Creating Surfaces

Polysurfaces (solids) as they are known in Rhino, do not exist in Alias. In the Alias workflow, NURBS surfaces are only converted into solids (called shells) for CAD or STL Export.

Here is a list of the most common surface creation tools in Alias with their Rhino correspondences:

	SurfacesPlanar SurfacesSet Planar [Rhino: Surface from Planar Curves] Creates a trimmed NURBS surface from a set of planar boundary curves.
	SurfacesRevolve [Rhino: Revolve] Creates a new surface by sweeping a curve around an axis, creating an effect similar to that of a lathe. Barrel and Helix modes also let you sweep an arc or curve along an arc of revolution (without specifying an axis).
	SurfacesSkin [Rhino: Loft] Lets you create a surface by "skinning" a NURBS surface across cross-section curves.
	SurfacesSwept SurfacesRail Surface [Rhino: Sweep 1 & 2 Rail(s)] Creates a surface by sweeping one or more profile curves along one or two rail curves. It is one of the most used Alias surfacing tools. It is a very powerful tool for sweeping one or more generation curves along one or two path curves, with advanced controls such as edge continuity, surface rebuilding, surface complexity control, profile development, and so on.
	SurfacesSwept SurfacesExtrude [Rhino: Extrude Straight] Creates a new surface by extruding a generation curve along a path curve. Normally used to make tubular objects with symmetrical cross sections.
	Surfaces Swept Surfaces Profile Creates a surface by sweeping one or more profiles along a path. The path (rail) can be composed of several G1-continuous curves.
	SurfacesBoundary SurfacesSquare [Rhino: no equivalent] Create surfaces by blending four boundary curves (or curve segments), while maintaining continuity with adjacent surfaces. Square generates a "patch" that is "stretched" between opposite edges.
	SurfacesSurface Fillet [Rhino: Fillet Surface and Variable Radius Fillet Surface] Creates a transition surface between two sets of tangent continuous surfaces of constant, variable, radius, chord length or tangent length (many other advanced options are available).
	SurfacesRound [Rhino: Fillet Edge and Variable Radius Fillet Surface] Creates constant or variable rounded surfaces along any number of pairs of edges, with different corner handling options. Initial surfaces must intersect before using Round.
	SurfacesMulti-Surface BlendFreeform Blend [Rhino: Blend Surface] Creates a transitional surface based on two input contact lines.
	SurfacesMulti-Surface BlendProfile Blend [Rhino: no equivalent] Creates one or many transitional surface(s) between multiple continuous surface boundaries, by specifying any number of cross-sections (profile curves) between the primary surfaces. This tool is similar to Freeform Blend but allows the selection of one or more profile curves to control the transitions.
	SurfacesMulti-Surface Draft [Rhino: ExtrudeCrvTaper] Creates ruled surfaces by pulling a surface from a curve or surface curve in a given direction, or by pulling a surface curve at an angle to the surface normal. This tool generates draft surfaces from curves or surfaces edges with a given angle based on the XYZ axis or a given vector; or flange surfaces from surface edges based on the surface normal.
	Surfaces Rolled Edge Tubular Offset Create a tube and intersect the tube with input surfaces to generate offset curves. [Rhino: no equivalent] Generates tubular surfaces from curves-on-surfaces, isoparms, or surface edges. This is very useful to mark parting lines in visual models. Also creates tubes using free curves as a path. These tube surfaces can have a variable radius. [Rhino: Pipe]
	SurfacesCurve Network [Rhino: NetworkSrf] Curve networks let you build surfaces very quickly from a network of intersecting curves. Builds a network of surfaces from a network of curves. This is good for building quick conceptual models, or models that can be refined later if needed.

No Alias equivalent [Rhino: Patch]