as a solid dot.
11
• A soft-point referencing a curve, a solid or surface edge, or a datum axis is

displayed as a circle.
• A soft-point referencing a surface, facet data, or a solid face is displayed as a

hollow square.
• A fixed point is fully constrained and is displayed as an x.
To Build a Surface
This exercise shows how to build surfaces from curves.
1. Click . The Freeform Surfacing dashboard displays the Surface-related

options.
2. Holding down CTRL, select the four curves you created previously. The surface is
created.
12
Freeform Surfacing
3. Click . See the following figure:
To Connect the Free Curves to the Surface

The type of connection between curves and surfaces makes a tremendous difference
in the shape of the transition from the curve to the surface.
1. Select the free curve that is the top edge of the spout.
2. Click to edit the selected curve or double-click the curve.
3. Click the endpoint that lies on the surface to display the tangent.
13
4. Right-click the tangent to display the following tangent shortcut menu:
5. Select Surface Tangent.
6. Repeat this procedure for the other free curve.
7. Click .
8. Click to regenerate the feature.
Understanding Updates
The Freeform Surfacing feature is a superfeature that contains curves, surfaces,
relations, and internal history. For this reason, it has an internal regeneration and
update mechanism. resembles a traffic light.
By default, Freeform Surfacing will try to keep the immediate children up to date
when you modify a curve. However the whole feature will not necessarily be up to
date all of the time.
When you modify a component of a superfeature, you must need to update the
feature using .
To Connect the Freeform Surfacing Surface to the

Pro/ENGINEER Surface
Even though the curves are now connected, you must still make surface connections.
1. Select the Freeform Surfacing surface.
2. Click .
The connection icons are displayed as dashed lines, that is, no connection, on the
surface.
14
Freeform Surfacing
3. Click on the connection arrows to change their direction and level.
o Clicking on the end of the icon changes the connection direction.
o Clicking in the middle of the icon raises the continuity level (if the curve
connections allow).
o Clicking with SHIFT held down removes the connection.
4. Click .
To Create a Normal Connection

In this exercise, you connect the top and bottom horizontal curves of the Freeform
Surfacing surface to be normal to a datum plane, and then make the spout surface
centerline continuous.
The two criteria for establishing normal tangency are:
• The curves that run into the center plane must have tangents of type Normal
where they touch the center plane.
• The curve that lies on the center plane must be flat (either a planar curve, or a
free curve with a 2D shape).
15
1. Curve on the center plane
1. Click and select the curve for editing.
2. Turn on the display of datum planes.
3. Click the endpoint of the top horizontal curve that is attached to the datum point
to display the tangent.
4. Right-click the tangent to display the tangent shortcut menu.
5. Select Normal from the menu.
6. Select the RIGHT datum plane.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for the bottom horizontal curve.
8. Connect the surface to the datum plane.
1. Connect this edge
2. To this plane
16
Freeform Surfacing
Note: If you see surface connect icons that do not have a neighbor surface, they are
likely these "normal to plane" connections.
To Exit the Freeform Surfacing Feature

Exiting the Freeform Surfacing feature allows you to merge the two surfaces into one
quilt.
1. Click (Done).
2. Merge the two surfaces into one quilt.
To Redefine the Freeform Surfacing Feature

In this exercise you redefine the Freeform Surfacing feature and edit the two curves
on surfaces (COSs) to change the shape of the spout.
17
1. Select the Freeform Surfacing feature.
2. Right-click to display a shortcut menu in the feature tree.
3. Click Edit Definition.
4. Select one COS.
5. Click .
6. Move the points of the curve to modify the shape of the curve, being careful to
keep the centerline curve on the centerline plane so it mirrors correctly.
7. Select the other COS.
8. Move the points of the curve.
9. Click .
10. Click to regenerate the feature, if required.
11. Exit the Freeform Surfacing feature.
18
Freeform Surfacing
Now you can modify the datum point parametrically to increase or decrease the
depth of the spout opening.
Creating Curves and Surfaces

The techniques presented here are examples of the curve and surface creation tools.
In this procedure you learn how to modify the surfaces of a toaster model by
inserting a blister to reduce the weight and improve its aesthetics. You can apply
these techniques to other products also.
To Open the Start Part

In this exercise you open and set up the base model of a toaster.
isdx_create_curve_surf.zip
19
2. Select isdx_create_curve_surf.prt and click Open. The start part opens.
3. In the Model Tree, drag the Insert Here arrow up until it is just below the datum
curve.
20
Freeform Surfacing
Note that after you have moved the insert arrow, the features below it are
suppressed in the Model Tree and in the graphic window, as shown in the following
figure:
Create Curves on the Model

In the next exercises you create three curves to drop onto the surface of the toaster
model as you begin shaping the side of the model to improve its aesthetics. To do
this you drop three lines of the sketched rectangle, as shown in the preceding figure,
onto the outer curved surface of the extrusion.
The type of feature you create is called a COS by Drop. COS (Curve on Surface) is a
special kind of curve constrained to lie on a single surface.
To Create a COS by Drop

1. Click Insert > Style to create a new Freeform Surfacing feature.
2. Click to indicate the target surface, the curves to drop onto it, and the datum
plane to define the drop's direction.
21
3. Select the top and side curves of the sketched rectangle as indicated in the
following figure:
1. Select these curves
2. Select this surface
4. Select the surface on which to drop the COS and middle-click.
5. The direction collector will assume your currently active datum (probably TOP) so
you will need to change this.
6. Select the RIGHT datum plane as the direction for the drop.
7. When you select the datum plane the curve is dropped onto the surface.
8. Click to finish the dropped COS.
Create the Remaining Curves

In this section you will create two more curves: one to define the bottom of the
surface, and another to create the blister in the side of the toaster.
The curve will be on planes that pass through each datum point. Both curves will
have midpoints attached to the datum points.
To Create the Curve for the Blister
1. Click .
22
Freeform Surfacing
2. Click Planar from the dashboard.
3. Click References to open the tab.
4. Type 80 in the Offset box and press ENTER.
The active datum plane moves to pass through PNT1.
5. Hold down SHIFT and click each of the vertical COSs that you dropped onto the
surface in the previous exercise.
6. The new curve lies in a plane 80 units offset from the bottom surface.
7. Click .
8. Click Free.
9. Click Yes to convert the curve to a free curve. This also converts the end points
to soft-points.
10. Right-click on the curve and select Add Midpoint. The midpoint is created.
11. Hold down SHIFT while you select the midpoint and move it toward the datum
point PNT1 until the point highlights in red. This snaps the midpoint to PNT1.
12. Click to complete the curve.
To Create the Bottom Curve
1. Click .
2. Click Planar.
3. Click References to open the tab and change the offset value back to 0.
4. Hold down SHIFT and click to create a point at the bottom of each vertical drop
curve. This creates a planar curve at the base of the model.
5. Click .
6. Click Free.
7. Click Yes to convert the curve to a free curve. This process also converts the end
points to soft-points.
8. Right-click on the curve and select Add Midpoint. The midpoint is created.
9. Hold down SHIFT while you select the midpoint and move it toward the datum
point PNT3 until the point is highlighted. This snaps the midpoint to PNT3.
10. Click to complete the curve.
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Create Surfaces and Change Connections

With the five curves on the model you will create two surfaces, and then edit the
default surface connections.
To Create the Surfaces
1. Click .
2. Holding down CTRL, select four boundary curves (the three drop curves and the
planar curve) to create the top surface and middle-click.
3. Repeat the above, holding down CTRL, select four boundary curves (the two
vertical drop curves, the planar curve, and the bottom curve) to create the
bottom surface.
4. Click .
The surfaces look like the following figure in a wireframe display:
To Break the Default Surface Connections

1. Hold down CTRL and select the two surfaces.
2. Click . The connection arrows are displayed on the model.
24
Freeform Surfacing
3. Hold down SHIFT and click on the middle of each connection arrow to break the
connection. The arrows are displayed as dashed lines.
4. Click .
Make a Solid Cut with the Freeform Surfacing Quilt

1. Click to finish the Freeform Surfacing feature.
2. Select the Freeform Surfacing quilt.
3. Click Edit > Solidify. Select the icon for trimming.
4. Click to finish the cut.
The resulting model looks like the following figure:
5. Resume all of the later features to reapply them to this new solid shape.
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Understanding Connections
In the tutorial Creating Curves and Surfaces you made a solid cut in the model of a
toaster to lighten the model's contours. In this tutorial, you learn how to use
Freeform Surfacing connections to round the edges of the cut, blending them
smoothly with the rest of the model.
Begin with the toaster model as it was at the end of the Creating Curves and
Surfaces tutorial, or load the start part for this tutorial,
isdx_connect_redefine.prt. To load the start part:
isdx_connect_redefine.zip
2. Select isdx_connect_redefine.prt and click Open.
About Curve to Curve Connections

The key to establishing connections between surfaces in Freeform Surfacing is to first
make connections between the parent curves. Connect the curves, and the surfaces
will follow. Curve connections use the concept of leader/follower (parent/child)
curves. The leader maintains its shape while the follower adapts its shape to meet
the leader.
26
Freeform Surfacing
To Redefine the Free Curves

In this exercise, you redefine the two horizontal free curves shown in the following
model:
1. Select the Freeform Surfacing quilt and right-click.
2. Select Edit Definition.
3. Select one of the free curves.
4. Click .
5. Click one of the curve's endpoints to activate its tangent.
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6. Right-click on the tangent to display the following shortcut menu:
8. Click the curve's other endpoint and repeat the two preceding steps for its
tangent.
9. Select the other free curve and repeat the steps 5 through 8.
10. Click to regenerate the feature, if required.
About Surface Connections

Surface connections use the concept of leaders (parents) and followers (children). A
leader surface does not change its shape, while a follower surface changes its shape
to meet the leader. Surface connection icons are displayed on the surface as shown.
Arrows point in the direction of influence (from parent to child).
1. No connection (G0)
2. Tangent connection (G1)
3. Curvature connection (G2)
28
Freeform Surfacing
About Normal Connections

As you make surface connections, you may notice connection icons where there is no
apparent connecting surface as shown outlined by the white box in the following
figure. These are connections normal to the datum plane.
The two criteria for establishing normal or centerline tangency are as follows:
• The curves that run into the center plane must have tangents of type Normal
where they touch the center plane.
• The curve that lies on the center plane must be flat (either a planar curve, or a
free curve with a 2D shape).
To Make Freeform Surfacing Surface Connections

Even though the curves are now connected, you must still make surface connections.
1. Select both Freeform Surfacing surfaces.
2. Click .
3. Click each connection icon. These connections change according to the following
rules:
o Clicking on the end of the icon changes the connection direction (if the
curve connections allow it).
o Clicking in the middle of the icon raises the continuity level (if the curve
connections allow it).
o Clicking in the middle of the icon with SHIFT held down removes the
connection.
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4. Click to complete the Freeform Surfacing feature. The cut is updated to look
like the following figure:
Making Further Modifications

The final cut shown in the preceding figure could be modified by free form or by
parametric methods.
Freeform modifications can create sculpted appearances by varying the length of
curve tangents, and by varying the type of surface connections of the two Freeform
Surfacing surfaces.
Parametric modifications can be made to the initial rectangle and the datum points.
Creating Different Surface Types in Freeform Surfacing

With the release of Wildfire 2.0 there are now 3 different surface types that can be
created in Freeform Surfacing:
• Boundary (rectangular and triangular)
• Blend
• Loft
This tutorial will describe how to build each of these and how to redefine a surface to
be of a different type.
30
Freeform Surfacing
Since there is only one surface create tool in Freeform Surfacing, the selection order
of your curves determines the surface type that will be created. The benefit of this is
that a surface can be redefined to a different type (e.g. convert a boundary rectangle
to a loft) without any of the children that depend on that surface losing their
references.
A boundary surface is built with 3 (triangular) or 4 (rectangular) curves around the
boundary, and these are selected in the first collector. You can optionally add
internal curves with the second collector.
A loft is created by selecting 2 or more nonintersecting curves that flow in a similar

direction. These are selected in the first collector and no curves are required in the
second collector.
A blend is created by selecting 1 or 2 guide (trajectory) curves in the first collector

and 1 or more profile curves in the second collector. Note that as soon as you have
selected 2 curves in the first collector you have enough curves to define a loft and
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the system will preview a loft surface. Continue to select your profile curves in the
second collector to define the blend surface.
1-Guide Blend
2-Guide Blend
Redefine Freeform Surfacing surfaces and change their type

isdx_types_of_surface.zip
2. Select handheld_part.prt and click Open. The part opens.
32
Freeform Surfacing
3. Redefine the Freeform Surfacing feature.
The top surface of this part is a trimmed rectangular surface. To redefine this
surface you need to select the base surface, not the trim.
4. Move the pointer over the top surface. Move the pointer into the portion that has
been trimmed away and you will see the base surface pre-highlight. Select the
pre-highlighted surface.
5. Alternatively, select the trimmed top surface (by default this will select the trim).
Right-click and select Pick from List. Select the Freeform Surfacing Surface
from the list and click OK.
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6. Right-click again and select Edit Definition.
7. Select the first collector, hold down the CTRL key, and select the two long curves
from the surface boundary. This clears the selection for the two long curves.
At this point you have just two curves selected and the system will preview a loft.
8. Select the second collector and select the long curve on the centerline of the
part.
9. Complete the surface tool.
34
Freeform Surfacing
You have now converted the surface to be a 2-guide blend and all of the children
(drop curve, trim, etc.) have updated successfully.
Before we convert this surface to a loft, create a new curve across the middle of the
current top surface, as shown below.
10. As above, select the top surface.
11. Right-click and select Edit Definition.
12. Select the second collector, hold down the CTRL key, and select the long curve
from the surface boundary. This clears the selection for the long curve.
At this point you have just two curves selected and the system will preview a loft.
Curves in a loft need to be selected in the correct order. In order for you to add the
new curve into the middle of this loft, you need to unselect the last curve and then
add the two curves in the correct order. If you prefer, you could unselect all curves
and reselect them again in the correct order.
13. Select the first collector, hold down the CTRL key, and select one of the two long
curves from the surface boundary. This clears the selection for the long curves.
35
14. Still holding down the CTRL key, select the middle (new) curve and then the end
curve, as shown below.
15. Complete the surface tool, and then complete the Freeform Surfacing feature.
Notice that all subsequent features continue to update successfully. Even though
you have changed the type of this top surface, you have not changed its ID.
Redefining Surfaces
In this tutorial you learn how to redefine Freeform Surfacing surfaces by changing
boundary references and adding internal curves.
To Create a Curve to Redefine a Surface

isdx_surface_redefine.zip
36
Freeform Surfacing
2. Select isdx_surface_redefine.prt and click Open. The start part as shown in

the following figure, opens in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window:
37
3. Select the Freeform Surfacing quilt in the Model Tree. Right-click and select Edit
Definition on the shortcut menu. See the following figure. The white arrow
shows the new curve being added.
4. Click .
5. Holding down SHIFT, click near the bottom of one vertical curve and then click
near the bottom of the other.
6. Click . Right-click on the curve and select Add Midpoint to add a midpoint to
the curve.
7. Hold SHIFT to snap while dragging the midpoint to PNT3.
8. Move one endpoint of the new curve to the bottom of the vertical curve, and
repeat for the other endpoint.
9. Click .
To Redefine the Boundary References of the Surface

1. Select the bottom Freeform Surfacing surface.
2. Right-click and select Edit Definition on the shortcut menu.
3. Click the Boundary selection collector.
4. Holding CTRL, deselect the bottom curve and replace it by selecting the new
curve for the surface boundary.
38
Freeform Surfacing
5. Click to finish the surface definition.
To Add Internal Curves to the Surface

In this exercise you create an internal curve on the redefined surface. The internal
curve changes the shape of the surface by adding loft.
1. Click .
2. Click to select the active datum plane.
3. Select the FRONT datum plane as shown in the following figure:
4. Click Planar from the Freeform Surfacing dashboard. The offset should be 0.0 by
default.
5. Hold down SHIFT and snap to the top curve of the surface, then snap to the
bottom curve, creating a planar curve on the FRONT datum plane.
6. Edit the curve shape as desired.
7. Click .
Add the Internal Curve to the Surface

1. Select the Freeform Surfacing surface.
2. Right-click and select Edit Definition on the shortcut menu.
3. Click the Internal selection collector.
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4. Select the new internal curve as shown by the arrow in the next figure, and
middle-click.
5. Click .
6. Click to finish the Freeform Surfacing feature.
Using Proportional Update

Proportional update allows a curve's free points to move in proportion to the soft-
points. So, the curve retains its shape proportionally while being edited.
In this tutorial you modify the shape of a vacuum cleaner model to reduce its
internal volume while maintaining the overall design intent.
40
Freeform Surfacing
First, you see a simple example of proportional update with a single curve. The next
figure shows a curve with two soft-points snapped to two other curves, which is the
minimum requirement for a curve to change proportionally.
The next figure shows the results of an edit moving the right soft-point when the
Proportional Update option is turned off for this curve. Only the point being dragged
is moved.
41
The next figure shows the same edit on the curve when Proportional Update is
turned on. You can see in Figure 3 that the other points on the curve move in
proportion to the point being dragged.
To Begin the Exercise

isdx_proport_update.zip
42
Freeform Surfacing
2. Select isdx_proport_update.prt and click Open. The model, as shown in the

following figure, opens in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window:
To Redefine a Feature Proportionally

Proportional update works when a curve has two (or more) soft-points, so you need
a construction curve to guide the proportional change. The construction curve is built
onto the two ends of a profile curve, and then unlinked from it.
1. Select the feature STYLE-BODY-LOWER from the Model Tree, right click and select
Edit Definition.
43
Now the model appears as is shown in the figure below. You will create a
construction curve between the top corners and unlink the soft-points.
2. Click .
3. Snap (by clicking and holding down the SHIFT key) to the top corners of the
profile curve creating a new curve.
1. Soft-points created by snapping
2. Top profile curve
44
Freeform Surfacing
4. Click and select the curve.
5. Right-click on one of the soft-points to open the shortcut menu shown below:
6. Click Unlink to unlink the soft-point, and repeat step 5 & 6 for the other soft-
point on the curve.
7. Select the top profile curve.
8. Press the SHIFT key while you click to select one endpoint, and then drag the
endpoint to snap to the end of the construction curve.
9. Repeat the steps for the other endpoint of the profile curve. If you click one of
the endpoints now and move it, only the one point moves.
10. Click the front endpoint and move it to see that the curve scales non-
proportionally.
11. Select the Proportional Update option from the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
12. Click the front endpoint and move it to see that the curve scales proportionally
now.
45
1. Profile curve is resized proportionally now
To Make Proportional Updates to the Rest of the Model

You may want the front (vertical) curve on the model to move proportionally when it
is updated.
1. Undo the last edit where you moved the curve in the previous procedure.
2. Click .
3. Select the front (vertical) curve.
4. Select the Proportional Update option.
5. Now edit the shape of the top curve, until you are satisfied with the shape.
6. Click to complete the Freeform Surfacing feature.
46
Freeform Surfacing
The final model is shown in the following figure. Both curves have proportional
updates turned on.
1. Curves with proportional updates
Creating Curves on Surfaces (COSs)

This tutorial teaches you to create Curves on Surfaces (COSs) by dropping curves on
a surface or by creating points for the curve on a surface.
To Create the Curve Profiles

In this exercise you will create two curves and drop them on the model's surfaces to
shape the front edge of the model.
isdx_create_cos_start.zip
2. Select isdx_create_cos_start.prt and click Open. The start part opens. The
start part, consisting of two flat surfaces that act as the top and front faces of the
model, opens in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window.
47
3. Create two datum planes that are offset from the FRONT and TOP datum planes,
as shown in the following figure.
5. Click to specify the active datum plane.
6. Select the DTM1 datum plane.
7. Click .
8. Create a curve that is the profile for the front face of the model.
9. Middle-click to complete the curve.
10. Click to change the active datum plane.
48
Freeform Surfacing
11. Select the DTM2 datum plane.
12. Click .
13. Create a curve that is the profile for the top face of the model.
The following figure shows the two curve profiles.
1. Two curves
To Drop the Profile Curves onto the Surfaces
1. Click . The Freeform Surfacing dashboard opens.
2. Select the curve on the DTM2 datum plane and middle-click.
3. Select the top surface and middle-click.
By default the active datum plane will be chosen for the drop direction.
4. If necessary, select a different datum plane to specify a direction for the drop.
6. Middle-click again to repeat.
7. Select the front surface and middle-click.
8. Select the curve on the DTM1 datum plane and middle-click.
9. If necessary, select the FRONT datum plane.
10. Click .
49
The following figure shows the dropped curves.
1. Two dropped curves
To Create a Fillet Surface from the Dropped Curves

1. Click .
2. Hold down the SHIFT key and snap to the ends of the dropped curves to create a
free curve that connects the two ends.
3. Repeat step 2 and connect the other ends of the dropped curves.
50
Freeform Surfacing
4. Click .
5. Right-click on an endpoint of the free curve and select Surface Tangent on the
shortcut menu.
6. Repeat step 5 for other endpoints of the free curves.
7. Click .
8. Click .
9. Click Planar on the dashboard.
10. Create a planar curve on the RIGHT datum plane by holding down the SHIFT key
and snapping the endpoints of the planar curve to the dropped curve.
11. Click .
12. Click on an endpoint of the planar curve.
13. Move the tangent to edit the shape of the planar curve, as shown.
14. Repeat steps 12-13 for other endpoints of planar curves.
15. Click .The Freeform Surfacing dashboard and the Select dialog box open.
16. Hold CTRL and select the four boundary curves.
17. Click the Internal selection collector on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
18. Select the planar curve as the internal curve.
51
19. Click . The following figure shows the surface.
20. Click on the background to deselect the new surface and then click to trim
the base surfaces using the dropped curves.
21. Select the top quilt and middle-click.
22. Select the dropped curve on the top surface and middle-click.
23. Select the smaller of the two meshed surfaces to delete.
24. Click .
25. Repeat the above trimming quilt operation for the front surface.
26. Click to complete the feature.
52
Freeform Surfacing
The following figure shows the two trimmed surfaces.
To Add Detail to the Surfaces using COS

In this exercise, you will create four curves on the surface, and use them as
boundary curves to create a detail surface on the front of the model.
To Create COSs
1. Click Insert > Style to create another Freeform Surfacing feature.
2. Click .
3. Click COS on the dashboard.
53
4. Create a COS, as shown in the following figure.
1. Curve on Surface (COS)
54
Freeform Surfacing
6. Repeat steps 4-5 to create four COSs as shown in the following figure. Use the
SHIFT key to snap each COS to the end of the other.
1. Four curves on surface (COSs)
7. Click .
8. Select the RIGHT datum plane as the active plane.
9. Click , and choose Planar on the dashboard.
10. Create a planar curve and snap the endpoint to the COSs near the front and top
surface.
11. Click .
12. Right-click on the endpoints of the planar curve and click Surface Tangent on
the shortcut menu.
13. Right-click on the planar curve and click Add Midpoint on the shortcut menu. A
midpoint is added.
55
14. Select this midpoint and move it slightly inside to modify the shape of the planar
curve as shown.
1. Planar curve
To Trim the Fillet Surface
1. Click .
2. Select the fillet surface that you created earlier from the dropped curves and
middle-click.
56
Freeform Surfacing
3. Hold CTRL and select the four COSs created earlier and middle-click. Select the
portion of the surface between the COSs to be deleted. The final quilt is as shown
in the following figure.
4. Click .
5. Hold CTRL and select the four COSs as the boundary curves.
6. Click the Internal selection collector on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
7. Select the planar curve as the internal curve.
57
8. Click . The final model is as shown in the following figure.
Creating Radial Path Planar Curves

