Cloud to Surface

CATIA V5 Training
Foils

Cloud to Surface
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Version 5 Release 19
January 2009
EDU_CAT_EN_CTS_FI_V5R19

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Cloud to Surface

About this course

Objectives of the course
Upon completion of this course you will be able to:
- Build a surface from a cloud of points, using Digitized Shape Editor for the
management of the points and FreeStyle and Quick Surface Reconstruction
for the creation of curves and surfaces
- Understand the differences of various surface creation methodologies

Targeted audience
Surface Designers

Prerequisites
Students attending this course must have knowledge of FreeStyle, Quick
Surface Reconstruction and Digitized Shape Editor

8 hours
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Cloud to Surface

Table of Contents

Cloud data preparation 4

Surface based approach 5
Curve based approach 6
QSR Network approach 7
QSR Automatic approach 8
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Cloud to Surface

Cloud data preparation

Phase 1

30 min

In this exercise you will:

Import a cloud of points and prepare it for the following design work. This preparation
consists in reducing the number of points in a way that preserves the quality of the shape
description
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Cloud to Surface

Surface based approach

Phase 2

2 hours

In this exercise you will:

See how to create surfaces from a cloud of points in a surface based approach.

Characteristics of the surface based approach:

Intuitive creation of surfaces
Full control of shape via control points
Real time feed back thanks to analysis tools
Efficient for quick surface creation (no strict accuracy expected)

Drawbacks:
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Some practice of control point manipulation required

Time and skills required grow very fast with expected quality
No associativity to support design changes

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Cloud to Surface

Curve based approach

Phase 3

2 hours

In this exercise you will:

See how to create surfaces from a cloud of points in a curve based approach.

Characteristics of the curve based approach:

Strict control of shape via their input curves
Feature approach (associativity between surfaces and curves)
Efficient for quality surface creation (strict accuracy expected)
The quality of surfaces relies on the quality of input curves

Drawbacks:
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Abstract approach, with some geometric knowledge required

Less efficient for quick design because of time needed for
curve creation

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Cloud to Surface

QSR Network approach

Phase 4

2 hours

In this exercise you will:

See how to create surfaces from a cloud of points using Quick Surface
Reconstruction (QSR).

Characteristics of QSR:
Creation of surfaces by Powerfit or canonic shape recognition
Efficient for quality surface creation (if no strict accuracy expected)
The quality of surfaces relies on the quality of input curves

Drawbacks:
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Not efficient for high quality design such as class A design

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Cloud to Surface

QSR Automatic approach

Phase 5

2 hours

In this exercise you will:

See how to create surfaces from a cloud of points using The Automatic Surface
command of QSR.

Characteristics of Automatic Surface:

Very rapid surface creation
Possibility to control accuracy
Easy to use because of few parameters to control
Very efficient for rough surface creation or to quickly replace a cloud by a smooth
surface
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Drawbacks:
Mesh needs to be manifold and seamless
No control on the face structure of the resulting surface

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Summary

In this course you have seen how to create surfaces from a cloud of points:

… with a surface based approach in FreeStyle:

Very strict control of surface quality
Intuitive user interface
Patch by patch approach
No associativity
… with a curve based approach in FreeStyle
Very strict control of surface quality
Abstract user interface
Associativity
… with Quick Surface Reconstruction using Networks
Quick process (semi-automatic)
Easy to use
No strict control of surface quality
… with QSR Automatic Surface
Very easy and quick
Produces rough surfaces
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