Star Spline

Use Star to create closed star-shaped splines with any number of points. Star splines use two radii to set the distance between the outer points and inner valleys.

• Create panel > (Shapes) > Splines > Object Type rollout > Star
• Standard menu: Create menu > Shapes > Star
• Enhanced menu: Objects menu > Shapes > Star

Examples of stars

Tip: While creating a Star spline, you can use the mouse to pan and orbit the viewport between steps. To pan the viewport, drag with (the middle mouse button) or scroll the mouse wheel. To orbit the viewport, hold down and drag with or scroll the mouse wheel.

Procedures

To create a star:

1. Go to the Create panel and turn on (Shapes).
2. Click Star.
3. Drag and release the mouse button to define the first radius.
4. Move the mouse and then click to define the second radius. Depending on how you move the mouse, the second radius can be less than or greater than the first radius, or even the same.

Interface

Rendering and Interpolation rollouts

Most spline-based shapes share these parameters. For details, see Rendering rollout and Interpolation rollout.

Keyboard Entry rollout

Creates a Star spline from the keyboard. Use the X/Y/Z settings to specify the center point and the remaining parameters to specify the different radii, then click Create. After creating the spline, you can use the Parameters rollout controls to adjust the settings (see following).

Parameters rollout

Once you have created a star, you can change the following settings:

Radius 1

The radius of the first set of vertices of the star. You set this interactively with the first drag, when creating the star.

Radius 2

The radius of the second set of vertices of the star. You set this interactively by moving the mouse and clicking when finishing the star.

Points

The number of points on the star. Range=3 to 100.

A star has twice as many vertices as the specified number of points. Half the vertices lie on Radius 1 and the remaining vertices lie on the Radius 2.

Distortion

Rotates the Radius 2 vertices about the center of the star. This produces a sawtooth affect.

Fillet Radius 1

Rounds the first set of vertices, producing two Bezier vertices per point.

Fillet Radius 2

Rounds the second set of vertices, producing two Bezier vertices per point.