In this tutorial you will learn how to create and edit Radial Planar Curves. A radial
planar curve is a planar curve that uses another curve (instead of a plane) as its
planar reference. The plane is build normal to the reference curve and can be
modified to any location along that reference.
isdx_radial_path_planar_curve.zip
58
Freeform Surfacing
3. Redefine the Freeform Surfacing feature.
The side surface does not have enough shape control so we will add some radial
curves around the part, and we will make these to be of a similar shape to the
existing section curves.
4. Select one of the existing section curves. This has been built as a radial-planar
curve.
59
5. Click Edit > Copy. Do not move the new curve.
6. Click .
7. Holding the ALT key, drag on the grid of the active plane to move the copied
curve along its reference.
8. Repeat this for the other section curve, so that you have created new curves at
the corners of the object.
60
Freeform Surfacing
To create a radial planar curve

1. Click .
2. Choose the Planar option on the dashboard and open the References tab.
3. Select the Reference collector and click on the ‘C’ shape curve that runs through
the middle of this part. As soon as you pick on this reference curve the radial
plane will be created at the location you pick.
4. If you want to center this radial plane on the reference curve, change the Value
to 0.5.
5. Create the new curve, snapping to the relevant parent curves on the edges of the
side surface.
6. You can now redefine the side surface, and add these 3 new curves as internal
curves.
61
7. Complete the Freeform Surfacing feature to see the mirrored part.
Creating Draft Connections

This tutorial will teach you how to use the new draft connection for curves and
surfaces in the Freeform Surfacing feature.
isdx_draft_connection.zip
62
Freeform Surfacing
Notice that the body is constructed with parametric surface features. A draft angle
has been applied along the mirror plane and this can be controlled parametrically.
However, applying draft to a free form surface would have required a lot more
construction before the new draft connection type.
The process for creating a draft connection on a surface is similar to all other surface
connections – connect the side curves correctly (in this case with draft connections)
and then connect the surface.
1. Edit definition of the HANDLE feature.
2. Double-click the end curve to edit the curve.
3. Click on the endpoint to expose the tangent.
4. Right click on the tangent and choose the Draft Tangent option
5. You are now prompted to select a draft plane. Select the mirror plane RIGHT
63
6. The default draft angle applied is 10°. Double click the text value and change
this to 3°. You can also access this draft value in the Tangent tab on the
dashboard.
To create a draft tangent, the curve must be a child of (have a soft point on) the
curve on the draft plane. The second end of this curve does not have this condition
so you will first need to switch the parent/child relationship before making the draft
tangent.
7. Select the curve on mirror plane. Right click on the endpoint and choose Unlink.
8. Select the end curve again and snap its end point onto mirror plane curve.
9. Now you will be able to make a draft connection at this end. Repeat steps 4-6
above. You may need to make the draft angle -3° for the tangent to lean in the
correct direction.
64
Freeform Surfacing
10. Check the last curve. See that the curve at the other end of this handle area is a
curve-on-surface (COS). Because this has been built onto a surface which
already has 3° of draft, you do not need to make a draft connection on this
curve. All of your curves are now in the right condition to support a drafted
surface connection.
11. Create the surface using the defining curves.
12. Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously and click on the connection
icons on the mirror edges of the new surface. This will make the drafted surface
connection and ensure that the mirrored edges of your surface maintain the draft
angle of 3° along its full length. The connection icon will show a short broken
line with arrow head.
65
Creating Freeform Draft Connections

This tutorial will teach you how to use the new draft connection for non-planar
curves and surfaces in the Freeform Surfacing feature.
isdx_draft_connection.zip
2. Select handheld1_part.prt and click Open. The part opens.
66
Freeform Surfacing
Notice that the main body is constructed with parametric surface features. A draft
angle has been applied along the mirror plane and this can be controlled
parametrically. In this tutorial we will look at controlling the draft angle of the
handle area; a freeform surface that cannot be mirrored but still needs constant
draft along the complex parting line.
The process for creating a draft connection on a surface is similar to all other surface
connections – connect the side curves correctly (in this case with draft connections)
and then connect the surface.
1. Edit definition of the HANDLE feature.
2. Double-click the end curve to edit the curve.
3. Click on the endpoint to expose the tangent.
4. Right-click on the tangent and choose the Draft Tangent option.
5. You are now prompted to select a draft reference. Select the RIGHT plane.
Note:You could connect the handle surface at an angle to the parting surface.
This may be useful if you wish to design surfaces normal to (or at another angle
to) other reference surfaces.
6. The default draft angle applied is 100°. Double click the text value and change
this to 30°. You can also access this draft value in the Tangent tab on the
dashboard.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 above for the other end of this curve.
8. Check the opposite curve. See that the curve at the other end of this handle
area is a curve-on-surface (COS). Because this has been built onto a surface
which already has 30° of draft, you do not need to make a draft connection on
this curve.
9. Regenerate the feature and choose the Surface Connect tool.
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10. Right-click on the connection icons on the long edges of the handle surface and
choose Draft from the options. You will be prompted to select a plane or surface
reference for the draft: select the same reference you chose for the curve
connection in step 5 (i.e. RIGHT plane).
This will make the drafted surface connection and ensure that the long edge of your
surface maintains the draft angle of 30 along its full length. The connection icon will
show a short broken line with arrow head.
11. Repeat step 10 for the rear edge connection.
68
Freeform Surfacing
Using the Internal Resolve Mode

In this tutorial you learn how to use Freeform Surfacing's internal resolve
functionality to fix failed updates within the Freeform Surfacing feature. One unique
aspect of Freeform Surfacing's internal resolve mode is the ability to continue
working on a model even though regeneration has failed.
To Understand Resolve
isdx_resolve_mode.zip
69
2. Select isdx_resolve_mode.prt and click Open. The following part opens in the
Pro/ENGINEER graphics window:
3. Select the Freeform Surfacing feature in the Model Tree.
4. Right-click and select Edit Definition.
70
Freeform Surfacing
5. Select the internal curve on the top of the phone.
6. Click Edit > Delete (or press DELETE).
The Delete dialog box is displayed. The Delete dialog box appears because the
entity you are deleting has children, and Freeform Surfacing must be able to
handle the children after the parent curve is deleted.
o Delete—Deletes the children.
o Unlink—Removes the internal curve from the surface.
o Suspend—Suspends the failure for later resolution.
o Cancel—Cancels the Delete command.
7. Click Suspend.
The Regenerate traffic light turns yellow because entities are out of date. Clicking
the yellow traffic light opens the Resolve dialog box and turns the light red.
Other methods to access the Resolve dialog box are:
o Try to exit a Freeform Surfacing feature that has a failure.
o Click Edit > Resolve. The Resolve dialog box opens.
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A blocked entity is a child of a failed entity. The regeneration system does not try
to regenerate children of failed entities, but considers them blocked.
8. In the Resolve dialog box, select the name of the failed entity (SF-21) and
notice that the explanation is "Missing reference for internal curve."
9. Click Unlink to unlink the failing reference.
10. Click the traffic light to regenerate the feature. The light changes from red to
green indicating the regeneration is complete and successful.
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Freeform Surfacing
Make Another Change to the Phone Model

1. Select the Freeform Surfacing curve shown by the arrow at the top of the phone.
2. Click .
3. Click on the endpoint of the curve to display the tangent.
4. Right-click on the tangent to display the tangent shortcut menu:
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5. Select Natural.
6. Click to see the failure.
The Resolve dialog box opens with the failure of entity SF-21. The explanation is
"Connections inconsistent with cross curves" because you have just broken a
curve connection, but Freeform Surfacing is trying to maintain the surface
connection.
In Freeform Surfacing, the Resolve dialog box does not prevent you from further
work. In this case you can use to remake all curve connections and resolve
all features.
7. Click .
8. Click on the curve's endpoint to display the tangent.
9. Right-click on the tangent to display the tangent shortcut menu.
10. Select Tangent.
11. Click and see the feature regenerate successfully.
Make a Third Change to the Phone

1. Select one of the short vertical curves on the side of the phone.
2. Click .
3. Click on a curve endpoint to display the tangent.
4. Right-click on the tangent to display the tangent shortcut menu.
5. Select Natural.
6. Click Edit > Resolve to see the failure in the Resolve dialog box.
This failure is the surface connection normal to the TOP datum plane.
7. Click Unlink to unlink the failed surface connection.
8. Click and see the feature regenerate successfully.
Other Options on the Resolve Dialog Box
• —Redefine the failed entity, for example, by selecting new boundary curves
for a surface.
• —Operate on the failed entity. Completely unlink all references. If the failed
entity is a COS, planar curve, or drop curve, the Unlink option also converts the
curve type to free.
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Freeform Surfacing
• —Convert a planar or COS curve to a free curve.
• —Delete the failed entity.
• —Obtain information about the failed entity.
• —Perform a local regeneration on the failed entity.
Using Freeform Surfacing with Reference Data

Freeform Surfacing features can build geometry that references most other types of
geometry, including other Pro/ENGINEER solid data, imported scan curves, and facet
data. This tutorial demonstrates the main Freeform Surfacing tools for this.
Part 1: Freeform Blending between Pro/ENGINEER Features

In this exercise, you learn how Freeform Surfacing can create smooth freeform
blends between two Pro/ENGINEER parametric features.
isdx_reference_data_1.zip
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2. Select isdx_reference_data_1.prt and click Open. The following figure which

shows part of a model of an engine air intake, opens in the Pro/ENGINEER
graphics window. You will create the surfaces to blend these parts together.
4. Click .
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Freeform Surfacing
5. Create four free curves that attach to the surface edges as shown below.
Make sure you attach these Freeform Surfacing curves to the edge in each case.
You will notice the edge is briefly highlighted when you snap to it, but if you have
doubt as to what entity you are snapping to, use the Query Bin as described
below:
a. Right-click to open the shortcut menu.

b. Click Show Sel Bin to open the Query Bin.
c. From the Query bin, select the edge you want your curve snapped to.
d. Click Accept.
To Connect the Curves to the Surfaces

To successfully use the Freeform Surfacing curves to create surfaces for the intake
model, you will create two kinds of tangent connections, edge and surface.
Tangent Edge Connection
1. Click .
2. Select one of the curves attached to the interior of the existing surface.
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3. Click an endpoint to display the tangent.
4. Right-click the tangent to display the shortcut menu.
5. Select Tangent.
6. Repeat for the other curve attached to the interior of the surface edge.
1. Endpoints with tangent connections
Surface Tangent Connection

1. Select one of the remaining curves.
2. Click an endpoint to display the tangent.
3. Right-click the tangent to display the tangent shortcut menu.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for the other endpoint of the curve.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the other three curves.
To Create Surfaces
You can use solid or surface edges as well as datum curves as boundaries for
Freeform Surfacing surfaces.
1. Click .
2. Holding CTRL select four boundary curves.
3. Middle-click to repeat to build three Freeform Surfacing surfaces.
You can adjust the connection length, length and angle of the tangent vectors for
the smoothest shape.
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Freeform Surfacing
Changes to the parent parametric features will flex the Freeform Surfacing
surfaces, and editing the Freeform Surfacing curves will also change the shape of
the Freeform Surfacing surfaces.
Part 2: Scan Data

In this part of the tutorial, you will learn that Freeform Surfacing features can
reference scan data. The start part has scan curves, and you will create a new
Freeform Surfacing feature that references scan curves that you select.
isdx_reference_data_2.zip
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2. Select isdx_reference_data_2.prt and click Open. The following part opens in

the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window:
For this exercise, you will concentrate on only the main spoke of this wheel.
3. Click Insert > Style to create a new Freeform Surfacing feature.
4. Click .
You will use the curve tool to create curves with soft-points on the scan data.
5. Hold down the SHIFT key while you define points on the scan lines making a
curve.
Typically, you do not need many points to define the shape, and you can use the
curve edit to refine the shape after it is defined. Notice that the soft-points float
along the scan data.
6. Hold down the SHIFT key and click to create a second curve on the scan section.
After you have the two curves defined, you can create two more curves to define
a closed rectangle for a surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
1. First two curves on scan line
2. Two curves across scan line
7. Click .
8. Select the four curves you just made, and middle-click.
9. Click to exit the Freeform Surfacing feature.
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Analyze the Data

You can analyze the deviation of the surface from the scan data. Remember, this is
not intended to be accurate fitting (as in Reverse Engineering, for example) but
rather capturing design intent.
You may find it necessary to modify the surface by editing the defining curves or
adding internal curves to the surface.
Redefine the Feature

1. Select the Freeform Surfacing surface from the Model Tree and right-click to
select Edit Definition.
2. Click .
Now you can add an internal curve by building a curve just as you built the first
two boundary curves for the surface.
3. Press the SHIFT key and click to define points on the curve across a scan line.
4. Click .
5. Rebuild the surface and add the internal curve.
Part 3: Facet Data

A technique similar to the one used in Part 2 to build the surface on scan data can be
used to build curves and surfaces onto facet data. You can use this technique to
capture design intent from a facet model.
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Freeform Surfacing
First open an empty part and import the scan data.

1. Click File > New > Part.
2. Click Insert > Shared Data > From File. The Open dialog box opens.
3. Select the phone.zip file and click Open.
4. Select the phone.stl file and click Open. The Import Options dialog box
opens.
5. Click OK. The facet model shown below appears:
Next, you start Freeform Surfacing to build a surface directly onto the model.
7. Click .
8. Build four curves directly on the area of the model that you want to capture. Hold
SHIFT to snap the curve points to the facet data, or the other curves.
9. Click OK when you are satisfied with the curves.
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1. Boundary curves
10. Click .
11. Hold CTRL and select the four curves as boundary curves.
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Freeform Surfacing
12. Changing the color of the surface will make comparison with the facet reference
easier.
You may want to create another curve to use as an internal curve to refine the
surface. You also may add points to the boundary curves to hold them closer to the
facets.
Fundamentals of the Style Surface Edit Tool
1. Introduction
The Surface Edit tool inside Style is a powerful and flexible way of directly
manipulating surfaces in Pro/ENGINEER. It can be used to edit surfaces for purposes
of general modelling as well as subtle tweaks to smooth out problem areas. The
history of Surface Edits is maintained during future regeneration, so if the parent
surface is modified in any way, the Surface Edit is reapplied during regeneration.
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Fig 1: Examples of general modelling and surface clean-up
This tutorial will show you the basic principles of the tool and some of the key
controls. This is not intended to teach you all the controls and techniques, but does
provide a good overview for getting started with Surface Edit.
This is the first of a number of tutorials covering the Surface Edit tool. This tutorial
covers how the tool works and can be controlled, while all of the related tutorials will
show examples of how the various techniques of this tool can be applied together.
2. Getting into the Surface Edit tool

On selecting the Surface Edit tool you will be prompted to select a surface. Only
one surface can be selected, but this may be of any type: in the current or a
previous feature, native or imported.
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Freeform Surfacing
Fig 2: The Style Toolbar, showing Surface Edit tool
3. Setting Mesh Density

Once in the tool, you will see a 4 x 4 mesh applied to your surface and a number of
controls and options in the dashboard.
Fig 3: Initial mesh display and dashboard controls

By default, the four boundaries of the mesh are ‘preserved’ – meaning you cannot
edit the mesh points on the boundaries. We will discuss more about preserving
rows/columns in section 6 below.
The first choice to make is for the required density of the mesh. In general it is
recommended that you strike a balance between keeping a lightweight surface and
providing enough mesh points to control the required edit. See the section 8 below
for more discussion on mesh density.
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There are two ways to change the density of the mesh; if you want to add
rows/columns at specific locations, then right-click on the surface and choose Add
Row (or Add Column) from the popup menu.
In order to preserve the existing shape of the surface when adding a row (or
column) the locations of nearby rows are redistributed. Therefore, the new row may
not appear exactly at the place where you clicked, but will be close.
Fig 4: Right-mouse popup to Add Row/Column

However if you want to distribute the control points evenly over the mesh, use the
Rows and Columns spinners in the dashboard.
There is an icon at the corner of the surface to indicate the direction of Rows and
Columns.
See section 8 below for further details on editing surfaces with multiple mesh
resolutions.
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Freeform Surfacing
4. Moving Mesh Points

Now that you have set the density of your mesh, you can start dragging points to
edit the surface. You can drag single or multiple points at once, and when multiple
points are selected you can control their relative motion.
Points are selected by clicking on them; click on the bar of a row/column to select all
the points on the row/column. Hold <Ctrl> to select multiple individual points or
rows/columns.
When moving points, the drag direction is set with the Move options on the
dashboard or the surface popup menu.
Fig 7: Move options
Normal Move all points along

their own surface
normal direction
Normal Constant Move all points along

a common surface
normal direction
(defined by the point
under your cursor)
Normal to Plane Move all points

Normal to the active
datum plane
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Free Move all points

Parallel to the active
datum plane
Along Bar (Shift) Move all points along

the bar towards their
neighbour point
In View (Alt) Move all points

Parallel to the current
view plane
When dragging multiple points together, the Filter options on the dashboard control
how far the points move relative to each other.
Fig 8: Filter options
Constant Move all points by a

uniform distance
Linear Move the point under

the cursor with the
cursor. Other points
fall off linearly to no
movement at the
furthest point in the
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Freeform Surfacing
set.
Smooth Move the point under

the cursor with the
cursor. Other points
fall off quadratically to
no movement at the
furthest point in the
set.
When moving points you can either drag dynamically on the point with your cursor
or nudge the point by numeric increments. Set the Adjust increment and use one of
the four arrow buttons to move the selected points by that increment. Depending on
which Move option is selected, none, two or four arrow buttons may be available.
Fig 9: Nudge dashboard controls
5. Display Options
There are a number of display options available on the dashboard.
Fig 10: Display Options
Show Base Surface:

If you are editing a surface of the current Style feature then this option will be dim
as you are directly editing the base surface.
However, if you are editing a surface from a previous feature then Style will make a
copy of the surface to edit. This gives you the option to see the initial (base) surface
and evaluate the deviation you have applied with Surface Edit.
Fig 11: Show Base Surface (on/off)

Base surface is shown in gray, the edited surface is yellow.
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Show Original Mesh:

You will learn in section 7 below that Surface Edit has the ability to edit surfaces at
multiple resolutions. This display option will display the initial mesh of the surface at
the beginning of the current operation for comparison. This mesh is displayed for
information only and cannot be edited or selected.
Fig 12: Original Mesh
Show Edited Surface Translucent or Opaque:

This controls whether the surface you are editing is displayed with translucent or
opaque yellow shading.
Fig 13: Edited Surface displayed opaque / translucent
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Freeform Surfacing
Show Mesh:
This option displays the control mesh.
Fig 14: Mesh display on/off
6. Alignment (Connections)
The Surface Edit tool has the ability to align individual edges of the edited surface to
a neighbor surface. Alignment will approximate to a connection of position, tangent
or curvature continuity, but cannot ensure a true connection if the surface knot
resolution is not perfectly matched with the neighbor surface. See the advanced
tutorial for more discussion on knots.
Before aligning an edge you will first need to ‘un-preserve’ the three related
boundaries (the boundary to be aligned and its two adjacent boundaries). One way
to do this is right-click on the surface and choose Clear All Boundaries.
Fig 15: Right-mouse popup menu on surface

To align an edge, right-click on the edge mesh row and choose Align Position,
Align Tangent or Align Curvature from the popup menu. You will then be
required to select a parent edge or curve to align to.
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Fig 16: Align
Once you have aligned an edge you may wish to preserve the edge to prevent
accidental editing that will break the alignment. Preserving edges is also useful to
prevent losing surface connections established outside of Surface Edit.
To preserve an edge, right-click on the edge mesh row and choose Preserve
1st/2nd/3rd Row/Column from the popup menu. To remove preservation,
choose Preserve None.
• Preserving the 1st row is equivalent to preserving the position of the edge.
• Preserving the 2nd row is equivalent to preserving a tangent constraint.
• Preserving the 3rd row is equivalent to preserving a curvature constraint.
Once an edge is preserved, the edge row control points are locked and no longer
selectable. If you have preserved the 2nd or 3rd rows, then these control points are
considered semi-locked and will be displayed in gray. These points still have one
degree of freedom and you can drag the bar to increase/decrease the influence into
the surface, as shown in Fig 17 below.
Fig 17: Dragging a preserved 2nd row

If you need to know what connections have been associated with an edge outside of
the Surface Edit tool, place your cursor over the mesh edge and the tooltip will give
you the relevant information.
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Freeform Surfacing
Fig 18: Information about existing connections
7. Popup Menus
You have seen so far that there are a number of context sensitive right-mouse popup
menus. Below is an easy reference for these.
Fig 19: Right-mouse menus for mesh, mesh boundary, surface and aligned edge
(Align operation)
8. Multi-Resolution Editing
The Surface Edit tool allows you to edit a surface multiple times with different mesh
resolutions.
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Fig 20: Example of multi-resolution editing

The first edit is preserved during the second edit operation
Each edit operation is stored in the List, allowing you to go back to it and continue
editing or delete it from the list. A new operation is added to the list if you change
the mesh resolution after performing an edit. See section 3 above for ways to alter
the mesh density.
As well as adding and removing mesh rows/columns, you can also temporarily
deactivate a row/column. Deactivating a row/column will keep any related edit
operation intact and add a new operation to the list. Removing a row/column
requires you to choose how to handle any related edit operations (described below).
The recommended workflow is to decide on an optimal resolution and set this once
per surface in the dashboard. Any further changes to the mesh resolution should be
done with the right-mouse popup menu. In this way you will add only the level of
detail you require without making the underlying surface control overly dense.
Right-click on a row/column and choose either Remove or Deactivate from the
popup menu. Right-click on a surface and choose Activate All to reactivate inactive
rows/columns. The minimum resolution of any mesh is 4 x 4.
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Freeform Surfacing
When adjusting the mesh resolution in the dashboard after making some edits you
will often encounter the following warning dialog.
• Refit—This will accept your new maximum number or rows/columns and refit the
new mesh to the current surface form. This may result in changes in the effect
of other operations in the list.
• Delete—This will accept your new maximum number or rows/columns but delete
all previous operations from the list. This is equivalent to starting the Surface
Edit tool from scratch with this new mesh resolution.
• Cancel—This will cancel the request to increase the mesh resolution, allowing
you to proceed by adding the required rows/columns from the right-mouse
popup.
9. Surface Edit History

