Sweep Mesh options

Default Poly, Rectangle, Line, Arc, Wave, and Custom sweeps created from a simple diagonal line

Sweep Mesh lets you generate a polygonal mesh from a simple curve shape.

The following are descriptions of the settings for the Sweep Mesh from Curve tool. For instruction on how to use Sweep Mesh, see Create a mesh from a curve with Sweep Mesh.

Sweep Profiles

The Sweep Profiles section lets you set the curve sweep shape. Each Sweep Profile type has settings specific to the profile type. Sweep Profile attributes that are common to all profile types are at the end of this section.

Poly sweep profile

The following settings are specific to the Poly Sweep Profile. For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformation, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.
Type
Choose from Circle or Star.
Inner Radius
(Available only with Star type.)
The interior size of star profile.
Sides
The number of subdivisions for convex or star profile shape
Cap
Enable to fill holes at beginning and end of sweep mesh.

Rectangle sweep profile

The following settings are specific to the Rectangle Sweep Profile. For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformation, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.
Width/Height
The width or height of the rectangular profile.
Corner Radius
The radius of bevel at rectangle profile corners.
Corner Segments
The number of divisions at rectangle profile corners.
Corner Depth
The roundness of corners (a value of 0 flattens at 45º and negative value rounds inward).
Cap
Enable this option to fill holes at beginning and end of sweep mesh

Line sweep profile

There are no specific settings for the Line Sweep Profile. For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformation, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.

Arc sweep profile

The following settings are specific to the Arc Sweep Profile. For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformation, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.
Angle
The angle of the arc between 0º and 360º.
Segments
Define number of arc shape subdivisions.

Wave

The following settings are specific to the Wave Sweep Profile. For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformations, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.
Amplitude
The wave height.
Cycles
The number of waves.
Offset
Moves the wave pattern along width of profile.
Segments
The number of subdivisions along wave width.

Custom

The following settings are available for Custom Sweep Profiles. For information on how to use these settings, see Create a custom mesh with Sweep Curve.

For the Distribution, Alignment, Transformation, Interpolation, Normals and UV settings, see Common Sweep Attributes, after these sections.
Note: A secondary node called sweepProfileConverter is created when you use the Custom Sweep Profile shape.
Cap
Enable to fill holes at beginning and end of sweep mesh.
Custom
When you click Custom Sweep Profile, a dialog appears to let you choose how you want the custom mesh to appear.

Custom Sweep Profile dialog

Type
Select Curve Object, Poly Object, Poly Face or Poly Edge.
Profile
Select the shaper in the viewport or outliner for the custom profile.

Common Sweep attributes

These settings are available for every Sweep Profile type.

Distribution

Activate the Enable option to expose controls for the spread of the sweep profile pattern.

Distribution
Set to circle, square or line to control how pattern is repeated.
Number of Instances
Define the number of times the profile is repeated.
Scale Instances
Define the size of each element within the pattern (this is a multiplier of the Scale Profile setting).
Rotate Instances
Define orientation of repeated elements around the path.
Coverage
Define the spacing of the repeated elements around the path (a value of 1 results in full coverage).

Alignment

Activate the Enable option to expose controls for the location of the mesh relative to the path

Horizontal
Set to Left, Center or Right to align profile along horizontal direction, relative to path.
Vertical
Set to Top, Center or Bottom to align profile along vertical direction, relative to path.
Horizontal Offset
Adjust spacing of profile relative to Horizontal Alignment option.
Vertical Offset
Adjust spacing of profile relative to Vertical Alignment option.

Transformations

Control the scale, rotation of the sweep mesh relative to the path:
Scale Profile
Define the width of the profile relative to the path.
You can set specific widths for the x or Y axes of the profile if you turn off Profile Uniform Scale in the Settings section, below.
Rotate Profile
Define the orientation of the profile relative to the path.
Twist
Define the number of times the profile is rotated around the length of the path (a value of 1 is a full 360º rotation).
Taper
Increase or decrease the scale of the profile along the path relative to starting scale profile value (value of 0 will scale down to a point at the end of the path).
Taper Curve
Add control points in the Taper Curve ramp UI to create a variable taper along the length of the sweep path. A multiplier of the attributes Scale Profile.

Interpolation

Set the density of the resulting mesh by controlling the number of subdivisions along the length of the path.
Mode

Modes switching through Precision, tart to End, EP to Ep, and Distance,

The method used to determine number of subdivisions along the path.
Distance
Set the subdivisions relative to the world space length of the path (this can be set on multiple Sweep meshes to maintain consistent, uniform divisions regardless of curve topology or length)
Precision
Algorithm uses a range of 0 to 100 to determine amount of detail (100 is the maximum setting resulting in the highest density)
Start to End
Set the exact number of subdivisions along the full length of the path
EP to EP
Set the exact number of subdivisions within each span of the path (the subdivisions are set between each edit point of the curve)

Normals

Control the face normal and edge smoothing of the resulting sweep mesh.
Reverse
Reverses the direction of the face normals.
Smoothing
Soften/harden edges based on face angle.

UV

Automatically create UVs for resulting sweep mesh.
None
Disable automatic creation of UVs (this can be used to temporarily improve performance while iterating on complex or dense sweep meshes).
Uniform
Create uniform UVs without concern for texture distortion
Unfold
Create UVs that are proportionally distributed to closely match the topology of the sweep mesh (minimal texture distortion).

Advanced Settings

Additional options for scale and orientation:
Flow
Set the manner in which the profile follows the path:
  • Natural: inherent twisting and rolling determined by the path flow.
  • No Roll: forces the profile to maintain a consistent orientation relative to the path
Uniform Profile Scale
Disable to separate Scale Profile into unique X and Y attributes.
Uniform Instance Scale
Disable to separate Pattern Scale Elements into unique X and Y attributes.
Relative Instance Orientation
Disable auto orientation algorithm for pattern elements (on by default).