All Surface Edit operations are preserved during modification and regeneration of the
base surface. If you modify the base surface, for example edit a boundary curve,
then the Surface Edit is reapplied to the updated base surface.
Fig 23: Example of Surface Edit being preserved during base surface modification
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10. Conclusion
This tutorial has shown you the basic principles of the Surface Edit tool and you
should now have a good understanding of the key controls. This was not intended to
teach you all the controls and techniques, but does provide a good overview for
getting started with Surface Edit.
This is the first of a number of tutorials covering the Surface Edit tool. Look for the
related tutorials which show examples of how various techniques can be applied to
good effect.
User Interface
About Freeform Surfacing Features
Freeform Surfacing is a design environment within Pro/ENGINEER that allows you to
create free-form curves and surfaces quickly and easily, and to combine multiple
elements into superfeatures. Freeform Surfacing features are called superfeatures
because they can contain limitless numbers of curves and surfaces.
The new Freeform Surfacing user interface offers the best of both worlds—it is a self-
contained, intuitive modeling environment and also a Pro/ENGINEER feature. The
user can create truly free Freeform Surfacing features and take advantage of the
parametric and associative Pro/E capabilities.
Freeform Surfacing features are flexible; they have their own internal parent/child
relationships, and can also have relationships with other Pro/ENGINEER features.
You can accomplish all of the following tasks with Freeform Surfacing:
• Work in single- and multiple-view environments. The multiple-view environment
is a powerful feature in Pro/ENGINEER; you can display and work in four model
views at one time.
• Create curves and surfaces at the part level.
• Create simple features or multiple-element superfeatures.
• Create a Curve on Surface (COS), a special curve type that lies on a surface.
• Create surfaces from boundaries that do not have to be trimmed to corners.
• Edit individual geometric entities or a combination of entities in the feature.
• Create internal parent/child relationships for Freeform Surfacing features.
• Create parent/child relationships between Freeform Surfacing features and model

features.
The Freeform Surfacing environment consists of the following elements:

• Styling menu in the top menu bar contains the main set of Freeform Surfacing
commands for curve and surface creation and modification.
• Freeform Surfacing commands in the Edit, View, Analysis, and Info menus
such as undo and redo Freeform Surfacing curve operations, enter Resolve mode,
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Freeform Surfacing
display curvature plots, set Freeform Surfacing preferences for surface mesh, and
so on.
• Freeform Surfacing quickbar contains shortcuts to the Freeform Surfacing

commands found in the Edit, View, and Analysis menus.
• Freeform Surfacing toolbar contains shortcuts for the Styling menu commands.
• Multiple-view display switches between top, isometric/trimetric, front, and right

views, or displays all four views at once. The views are positioned in the window
as shown below:
Top view Isometric / Trimetric / User-defined
Front view Right view
To Start Freeform Surfacing

Click Insert > Style on the top menu bar to start Freeform Surfacing. You can also
click from the toolbar.
A Styling menu is added to the menu bar, and two Freeform Surfacing toolbars are
added, one each at the top and side of the Pro/ENGINEER window.
To Exit Freeform Surfacing

Click or Styling > Done to save and exit the current Freeform Surfacing feature,
finalizing all geometry in the Pro/ENGINEER geometry database.
Click or Styling > Quit to cancel all changes to the current Freeform Surfacing
feature.
Styling Menu
The Styling menu contains the following options:
• Preferences—Opens the Styling Preferences dialog box that allows you to set
preferences for surface connections, display, regeneration, grid spacing, and
surface mesh.
• Set Active Plane—Allows you to set the active datum plane for geometry
creation and edits.
• Internal Plane—Opens the DATUM PLANE dialog box where you create datum
planes internal to the Freeform Surfacing feature.
• Trace Sketch—Opens the Trace Sketch dialog box where you create trace
sketches from the referenced images.
• Snap— Enables or disables snapping. By default it is disabled.
Note: You can also enable snap by holding down the SHIFT key when you select
a point.
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• Curve—Displays the options to create Freeform Surfacing curves using

interpolation or control points.
• Circle—Displays the options to create circles.
• Arc—Displays the options to create arcs.
• Drop Curve—Displays the options to drop a curve onto a surface to create a

COS.
• COS By Intersect—Allows you to create a Curve on Surface (COS) by

intersecting one or more surfaces.
• Offset Curve—Allows you to offset of curves.
• Curve from Datum—Converts curves or edges created outside Freeform

Surfacing to Freeform Surfacing free curves.
• Curve from Surface—Allows you to create a free or COS curve from an

isoparametric line of a surface.
• Curve Edit—Allows you to edit a curve or multiple curves by dragging points or

tangents.
• Surface—Displays the options to create three or four boundary surfaces from

boundary and internal curves.
• Surface Connect—Displays the options to change connections between

surfaces.
• Trim—Allows you to trim surfaces and quilts using a set of curves.
• Done—Exits Freeform Surfacing, completing the Freeform Surfacing feature and

finalizing all geometry in the Pro/ENGINEER geometry database.
• Quit—Cancels all changes to the Freeform Surfacing feature.
Additional options on the Edit, View, Analysis, and Info menus allow you to
control Freeform Surfacing views and access information about Freeform Surfacing
entities.
Edit Menu
The Edit menu contains the following options for Freeform Surfacing:
• Regenerate All—Allows you to regenerate geometry locally within Freeform
Surfacing. During Freeform Surfacing regeneration, only the entities contained in
the Freeform Surfacing feature are regenerated and not the entire Pro/ENGINEER
model.
• Undo—Undoes the last Freeform Surfacing operation.
• Redo—Redoes the last Undo operation. See Undo above.
• Copy—Duplicates the selected Freeform Surfacing curves and allows you to

position them. Soft-points are preserved during a copy if valid; otherwise this
option is disabled.
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Freeform Surfacing
• Copy Proportional—Duplicates the selected geometry, retaining the original

proportions when the endpoints of the first curve in the selected geometry are
moved to new positions during duplication.
• Move—Allows you to reposition selected Freeform Surfacing curves.
• Convert—Allows you to convert curves from one type to another.
• Unlink—Breaks the associativity between Styling entities and any of their

optional references. Optional references for surfaces include internal curves and
connections. Optional references for curves include soft-points. Drop curves have
no optional references.
• Delete—Deletes selected Freeform Surfacing curves, surfaces, internal datum

planes, or trimmed quilt pieces.
• Resolve—Allows you to resolve a Freeform Surfacing feature that has failed

regeneration. Opens the Resolve dialog box.
• Definition—Allows you to redefine Freeform Surfacing geometry. Opens the

appropriate dialog box where you can edit entities such as curves or surfaces.
Note: Move and copy functionality in Freeform Surfacing applies to Freeform

Surfacing curves only. It applies to planar and free curves but not COSs.
View Menu
The following Freeform Surfacing options are on the View menu:
• Show All Views—Displays all four views for modeling. This command is also
available on the shortcut menu.
• Show Next View—Displays the next view counter-clockwise from the active
view when you are in single view display.
• Orientation—Adjusts the view as follows:
o Standard Orientation—Adjusts the view to the saved default view.
o Active Plane Orientation—Adjusts the view so that the active datum

plane is normal to the screen.
o Previous—Displays the model in the previous view.
o Refit—Fits the object to fully display it in the graphics window.
o Reorient—Opens the Orientation dialog box where you can specify the
view orientation.
• Visibility—Allows selective display of entities as follows:
o Hide—Suppresses the display of the selected Freeform Surfacing entities.
o Unhide—Displays the previously hidden features or Freeform Surfacing

entities.
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o Unhide All—Displays all the previously hidden features or Freeform

Surfacing entities.
o Isolate—Suppresses the display of all the Freeform Surfacing entities

except the selected entities.
Analysis Menu
The following Freeform Surfacing options are on the Analysis menu:
• Saved Analysis—Displays the Saved Analysis dialog box.
• Hide All—Hides all saved analyses.
The following options are available when you click Analysis > Delete All:
• Delete All—Deletes all saved analyses.
• Delete All Curvature—Deletes all saved curvature analyses.
• Delete All Sections—Deletes all saved sections analyses.
• Delete All Offset—Deletes all saved offset analyses.
• Delete All Dihedral Angle—Deletes all saved dihedral angle analyses.
The following Freeform Surfacing options are available when you click Analysis >
Geometry:
• Curvature—Evaluates and displays the curvature of curves, edges, or surfaces.
Mathematically, the curvature is equal to 1/radius.
• Sections—Evaluates surface continuity, especially across shared boundaries.

Allows you to highlight section curves on the surface or display cross-sections
parallel to the selected reference plane.
• Offset—Evaluates and displays an offset for a selected set of curves, edges, or

surfaces.
• Shaded Curvature—Evaluates and displays the smallest and largest normal

curvature values for every point on a surface.
• Reflection—Displays curves that represent the reflection due to linear sources of

light on a surface when viewed from the specified direction.
• Draft—Analyzes a part design to determine if a draft is necessary for the part to

be used in a mold. Displays a color plot of the draft.
• Slope—Displays, in color, the slope of a surface relative to a reference plane,

coordinate system, curve, edge, or datum axis on a part.
• Dihedral Angle—Displays the angle between the normals of two surfaces that
share an edge. This is a useful check for continuity during the evaluation of
neighboring surfaces.
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Freeform Surfacing
Info Menu
The following Freeform Surfacing options are on the Info menu:
• Entity—Displays information about selected Freeform Surfacing entities in an
information window.
• Current Feature—Displays information about the current Freeform Surfacing

feature in an information window.
Note: You can modify certain Freeform Surfacing parameters outside Freeform
Surfacing by clicking the check boxes next to these parameters in Freeform
Surfacing. Clicking Info > Feature outside Freeform Surfacing also displays the
information about these parameters.
Freeform Surfacing Toolbars

Two Freeform Surfacing toolbars are added to the Pro/ENGINEER interface by default
when you are creating a Freeform Surfacing feature. The Quickbar is added to the
top of the window, and the Toolbar is added to the right side of the window.
Freeform Surfacing Quickbar

The following icons are available in the Quickbar that are displayed at the top of the
graphics window by default:
Icon Command Description
Undo Undoes the last Freeform Surfacing

operation.
Redo Redoes the undo Freeform Surfacing

operation.
Repeat Executes the last Freeform Surfacing tool

(command) that you used.
Show All Views Toggles between showing four views or one

full size view.
Regenerate All Regenerates any Freeform Surfacing

features that are out of date. The traffic
light is green when the model is up-to-date;
yellow when the model is out-of-date; and
red when there has been a failed
regeneration.
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Freeform Surfacing Toolbar

The icons on the Toolbar provide shortcut access to the most common Freeform
Surfacing operations located on the Styling menu. By default the Toolbar contains
the following icons:
Select Allows you to select Freeform Surfacing

geometry.
Set Active Allows you to set the current datum plane for
Plane geometry creation and edits.
Internal Allows you to create datum planes internal to the

Plane Freeform Surfacing Feature.
Curve Displays the curve creation options on the

Freeform Surfacing dashboard, that allow you to
create curves.
Circle Displays the circle creation options on the

create circles.
Arc Displays the circle creation options on the

create circles.
Curve Edit Displays the options for editing curves on the

Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
Drop Curve Displays the curve projection options on the

create a COS (Curve on Surface) by projecting it
onto a surface.
COS By Allows you to create a Curve on Surface (COS) by

Intersect intersecting one or more surfaces
Surface Displays the options for creating surfaces from

boundary and internal curves on the Freeform
Surfacing dashboard.
Surface Displays the options for creating connections

Connect between surfaces on the Freeform Surfacing
dashboard.
Trim Displays the options for trimming surfaces using

curves on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
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Freeform Surfacing
Done Completes the Freeform Surfacing feature

finalizing all geometry in the Pro/ENGINEER
geometry database and exits Freeform Surfacing.
Quit Cancels all changes and exits Freeform Surfacing.
To Customize the Freeform Surfacing Toolbars

You can reposition the toolbars using the following procedure:
1. Click Tools > Customize Screen. The Customize dialog box opens.
2. Click Toolbars.
3. Change the Style option to Top, Right, or Left.
4. Change the Style Tools option Top, Right, or Left.
Shortcut Menus
There are several shortcut menus available with Freeform Surfacing. Right-click while
performing a task to access its shortcut menu. The default shortcut menu contains
the following commands:
• Next—Selects the next item in the Pick From List during the selection process.
• Previous—Selects the previous item in the Pick From List during the selection
process.
• Pick From List—Displays the selected geometry.
• Curve—Displays the curve creation options on the Freeform Surfacing

dashboard.
• Curve Edit—Displays the curve editing options on the Freeform Surfacing

dashboard.
• Surface—Displays the surface creation options on the Freeform Surfacing

dashboard.
• Default Orientation—Sets the views to their default position.
• Active Plane Orientation—Displays the model with the active datum plane
parallel to the screen.
• Show All Views—Displays all four views for the model.
• Set Active Plane—Allows you to set the current datum plane for geometry
creation.
• Edit Definition—Allows you to redefine the selected Freeform Surfacing curve or

surface.
• Regenerate All—Allows you to regenerate the Freeform Surfacing feature.
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• Hide Entities—Suppresses the display of the selected Freeform Surfacing

entities.
• Isolate Entities—Suppresses the display of all the Freeform Surfacing entities

except the selected entities.
• Show All Entities—Displays all the previously hidden features or Freeform

Surfacing entities.
Modifier Keys
The following modifier keys are available during Freeform Surfacing operations:
Modifier Key Command Action
Right-click All commands Shortcut menu appears.
Left-click All commands Selection by default
CTRL + left-click Selection Cancel selection of previously

selected entity
Select multiple entities
Middle-click All commands Complete current operation
Repeat
Double-click Selection Redefine
SHIFT Curve Create Snap to existing geometry. When

the SHIFT key is pressed and the
Curve Edit mouse button is held down, the
pointer is followed by a snap
cursor. When the SHIFT key is not
pressed, snapping is disabled.
Note: You can also snap to

existing geometry by using
Styling > Snap in the top menu
bar.
CTRL Selection Copy geometry then move
CTRL + SHIFT Selection Move geometry without copying
ALT Curve Create Normal drag lock

and Edit
For more information on
configuring the ALT key on UNIX,
refer to the topic Enabling the ALT
Key.
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Freeform Surfacing
Modifier Key Command Action
SHIFT + ALT Curve Edit Extend Point
CTRL + ALT Curve Create Horizontal/Vertical drag lock

and Edit
ALT Curve Edit Constrain tangent angle while

tangent vector is visible
CTRL + ALT Curve Edit Constrain tangent length while

tangent vector is visible
To Enable the ALT Key

Use the following procedure to correctly configure the ALT key to work on systems
running the Common Desktop Environment (CDE), including the following systems:
• Sun Solaris
• Hewlett Packard HP-UX
• IBM AIX
• Compaq OSF1
1. If you do not have the file /.dt/dtwmrc in your home directory, copy it from the
systems area by entering the following:
cp /usr/dt/config/C/sys.dtwmrc ~/.dt/dtwmrc
2. Edit the file to comment out the following lines with a pound sign (#) at the
beginning of each line:
ALT<Btn1Down> icon|window f.move
ALT<Btn3Down> window f.minimize
3. Restart the window manager by logging out, and then logging back in.
About Snapping in Freeform Surfacing

About Snapping
In Freeform Surfacing you can snap curve points to other existing entities. Curve
points can be snapped to datum points, vertices, quilt and solid surfaces, quilt and
solid edges, datum planes, curves, and facets.
To Enable Snapping
There are two ways to enable snapping.
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Enable Snap With Menu Option

1. Click Styling > Snap to enable snapping.
2. Select a point and drag it to the nearest geometric entity to snap the point on to
the geometric entity.
Enable Snap With the SHIFT Key

Hold down the SHIFT key, select a point and drag it to the nearest geometric entity
to snap the point on to the geometric entity.
To Select a Reference Entity for a Soft Point

If a point can be snapped to multiple entities, you can use the Pick Soft Point
dialog box to select the required entity to snap the point to.
1. Select a soft-point that can reference multiple entities.
2. Right-click and select Pick Soft Point. The Pick Soft Point dialog box appears.
3. Click the required entity from the list. Alternatively, click or to move to
the next or previous entity on the list.
4. Click OK to select the required entity.
The soft-point snaps to the selected entity.
Setting Preferences
To Set Freeform Surfacing Preferences
Use the Preferences dialog box to set preferences for display, curvature plots, and
surface mesh.
1. Click Styling > Preferences. The Styling Preferences dialog opens.
2. Under Surface, click the Default Connections check box to establish

connections automatically when you create surfaces, if possible.
3. Under Display, select Grid to display the grid for ease of modeling.
4. Under Auto Regenerate
o Select Curves to enable automatic regeneration of the child curves within

the Freeform Surfacing feature during the modification of a parent.
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Freeform Surfacing
o Select Surface to enable automatic regeneration of the child surfaces

within the Freeform Surfacing feature during the modification of a parent in
the wireframe display mode.
o Select Shaded Surface to enable automatic regeneration of the child

curves within the Freeform Surfacing feature during the modification of a
parent in the wireframe or shaded display mode.
5. Under Grid, specify a value for grid Spacing to change the number of lines
displayed on the grid of the active datum plane.
6. Under Surface Mesh,
o Select On to enable the display of surface mesh.
o Select Off to suppress the display of surface mesh.
o Select Off When Shaded to see the surface mesh only in the wireframe
display mode.
o Use the slider to adjust the quality of surface mesh.
7. Click OK to close the dialog box.
To Display Surface Mesh

Displaying the surface mesh allows you check surface quality in detail. The surface
mesh is made up of a set of closely-spaced isolines.
1. Click Styling > Preferences. The Styling Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Under Surface Mesh,
o Select On to enable the display of surface mesh.
o Select Off to suppress the display of surface mesh.
o Select Off When Shaded to see the surface mesh only in the wireframe
display mode.
o Use the slider to adjust the quality of surface mesh.
Views and Datum Planes

About Multiple Views
A multiple-view environment is available in Freeform Surfacing as an alternative to
modeling in a single view. Multiple views support direct 3D creation and editing of
geometry. You can edit geometry in one view and simultaneously view the geometry
in the other views. Multiple views allow for the creation of curves in 2D,specifying the
third dimension after the 2D shape, or directly in 3D.
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In the multiple-view environment, the four views are displayed as shown:
Top view Isometric/Trimetric/

User-defined
Note: The isometric/trimetric view is identical to the single view in Pro/ENGINEER.

A four-view display allows you to resize the panes by dragging the sash that divides
the view into four panes.
About Setting the Active Plane Orientation

When you define curves in Freeform Surfacing, all unconstrained points are projected
onto the active datum plane, which is indicated by the grid display. It is important to
be aware of the current setting of this plane whenever you are building curves. An
active plane is set when you enter the Freeform Surfacing environment. You can
reset an active plane at any time, even as you define points for a curve.
Asynchronous datum planes that you create while within Freeform Surfacing are
listed in the model tree above the Freeform Surfacing feature and are hidden by
default.
The internal datum planes that you create within a Freeform Surfacing feature are
not listed in the Model Tree. They are internal to the Freeform Surfacing feature. On
creation, the internal datum plane becomes active by default.
The multiple view environment in Freeform Surfacing is particularly useful if you
need to use several different datum planes which are not parallel with the default
datums. You can easily align the four views to any datum using the Active Plane
Orientation command.
Active Plane Orientation reorients the model so that the active datum plane is
parallel to the screen.
You can access the Active Plane Orientation command in the following ways:
• Click View > Orientation > Active Plane Orientation. The Front view (lower-
left) is oriented with the active datum plane parallel to the screen, and the Top
and Right views are oriented to their respective 90-degree rotations of the active
datum plane.
• Press the right mouse button in any view, and then click Active Plane
Orientation. The specified view is oriented with the active datum parallel to the
screen. No change is made to the other views.
About Selective Display of Entities

Selective display of the geometric entities in Freeform Surfacing is available using
the following functionality:
• Right-click on an entity and select Hide. The display of the selected Freeform
Surfacing entities is suppressed.
• Click View > Visibility > Unhide All. All the previously hidden features or
Freeform Surfacing entities are displayed.
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Freeform Surfacing
• Right-click on the graphics window and select Show All Entities. All the
previously hidden Freeform Surfacing entities are displayed. The Freeform
Surfacing entities within that Freeform Surfacing feature are displayed.
• Select one or more entities, right-click, and select Isolate Entities. Display of all
the Freeform Surfacing entities except the selected entities are suppressed.
The selective display in Freeform Surfacing works on curves, surfaces, and internal
datum planes created in Freeform Surfacing, in the current Freeform Surfacing
feature within the current session.
When redefining a Freeform Surfacing feature, all the hidden entities are displayed
when you select or to exit the feature.

Note: Internal datum planes are not displayed outside the Freeform Surfacing
feature.
When a feature is redefined within the current session, all the hidden entities remain
hidden. Pro/ENGINEER displays a warning message to let you know that some
entities are hidden.
Note: You can add Hide, Unhide All, and Isolate Entities as icons to the Freeform
Surfacing tool bar using Tools > Customize Screen.
Creating and Editing Curves in Multiple Views

Freeform Surfacing curve creation and editing are customized so that you can take
full advantage of the multiple view environment. Some common scenarios include
the following:
• Sketch all points of a curve in one view, then move the mouse to another view
and click once to set the depth of the curve. Repeat this step with various depths
to easily create a family of cross curves or sections without having to make any
additional datums.
• Sketch curves in the Front, Top, and Right views by repeating the above steps to
create the skeleton curves of the model without having to reorient the display.
Use the isometric/trimetric view to get a good 3-D feel for the shape as you
work.
• Sketch the 2-D shape of a curve in one view, then switch to edit mode and drag
the points or tangents in the other views. Observe the shape changes in the
other views as you drag. This shows a true 3-D (non-planar) curve without
having to rotate any views.
In general, defining the depth of any point on a curve can be postponed until after
you enter a series of points. The green line displayed indicates when one or more
points can have their depth adjusted. Click anywhere along the green line to set the
depth for those points. If you choose not to change the depth, the curve points stay
at their default positions when you complete the curve.
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To Set the Active Plane

If you are working in Freeform Surfacing, before setting the model view to the active
plane orientation, make sure you have specified one of the datum planes as the
active plane.
1. Click or Styling > Set Active Plane.
2. Select a datum plane.
The specified plane becomes the active plane. Freeform Surfacing also displays the
horizontal and vertical directions for this plane.
To Set a View to the Active Plane Orientation

In Freeform Surfacing, the following procedure allows you to display the model with
the active datum plane parallel to the screen. This makes it easy to create and edit
Freeform Surfacing geometry.
Click View > Orientation > Active Plane Orientation. Alternatively, right-click
and select Active Plane Orientation on the shortcut menu.
The model view adjusts with the active plane parallel to the screen.
To Show All Views
• Click or View > Show All Views to display all four views for modeling.
Alternatively, right-click and select Show All Views to display all four views for
modeling
• To return to a single view, click View > Show All Views or again.
Alternatively, right-click and select Show All Views again to return to a single
view.
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Freeform Surfacing
Example: Four-View Display

The following picture shows the four-view display in Freeform Surfacing. The views
are in the active plane orientation. The view types are as displayed:
Top view Isometric/Trimetric/

User-defined
1. Vertical sash
2. Horizontal sash
To reset the sash to the center, double-click the sash.
To Resize the Panes in a Four-View Display

1. Move the pointer over the sash that divides the view into four panes. The pointer
changes its shape to a double-headed arrow.
2. Drag the sash. The arrow indicates the direction in which you can drag the sash.
o You can drag the vertical sash horizontally and the horizontal sash
vertically.
o You can also drag the intersection of the two sashes horizontally and
vertically.
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o To reset the sash to the center, double-click the sash.
Note: You cannot drag the sash beyond a certain limit. The sash location and the
corresponding pane size apply to a single window only within the current session.
To Show the Next View

Click View > Show Next View to display the next view counter-clockwise from the
active view when you are in single view display.
To Reset a View
Click View > Orientation > Standard Orientation to reset views to their default
orientation.
Note: Only the view orientation, not the screen layout, changes.
About Creating Datum Planes

You can create datum planes in Freeform Surfacing using these methods:
• Create an asynchronous datum plane while creating a Freeform Surfacing
feature. This datum plane is inserted in the model tree before the active feature
and is hidden by default.
• Create a datum plane while creating a feature so that the datum plane is internal
to the active feature. This internal datum plane is not seen at the top level in the
Model Tree. To create an internal datum plane, you can reference any Freeform
Surfacing entity such as Freeform Surfacing curve endpoints, Freeform Surfacing
surface vertices, and other internal datum planes besides the regular Freeform
Surfacing references.
When creating or defining Freeform Surfacing features, you can create datum planes
as internal datum planes for the Freeform Surfacing feature. However, you must
create datum points and datum axes asynchronously. The advantage of using an
internal datum plane is that it can have references to other entities in the current
Freeform Surfacing feature.
You can also edit, manipulate, or regenerate the internal datum plane.
To Create an Internal Datum Plane
1. Click on the Freeform Surfacing toolbar or Styling > Internal Plane. The
DATUM PLANE dialog box opens.
2. Click the Placement tabbed page.
3. Click References to place a new datum plane by referencing the existing planes,
surfaces, edges, points, coordinate systems, axes, vertices, or curves. You can
also select datum coordinate systems or noncylindrical surfaces as placement
references for the creation of datum planes.
4. If required, specify a value for Translation to place the new datum plane at an
offset from the selected reference.
5. Click the Display tabbed page. The following options are not mandatory.
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Freeform Surfacing
o Click Flip to flip the normal direction of the datum plane.
o Click Adjust Outline to adjust the size of the datum plane's outline. The
following options are available when you click Adjust Outline.
Select References to size the datum plane to a selected reference such as

a part, feature, edge, axis, or surface.
Select Size to specify width and height for the datum plane. The following
options are available when you select Size.
Specify a value for the Width of the datum plane.
Specify a value for the Height of the datum plane.
Click Lock aspect ratio to maintain the proportion between the height and
the width of the datum plane.
6. Click the Properties tabbed page. You can:
o Click to view information about the current datum plane feature in the
Pro/ENGINEER browser.
o Rename the datum feature.
7. Click OK to create the internal datum plane. This datum plane is active by default
and is displayed with a grid. Freeform Surfacing also displays the horizontal and
vertical directions for the internal datum plane.
To Edit an Internal Datum Plane

1. Double-click the internal datum plane that you want to edit. Alternatively, select
the internal datum plane that you want to edit, right-click, and select Edit
Definition or select the internal datum plane and click Edit > Definition. The
DATUM PLANE dialog box opens.
2. Edit Placement, Display, and Properties of the internal datum plane as

required.
3. Click OK.
To Manipulate and Regenerate an Internal Datum Plane

• To delete an internal datum plane, select the internal datum plane, and press
DEL or click Edit > Delete.
• To display information about a selected internal datum plane, click Info >
Entity.
• To hide an internal datum plane, select the internal datum plane, right-click, and
select Hide.
• To display an internal datum plane, right-click, and select Show All.
• To isolate an internal datum plane, select the internal datum plane, right-click,
and select Isolate.
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• To regenerate internal datum planes, click Edit > Regenerate All. An internal
datum plane can reference geometry defined in the Freeform Surfacing feature in
which it is created. Therefore, an internal datum plane can regenerate
successfully only if the parent features also regenerate successfully.
Note: If an internal datum plane fails to regenerate, you can resolve it but you
cannot unlink it from its parent feature.
Example: Internal Datum Plane Offset from a Surface

The following figure shows an internal datum plane DTM1 created by specifying an
offset from the Freeform Surfacing curve.
Style Tree
About the Style Tree
The Style Tree is a list of entities in a Style feature. The Style Tree lists curves,
surfaces including trims and surface edits, and datum planes inside the current Style
feature.
Note:
• Trace sketch is not listed in the Style Tree.
• Surface Edit created on a surface is displayed in the Style Tree as nested node of
the surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
By default, the Style Tree is located in the Pro/ENGINEER main window. The entities
in the Style Tree are listed by name and in dependency order. You cannot reorder
entities in the Style Tree.
You can add columns to the Style Tree that display information about the entity.
Selection in the Style Tree is similar to the selection in the graphics window; that is,
Style Tree allows object-action as well as action-object selection. After selecting an
entity, right-click, and select or specify the action. For example, if you want to edit a
curve, you select the curve, right-click, select Edit Definition, and edit the curve as
required.
You can also highlight the parents and children of the entities using the Style Tree.
The Style Tree is not active during asynchronous datum creation. However, the Style
Tree is active just before and after creating the asynchronous datum plane.
Note: Creating an internal datum plane in Style is not considered an asynchronous
operation.
To Display the Style Tree

• Click Show > Style Tree to display the Style Tree.
• Click Show > Style Tree again to hide the Style Tree.
By default, the Style Tree is displayed inside a Style feature below the Pro/ENGINEER
Model Tree.
The Style feature retains the previous action on the Style Tree command. For
example, if you click Show > Style Tree to select the Style Tree, then the Style
Tree is displayed for the current Pro/ENGINEER session. Unless you clear the Style
Tree command by clicking Show > Style Tree again, it remains selected for the
current Pro/ENGINEER session.
To Show or Hide Entities in the Style Tree

1. Click Settings > Style Tree > Tree Filters. The Style Tree Items dialog box
opens.
2. Under Display, click or clear the required entities.
3. Click Apply > OK.
About Selecting Entities in the Style Tree

You can use the Style Tree to select entities for editing. This is useful when the entity
that you want to select is not visible in the graphics window. You can also right-click
on the entity to open a shortcut menu, from which you can select commands relative
to the selected entity. You can select more than one entity at a time using the CTRL
or SHIFT keys. When you select more than one entity on the Style Tree and right-
click, the shortcut menu that appears shows only the common and valid actions that
you can perform on all the selected entities at the same time.
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To Select Entities in the Style Tree

You can use the mouse or the keyboard to select entities in the Style Tree.
Using the Mouse

• Click an entity to select it.
• To select multiple entities on the Style Tree, hold down the CTRL key, and click
the entities.
• To select a range of entities, select the first entity, hold down the SHIFT key, and
select the last entity.
Using the Keyboard

1. Click the Style Tree window to activate it. A dotted rectangle appears around the
top-level Style Tree entity.
2. Press the arrow keys to move the rectangle to other Style Tree entities.
3. When the rectangle is on the entity you that want to select, press the SPACE
BAR.
To Perform Actions Using the Style Tree

On the Style Tree, select the entity that you want to perform an action on. Right-
click and select the appropriate action.
You can perform the following actions using the Style Tree:
• Set Active Plane—Allows you to set the active datum plane for geometry
creation and edits.
Note: This action is available only for planes listed in the Style Tree.
• Delete—Deletes selected entities.
• Rename—Renames the selected entity. Opens a text box to type a new name for
the entity.
• Edit Definition—Allows you to redefine Style geometry. Opens the appropriate

dialog box where you can edit entities such as curves or surfaces.
• Convert—Allows you to convert curves from one type to another.
• Unlink—Breaks the associativity between Style entities and any of their optional
references. Optional references for surfaces include internal curves and
connections. Optional references for curves include soft-points.
• Highlight Parents—Highlights parents of the selected entity. A parent is an

entity that is used to define another entity. For example, the boundary curves
that are used to create a surface are its parents. Several parents can make an
entity. Highlight Parents highlights entities referenced by the selected entities.
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Freeform Surfacing
• Highlight Children—Highlights children of the selected entities. A child is an

entity that references another entity. For example, a surface is a child of the
boundary curves that were used to create it.
• Entity Info—Displays information about selected Style entities in an Information

Window.
• Hide Entities—Suppresses the display of the selected Style entities.
• Unhide Entities—Displays the hidden Style entities.
• Isolate Entities—Suppresses the display of all the Style entities in the current
feature except the selected entities.
About Adding Informational Columns to the Style Tree

You can add the following types of informational columns to the Style Tree window:
• Geom ID - This is a unique identifier for the geometry.
• Feat Type - This column sates the type of feature the geometry is.
• Feat Status - The status of a feature is indicated next to its icon. The status of a
feature may be Creating, Updated, Needs Update, Blocked, or Failed. For
example, the column Feat Status displays the status as Updated when all the
actions on a particular feature are complete and the feature is updated with all
the changes that you made.
To Add Informational Columns to the Style Tree

1. Click Settings > Style Tree > Tree Columns. The Model Tree Columns dialog
box opens.
2. Select Geom ID, Feat Status, or Feat Type.
3. Click to add types to the Displayed list. The new parameter is added to the
Displayed list.
4. If required, specify a value between 3 and 300, both inclusive, for the Width of a
column. The default value for Width is 8.
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for each parameter that you want to add to the Style
Tree.
6. Click OK.
To Remove Informational Columns from the Style Tree

1. Click Settings > Style Tree > Tree Columns. The Model Tree Columns dialog
box opens.
2. Under Displayed, select the parameter that you want to remove, and click .
3. Repeat step 2 for each parameter that you want to remove from the Style Tree.
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4. Click OK.
To Change the Order of the Informational Columns in the

Style Tree
1. Click Settings > Style Tree >Tree Columns. The Model Tree Columns dialog
box opens.
2. Under Displayed, select the column you want to reorder and click to move
the column to the left or to move the column to the right from its current
position in the Style Tree.
3. Click OK.
Curves
Understanding Curves
About Creating Curves in Freeform Surfacing
A curve is any path drawn through two or more defining points. A set of internal
points and endpoints define the curve.
In Freeform Surfacing, creating good curves is the key to creating a feature with
high-quality surfaces, because all surfaces are defined directly from curves.
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Freeform Surfacing
1. Tangent for selected endpoint
2. Internal points
3. Endpoint
Every point on a curve has a position, a tangent, and a curvature. The tangent
determines the direction that the curve flows through the point. The tangents of
internal defining points are created and maintained by Freeform Surfacing; you
cannot change them. However, you can change the direction and magnitude of a
tangent to an endpoint.
The curvature at each point is a measure of how rapidly the curve is changing
direction. A straight line has zero curvature at each point, and a circle has a constant
curvature at each point that is equal to the reciprocal of the radius. Curves typically
have a different curvature value at every point.
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About Defining Points for Curves

You can create curves using the Curve tool. Two types of points that can be used to
define curves are:
Free—Points that are unconstrained.
Constrained—Points that are constrained in some way, that is, soft points or fixed
points.
To create a curve you must specify two or more points. Free points are projected by
default onto the current datum plane, but their depth may be specified from another
view. If you are working in 4-view display mode, you can specify the depth in one of
the other panes where the green depth line is visible. In single-view display mode,
you can rotate the view until you see the green line through the point, and then click
anywhere along the green line to specify the depth of the point.
Soft-Points
Create a soft-point by snapping the point to any curve, edge, quilt or solid surface,
scan curve, facet, datum plane, or datum axis. As you create a soft-point, the entity
you are snapping to is highlighted briefly. A soft-point is partially constrained, that
is, it can slide on its parent object. Soft-points are displayed as circles when they
reference other curves and edges. Soft-points are displayed as squares when they
reference surfaces and datum planes.
Note:
• When you drag the point to snap, hold the SHIFT key down or click Styling >
Snap.
• If a point can be snapped to multiple entities, select the soft-point, right-click,

select Pick Soft Point, and click or to select the required entity.
Fixed Points
A fixed point is a fully constrained soft-point. A fixed point is displayed as a cross
hair. It cannot slide on its parent because it is constrained by x-, y-, and z-axes.
There are several ways a soft-point becomes a fixed point:
A curve is snapped to a datum point or vertex.
Soft-points on free curves become fixed points if the option Lock to Point is used.
Lock to Point will move a soft-point to the nearest defining point on its parent
curve.
When planar curves are snapped to existing entities, the points are fixed because the
plane forms an intersection with the other entity.
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Freeform Surfacing
Point Types
In Freeform Surfacing you can create and edit curves in two modes:
• Interpolation point editing
• Control point editing
Interpolation Points
By default, Freeform Surfacing displays the interpolation points of a curve while
creating or editing the curve. You can edit the curve by clicking and dragging the
points that actually lie on the curve.
Editing Control Points

Select the Control Point option on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard to display a
curve's control points. You can edit the curve by clicking and dragging these points.
Only the first and last control points on a curve can be soft-points.
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Example: Curve Control Points

The next figure displays the control points of a curve.
1. Control points of a curve
Creating Curves
To Create a New Curve
1. Click or Styling > Curve. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears.
2. Select Free, Planar, or COS on the dashboard to specify the type of curve you
want to create.
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Freeform Surfacing
o Free—Creates a curve that lies in three-dimensional space and is not

constrained by any geometric entity..
o Planar—Creates a curve that lies on a specified plane.
o COS—Creates a Curve On Surface, a curve that is constrained to lie on a

specified single surface.
3. Define points for the curve.
You can create Freeform Surfacing curves using control points as well as
interpolation points.
4. If required, click the Control Points checkbox to define the curves using control
points.
5. If required, click the Proportional Update check box. A curve with proportional
update allows the free points of the curve to move in proportion to the soft-
points. During curve edits, the curve retains its shape proportionally. A curve
without proportional update only changes shape at the soft-point during edits.
6. Click .
To Create a Free Curve

Free curves can lie anywhere in three-dimensional space.
1. Click Styling > Set Active Plane to set the active datum plane. The points that
you define for the curve lie on this plane by default.
3. Click Free on the dashboard.
points.
7. Click .
To Create a Planar Curve

The curve lies on a specified plane. You cannot move the curve points outside the
specified plane while editing, unless you convert it to a free curve.
1. Click Styling > Set Active Plane to set the active datum plane.
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3. Click Planar on the dashboard. The active datum plane is the reference plane by
default.
4. If required, you can change the reference plane by clicking the Reference
collector on the References tab on the dashboard and selecting a new reference
plane.
5. If required, specify an offset in the Offset box on the References tab on the
dashboard. The reference plane is offset by the specified value. Click the Offset
check box to export the offset value for modification outside Freeform Surfacing.
points.
9. Click .
To Create a Circle
1. Click or Styling > Circle. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears.
2. Click anywhere in the graphics window to place the center of the circle.
3. Select one of the following on the dashboard to specify the type of circle that you
want to create:
o Free—This is selected by default. The circle can be moved freely and is not
constrained by any geometric entity.
o Planar—The circle lies on the specified plane. By default, the active plane
is the reference plane. If required, you can change the reference plane by
activating the Reference collector in the References tab on the dashboard
by clicking the collector and by selecting the required plane.
4. Drag the handle displayed on the circle to change the radius or specify a new
value for radius in the Radius box on the dashboard.
5. If required, drag the center of the circle to change the location of the circle.
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Note: A circle is a closed curve.
7. Click to complete the creation of the circle.
To Create an Arc
1. Click or Styling > Arc. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears.
2. Click anywhere in the graphics window to place the center of the arc.
3. Select one of the following on the dashboard to specify the type of arc that you
want to create:
o Free—This is selected by default. The arc can be moved freely and is not
constrained by any geometric entity.
o Planar—The arc lies on the specified plane. By default, the active plane is
the reference plane. If required, you can change the reference plane by
activating the Reference collector in the References tab on the dashboard
by clicking the collector and by selecting the required plane.
4. Drag the handles displayed on the arc to change the radius and the start and end
points of the arc. Alternatively, specify a new value for radius in the Radius box
and new values for the start and end points of the arc in the Start and End
boxes on the dashboard.
5. Drag the arc edges to change the start and end points of the arc without
changing the radius.
6. Hold the SHIFT key down and drag the arc edges to change the angle of the arc
by an increment of 15 degrees.
7. Drag the center of the arc to change the location of the arc.
Note: An arc is a curve.
9. Click to complete the creation of the arc.
About Curves on Surfaces

You can create a curve on surface (COS) by manually specifying points through
which you want the curve to pass on a surface or by dropping or projecting a curve
on a surface. However, all points on a COS are constrained to lie on a single surface
so that the curve is also on the surface. The curve is a child of the surface.
Note: You can set curvature continuity for a valid COS.
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When you drop a curve on a composite surface, individual COS curves are created
for each component of the composite surface. Similarly, you can a create COS by
specifying points on the individual components of a composite surface.
To Create a COS by Points

You can use the Curve tool to create a curve on surface (COS) by defining points.
2. Click COS.
3. Define points along a selected surface. Freeform Surfacing creates a COS that
goes through the definition points.
When you define COS points, you can use snapping functionality to snap to other
vertices or datum points as long as they all lie on the same surface.
points.
6. Click .
To Create a COS by Drop
1. Click or Styling > Drop Curve. The dashboard opens. The curve collector
is active by default.
2. Select one or more curves to drop.
Note: The curves can either be internal or external to the current Style feature.
3. Click the surface collector on the dashboard or right-click and select Surface
Collector.
4. Select one or more surfaces. The curves are dropped onto the selected surfaces.
By default, a datum plane is selected as reference for dropping the curves onto
the surface.
5. If required, change the reference direction by clicking the direction collector

on the dashboard and selecting a datum plane. Alternatively, right-click, select
Direction Collector, and select a datum plane to change the reference direction.
The curves are made normal to the selected datum plane before they are
dropped onto the surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
6. Click the Options tab on the dashboard.
o Click the Start check box to extend the start point of the drop curve to the
nearest surface boundary.
o Click the End check box to extend the end point of the drop curve to the
Note: If you select more than one curve to drop, the start points or end points
for all the drop curves extend to the nearest surface boundary.
7. Click .
To Create a COS by Intersect
1. Click or Styling > COS By Intersect. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard

appears. The first collector is active by default.
2. Select one or more surfaces. This selection forms the first set for curve on
surface (COS) by intersect.
Note: The surfaces can either be internal or external to Freeform Surfacing.
3. Click the second collector or right-click and select Second Collector.
4. Select one or more surfaces and or datum planes. This selection forms the
second set for COS by intersect.
5. Click .
The intersection between the two selection sets is displayed as COS by Intersect.
About Offsetting Curves

You can offset a curve using Offset Curve on the Styling menu on the toolbar.
Multiple Offset Curves

Some offset values can produce cusps or self-crossing curves where the curve splits
into multiple curves to retain the cusp-point. This results in more than one offset
curve.
Redefining Offset Curves

Offset curves maintain history. You can redefine the offset curves and change the
offset options in one of the following ways
• Double-click the offset curves
• Select the curves and click Edit > Definition
• Select the curves, right-click and select Edit Definition
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Editing Offset Curves

You cannot edit the shape of an offset curve. You must convert an offset curve to an
independent curve before editing it. Use Edit > Convert to make an offset curve
independent of its parent curve and then use the Curve Edit tool to edit the curve.
Note: The curves do not maintain history after conversion.
To Create an Offset of a Free Curve

1. Click Styling > Offset Curve. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears. The
curve collector is active by default.
2. Select one or more free curves.
Note: An initial reference plane for the offset is selected by default.
3. If required, you can change the reference plane. Click the direction collector
or right-click and select Direction Collector. Select a different plane to change
the reference plane.
4. If required, click the Normal check box to offset the curve perpendicular to the
reference plane.
5. Drag the handle displayed on the selected curve to change the offset distance or
double-click the display value for the offset and enter a new offset value.
Alternatively, specify a new offset value in the Offset box on the dashboard.
Note: Type a negative value in the Offset box to reverse the direction of the
offset.
6. Click the Offset check box to export the offset value for modification outside
Freeform Surfacing.
7. Click .
To Create an Offset of a Curve on Surface
1. Click Styling > Offset Curve. The dashboard appears. The curve collector
2. Select a Curve on Surface (COS).
Note: You can also select more than one curve.
The surface or the plane on which the curve lies is the reference to specify the
initial direction of the offset.
4. If required, click the Normal check box to offset the curve perpendicular to its
reference.
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Note: The offset is perpendicular to the surface on which it lies.
o Click the Start check box to extend the start point of the offset to the
o Click the End check box to extend the end point of the offset to the nearest
surface boundary.
Note: If you select more than one curve to offset, the start points or end points
for all the offset curves is extended to the nearest surface boundary.
offset.
7. Click the Offset check box to export the offset value for modification outside the
Style feature.
8. Click .
To Create an Offset of a Curve On Surface by Intersect

2. Select a curve on surface (COS) by intersect.
The surfaces on which the COS by intersect lies are the references to specify the
initial direction of the offset. By default, the offset is created on the surface that
you first selected while generating the COS by intersect.
3. If required, change the surface on which the offset lies by selecting the required
Surface on the dashboard.
4. If required, click the Normal check box to offset the COS by intersect
perpendicular to the surfaces on which it lies.
offset.
Freeform Surfacing.
7. Click .
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To Create an Offset of a Planar Curve or Radial-Path Planar

Curve
2. Select a planar curve or a radial-path planar curve.
Note: You can also select more than one curve.
reference.
offset.
Freeform Surfacing.
7. Click .
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Example: Offset of a Curve On Surface

The next figure shows an offset of a COS which lies on the same surface as that of
the COS.
The next figure shows an offset of a COS which is perpendicular to the surface on
which the COS lies.
About Curves from Surface

You can create a free or COS curve from an isoparametric line of a surface.
If you apply Curve From Surface to,
• A trimmed surface, the resulting curve from surface is limited to the edge of the
trimmed surface.
• A composite surface, separate curves are created for each component of the
composite surface.
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Curves from surface do not maintain history.
To Create a Curve from Surface

1. Click Styling > Curve from Surface. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard
appears.
2. Click Free or COS on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
3. Select a point on the surface for the curve to pass. A curve from surface with
default orientation is created.
4. Hold the CTRL key down and click on the surface to change the curve direction.
5. Drag the curve to slide across the surface and position it. Alternatively, on the
Freeform Surfacing dashboard click the Options tab and type a value between 0
and 1 in the Value box. At the ends of the surface, the Value is 0 and 1. The
curve is exactly on the middle of the surface when the Value is 0.5.
6. Click .
About Radial-Path Planar Curves

You can create a curve that lies on a soft-plane that it is normal to the parent curve
at a selected point on the parent curve. The soft-plane can slide along its parent
curve while remaining normal to the parent curve. When the parent curves are
updated, the planes and the planar curves are regenerated.
To Create a Radial-Path Planar Curve

1. Click or Styling > Curve. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard opens.
2. Click Planar on the dashboard.
3. Click the References tab.
4. Click the Reference collector.
5. Click anywhere on the parent curve to construct a soft-plane at that point. The
soft-plane:
o Displays a grid that is similar to that of the active datum plane.
o Is normal to the parent curve at the selected point.
6. Select points on the soft-plane to create the radial-path planar curve.
7. To determine the position of the plane and how this position updates during
regeneration,
a. Select one of the following options in the Type box under Radial Plane.
The default is Length Ratio.
Length Ratio—Maintains the position of the soft-plane to the percentage of
the length from the start of the parent curve to the plane, relative to the
total length of the parent curve. This is the default.
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Length—Determines the distance from the start of the parent curve to the
soft-plane.
Parameter—Maintains the position of the soft-plane by keeping its

parameter constant along the curve.
Offset from Plane—Determines the position of the soft-plane by

intersecting the parent curve with a plane at a given offset. If multiple
intersections are found, the value parametrically closest to the previous
value is used.
Lock to Point—Locks the soft-plane at a defining point on the parent

curve, finding the closest defining point on the parent curve, typically an
endpoint.
b. Type a value for the corresponding radial plane type in the Value box. If
required, click the Value check box to export the value for modification
outside Freeform Surfacing.
8. Click to complete the creation of the radial-path planar curve.
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Example: Radial-Path Planar Curve

For explanatory purposes the next figure shows a merged image of three Radial-Path
Planar Curves with their respective soft-planes in the curve edit mode.
Note: On the screen, you can only see the soft-plane associated with a radial-path
planar curve that is being edited currently.
1. Parent curve
2. Soft-plane
3. Radial-path planar curve
Editing Curves
About Proportional Update
A curve with proportional update allows the free points of the curve to move in
proportion to the soft-points. During curve edits, the curve retains its shape
proportionally.
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A curve without proportional update only changes shape at the soft-point during
edits.
To Select Curves for Edit

You can select curves for editing in two ways
• By selecting the curves directly
• Using the Query Bin.
Use of the Query Bin is helpful when you have to select one curve from a spot
where many curves exist.
1. Click or Styling > Curve Edit. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears.
2. Select one or more curves to edit.
To Edit Curve Points
1. Click or Styling > Curve Edit. The dashboard appears. The curve collector
2. Select the curve to edit.
Note: You can also select the curve and click . Alternatively, select a curve, right-
click and select Curve Edit. You can also double-click the curve.
3. Click the Show Original check box to display the original curve while editing.
Clear the Show Original check box to hide the original curve while editing. This
check box is selected by default.
Note: If required, during editing a curve, you can select or clear the Show
Original check box. The display of the original curve is dynamically updated.
4. You can edit the curves points as follows:
o To create a soft-point, hold down the SHIFT key, select a free point, and
drag it to the nearest geometric entity to snap the point on to the
geometric entity. Alternatively, click Styling > Snap, select a free point,
and drag it to the nearest geometric entity to snap the point on to the
geometric entity.
Note: When you snap a free point of a planar curve or a Curve on Surface
(COS) to a datum plane or any another intersecting surface, a soft-point of
type Offset from Plane is created.
o Click and drag a soft-point along the curve, edge, datum plane, or surface.
If required, click the Point tab on the dashboard and change the value for
Type and Value.
o If required, you can change a soft point reference. Select the soft point,
right-click, click Pick Soft Point, and select the required reference.
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o Click and drag a free point anywhere on the screen. Free points move in a
plane parallel to the current datum plane and through the original position
of the point.
o Hold the ALT key down while dragging the point to move the point along
the normal of the active datum plane.
o Hold the CTRL and ALT keys down simultaneously while dragging the point
to make it move parallel to the active datum plane either along the
horizontal direction or along the vertical direction only.
o On the dashboard, specify x-, y-, and z-coordinate values on the Point tab
to move the free point. If required, click the Relative check box to treat
the x-, y-, and z-coordinate values as offsets from the point's original
position.
o To delete a point, right-click and select Delete.
5. Click .
To Change the Curve Type

You can change free curves to planar and planar curves to free. You cannot change
free curves and planar curves to curve on surface (COS).
The curve collector is active by default.
2. Select the curve that you want to edit.
3. If required, select the Show Original checkbox to display the original curve
while editing.
4. Select one of the following
o Free
o Planar
o COS
If you change a free curve to a planar curve, you must define the datum plane or
offset for the curve to lie on. The curve is then projected onto the current datum
plane.
5. Click . The curve type changes to the one you selected.
To Constrain Point Movement While Editing
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Freeform Surfacing
while editing.
4. Click Point on the dashboard to display the point movement options. Under
Point, select one of the following options for Drag.
o Free—Point movement is not constrained.
o Horizontal/Vertical—Point movement is constrained to either horizontal

or vertical direction only. Alternatively, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys
simultaneously while dragging the point to make it move parallel to the
active datum plane either along the horizontal direction or along the vertical
direction only.
o Normal—Point movement is constrained to normal to the current datum

plane. Alternatively, hold down the ALT key while dragging the point to
make it move along the normal of the active datum plane.
To Change the Soft-Point Type
3. Right-click on the soft-point and select one of the following options. Alternatively,
select the Point tab on the dashboard and select one of the following options.
a. Select one of the following options in the Type box under Soft Point. The
default is Length Ratio.
o Length Ratio—Maintains the position of the soft-point to the percentage of
the length from the beginning of the curve to the point, relative to the total
length of the curve. This is the default.
o Length—Determines the distance from the beginning of the referenced

curve to the point.
o Parameter—Maintains the position of the point by keeping its parameter

along the curve constant.
o Offset from Plane—Determines the position of the point by intersecting

the referenced curve with a plane at a given offset. If multiple intersections
are found, the value closest parametrically to the previous value is used.
o Lock to Point—Locks the soft-point to a defining point on the reference

endpoint.
o Linked—Indicates that the point is a soft-point, but that none of the above
soft-point types are applicable. This includes soft points on a surface or a
plane and soft-points to a datum point or vertex. For example, a curve
point that is snapped to a surface is linked.
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Note: Linked indicates a state; it is not an action.
o Unlink—Disconnects the soft-point from the parent geometry. The point

becomes free and defined at the current location.
b. Type a value for the corresponding soft point type in the Value box. If
outside the Style feature.
To Change a Planar Curve Position

You can change the datum plane that a planar curve lies on, or you can offset a
planar curve from its current position.
2. Select a planar curve.
3. Select the Reference collector on the References tab on the dashboard.
4. Select a new datum plane or a planar surface for the curve to lie on.
5. Type a new value for Offset. The reference plane is offset by the specified value.
Alternatively, hold down the ALT key and drag on the grid showing the planar
curve reference to adjust the offset.
6. Click .
To Add Points to Curves

When you add a point to a curve Style refits the curve through the defining points.
This sometimes visibly changes the shape of the curve.
2. Select a curve.
while editing.
4. Right-click anywhere on the curve and select one of the following options:
o Add Point—Adds a point at the location selected.
o Add Midpoint—Adds a point at the midpoint of the two existing points on

each side of the selected location.
5. Click .
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To Combine Curves
2. Select a curve.
while editing.
4. Right-click the endpoint of the selected curve and select Combine.
If there is more than one neighbor curve at the endpoint, Pro/ENGINEER prompts
you to select which curve to combine with the selected curve.
5. Click to complete the curve operation.
The two curves are merged into a single curve, which changes shape in order to
maintain smoothness.
To Split a Curve
You can divide a single curve into two pieces at a selected point. The two resulting
curves are joined by a soft-point at their ends.
2. Select a curve.
while editing.
4. Right-click the endpoint of the selected curve and select Split.
The curve is split at the specified point. The resulting curves change shape as
they refit to the new defining points.
5. Click .
To Extend a Curve
2. Select a curve.
while editing.
4. Select an end point and drag the curve to extend it. This retains the number of
points on the curve.
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5. To extend a curve by adding points to it, hold down the SHIFT and ALT
simultaneously, click the endpoint of the curve and click outside the curve. A
point gets added to the curve.
6. To extend a curve by adding a point along the tangent or curvature extension of

the curve, select the Point tab on the dashboard and select Tangent or
Curvature from the Extend list. Hold down the SHIFT and ALT simultaneously
and drag the new endpoint of the curve to the desired location along the tangent
or curvature line.
7. Click .
To Extend a COS to Boundary
2. Select a Curve on Surface (COS).
3. Right-click the endpoint of the selected COS and select Extend to Boundary.
The end of the COS is extended to the nearest surface boundary. A soft point is
created for the new endpoint on the boundary.
4. Click to complete the curve operation.
To Extend a COS by Drop to Boundary
2. Select one or more COS by drop.
o Click the Start check box to extend the start point of the drop curve to the
o Click the End check box to extend the end point of the drop curve to the
Note: If you select more than one curve to drop, the start points or end points
for all the drop curves extend to the nearest surface boundary.
4. Click .
About Making Curves Planar Between Their Endpoints

You can make free curves planar between their endpoints. When you make curves
planar between their endpoints the curves and their endpoints lie on a plane that is
perpendicular to the active datum plane. Pro/ENGINEER modifies free tangents, if
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necessary, while making the curves planar between their endpoints. The curves do
not maintain history when they are made planar between their endpoints.
Note: You cannot make curves planar between their endpoints if they contain
constrained internal points or endpoints with tangent constraints.
To Make a Curve Planar Between Its End Points
2. Select one or more curves.
while editing.
4. Right-click on the selected curve and select Planar on Endpoints.
5. Click .
To Redefine a Radial-Path Planar Curve
2. Select a radial-path planar curve.
while editing.
4. Drag the points on the curve to edit the curve.
5. Hold down the ALT key and drag on the planar grid to adjust the offset along the
reference curve. As you drag, the plane will adjust its orientation in order to stay
perpendicular to the reference curve.
6. Select the Reference collector on the References tab on the dashboard.
7. Select a new datum plane.
Note: Change the reference to change from a radial-path planar curve to a

planar curve.
8. To determine the position of the plane and how this position updates during
regeneration,
a. Select one of the following options in the Type box under Radial Plane.
The default is Length Ratio.
Length Ratio—Maintains the position of the soft-plane to the percentage of
the length from the start of the parent curve to the plane, relative to the
total length of the parent curve. This is the default.
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Length—Determines the distance from the start of the parent curve to the
soft-plane.
Parameter—Maintains the position of the soft-plane by keeping its

parameter constant along the curve.
Offset from Plane—Determines the position of the soft-plane by

intersecting the parent curve with a plane at a given offset. If multiple
intersections are found, the value parametrically closest to the previous
value is used.
Lock to Point—Locks the soft-plane at a defining point on the parent

endpoint.
b. Type a value for the corresponding radial plane type in the Value box. If
outside the Style feature.
2. Click .
About Unlinking and Converting Curves

Curves in Freeform Surfacing may have references to other geometric entities. Some
of the references are required while others are optional. For example, a planar curve
must have a plane reference or it cannot continue to be a curve of the planar type.
Soft point references and tangent constraints, however, are optional, that is, you can
remove them without changing the type of the curve. For surfaces, connections and
internal curves are optional references.
Use the Unlink and Convert commands on the Edit menu in Freeform Surfacing to
manage references. Unlink removes all optional references, but does not change the
type of the curve. Convert changes the type of the curve.
Unlink is applicable to curves defined by points, that is, free, curve on surface
(COS), and planar curves. However, Unlink is not applicable to a dropped COS or a
COS by intersect.
Convert is applicable to COS defined by points, dropped COS, and COS by intersect.
If the curve is a COS defined by points, Convert converts it to a free curve. If the
curve is a dropped COS or a COS by intersect, Convert converts it to a COS defined
by points.
Note:
• Use Convert twice on a dropped COS or a COS by intersect to convert the curve
to a free curve.
• COSs created by drop or intersection maintain history. Modifications of the parent

or the original defining geometry affect the child COS. Converting a dropped COS
or COS by intersect to a COS defined by points breaks the associativity between
the dropped COS or COS by intersect and the original defining geometry.
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The following table lists the types of geometric entities and if you can perform an
Unlink operation on these entities. The table also provides information on the type
of curve that these entities are converted to by the Convert operation, if applicable.
Type of Unlink Convert

Geometric
Entity
Free Curve Yes NA
Planar Curve Yes Free
Radial-Path Yes Free

Planar Curve
COS defined Yes Free

by points
Dropped COS NA COS defined

by points
COS by NA COS defined

Intersect by points
Surface Yes NA
To Unlink Curves and Surfaces

1. Select one or more curves or surfaces that you want to unlink.
2. Click Edit > Unlink. Pro/ENGINEER asks for confirmation. If you click Yes,
optional references are removed from the selected curves and surfaces. If you
click No, the operation is canceled.
To Convert Curves
1. Select one or more curves that you want to convert.
Note: Free curves cannot be converted.
2. Click Edit > Convert. Pro/ENGINEER asks for confirmation. If you click Yes,
planar curves, radial-path planar curves, and COSs defined by points are
converted to free curves while dropped COSs and COSs by intersect are
converted to COSs defined by points. If you click No, the conversion is canceled.
To Convert a COS by Intersect

1. Select one or more COSs by intersect that you want to convert.
2. Click Edit > Convert. Pro/ ENGINEER highlights the first set of surfaces that you
selected while creating the COS by intersect and asks for confirmation. If you
click Yes, the COS by intersect is converted to a COS defined by points on the
first set of surfaces. If you click No, Pro/ENGINEER highlights the second set of
surfaces that you selected while creating the COS by intersect and asks for
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confirmation. If you click Yes, the COS by intersect is converted to a COS defined
by points on the second set of surfaces. If you click No, the conversion operation
is canceled.
About Importing Curves

You can create new Freeform Surfacing free curves by importing curve entities
created outside or within the Freeform Surfacing feature. Importing curves in this
manner is helpful when working with curves created from other sources such as
Adobe Illustrator or curves imported through IGES.
Free curve approximation can be created from current Freeform Surfacing feature
geometry such as curves and edges.
You can import the following types of curves into a Freeform Surfacing feature.
• Datum curves imported into Pro/ENGINEER. For example, from IGES, Adobe
Illustrator, and so on.
• Datum curves created in Pro/ENGINEER
• Freeform Surfacing curves or edges created in another Freeform Surfacing

feature or in current Freeform Surfacing feature
• Edges of any Pro/ENGINEER feature
Note:
• When you import a geometry, Pro/ENGINEER always creates an approximation of
the imported geometry. Curves selected as chains will be approximated as a
single Freeform Surfacing curve while curves selected independently will be
approximated independently.
• The new curves created in Freeform Surfacing after importing the curves are
independent of the original curves.
To Import Curves
1. Create or redefine a Freeform Surfacing feature.
2. Click Styling > Curve from Datum. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears.
3. Click the import datum curves collector and import geometry in one of the
following ways
o Select one or more curves or edges independently
o Select more than one curve or edge to create chains
4. If required, use the Quality slider to increase or decrease the quality of

approximation. The quality of approximation may increase the number of points
required for computing the curve.
5. Click .
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Freeform Surfacing
New Freeform Surfacing free curves are created from the selected curves, edges, or
chains.
Editing Multiple Curves

About Multiple Curve Edits
Multiple curve edits are supported using Styling > Curve Edit.
Multiple edits include the following:
• Move multiple points or tangents on one curve.
• Move one point or tangent on multiple curves.
• Move multiple points or tangents on multiple curves.
Using the Styling > Curve Edit option for multiple curves, you can:
• Change the point location by dragging the selected points on the selected curves,
or by entering the values for the changed location.
• Change the tangent type for selected curves.
• Change the length and angle of the tangents for selected curves either by
dragging the tangents, or by entering the required values.
• Offset multiple planar curves by directly dragging them or by entering the offset
value.
• Change references for planar curves from one datum plane to another.
• Convert planar curves to free curves and vice versa.
• Convert COS curves to free curves.
• Make selected parameters for the selected curves visible.
For multiple curve edits, Freeform Surfacing does not allow you to:
• Add points to or delete points from multiple curves.
• Perform combine or split operations on multiple curves
• Change the soft-point constraints; including the unlink operation.
To Edit Multiple Curves

This is the generic procedure to edit multiple curves.
1. Make sure that no curves or points are selected by clicking anywhere in the
graphics window except the curves or other geometric entities.
2. Select a curve to be edited.
3. Holding down the CTRL key, click multiple curves to select all of them.
while editing.
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5. Holding down the CTRL key, select free points or tangents on the selected curves
for editing.
6. Move points and adjust tangents as required.
7. Click .
To Change the Location of Multiple Points

1. Holding down the CTRL key, click one or more curves to select all of them.
2. Holding down the CTRL key, select points on the selected curves.
3. Drag the selected points to the new location. Alternatively, on the dashboard,
specify x-, y-, and z-coordinate values on the Point tab and click the Relative
check box to treat the x-, y-, and z-coordinate values as offsets from the original
position of the points.
4. Click .
Note:
• All these points are displaced by the same relative offset.
• Hold the ALT key down while dragging the points to move the points along the
normal of the active datum plane.
• Hold the CTRL and ALT keys down simultaneously while dragging the points to
make them move parallel to the active datum plane either along the horizontal
direction or along the vertical direction only.
• Snapping of a point applies only to that point. All other points are moved without
snapping.
• You cannot drag constrained soft-points that are fixed such as points snapped to
a vertex or a datum point, soft-points at planar intersections with other curves,
or soft-points with plane offset constraints.
To Change the Tangent Options for Multiple Curves

1. Holding down the CTRL key, click one or more curves to select them.
2. Click Styling > Curve Edit or click from the Style toolbar.
while editing.
4. Holding down the CTRL key, click at the endpoints of the curves to select their
tangents.
5. To change the tangent type, click Tangent on the dashboard and change the
required tangent type using the Tangent dialog box. You can also right-click on
the tangent to display the Style shortcut menu and select the required tangent
type.
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Freeform Surfacing
o Optionally, type a value into the Length text box to specify a tangent's
exact length.
o Optionally, type an angle into the Angle text box to specify a tangent's
exact angle.
o Optionally, type an angle into the Elevation text box to specify a tangent's
exact elevation angle.
Note:
o You cannot change the tangent types to Symmetric, Tangent,

Curvature, Surface Tangent, Surface Curvature, or Draft tangent
while editing multiple curve tangents.
o For Draft Tangent, the option Draft is available instead of Elevation.
6. Click .
To Offset Multiple Planar Curves
1. Click Styling > Offset Curve. The dashboard opens. The curves collector is
active by default.
2. Select one or more planar curves.
reference.
Alternatively, specify a new offset value in the Offset box on the dashboard. If
required, click the Offset check box to export the offset value for modification
outside Freeform Surfacing.
offset.
6. Click .
To Convert Multiple Curves

1. Holding down the CTRL key, click multiple curves to select all of them.
2. Click Styling > Curve Edit or click .
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3. Select the Show Original checkbox to display the original curve while editing.
Clear the Show Original checkbox to not display the original curve while editing.
This checkbox is selected by default.
Note: At any point in time, during editing a curve, you can select or clear the
Show Original checkbox. The display of the original curve is dynamically
updated.
4. To convert free curves to planar curves, click Planar on the dashboard.
5. To convert planar curves to free curves, click Free on the dashboard.
6. To convert COS curves to free curves, click Free on the dashboard.
7. Click .
Freeform Surfacing Parameters

About Parameters in Freeform Surfacing
Parameters in Freeform Surfacing features are supported for modification outside the
You can make the following types of Freeform Surfacing parameters visible outside
Freeform Surfacing:
• Tangent Length, Angle, and Elevation Angle
• Offset Plane value for planar curves
• Soft point options Parameter, Length, Length Ratio, and Offset from Plane
• Internal datum parameters such as translation offset and angular offset
To Make Freeform Surfacing Parameters Visible

For Freeform Surfacing parameters, selecting the check box next to the parameter
makes the parameter visible outside Freeform Surfacing. Switching the visibility for
parameters is allowed at any time while editing the object.
Parameters for internal datums are automatically visible outside the Freeform
Surfacing feature, but other types of parameters must be explicitly exported.
To Edit Parameters Outside Freeform Surfacing

To be able to edit parameters outside Freeform Surfacing, you must first make them
visible by selecting the checkbox next to the parameter in Freeform Surfacing.
To edit the Freeform Surfacing parameters outside Freeform Surfacing,
1. Select the feature from the Model Tree, right-click, and select Edit.
2. Double-click the required dimension and type a new value for it.
3. Click Edit > Regenerate. The model regenerates to reflect the changed
parameter values.
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Freeform Surfacing
To Obtain Information on Parameters

Visible parameters are displayed by entity using the Info menu. You can check the
parameters that have been exposed after completing the Freeform Surfacing feature
by clicking Info > Feature.
Surfaces
About Surfaces
You can create the following types of surfaces using the Surface tool with one or
more defining curves or edges:
• Boundary Surface—Has a rectangular or triangular boundary. A set of primary
curves with optional internal curves defines the complete boundary of the
surface.
• Loft Surface—Is created from a set of nonintersecting curves that flow in the
same direction.
• Blend Surface—Is created from one or two primary curves and at least one
cross curve. A cross curve is a curve that intersects the primary curve or curves.
These surfaces can also be composite surfaces.

The defining curves of Freeform Surfacing surfaces must either have soft-point
connections, or share vertices at the endpoints whenever two curves need to
intersect. You need not trim curves back to absolute corners; partial boundaries are
supported. You cannot select the trim edges or internal edges of a composite surface
for defining Freeform Surfacing surfaces.
About Composite Surfaces

Surfaces with more than one curve as a single boundary or internal curve are
composite surfaces. The set of curves along a single boundary can consist of
different types of curves, but they must join at the ends with tangent or curvature
continuity. Composite surfaces are composed of a set of surfaces but are treated as
a single entity. Outside Freeform Surfacing, such surfaces are treated as a single
quilt. The surface normals of the component surfaces are oriented consistently with
each other.
During creation or redefinition, you can convert any type of Freeform Surfacing
surface, namely, boundary, loft, or blend, to another type by selecting a different set
of defining curves.
About Triangular Surfaces

Triangular surfaces in Freeform Surfacing are created in the same way as rectangular
surfaces, but they have three boundaries instead of four. Triangular surfaces have
one degenerate edge. The edge opposite the degenerate vertex is called the natural
boundary. When you create a triangular surface, the first boundary curve that you
select is the natural boundary.
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Surface utilities that are valid for rectangular surfaces are also valid for triangular
surfaces, including the following options
• Info
• View > Model Setup > Mesh Surface
• Edit > Definition
• Edit > Delete
• Edit > Unlink
Note: You can change a triangular surface into a rectangular one by using Edit >
Definition to add another boundary curve.
To Create a Boundary Surface
1. Click or Styling > Surface. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears. The
primary curve collector is active by default.
2. Select three or four boundary curves to create a triangular or rectangular

boundary surface, respectively. These curves must intersect to form a contiguous
boundary.
Note:
o Hold the CTRL key down and select multiple boundaries independently to
create chains.
o Hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple curves in a single boundary.
o To change natural boundary of a triangular surface, click References tab

on the dashboard, and select the check box beside the required curve to
make the selected curve as the natural boundary.
3. Click to activate the internal curves collector. Alternatively, right-click and

select Internal Collector.
4. Select one or more internal curves.
Note:
o Hold the CTRL key down and select multiple internal curves.
o Hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple curves in a single internal
curve chain.
5. If required, select Show Draft to display connections for draft for the
neighboring surfaces. Clear Show Draft to hide the connections for draft for the
neighboring surfaces.
Note: Show Draft is not selected by default.
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Freeform Surfacing
6. If required, click on the icons shown across the surface boundaries to modify
connections between the new surface and its neighbors. Alternatively, select the
connection icons, right-click, and select the required connection.
7. If required, modify the Icon Length value to change the size of the connection
icon that is displayed.
8. Click . The boundary surface is created.
To Create a Loft Surface
2. Select a set of nonintersecting curves that flow in the same direction to create a
loft surface.
Note:
o Hold the CTRL key down and select multiple defining curves independently
to create chains.
o Hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple curves in a single defining
curve chain.
2. If required, select Show Draft to display connections for draft for the selected
surfaces. Clear Show Draft to hide the connections for draft for the selected
surfaces.
6. Click . The loft surface is created.
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Example: Loft Surface

The next figure shows a loft surface.
To Create a Blend Surface
2. Select one or two primary curves.
Note:
o Hold the CTRL key down and select multiple defining curves independently
to create chains.
o Hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple curves in a single defining
curve.
o If you select two primary curves, then a loft surface is created. This loft
surface changes to a blend surface when you select one or more cross
curves.
3. Click to activate the cross curves collector. Alternatively, right-click and

select Internal Collector. If you have selected only one primary curve, you can
also middle-click.
4. Select one or more cross curves that intersect the primary curve or curves.
Note:
o Hold the CTRL key down and select multiple cross curves.
o Hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple curves in a single cross curve.
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Freeform Surfacing
5. On the Options tab on the dashboard, click one of the following
o Radial—Creates a surface with a radial blend. This option is relevant only if

there is only one primary curve. Blended instances of the cross curves are
rotated smoothly along the primary curve. If the check box is cleared, the
blended instances of the cross curves retain their original orientation with
respect to the primary curve.
o Uniform—Creates a surface with a uniform blend. This option is relevant

only if there are two primary curves. Blended instances of the cross curves
are scaled uniformly along the primary curves. If the check box is cleared,
the blended instances of the cross curves are scaled non-uniformly to
preserve a consistent loft over the blend.
Note: Radial and Uniform are selected by default.
6. If required, select Show Draft to display connections for draft for the selected
surfaces. Clear Show Draft to hide the connections for draft for the selected
surfaces.
9. Click . The blend surface is created.
Example: Radial and Non-radial Blend Surfaces

The following is an example of a radial blend surface.
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The following is an example of a non-radial blend surface.
Example: Uniform and Non-uniform Blend Surfaces

The following is an example of a uniform blend surface.
The following is an example of a non-uniform blend surface.
About Chains in Freeform Surfacing

Freeform Surfacing supports chains for selection in the same way that generic
Pro/ENGINEER does. However, only the Surface and Curve From Datum tools use
chains.
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Freeform Surfacing
As compared to general chains in generic Pro/ENGINEER tools, chains constructed in

Freeform Surfacing using the Surface and Curve From Datum tools have the
following differences:
• Freeform Surfacing only uses one-by-one chains
• You cannot trim a chain in Freeform Surfacing
• You cannot specify a start point and a direction of a chain in Freeform Surfacing
When constructing or editing a chain in Freeform Surfacing, the label Active is

displayed next to the active chain in the Pro/ENGINEER window.
Note: In Surface at least tangential continuity must exist between the segments. In
Curve From Datum at least position continuity must exist between the segments.
About Internal Curves

In Freeform Surfacing, internal curves are curves that define the shape of the
interior of a surface. Any number of internal curves can be added to a Freeform
Surfacing surface defined by boundaries, provided you follow the given rules:
• You cannot add a COS as an internal curve.
• Internal curves cannot intersect consecutive (contiguous) boundaries, as shown

in the following diagram.
1. Correct
2. Incorrect
• Generally, internal curves must have soft-points wherever they intersect the
surface boundaries or other internal curves, as shown in the following diagram.
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• If two internal curves cross the same borders, they cannot intersect within the
surface, as shown in the following diagram.
1. Correct
2. Incorrect
• The internal curve must intersect both borders of the surface, as shown in the
following diagram.
1. Correct
2. Incorrect
3. Incorrect
• An internal curve cannot intersect the surface boundary at more than two points,
as shown in the following diagram.
1. Correct
2. Incorrect
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Freeform Surfacing
• Internal curves in triangular surfaces may or may not intersect the natural
boundary.
o An internal curve that intersects the natural boundary must pass through
the degenerate vertex.
o An internal curve that does not intersect the natural boundary must
intersect the other two boundaries.
About Internal Curves in Triangular Surfaces

Triangular surfaces may have internal curves only if the internal curves that are
perpendicular to the natural boundary pass through the degenerate vertex. After a
triangular surface has internal curves, you cannot change the natural boundary
without first removing the internal curves.
If you try to change the natural boundary for a surface that has one or more internal
curves, Pro/ENGINEER displays a message:
Changing natural boundary will cause the internal curves to be deleted.
Continue?
If you click Yes, the internal curves are deleted. If you click No, the natural
boundary remains unchanged.
Alternatively, you can also clear the check box next to the natural boundary and
select the check box beside the required curve to make the selected curve as the
natural boundary.
About Editing Surfaces

There are several ways that you can edit surfaces:
• Edit the boundary or internal curves using , and then regenerate.
• Click Edit > Definition to add or remove boundary or internal curves.
• Right-click to select Edit Definition on the shortcut menu and select the surface.
• Edit the connections between surfaces using .
• Click or Styling > Surface Edit and edit the surface directly using mesh.
About Trimming Surfaces

In Freeform Surfacing, you can trim surfaces and quilts using a set of curves. You
can keep or delete the resulting trimmed quilt pieces. By default, Freeform Surfacing
does not delete any of the trimmed pieces.
Note:
• Freeform Surfacing creates a new surface subfeature within the active Freeform
Surfacing feature each time you use the trim operation.
• Trimming a surface does not change its parametric definition. Any soft-points or
COS do not change after the trim operation.
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• The curves that you select for trimming surfaces must lie on the quilts.
When using the trim operation, you can:

• Use an already trimmed surface for another trim operation. Freeform Surfacing
allows nested trim operations.
• Create COS, dropped curves, and soft-points on the trimmed surfaces.
• Create connections across the trim boundaries.
• Use the Info and Analysis menu for information and analysis of the trimmed
surfaces.
To Trim a Surface
1. Click or Styling > Trim. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard appears. The
quilts collector is active by default.
2. Select one or more quilts to be trimmed.
3. Click the curve collector on the dashboard or right-click and select Curve
Collector.
4. Select the curves that you want to use to trim the quilt.
Note: The curves that you select must lie on the quilts that you selected.
5. Click the delete collector on the dashboard or right-click and select Delete
Collector.
6. Select the trimmed pieces that you want to delete.
Note: Do not select all the trimmed pieces for deletion.
7. Click to trim the selected surface.
Note: If creating or redefining the trim does not result in a valid trimmed quilt,
you can click the and and change the selected entities or cancel the trim
operation.
About Redefining Trimmed Surfaces

• You cannot redefine the trim operation if it does not create trimmed pieces.
• If you select a trimmed surface for redefining the trim operation, Freeform
Surfacing displays the mesh regions in colors that indicate your earlier choice of
keeping or deleting them.
• When redefining or inserting a trim in a nested trim operation, Freeform

Surfacing removes all the trims created after the trim that you are about to
redefine or insert. These trim features are restored and resolved after you
complete the trim operation.
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Freeform Surfacing
To Redefine Trimmed Surfaces

1. Double-click the trimmed surface that you want to redefine or select the trimmed
surface and click Edit > Definition. Alternatively, select the trimmed surface
that you want to redefine, right-click, and select Edit Definition.
2. If required, you can select a new curve to trim the quilt. Click the curve collector
on the dashboard or right-click and select Curve Collector. Select the

curves that you want to use to trim the quilt.
Note: The curves that you select must lie on the quilts that you selected.
3. Click the delete collector on the dashboard or right-click and select Delete
Collector.
4. Select the trimmed pieces that you want to delete.
Note: Do not select all the trimmed pieces for deletion.
5. Click to trim the selected surface.
To Delete Trimmed Surfaces

A trimmed surface is created as a new surface subfeature of the Freeform Surfacing
feature.
To delete a trimmed surface, select the trimmed quilt piece, and press DEL or click
Edit > Delete.
Connections
About Curve Connections
Curve connections are created using Styling > Curve Edit. In Freeform Surfacing,
curve connections use the concepts of leader and follower curves. A leader curve
maintains its shape, while a follower curve adapts its shape to meet the leader. The
following kinds of connections can be made between curves:
• Symmetric—sets the tangents of two adjoining curves to be the average of the
tangents at the end points.
• Tangent—Sets the tangent of the follower curve to match the tangent value of
leader curve. The endpoint of the follower must be a soft-point on the leader.
• Curvature—Same as Tangent, but the original curvature value of the leader

curve is also maintained.
The following options create connections between curves and neighboring surfaces:
• Surface Tangent—Sets the selected curve tangent to follow the cross-boundary
tangent of the parent surface. This requires that the selected endpoint of the
curve to be a soft-point to a surface, a surface boundary, or a COS.
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• Surface Curvature—Sets the selected curve tangent to follow the cross-

boundary curvature of the parent surface. This requires that the selected
endpoint of the curve to be a soft-point to a surface, a surface boundary, or a
COS.
• Draft Tangent—Sets the selected curve tangent at an angle to the selected

plane or surface. For draft to plane, the endpoint of the curve must be a soft-
point to any other curve. For draft to surface, the endpoint of the curve must be
a soft-point onto the surface boundary or a COS.
To Create Curve Connections Using Tangent Constraints
2. Select a curve and click its endpoint to display the tangent vector.
3. Click Tangent on the dashboard and select one of the following primary tangent
constraints from the First box under Constraints. Alternatively, right-click on
the tangent vector and select one of the following:
Note: The following options create connections with neighboring curves.
o Symmetric—Sets the tangents of two adjoining curves to be the average

of the tangents at the end points.
o Tangent—Sets the tangent of the follower curve to match the tangent

value of leader curve. The endpoint of the follower must be a soft-point on
the leader.
o Curvature—Same as Tangent, but the original curvature value of the

leader curve is also maintained.
Note: The following options create connections with neighboring surfaces.
o Surface Tangent—Sets the selected curve tangent to follow the cross-

boundary tangent of the parent surface. This requires that the selected
endpoint of the curve to be a soft-point to a surface, a surface boundary, or
a COS.
o Surface Curvature—Sets the selected curve tangent to follow the cross-

boundary curvature of the parent surface. This requires that the selected
endpoint of the curve to be a soft-point to a surface, a surface boundary, or
a COS.
o Draft Tangent—Sets the selected curve tangent at an angle to the

selected plane or surface. For draft to plane, the endpoint of the curve must
be a soft-point to any other curve. For draft to surface, the endpoint of the
curve must be a soft-point onto the surface boundary or a COS.
2. Click .
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Freeform Surfacing
About Editing Curve Tangents

Using curve tangents, you can change the shape of the curve and create connections
with another curve or surface. You display the tangent vector by clicking on the end
point of a selected curve. Click and drag the end of the tangent vector to change its
angle and length. Direct manipulation of the tangent vector on the screen can be
affected by settings on the Tangent tab on the Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
About Direct Modification of Curve Tangents

You can directly modify curve tangents that are not connected to another curve as
follows.
• You can change both the length and direction of a tangent that is not constrained
by dragging the displayed vector. Constraints such as Align or Angle allow you
to modify only the length because the direction is constrained.
• You can change only the length of a follower tangent. In the case of a connected
curve, the tangent handle has two parts, that is, a regular tangent vector on the
leader and an arrow tangent vector on the follower. You can drag the follower
tangent to change length only, as the direction is constrained by the leader. You
can apply any of the other constraints except Tangent or Curvature to the
leader tangent. Changing the type of the follower tangent to any type except
Tangent or Curvature breaks the connection with the leader curve.
• You can align the tangent of a curve to another unconnected curve.
• You can reverse the direction of the leader and the follower and the underlying
soft-point by clicking on the leader tangent.
• You can change the continuity level from tangent to curvature or from curvature
to tangent by clicking on the follower tangent or the arrow.
• You can remove the connection between the leader and the follower curves by
holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on the follower tangent or the arrow.
To Change a Tangent's Directional Constraints

You can change a curve's shape in two ways by changing its tangent's direction—
click and drag the tangent vector on the screen, or use the Tangent options on the
Freeform Surfacing dashboard.
2. Select a curve.
3. Click the curve's endpoint to display the tangent vector for a curve with
interpolation points. For curves with control points, select the segment between
the endpoint and the point before the endpoint.
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4. Click Tangent on the dashboard and select one of the following primary tangent
constraints from the First box under Constraints. Alternatively, right-click on
the tangent vector and select one of the following:
o Natural—Uses the natural mathematical tangent for the defining points.

This is the default for newly–created curves. The tangent may change
direction as you modify the defining points.
o Free—Uses a user–specified tangent. Natural tangents change to free as

soon as you manipulate them. After you modify them, the direction and
length you specify are respected, and you can drag the tangent freely.
o Fix Angle—Sets the current direction, but allows you to change the length
by dragging.
o Horizontal—Sets the current direction to horizontal relative to the grid of

the current datum plane, but allows you to change length by dragging.
o Vertical—Sets the current direction to vertical relative to the grid of the

current datum plane, but allows you to change the length by dragging.
o Normal—Sets the current direction to be perpendicular to a reference

datum plane that you select.
o Align—Sets the current direction to a reference location on another curve.
5. Under Properties on the Tangent tab on the dashboard, specify the following if
applicable:
o Length—Type a value into the Length box to specify a tangent's exact

length, if required.
o Angle—Type an angle into the Angle box to specify a tangent's exact

angle, if required.
o Elevation—Type a value in the Elevation box, if required. Elevation is a

measure of how much the tangent comes out with respect to the tangent
reference datum plane, and is measured in degrees.
Note:
In case of Draft Tangent, instead of Elevation, Draft is available under

Properties.
You can specify elevation only for Free curves. While changing constraints,
you can use the horizontal and vertical direction reference (H/V axis) of the
datum plane.
o Plane—Select a new reference plane for this tangent.
6. Under Drag on the Tangent tab on the dashboard, specify the way the tangent
vector is directly manipulated on the screen:
o Free—Motion of the tangent is unconstrained.
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Freeform Surfacing
o Length—Locks the current direction of the tangent so that only the length
changes. Alternatively, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys while dragging
the tangent.
o Angle + Elev—Locks the current length of the tangent so that only the
angle and elevation change. Alternatively, hold down the ALT key while
dragging the tangent.
Note: The drag setting does not apply any constraints to the currently
selected tangent, but only affects dragging any tangent using the mouse.
7. Click .
Note:
• Every tangent can have its own unique reference plane, for constraining primary
and elevation angle.
• You can constrain the control point tangents as well as interpolation point
tangents.
• If the value of the tangent elevation angle is 90 degrees, modifying the tangent
angle has no effect on the tangent direction as the elevation controls the tangent
direction.
About Surface Connections

Surface connections, like curve connections, are based on the concepts of parents
and children. A parent surface does not change its shape while a child surface
changes its shape to meet the parent. Surface connections in Freeform Surfacing
are:
• Position (G0)—The surfaces share a common boundary, but no shared tangent
or curvature exists across the boundary. A dashed line between the surfaces
represents the Position connection.
• Tangent (G1)—Two surfaces have a common boundary, such that at every point
along that boundary they are tangent to each other. In case of a Tangent
connection the surface constraint follows the concept of parents and children.
When a parent surface changes it shape, the child surface adapts its shape to
maintain tangency with the parent. An arrow pointing from the parent to the child
represents the Tangent connection.
• Curvature (G2)—The surfaces are tangent continuous across the boundary, and
share curvature along the common boundary. In case of a Curvature connection
the surface constraint follows the concept of parents and children. When a parent
surface changes it shape, the child surface adapts its shape to maintain curvature
continuity with the parent. Double arrows pointing from the parent to the child
represent the Curvature connection.
• Normal—The boundary curve that supports the connection is planar, and all the
cross boundary curves have curve tangents normal to the plane of this boundary.
An arrow pointing from the connected boundary, but not crossing the boundary,
represents a Normal connection.
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• Draft—All cross boundary curves have draft curve connections at the same angle
to the reference plane or surface relative to the boundary. A dashed arrow
pointing from the common boundary represents the Draft connection.
Controlling Surface Connections in Composite Surfaces

You can control connections across composite boundaries but not connections within
the composite surfaces. The continuity within composite surfaces is maximum if the
associated boundary curves have curvature, tangent, or position continuity.
Connections along a composite boundary of a surface function as a group and are
displayed in a different color. For example, inverting the parent-child relationship at
one of the surface connections inverts all others along the boundary.
Freeform Surfacing surfaces are children of any non-Freeform Surfacing surfaces,
such as Pro/ENGINEER surfaces, or of other Freeform Surfacing surfaces that occur
earlier in the Model Tree.
About Default and Smart Connections

Pro/ENGINEER makes default surface connections during creation of a surface when
you use or Styling > Surface. A surface connection is automatically established
when the surface is created initially as follows:
• If the cross boundary curves have tangent or curvature connections to an
existing neighbor surface, then a surface tangent connection is established.
• If the boundary curve is planar and the cross boundary curves are normal to the
same plane, then a centerline connection is established.
Note: Pro/ENGINEER establishes only surface connections of type Surface Tangent

or Centerline, by default. You must explicitly change the connection type for
Pro/ENGINEER to establish a surface connection type other than the default.
Pro/ENGINEER also allows smart surface connections during creation of a surface
when you use or Styling > Surface and when you connect surfaces using or
Styling > Surface Connect. If you want a Surface Tangent or Surface
Curvature connection that is not supported by the cross boundary curves,
Pro/ENGINEER may offer to upgrade those curves to support the required
connection. If you click Yes, Pro/ENGINEER modifies the curve tangent connections
to establish the same tangent continuity with the neighboring surface and the
required surface connection is established between the surfaces. If you click No,
Pro/ENGINEER does not modify the curve tangent connections and the required
surface connection is not established.
Pro/ENGINEER offers to establish smart curve connections only if the following
conditions are met:
• All cross boundary curves must be Freeform Surfacing curves in the same
• All cross boundary curves are adjacent to the neighboring surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
Note: Pro/ENGINEER establishes only the curve tangent connections of type

Surface Tangent or Surface Curvature for all cross boundary curves.
To Connect Surfaces
1. Click or click Styling > Surface Connect. The Freeform Surfacing dashboard
appears. The surface collector is active by default.
2. Select a set of surfaces.
3. The icon between the surfaces represents the connection between the surfaces.
In case of a Tangent, Curvature, Normal, or Draft connection, the arrow
points from the parent to the child.
o If required, click the connection arrow to change the connections between

surfaces.
o Click the end of the arrow to change the direction of the connection.
o Click the middle of the arrow to switch between a tangent or curvature

connection.
o Hold down the SHIFT key and click the middle of the arrow to return to a
Position connection.
Note: A Position connection has no connection except the shared

boundary curve.
o Hold down the ALT key and click the middle of the arrow to change the
connection to a Draft connection. Select a plane or a surface for the draft
reference when prompted.
Note: All the cross-boundary curves must have draft curve connections at
the same angle to the reference plane or surface relative to the shared
boundary.
Alternatively, select the connection arrow, right-click, and select the required
connection.
4. If required, select Show Selected to display connections for only the selected
surfaces. Clear Show Selected to display the connections between the selected
surfaces and all adjacent surfaces.
Note: Show Selected is not selected by default.
5. If required, select Show Draft to display additional connection icons for draft for
the selected surfaces. When you select the Show Draft check box, every
boundary of the surface displays a relevant connection icon. When you clear the
Show Draft check box, only boundaries of the surface that might support a
Tangent, Curvature, or Normal connection display a connection icon.
arrow.
7. Click .
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About Draft Connections for Surfaces

Draft surface connections enable a surface boundary to be constrained at a specified
angle relative to a datum plane or another surface. Typical cases include an open
boundary, COS and datum plane.
To allow a surface connection at a draft angle to a plane or surface, the following

requirements must be met:
• The boundary curve for the connection must lie on the surface.
• All cross boundary curves must have draft connections to the same plane or
surface and at the same angle.
To Create Curve Connections Using Draft Tangent
2. Select a curve and click its endpoint to display the tangent vector.
3. Click Tangent on the dashboard and select Draft Tangent from the First box
under Constraints. Alternatively, right-click on the tangent vector and select
Draft Tangent.
4. Select a plane or a surface.
Note: For draft to plane, the endpoint of the curve should be a soft-point to any
other curve. For draft to surface, the endpoint of the curve must be a soft-point
onto the surface boundary or a COS.
The draft tangent is computed at a default draft angle with respect to the
selected plane or surface.
5. If required, change the draft angle for the draft tangent by double-clicking the
display value for the draft angle and typing a new value. Alternatively, on the
dashboard, specify a new draft angle in the Draft box under Properties on the
Tangent tab.
6. Click .
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Freeform Surfacing
About Second Constraints Definition for Curves

When the primary constraint on a curve tangent is Surface Tangent, Surface
Curvature, or Draft Tangent, the tangent gets projected on the tangent plane. You
can further constrain its placement by defining the second tangent constraint.
The following secondary constraints are valid:
• Natural
• Free
• Angle
• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Normal
• Align
To Create Second Constraint Definition for Curves with

Surface Tangent, Surface Curvature, or Draft Tangent
Constraint
2. Select the curves whose tangent you want to edit.
Note: You can select only those curves that have the primary tangent type as
Surface Tangent, Surface Curvature, or Draft Tangent.
3. Click the endpoints of the curves to display the tangent vectors.
4. Click Tangent on the dashboard and select the required secondary constraint
type in the Second box under Constraints.
5. Click .
Note:
• You can constrain the control point tangents as well as interpolation point
tangents.
• You can use Horizontal and Vertical for all the constraints, that is, for Surface
Tangent, Surface Curvature, and Draft Tangent.
• You can use the secondary constraint Normal only if the reference plane normal
lies in the tangent plane.
• You can use the secondary constraint Align only if the curve tangent for the
curve selected for alignment lies in the tangent plane.
• You cannot use the secondary constraints Align and Normal for Draft Tangent.
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Tip: Setting the Second Constraint Definition

If you use the shortcut menu to set the tangent types, there is an easy way to set
secondary types. Right-click on the tangent and select the secondary type for the
tangent, then right-click again and choose Surface Tangent, Surface Curvature,
or Draft Tangent. The original tangent type becomes the secondary.
About Surface Connections with Triangular Surfaces

Surface connections to triangular surfaces are handled similarly as other connections
with the following additional restrictions:
• The surface's natural boundary may be a leader or follower of another surface
with G1 or G2 connections.
• The two edges that are not the natural boundary may be G1 leaders only.
Freeform Surfacing Editing Tools

To Select Entities
1. Click .
2. Use the following methods for selecting geometry with the Select tool:
o Click an object to select it.
o Holding down the CTRL key, click multiple objects to select all of them.
o Holding down the CTRL key, click on a selected object to clear its selection.
o Click anywhere in the graphics window except the object or objects to clear
the selection of all objects.
For example, if you want to delete multiple surfaces, then holding down the CTRL
key, click each surface and press DEL or click Edit > Delete to delete all selected
surfaces.
Using Selection for Move and Copy

Use the following shortcuts in the Select tool for moving and copying curves:
• Drag the selected curve to move it freely.
• Hold down the ALT key while dragging the selected curve to make it move along
the normal of the active datum plane.
• Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously while dragging the selected
curve to make it move parallel to the active datum plane either along the
• Hold down the CTRL key and drag the selected curve to copy it. The copy is
always linked to the original geometry that is being copied.
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Freeform Surfacing
About Moving and Copying Freeform Surfacing Geometry

The move and copy functionalities in Freeform Surfacing apply only to Freeform
Surfacing curves. These functionalities apply to planar and free curves, circles and
arcs, but not COSs.
For planar curves, the planar constraints are not violated.
The move functionality allows you to translate, rotate, and scale the Freeform
Surfacing geometry.
The copy functionality duplicates the selected geometry and allows you to translate,
rotate, and scale it. Soft-points are preserved during a copy. The copy may be
unlinked, in which case references to the geometry being copied are unlinked, if
necessary.
The copy proportional functionality duplicates the selected geometry, while retaining
the original proportions when the endpoints of the first curve in the selected
geometry are moved to new positions during duplication.
Copied curves do not maintain history with the original curves. However, the copied
curves preserve the relationships that exist between the individual curves in the set
of curves selected for copying.
Copying Curves with Soft-Point Constraint Proportionally

Soft-point constraints do not allow you to copy curves proportionally. You must
remove the soft-point constraints to copy them proportionally or copy the
constrained curves proportionally along with the parent curves.
Note: To remove the soft-point constraints, click the Unlink check box on the
dashboard while copying a curve proportionally. If you do not click the Unlink check
box, the constrained curves are copied proportionally along with the parent curves.
To Move and Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry

1. Click Edit > Move or Edit > Copy. The dashboard opens. The curve collector
2. Select one or more curves. You can also select a circle or an arc.
3. If required, click the Unlink check box to remove any references to the original
geometry that is being copied. Clear the Unlink check box to retain all references
to the original geometry that is being copied. Unlink is not selected by default.
Note: Freeform Surfacing retains the previous action on the Unlink check box.
For example, in a copy or move operation, if you click Unlink, then Unlink
remains selected for the subsequent copy or move operations. Unless you clear
the Unlink check box, it remains selected for the current Pro/ENGINEER session
even if you quit the Freeform Surfacing feature.
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4. You can translate, scale, or rotate the geometry while copying or moving it.
• Translate operation
o Drag anywhere in the graphics window to translate the geometry while

copying or moving it.
o On the dashboard, select one of the following to specify the direction

constraint while translating the geometry
Free—Geometry moves freely. This is the default.
Normal—Geometry moves along the normal of the active datum plane.

Alternatively, hold down the ALT key while dragging the geometry to make
it move along the normal of the active datum plane.
Horizontal / Vertical—Geometry moves parallel to the active datum plane

either along the horizontal direction or along the vertical direction only.
Alternatively, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously while
dragging the geometry to make it move parallel to the active datum plane
either along the horizontal direction or along the vertical direction only.
o Alternatively, specify x-, y-, and z-coordinate values for Move under
Options on the dashboard to translate the moved or copied geometry. If
required, click the Relative check box under Options on the dashboard to
treat the x-, y-, and z-coordinate values as offsets from the geometry's
original position.
• Scale operation
Use the handles on the marquee to scale the geometry while copying or moving
it.
o Drag any corner of the marquee for three-dimensional scaling.
o Drag the edge handle for two-dimensional scaling.
o Drag an edge arrow for one-dimensional scaling.
o On the dashboard, select one of the following to specify the Scale type.
Center—Scales uniformly around the center of the marquee. Alternatively,

hold down the SHIFT and ALT keys simultaneously while dragging the
marquee to scale the geometry uniformly around the center axis.
Opposite—Scales uniformly in the opposite direction of the selected corner,

edge, or face.
o Alternatively, specify x-, y-, and z-coordinate values for Scale under
Options on the dashboard to scale the moved or copied geometry. If
original position.
If required, click to lock scale values for x-, y-, and z-coordinates.
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Freeform Surfacing
• Rotate Operation
Use the rotation jack to rotate the geometry while copying or moving it.
o Drag the handles on the ends of the jack to rotate the geometry.
o Alternatively, enter x-, y-, and z-coordinate values for Rotate under
Options on the dashboard to rotate the moved or copied geometry. If
original position.
The rotation axes are defined by the orientation of the jack.
o On the dashboard, select one of the following to specify the Transform

type.
Selection—Transforms the selected curves with the marquee.

Alternatively, right-click on the rotation jack and select Transform
Selection.
Marquee—Transforms only the marquee and the rotation jack.

Alternatively, right-click on the rotation jack and select Transform
Marquee.
The rotation center is defined by the location of the jack.
o To change the rotation center, click anywhere on the jack away from the
end handles and drag the jack to a new location.
o Right-click on the rotation jack and select Center Jack to place the jack in
the center of the marquee. Alternatively, click under Rotation on the

Jack tab on the dashboard.
o Right-click on the rotation jack and select Align Jack to align the jack.
Alternatively, click under Rotation on the Jack tab on the

dashboard.
5. Click to complete moving or copying the geometry.
Note: You can use the following shortcuts for moving and copying curves without
translating, scaling, or rotating them
o Drag the selected curve to move it freely.
o Hold down the ALT key while dragging the selected curve to make it move
along the normal of the active datum plane.
o Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously while dragging the
selected curve to make it move parallel to the active datum plane either
along the horizontal direction or along the vertical direction only.
o Hold down the CTRL key and drag the selected curve to copy it. The copy is
always linked to the original geometry that is being copied.
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Example: Move and Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry
1. Drag here to scale the geometry three-dimensionally
2. Drag here to scale the geometry two-dimensionally
3. Drag here to scale the geometry one-dimensionally
4. Drag the rotation jack to rotate the geometry
To Copy Freeform Surfacing Geometry Proportionally
1. Click Edit > Copy Proportional. The dashboard opens. The curve collector
2. Select one or more curves. You can also select a circle or an arc.
A copy of the curve or set of curves is created. Two vectors that indicate the
original and new positions of the two defining points of the first curve in the
selection set appear. The default bases of the two vectors are the endpoints of
the first curve in the selection set. The arrowheads of the two vectors are offset
proportionally from the bases of the vectors.
3. If required, click the Unlink check box to remove any references to the geometry
being copied. Clear the Unlink check box to retain all references to the geometry
being copied. Unlink is not selected by default.
4. If required, click the Uniform check box under Options on dashboard to

uniformly scale each coordinate of the copied curve. Clear the Uniform check
box to nonuniformly scale each coordinate of the copied curve. Uniform is
selected by default.
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Freeform Surfacing
5. Drag the arrowheads of the vectors to scale, translate, or rotate the copied
curve.
Note: To add soft-points to the copy of the curve, hold down the SHIFT key while
dragging the curve.
6. Click to create a copy of the curve after scaling, translating, or rotating it.
Example: Copy Proportional

The next figure shows a proportional copy of a single curve.
The next figure shows proportional copies of a set of curves.
To Redefine Geometry
1. Select a curve, dropped COS, surface, or trimmed surface. Click Edit >
Definition or right-click and select Edit Definition. Alternately, double-click the
entity that you want to modify.
2. Modify the entities as desired.
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3. Click .
To Get Information on Freeform Surfacing Features

Click Info > Current Feature to obtain information on the current Freeform
Surfacing feature.
Information including the name, type, geometry ID, the references, referenced
features, and their visibility state appears in an Information window.
To Get Information on Selected Entities

Click Info > Entity to obtain information on selected entities.
Information including the name, type, geometry ID, references, referenced features,
and their visibility state appears in an Information window.
Note: You can obtain information on an entire Freeform Surfacing feature, including
all its component entities by clicking Info > Current Feature.
To Repeat a Freeform Surfacing Command
Click or middle-click to repeat a Freeform Surfacing command.
Deleting Geometry
About Deleting Geometry
If you attempt to delete parent geometry without deleting the children, the children
are highlighted, and you are prompted to delete, unlink, or suspend that geometry.
In cases where the parent being deleted is not essential to regeneration of the child,
you can unlink the child from the parent instead of deleting it, as in the following
examples:
• Soft points can be converted to fixed points on free or planar curves.
• Curve connections can be deleted to unlink followers.
• Surface connections can be deleted to unlink followers.
• Internal curves can be removed from child surfaces.
If you choose not to delete or unlink the dependent children, you can suspend the
children. Suspension causes the children to fail to regenerate, and you will have to
resolve them at a later time.
To Delete Geometry
To delete any type of Freeform Surfacing geometry except curve points and curve
segments, select the geometry you want to delete, and click Edit > Delete. The
selected geometry is deleted.
Note: If you attempt to delete parent geometry without deleting the children, the
children are highlighted, and you are prompted to delete, unlink, or suspend that
geometry.
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Freeform Surfacing
To Delete Curve Points
1. Click or Styling > Curve Edit.
2. Select a curve.
3. To delete a point, right-click and select Delete.
4. Click .
Editing Surfaces Directly

About Editing Surfaces Directly
The Surface Edit tool in Style is a powerful and flexible way of directly manipulating
surfaces in Pro/ENGINEER. It can be used to edit surfaces for purposes of general
modeling as well as make subtle tweaks to smooth out problem areas. The history of
surface edits is maintained during future regeneration, so if the parent surface is
modified, the surface edit is reapplied to the surface during regeneration.
To Edit a Surface Directly
1. Click or Styling > Surface Edit. The dashboard opens. The surface
collector is active by default. A label near one of the corners of the mesh
indicates the direction of the rows and columns. Rows are parallel to label R and
columns are parallel to label C.
2. Select a surface that you want to edit. A mesh with four rows and four columns
appears on the surface.
Note:
o The surface that you select can be either in the current feature or from a
previous feature. The feature can either be native or imported.
o By default, you cannot edit the mesh points on the surface boundaries.
3. You may want to preserve rows or columns of the mesh to maintain the existing
connections between the active surface and its neighbors.
o To preserve a position constraint, right-click the mesh boundary and select

Preserve 1st Row or Preserve 1st Column.
o To preserve a tangent constraint, right-click the mesh boundary and select

Preserve 2nd Row or Preserve 2nd Column.
o To preserve a curvature constraint, right-click the mesh boundary and

select Preserve 3rd Row or Preserve 3rd Column.
Note: Style provides automatic protection for position constraints on all four
boundaries of the surface, that is, Preserve 1st Row or Preserve 1st Column
is selected by default. To remove this protection, right-click inside the surface
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and select Clear All Boundaries. When you select Clear All Boundaries,
Preserve None is selected automatically for each boundary. You can now edit
the mesh points on the surface boundaries.
4. To adjust the density of the control mesh, in the Max Rows and Columns boxes
on the dashboard, specify a value greater than 4 for the number of rows and
columns for the mesh. Alternatively, right-click on the surface and select Add
Row or Add Column to add a row or column to the surface mesh, respectively.
Continue adding rows and columns until the mesh reaches the density that you
need for editing.
5. Select one or more mesh points. Hold down the CTRL key to select multiple
points. If required, click on the bar of a row or column to select all the points in
the row or column. Drag the selection set to modify the surface.
6. For more control of the point motion, specify values for Move and Filter on the
dashboard, or use the Adjust option and arrow buttons on the dashboard.
• Move—Specifies the direction in which the group of points moves.
o Normal—Points move along their own surface normal direction. This is the
default.
o Normal Constant—Points move along a common surface normal direction.

This normal is defined by the point that you drag.
o Normal to Plane—Points move normal to the active datum plane.
o Free—Points move parallel to the active datum plane.
o Along Bar—Points move along adjoining row and column mesh.
o In View—Points move parallel to the current view plane.
o Filter—Specifies the movement distribution of the group of selected points.
o Constant—Selected points move the same distance as the dragged point.

This is the default.
Example: Using Constant Filter
o Linear—Selected points drop off linearly with respect to the distance from
the dragged point.
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Freeform Surfacing
Example: Using Linear Filter
o Smooth—Selected points drop off smoothly or quadratically with respect

to the distance from the dragged point.
Example: Using Smooth Filter
• Adjust—To make very small, precise movements, specify a value for Adjust in
the dashboard. Click , , , or to move the mesh point up, down,
left, or right, by the value specified as increment in the Adjust box.
Note:
o The up, down, left, and right buttons for Adjust are available depending on
the type specified for Move.
o When you click one of the arrow buttons, a red circle is displayed around
the active control point. This is the point that moves by the increment
when you select multiple points. To change the active point, click on any
other selected point.
7. If required, use the display controls on the dashboard to graphically see the
changes made during surface edit.
o Click on the dashboard to show the base surface. Click again to

hide the base surface.
Note : The show base button is available only if the selected surface
is external to the current Style feature.
o Click on the dashboard to show original mesh. Click again to

hide the original mesh.
o Click on the dashboard to show surface as opaque. Click again

to show the surface as translucent.
o Click on the dashboard to show the mesh. Click again to hide

the mesh.
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8. Click the List tab on the dashboard. The surface edit operations performed on
the selected surface are displayed in the sequence that they were performed. You
can perform the following operations:
o Select an operation in the list and edit it.
o Select the required operation in the list and then make further edits to
insert after the selected operation.
o Click to select the previous operation.
o Click to select the next operation.
o Click to select the first operation in the list.
o Click to select the last operation in the list.
o Select an operation in the list and click to delete it.
9. Click to complete the surface edit operation.
To Preserve and Align Boundaries While Editing Surfaces

Directly
1. Click or Styling > Surface Edit. Select a surface to edit, and adjust the
mesh density as described in To Edit a Surface Directly.
2. Right-click the boundary of the mesh that you want to align with a neighbor.
3. Select Preserve None to remove the default boundary protection. Alternatively,

right-click on the surface and select Clear All Boundaries to remove protection
on all the boundaries.
4. Right-click the boundary of the mesh and select Align Position, Align Tangent,
or Align Curvature to align boundary with the neighboring surface or curve
using position, tangent, or curvature alignment, respectively.
5. Select an edge or Curve on Surface to align with the boundary of the surface that
you are editing or select one side of the neighbor edge for alignment. This curve
is added to the Neighbor curve collector in the Advanced tab on the dashboard.
If you select a two-sided edge as the neighbor for a tangent continuous or
curvature continuous alignment, click the Side surface collector in the Advanced
tab on the dashboard to specify which of the two surfaces joining that edge
should be used for the alignment.
Note:
o A two-sided edge is an edge that is common to two neighboring surfaces.
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Freeform Surfacing
o If you select Align Tangent or Align Curvature, click the Neighbor curve
collector in the Advanced tab, and select an edge or Curve on Surface.
Alternatively, click the Side surface collector in the Advanced tab, and
select a surface. Style selects the closest edge automatically and adds it to
the Neighbor curve collector in the Advanced tab.
o If you select Align Position, you may select a free curve, an edge, or
Curve on Surface. This curve is added to the Neighbor curve collector in
the Advanced tab on the dashboard.
o Right-click in the graphics window and select Neighbor Collector or Side

Collector to activate it. Right-click in the graphics window and select
Deactivate Collector to deactivate the Neighbor and Side collectors.
Right-click in the graphics window and select Clear to clear the values in
the Neighbor and Side collectors.
o The Align operation automatically inserts a new Move Points operation in

the operations List tab. This Move Points operation is the active operation.
6. Click the List tab on the dashboard and select the Align operation to continue.
Perform one of the following operations:
o Drag the end points of the aligned boundary along the neighbor to adjust
the extent of the aligned region. The end points are displayed with red
circles.
o To adjust the alignment across the two surfaces for an Align Tangent or
Align Curvature operation, drag a mesh boundary of a row or column
adjacent to the aligned boundary.
o Swap Ends option is available only when you right-click on the boundary
corresponding to an active align operation. Select Swap Ends to swap start
and end points of the align boundary.
o Flip option is available only when you right-click on the boundary

corresponding to the active align operation for tangent or curvature
alignment. Select Flip to reverse the direction of the tangent or curvature
alignment.
7. Click the List tab and select the next Move Points operation following the Align
operation to continue editing the surface.
To Use Multi-Resolution Surface Editing

Multi-resolution editing allows you to edit the same surface using a lighter mesh for
larger changes and a heavier mesh for finer changes. For convenient editing at
different resolutions, it is recommended that you add enough rows and columns at
the beginning of the edit to accommodate the expected modifications and then
activate or deactivate the rows and columns of the mesh, as required.
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Note: If you change Max Rows or Columns after modifying the mesh points,
the Surface Edit Row/Column dialog box opens. Click Refit to change the
number of rows or columns and refit all previous operations. This will adjust all
previous operations according to the new number of rows or columns. Click
Delete to change the number of rows or columns and delete all previous
operations. Click Cancel to keep the existing mesh size.
2. You can add rows or columns to get a finer control mesh to edit the surface.
o Right-click on the surface and select Add Row or Add Column to add a
row or column to the surface mesh, respectively. Continue adding rows
and columns until the mesh reaches the density needed for further edits.
3. You can work with a lighter mesh by deactivating some rows and columns.
Deactivating the rows and columns makes those rows and columns temporarily
unavailable for editing. However, you can activate these rows and columns, if
required.
o Right-click on a row or column and select Deactivate Row or Deactivate

Column to deactivate the row or column.
o If any of the rows or columns are deactivated, you may right-click on the
surface and select Activate All to activate the rows and columns.
You can also work with a lighter mesh by removing some rows and columns.
However, this permanently removes those rows and columns and may have some
effect on previously applied edits.
o Right-click on a row or column and select Remove Row or Remove

Column to remove the row or column.
Note:
If you remove rows or columns after modifying the mesh points, the Surface
Edit Remove Row/Column dialog box opens. Click Refit to remove rows or
columns and refit all previous operations, that is, adjust all previous operations
according to the new number of rows or columns. Click Delete to remove rows or
columns and delete all previous operations. Click Cancel to not remove rows or
columns.
4. Select one or more mesh points, using the CTRL key to select multiple points. If
required, hold down the CTRL key, and click on the bar of a row or column to
select all the points in the row or column. Drag the selection set to modify the
surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
To Use Knots While Editing Surfaces Directly

Knots are parameter values at which the underlying surface patches join together to
form the full surface. They are displayed graphically as isoparametric lines drawn on
the surface. The locations of the knots work together with the positions of the points
in the control mesh to completely define the shape of the surface. The number of
control mesh rows or columns, inclusive of the boundary rows and columns, will be 4
greater than the number of knot lines in the row or column direction.
2. Click the Advanced tab on the dashboard.
o Click the Enable Knots checkbox to enable knot line display. It is cleared
by default. When this option is selected, the Show Knots icon is

displayed on the dashboard.
o Click the Keep Base Knots checkbox to keep the original knots that are in
the surface. The checkbox is selected by default. Clear this checkbox to
discard the original knots and not use them in computing the modified
surface.
Note: Keeping the base knots will better preserve the original shape but may
result in a heavier surface than desired. Removing the base knots may adversely
affect the alignment of a surface to its boundary curves, and therefore its ability
to subsequently merge with neighboring surfaces.
3. Click on the dashboard to show knots on the surface. Click again to

hide knots on the surface.
When knots are displayed, you can activate or deactivate them to get a coarser
or finer control mesh to edit the surface.
You can work with a lighter mesh by deactivating some rows and columns.
4. If required, click on any knot row or column to activate it if it is deactivated or

click on any knot row or column to deactivate it if it is already active.
Alternatively, right-click on an active knot and select Deactivate to deactivate it
or right-click a deactivated knot and select Activate to activate it.
Note: Active knots are displayed in white and inactive knots are displayed in blue
color.
o You can right-click a row or column of the control mesh and select
Deactivate Row or Deactivate Column to deactivate its corresponding
knot.
o To activate all deactivated knots, right-click on the surface and select

Activate All.
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Note: Hold down the ALT and SHIFT keys and drag knots to move them.
5. When knots are displayed, you can add or remove rows or columns to add or
remove knot lines.
o Right-click on the surface and select Add Row or Add Column. A new knot
row or column is added along with the new control mesh row or column.
o Right-click on a knot, or on a row, or column of the control mesh and select

Remove Row or Remove Column. The knot is removed along with its
corresponding row or column.
6. Select one or more mesh points. Hold down the CTRL key to select multiple
points. If required, hold down the CTRL key, and click on the bar of a row or
column to select all the points in the row or column. Drag the selection set to
modify the surface.
Editing Special Surface Types

The following surface types have special consideration for the direct Surface Edit
tool:
• Surfaces with a degenerate edge—These are triangular and revolved
surfaces. These surfaces may be selected for edit but the degenerate boundary is
automatically protected from any edits, even if you move the degenerate point or
align the degenerate boundary or one of the adjacent boundaries.
• Current Trimmed Surface with base inside Style—Since the base surface is
defined within the Style feature, the surface edit operation applies to the base
surface. When you regenerate the geometry, the trim is automatically applied to
the modified base surface.
• Current Trimmed Surface with base outside Style—You can select a current
trim for which the base surface is outside the current Style feature. However, the
surface edit operation applies to dependent copy of the trim base surface. You
must manually reroute the trim to the resulting surface if necessary. You can do
this by redefining the trim curve to be on the surface that you select for editing
and replacing quilt by surface edit in trim redefinition.
• External trim—The surface edit operation is applied to the dependent copy of

the selected trim patch.
• External base surfaces—The surface edit operation is applied to dependent

copy of the selected surface.
• Composite surfaces created in another Style feature—The surface edit

operation is applied to dependent copy of selected external patch.
• Composite surfaces inside Style—The surface edit operation cannot be

activated on composite surface.
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Freeform Surfacing
Regeneration
About Freeform Surfacing Regeneration
The Freeform Surfacing feature has an internal regeneration mechanism that
regenerates entities only if they are out of date because their parents have changed.
All entities, out of date, are regenerated. Any entities that are up to date are not
regenerated.
To Regenerate the Freeform Surfacing Feature

During Freeform Surfacing regeneration, only the entities contained in the Freeform
Surfacing feature are regenerated and not the entire Pro/ENGINEER model.
Click Edit > Regenerate All to regenerate all Freeform Surfacing features that are
out of date.
The traffic light is green when the model is up to date, yellow when the model is out
of date, and red when there has been a failed regeneration.
To Automatically Regenerate Curves

By default curves automatically regenerate during editing.
To set the surface regeneration options
1. Click Styling > Preferences. The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Click Curves under Auto Regenerate to automatically generate the curves.
If the Freeform Surfacing feature is complicated, with a large number of curves, you
can choose not to select this option to avoid the impact on performance.
Automatic regeneration applies to all curve edit operations. Curves that are children
of a modified curve are updated. In the case of splitting a curve, all children of the
original curve, and therefore of both resulting curves, are updated.
Typically, a child curve contains a soft-point on the parent, but other situations, such
as curves having aligned tangents, can create the parent-child relationship.
Curves are also automatically regenerated if you edit
• Multiple curves.
• All directly dependent curves that are not created as surfaces or COS by dropping
curves on a surface.
Note: If a child curve fails to regenerate, the processing of other non-dependent

child curves is completed. Pro/ENGINEER does not display the Resolve dialog box.
The next auto-regeneration again tries to update the failed entity.
To Automatically Regenerate Surfaces

By default, the Freeform Surfacing feature automatically regenerates surfaces during
editing.
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To set the surface regeneration options

1. Click Styling > Preferences. The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Click Surface under Auto Regenerate to automatically generate only the

wireframe surfaces.
3. Click Shaded Surface under Auto Regenerate to automatically generate both

wireframe and shaded surfaces.
Surfaces generate automatically if you edit

• The curves that are used to create a surface.
Note: If the edited curves do not form a valid closed boundary, the surface does
not regenerate. You must resolve this by editing the curves so as to form a valid
surface boundary and clicking the icon.
• The internal curves of a surface.
Any COSs and dependent children are also updated so as to lie on the
regenerated surface.
About Resolve Mode

Although you can continue to work with a Freeform Surfacing feature that has
unresolved internal entities, you cannot exit Freeform Surfacing until all entities are
resolved. The system automatically enters Resolve mode under the following
conditions:
• You attempt to exit Freeform Surfacing and there are failed features.
• You attempt to regenerate a failed feature.
To Resolve a Freeform Surfacing Feature

1. Click Edit > Resolve to open the Resolve dialog box.
2. Click Failed to list all failed internal entities. Select an item in the list to highlight
it in the view.
Click Blocked to highlight all entities that cannot be regenerated until a failed
parent is resolved. Select an item in the list to highlight it in the view.
3. Select an entity in the list to highlight it in the view and to see an explanation of
the failure. You can resolve the failure by choosing one of the following resolve
actions:
o Click to display the information dialog for the selected unresolved

entity.
o Click to redefine the unresolved entity.
o Click to unlink this entity from all of its failed references.
186
Freeform Surfacing
o Click to convert a planar or COS curve to a free curve.
o Click to delete this entity and all of its children.
If you attempt to delete parent geometry without deleting the children, the
children are highlighted, and you are prompted to delete, unlink, or
suspend that geometry.
o Click to attempt regeneration of the unresolved entity.
o Click on the failed subfeature in the list. The Explain box displays a
description of the failed subfeature.
4. Click Close.
Curve and Surface Analysis

About Curvature Plots
A curvature plot is a graphical representation that shows the curvature at a set of
points along a curve. Curvature plots are used to analyze the smoothness of a curve.
The curvature plot shows the curve smoothness and mathematical curvature by
displaying lines that are perpendicular to the curve (normals). The longer these lines
are, the greater the amount of curvature.
187
1. Area of relatively high curvature
2. Area of relatively low curvature
Ideally, a curvature plot should be smooth. Dips and bumps in the curvature plot are
signs that the curve has a rapid change in shape. However, a corner or crease in the
curvature plot does not indicate a crease in the curve, only a sharp change in the
curvature. The curve is still tangent continuous internally.
188
Freeform Surfacing
1. Abrupt change in curvature
Curvature plots are interactive. They update as the curve is modified. You can
change the number of plotted segments, the relative size of the plot, and the type of
curvature.
About Curve and Surface Analyses in Freeform Surfacing

You can create and save curve and surface analyses in Freeform Surfacing using
Analysis > Geometry. It is often helpful to use curve and surface analyses to
evaluate the quality of your curves and surfaces as you edit them in Freeform
Surfacing. When you edit the definition of the Freeform Surfacing feature, the saved
curve or surface analysis is dynamically updated with respect to the changed
definition.
189
There are two ways to use the curve and surface analyses in Freeform Surfacing.
• While creating a Freeform Surfacing feature or editing its definition, use saved
geometry analysis on the Freeform Surfacing geometry. Continue creating or
editing in Freeform Surfacing. The analysis is dynamically updated.
• Create a curve or surface analysis on any existing Freeform Surfacing geometry

and save it. This analysis is dynamically updated when you edit the feature
definition.
Note: You can also use the Measure and Model analyses in Freeform Surfacing, but
cannot save or retrieve them. Create these analyses outside Freeform Surfacing and
save them, if required.
Pro/ENGINEER Integration
To Redefine or Reroute Freeform Surfacing Features
To Redefine Features
In the Model Tree, select the Freeform Surfacing feature that you want to redefine
and click Edit > Definition. Alternatively, right-click the Freeform Surfacing feature
in the Model Tree and select Edit Definition.
As Freeform Surfacing features are superfeatures, clicking Edit > Definition allows
you to add as well as edit elements.
Note: You cannot save your model inside Freeform Surfacing. It is good practice to
create some curves and surfaces, exit Freeform Surfacing, save your model, and
then use Edit > Definition to add more elements.
To Reroute Features
In the Model Tree, select the Freeform Surfacing feature that you want to redefine
and click Edit > References. Alternatively, right-click the Freeform Surfacing
feature in the Model Tree and select Edit References.
You can now reroute the external references of a Freeform Surfacing feature.
Note: The Edit > References command is executed from within the general
Pro/ENGINEER environment.
To Resolve Freeform Surfacing Features from Pro/ENGINEER

When a Freeform Surfacing feature fails to regenerate and Resolve mode is invoked,
clicking Quick Fix > Redefine or Fix Model > Redefine enables you to return to
the Freeform Surfacing environment.
Freeform Surfacing has its own internal Resolve tool to navigate and fix failures. All
the Freeform Surfacing tools are available.
If Quick Fix > Reroute or Fix Model > Reroute are used to change the external
references of a Freeform Surfacing feature, you remain in the general Pro/ENGINEER
environment to execute the reroute.
190
Freeform Surfacing
To Create Freeform Surfacing Parameters in Pro/ENGINEER

User parameters for Freeform Surfacing features are created similar to other
Pro/ENGINEER user parameters.
1. Click Tools > Parameters to open the Parameters dialog box.
2. Select the parameter type Feature under Look In.
3. Select the Freeform Surfacing feature from the Model Tree.
4. Click .
Trace Sketch
About Trace Sketch
You can import a sketch into Freeform Surfacing on one of the three default datum
planes: front, top, or right, a user-defined datum plane, or a planar surface. Using
Freeform Surfacing, you can reference and use images to model a part within the
Freeform Surfacing feature. The referenced image or sketch is used as an underlay
for creating geometry when you manually trace the key features of the sketch.
You can also reference a scene for creating geometry in Freeform Surfacing. A scene
is a set of correlated images and curves created in Pro/CONCEPT. When working with
a scene, the curves are defined and maintained in the same feature as the sketches.
About Fitting Sketches

Fitting the sketch to a view is a very important step in creating a good model
geometry using sketches. Fitting the sketch before you begin tracing curves ensures
that your geometry is located and scaled correctly. In order to fit the sketch, you
have to identify an origin and specify the scale of the sketch.
To Insert a Sketch on a Default Datum Plane

1. Click Styling > Trace Sketch. The Trace Sketch dialog box opens.
2. Select any default datum plane in the Trace Sketch dialog box. The Open dialog
box opens.
3. Browse to the required image and select it.
4. Click Open.
o The image is added to the selected datum plane on the screen.
o The name of the image is added to the name of the selected datum plane in
the Trace Sketch dialog box.
5. Click OK.
To Insert a Sketch on a Datum Plane or a Planar Surface

191
2. Clear the selection of views, if any, in the Trace Sketch dialog box.
3. Click File > Open Sketch or click .
4. Select a datum plane or a planar surface. The Open dialog box opens.
5. Browse to the required image and select it.
6. Click Open.
o The image is added to the selected datum plane or planar surface on the
screen.
o The names of the datum plane or planar surface and the image are added
to the list in the Trace Sketch dialog box.
7. Click OK.
Example: Trace Sketches on Datum Planes and Planar

Surfaces
The next figure shows trace sketches on a user-defined datum and a planar surface.
192
Freeform Surfacing
The next figure shows a mobile phone keypad as the referenced image applied to a
planar surface. This image is used as an underlay to manually trace the key features
of the keypad and create geometry.
To Insert a Scene
2. Click File > Open Scene to open a set of sketches and related curves from a
Pro/CONCEPT scene file. The Open File dialog box opens.
3. Navigate to the required scene and select it.
4. Click OK in the Open File dialog box.
o The images are added to the datum planes on the screen.
o The names of the datum plane and the image are added to the list in the
Trace Sketch dialog box.
5. Click OK in the Trace Sketch dialog box.
193
To Remove, Show, and Hide a Sketch

o To replace an existing sketch, select the sketch name in the Trace Sketch
dialog box and click .
o To permanently remove a sketch, select the sketch name in the Trace
Sketch dialog box and click or click Sketch > Remove.
o To remove all the sketches, click Sketch > Remove All.
o To hide a sketch, select the sketch name and click .
o To display the hidden sketch, select the sketch name and click .
o To hide all the sketches, click Sketch > Hide All.
o To show all the hidden sketches, click Sketch > Show All.
2. Click OK.
To Align the Inserted Sketch

After inserting the sketch in Freeform Surfacing, you can proceed to scale and align
the inserted sketch using the Trace Sketch dialog box and screen handles.
1. If you need to adjust the scale of the sketch to match a known dimension:
o Under Fit, click Horizontal if the known dimension is horizontal, or click

Vertical if the known dimension is vertical.
o Drag the dimensioning bars in the graphics window to define a known

dimension in the sketch. For example, when the length of the wheelbase of
a vehicle is known, place one of the alignment marks on the center of the
rear wheel and the other on the center of the front wheel as shown in the
following figure:
o Type the value of the horizontal or vertical dimension and click Fit.
194
Freeform Surfacing
The sketch is scaled proportionally to match the dimension.
2. If required, position the rotation center by clicking anywhere on the arms of the
rotation jack and dragging the jack to a new location.
3. To rotate the sketch, drag the handles on the ends of the rotation jack. Hold
down the SHIFT key while dragging the handles to constrain the rotation to
increments of 15°.
Alternatively, click Properties on the Trace Sketch dialog box and use the
Rotate slider to rotate the sketch with respect to the rotation jack. You can
select a value between -180 and 180 degrees.
4. To move the sketch,
o Drag the sketch to move it freely.
o Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously while dragging the sketch
to make it move parallel to the active datum plane either along the
Move sliders to move the sketch horizontally or vertically.
Note: The value specified for Move is treated as offset from the lower left corner
of the sketch to the origin of the reference plane.
5. To scale the sketch,
o Drag the handle at the upper right corner of the sketch for two-dimensional
scaling.
o Hold the CTRL and ALT key down simultaneously while dragging the lower
left corner of the sketch for one-dimensional scaling.
Scale sliders to scale the sketch horizontally or vertically. By default, the Scale
sliders are locked to preserve the aspect ratio of the sketch. Click to unlock
the horizontal and vertical dimensions and scale the two dimensions separately.
Note: If you used Fit to adjust the sketch to a known dimension, further
adjustments to the scale might not be necessary unless the aspect ratio of the
original sketch is incorrect.
6. To adjust the transparency of the sketch, click Properties on the Trace Sketch
dialog box and use the Transparency slider to change the value between zero
and 100. A value of zero means a completely opaque sketch, whereas a value of
100 makes the sketch totally transparent.
About Creating Geometry from Sketches

After you create, insert, and fit your sketches well and line up the origin consistently
for all views in Freeform Surfacing, you can create geometry using the sketches as a
guideline.
195
You can:
• Create the outline of the model using the Freeform Surfacing curves
• Connect the curves
• Define regions in such a way that you can create surfaces later
Note:
Sketches that you have created in Freeform Surfacing remain in the graphics window
even after you complete the Freeform Surfacing feature. Therefore, you can also use
other tools such as Sketcher to create geometry using the trace sketches.
To clear the display of the Trace Sketch data when you are not working in Freeform
Surfacing,
• Click View > Display Settings > Model Display. The Model Display dialog
box opens.
• Clear the Trace Sketch check box and click OK.
Glossary
Glossary for Freeform Surfacing
Term Definition
B-Spline A parametric surface (also known as a NURBS surface) that is

Surface commonly used in geometric modeling. It accommodates a
wide variety of shapes and conveniently exchanges geometry
between applications. See Surface.
Blend A surface that is created from one or two primary curves and
Surface at least one additional curve that intersects the primary
curve or curves.
Boundary A curve that defines the outer boundary of a Freeform

Curve Surfacing surface.
Boundary A surface that has a rectangular or triangular boundary. The

Surface complete boundary of the surface is defined by a set of
primary curves with optional internal curves.
Child Any entity that references another entity. For example, a

surface is a child of the boundary curves that were used to
create it. See Parent.
Composite A surface that has more than one curve as a single boundary
Surface or internal curve. In Freeform Surfacing, a composite surface
is composed of a set of surfaces but is treated as a single
entity. Outside Freeform Surfacing such surfaces are treated
as a single quilt.
196
Freeform Surfacing
Term Definition
Connection Specifies how a smooth join between two curves or surfaces

is to be computed.
Continuity A description of the connection between two curves or along

Level the shared boundary between two surfaces. Curvature-
continuous connections have the same curvature at each
point along the boundary. Tangent-continuous connections
have the same tangent at every point along the boundary.
Position-continuous connections have only the shared
boundary, but not shared tangents or curvature.
Control Mesh The control points for a surface are called the Control Mesh.
Control Control points display the underlying B-Spline mathematics

Points of a curve or surface. Control points do not necessarily lie on
the curve or surface.
Control The control points for a curve are called the Control Polygon.
Polygon
Convert The Convert command changes the type of the curve. For
example, using the Convert command, you can change a
planar curve to a free curve.
COS See Curve on Surface.
Curvature How much a curve or surface bends at any given point. A

straight line has zero curvature.
Curvature See Continuity Level.

Continuous
Curvature A graphical representation that shows the curvature at a set

Plot of points along a curve. Curvature plots are used to analyze
the smoothness of a curve.
Curve A smooth path in space which is defined by two or more

points.
Curve from A free or COS curve that is created from an isoparametric

Surface line of a surface.
Curve on A curve that lies on one or more surfaces.

Surface
Drag To press and hold the mouse button while you move the
(cursor) mouse to a new position.
Endpoint A point at the end of a curve.
197
Term Definition
Fixed Point One of the points used to define a curve. Fixed points always
lie on a curve.
Follower A type of connection in which the follower surface assumes

Connection the direction of its leader surface along the shared boundary.
The leader surface does not change. See Connection.
G0, G1, G2 Mathematical terms for continuity levels. G0 is position

continuous. G1 is tangent continuous. G2 is curvature
continuous. See Continuity Level.
Grid A pattern on or referencing the active datum plane of equally

spaced horizontal and vertical lines that can be used as a
guide during feature creation.
Internal A curve that defines the shape of a surface, but is not one of
Curve the boundary curves.
Internal One of the defining points of a curve that is not an endpoint.

Point
Knots Parameter values at which the underlying surface patches

join together to form the full surface. The locations of the
knots in the parameter space work together with the
positions of the control points in the model space to
completely define the shape of the surface. For Style curves
and surfaces, the number of control points in a given
direction is always four greater than the number of knots in
that direction for a particular curve or surface.
Leader A type of connection in which the leader surface governs the

Connection direction of its follower surface along the shared boundary.
See Connection.
Linked An object with one or more parents that will change if the
Object parent object is changed. In some cases, objects can be
unlinked to remove the dependency on the original
geometry. See Local History, Child, and Parent.
Local History A mechanism for remembering how the individual entities in

the Freeform Surfacing feature were constructed, so that any
changes to geometry are propagated throughout the feature.
See Parent, Child, and Regenerate.
Loft Surface A surface that is created from a set of non-intersecting

curves that flow in the same direction.
Mesh Lines that approximate the contours of the surface. Also

called flow lines or parametric lines.
198
Freeform Surfacing
Term Definition
Natural The tangent at the endpoint of a curve that is computed

Tangent when no fixed tangent is specified. To insure a relaxed curve
shape, a natural tangent is recomputed whenever the curve
changes shape.
Normal A vector that is perpendicular to a curve or surface or datum

at a given point.
NURBS See B-Spline Surface.
Orthographic The plan, side and rear views.

Views
Parent An entity that is used to define another entity. For example,

the boundary curves that are used to create a surface are its
parents. Several parents can make an entity. See Child.
Planar Curve A curve in which every point on the curve lies on a particular
plane.
Point A position in space that is defined by X, Y, and Z coordinate

values.
Preference Settings that determine user choices for items such as

display and point creation. Preferences are remembered
throughout a session and can be restored in later sessions if
required.
Proportional Copy of a curve that retains the proportions of the original

Copy curve, when the endpoints are moved to a new position of
the first curve in the selected geometry are moved to new
positions during duplication.
Radial-Path A curve that lies on a soft-plane that it is normal to the

Planar Curve parent curve at a selected point on the parent curve.
Regenerate The process of recomputing child geometry when parent

geometry has changed. For example, if a boundary curve is
changed, the regeneration process would recompute the
surface. See Local History.
Resolve If geometry fails to regenerate, Freeform Surfacing

automatically enters into the Resolve mode. You can then
resolve the failure by choosing one of the resolve actions.
See Regenerate.
Snapping An option that directs the cursor to gravitate to points,

curves, edges, and surfaces.
199
Term Definition
Soft-plane A plane that references Freeform Surfacing curves. During

curve edits, the soft-plane can slide along its parent curve
while remaining normal to the parent curve at all times.
When the parent curves are updated, the planes and the
planar curves are regenerated.
Soft-point A point that references Freeform Surfacing curves, datum

curves, edges, and surfaces, and can be slid along the
reference curve during curve edits. Soft-points are created by
snapping to existing reference geometry. To enable
snapping, click Styling > Snap, or hold down the ALT key as
you move the soft point on the screen by dragging it. The
cursor is followed by a snapping cursor (a crosshair) when
snapping capability is enabled.
Surface An association of four intersecting curves that make an

enclosed area. A surface is a mathematical transformation
that maps a simple, flat area into a 3D continuous area in
model space. See B-Spline Surface.
Suspend You can Suspend child geometry. Suspension causes the

child to fail during regeneration. You will have to resolve the
failure to regenerate. See Regenerate and Resolve.
Tangent The direction of a curve at a particular point.
Tangent See Continuity Level.

Continuous
Unlink The Unlink command removes all optional references. For

example, for surfaces, the internal curves are optional. Using
the Unlink command, you can remove the internal curves
from the surface without affecting the surface.
View The multiple view environment in Freeform Surfacing allows

for the creation of curves in either two dimensions and
specifying the third dimension after the 2-D shape or directly
in 3-D.
200
Index
A Curves................. 111, 120, 122, 176
active plane Curves from Surface
specifying in Freeform Surfacing. 112 creating curves from surface ...... 134
active plane ............................... 112 Curves from Surface.............133, 134
ALT key ..................................... 107 Curves on surfaces
Analysis menu Freeform Surfacing COSs....127, 132
analysing curves and surfaces .... 189 Curves on surfaces ...............127, 132
Freeform Surfacing options in .... 102 D
Analysis menu ............................ 102 datum plane
C specifying the active plane in

Freeform Surfacing ................ 112
Curvature plot
datum plane............................... 112
Freeform Surfacing curve .......... 187
datum planes ............................. 114
Curvature plot ............................ 187
defining points
Curve connections
for curves................................ 122
Freeform Surfacing curves ......... 161
defining points............................ 122
Curve connections....................... 161
F
Curves
Features
changing tangent parameters
multiple ............................... 148 Freeform Surfacing .....................98
converting multiple................... 149 Features ......................................98
creating and editing in multiple Freeform Surfacing

views ................................... 111
creating curves in..................... 120
creating radial-path planar curves
...................................134, 136 curvature plots ........................ 187
creating using Freeform Surfacing curve connections .................... 161

.......................................... 120 Curves on surfaces ................... 127
defining points for .................... 122 features ....................................98
deleting in Freeform Surfacing ... 176 information on features ............. 176
editing multiple ........................ 147 moving and copying geometry ... 171
offsetting .. 129, 130, 131, 132, 140, preferences ............................. 108
149
regeneration............................ 185
201
resolving feature ...................... 186 specifying the active plane in

Freeform Surfacing ................ 112
setting current datum plane....... 110
plane......................................... 112
starting.....................................99
Preferences
surface connections in........165, 170
Freeform Surfacing ................... 108
surface mesh display ................ 109
Preferences ................................ 108
surfaces.... 151, 152, 153, 154, 155,
156 R
views...................................... 112 Regeneration
Freeform Surfacing... 98, 99, 108, 109, Freeform Surfacing features....... 185
110, 112, 120, 127, 161, 165, 171,
176, 185, 186, 187 Regeneration.............................. 185
Freeform Surfacing entities Resolving features
getting information on .............. 176 Freeform Surfacing ................... 186
Freeform Surfacing entities........... 176 Resolving features....................... 186
S
Freeform Surfacing features
getting information on .............. 176 SHIFT key .................................. 107
Freeform Surfacing features ......... 176 snapping
G enabling.................................. 107
geometry in Freeform Surfacing ............... 107
copying.....................171, 174, 175 reference entity for soft point..... 108
deleting in Freeform Surfacing ... 176 snapping.................................... 107
geometry ................................... 176 Surface connections
I Default and Smart connections... 166
Info Menu Freeform Surfacing surfaces....... 165
Freeform Surfacing options in .... 103 Surface connections .................... 165
Info Menu ...........................103, 176 Surface mesh display
M Freeform Surfacing surfaces....... 109
multiple views Surface mesh display................... 109
about ..................................... 109 Surfaces
multiple views .....................109, 113 creating blend.... 151, 154, 155, 156
P creating boundary .............151, 152
plane creating loft......................151, 153
202
Index
deleting in Freeform Surfacing ... 176 trimming
trimming..........................159, 160 redefining surfaces ............160, 161
Surfaces .............................151, 165 trimming ................................... 159
T V
tangent ..............................148, 163 View menu
trace sketch Freeform Surfacing options in .... 101
aligning inserted ...................... 194 View menu ................................. 101
creating geometry from............. 195 Views
fitting ..................................... 191 creating and editing curves in .... 111
hiding ..................................... 194 Freeform Surfacing 4-view.109, 112,

113
inserting ................................. 191
next view ................................ 114
removing ................................ 194
Views ........... 109, 111, 112, 113, 114
trace sketch ............................... 191
203

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® ®

Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0

Freeform Surfacing (ISDX)

Parametric Technology Corporation

Using Freeform Surfacing ............................................................................. 1

An Overview of the Freeform Surfacing Tutorials ................................................ 1

Overview of the Freeform Surfacing User Interface ............................................. 1

Freeform Surfacing Toolbar........................................................................... 2

Freeform Surfacing Quickbar......................................................................... 2

Freeform Surfacing Analysis Quickbar............................................................. 3

Styling Menu .............................................................................................. 4

Freeform Surfacing Commands on Other Menus............................................... 5

Four-View Layout ........................................................................................ 8

Overview of Modeling Techniques ..................................................................... 9

To Build Four Curves.................................................................................... 9

To Build a Surface ......................................................................................12

To Connect the Free Curves to the Surface ....................................................13

Understanding Updates ...............................................................................14

To Connect the Freeform Surfacing Surface to the Pro/ENGINEER Surface ..........14

To Create a Normal Connection ....................................................................15

To Exit the Freeform Surfacing Feature..........................................................17

To Redefine the Freeform Surfacing Feature ...................................................17

Creating Curves and Surfaces .........................................................................19

To Open the Start Part ................................................................................19

Create Curves on the Model .........................................................................21

To Create a COS by Drop..........................................................................21

Create the Remaining Curves .......................................................................22

To Create the Curve for the Blister .............................................................22

To Create the Bottom Curve......................................................................23

Create Surfaces and Change Connections ......................................................24

To Create the Surfaces .............................................................................24

To Break the Default Surface Connections ...................................................24

Make a Solid Cut with the Freeform Surfacing Quilt .........................................25

Understanding Connections ............................................................................26

About Curve to Curve Connections .............................................................26

To Redefine the Free Curves .....................................................................27

About Surface Connections .......................................................................28

About Normal Connections ........................................................................29

To Make Freeform Surfacing Surface Connections.........................................29

Making Further Modifications........................................................................30

Creating Different Surface Types in Freeform Surfacing ......................................30

Redefine Freeform Surfacing surfaces and change their type ............................32

To Create a Curve to Redefine a Surface........................................................36

To Redefine the Boundary References of the Surface .......................................38

To Add Internal Curves to the Surface ...........................................................39

Add the Internal Curve to the Surface ...........................................................39

Using Proportional Update ..............................................................................40

To Begin the Exercise .................................................................................42

To Redefine a Feature Proportionally .............................................................43

To Make Proportional Updates to the Rest of the Model ....................................46

Creating Curves on Surfaces (COSs) ................................................................47

To Create the Curve Profiles ........................................................................47

To Drop the Profile Curves onto the Surfaces..................................................49

To Create a Fillet Surface from the Dropped Curves.........................................50

To Add Detail to the Surfaces using COS........................................................53

To Create COSs .......................................................................................53

To Trim the Fillet Surface..........................................................................56

Creating Radial Path Planar Curves ..................................................................58

To create a radial planar curve .....................................................................61

Creating Draft Connections.............................................................................62

Creating Freeform Draft Connections ...............................................................66

Using the Internal Resolve Mode .....................................................................69

Make Another Change to the Phone Model .....................................................73