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Synopsis

offsetCurve [-caching boolean] [-connectBreaks int] [-constructionHistory boolean] [-cutLoop boolean] [-cutRadius linear] [-distance linear] [-name string] [-nodeState int] [-normal linear linear linear] [-object boolean] [-range boolean] [-reparameterize boolean] [-stitch boolean] [-subdivisionDensity int] [-tolerance linear] [-useGivenNormal boolean] [curve]

offsetCurve is undoable, queryable, and editable.

The offset command creates new offset curves from the selected curves. The connecting type for breaks in offsets is off (no connection), circular (connect with an arc) or linear (connect linearly resulting in a sharp corner). If loop cutting is on then any loops in the offset curves are trimmed away. For the default cut radius of 0.0 a sharp corner is created at each intersection. For values greater than 0.0 a small arc of that radius is created at each intersection. The cut radius value is only valid when loop cutting is on. Offsets (for planar curves) are calculated in the plane of that curve and 3d curves are offset in 3d. The subdivisionDensity flag is the maximum number of times the offset object can be subdivided (i.e. calculate the offset until the offset comes within tolerance or the iteration reaches this maximum.) The reparameterize option allows the offset curve to have a different parameterization to the original curve. This avoids uneven parameter distributions in the offset curve that can occur with large offsets of curves, but is more expensive to compute.

Return value

string[]Object name and node name

In query mode, return type is based on queried flag.

Related

offsetCurveOnSurface

Flags

caching, connectBreaks, constructionHistory, cutLoop, cutRadius, distance, name, nodeState, normal, object, range, reparameterize, stitch, subdivisionDensity, tolerance, useGivenNormal
Long name (short name) Argument types Properties
-caching(-cch) boolean createqueryedit
Toggle caching for all attributes so that no recomputation is needed
-connectBreaks(-cb) int createqueryedit
Connect breaks method (between gaps): 0 - off, 1 - circular, 2 - linear
Default: 2
-cutLoop(-cl) boolean createqueryedit
Do loop cutting.
Default: false
-cutRadius(-cr) linear createqueryedit
Loop cut radius. Only used if cutLoop attribute is set true.
Default: 0.0
-distance(-d) linear createqueryedit
Offset distance
Default: 1.0
-nodeState(-nds) int createqueryedit

Maya dependency nodes have 6 possible states. The Normal (0), HasNoEffect (1), and Blocking (2) states can be used to alter how the graph is evaluated.

The Waiting-Normal (3), Waiting-HasNoEffect (4), Waiting-Blocking (5) are for internal use only. They temporarily shut off parts of the graph during interaction (e.g., manipulation). The understanding is that once the operation is done, the state will be reset appropriately, e.g. Waiting-Blocking will reset back to Blocking.

The Normal and Blocking cases apply to all nodes, while HasNoEffect is node specific; many nodes do not support this option. Plug-ins store state in the MPxNode::state attribute. Anyone can set it or check this attribute. Additional details about each of these 3 states follow.

State Description
Normal The normal node state. This is the default.
HasNoEffect

The HasNoEffect option (a.k.a. pass-through), is used in cases where there is an operation on an input producing an output of the same data type. Nearly all deformers support this state, as do a few other nodes. As stated earlier, it is not supported by all nodes.

It’s typical to implement support for the HasNoEffect state in the node’s compute method and to perform appropriate operations. Plug-ins can also support HasNoEffect.

The usual implementation of this state is to copy the input directly to the matching output without applying the algorithm in the node. For deformers, applying this state leaves the input geometry undeformed on the output.

Blocking

This is implemented in the depend node base class and applies to all nodes. Blocking is applied during the evaluation phase to connections. An evaluation request to a blocked connection will return as failures, causing the destination plug to retain its current value. Dirty propagation is indirectly affected by this state since blocked connections are never cleaned.

When a node is set to Blocking the behavior is supposed to be the same as if all outgoing connections were broken. As long as nobody requests evaluation of the blocked node directly it won’t evaluate after that. Note that a blocked node will still respond to getAttr requests but a getAttr on a downstream node will not reevaluate the blocked node.

Setting the root transform of a hierarchy to Blocking won’t automatically influence child transforms in the hierarchy. To do this, you’d need to explicitly set all child nodes to the Blocking state.

For example, to set all child transforms to Blocking, you could use the following script.


import maya.cmds as cmds
def blockTree(root):
nodesToBlock = []
for node in {child:1 for child in cmds.listRelatives( root, path=True, allDescendents=True )}.keys():
nodesToBlock += cmds.listConnections(node, source=True, destination=True )
for node in {source:1 for source in nodesToBlock}.keys():
cmds.setAttr( '%s.nodeState' % node, 2 )

Applying this script would continue to draw objects but things would not be animated.


Default: kdnNormal
-normal(-nr) linear linear linear createqueryedit
Offset plane normal
-reparameterize(-rp) boolean createqueryedit
Do reparameterization. It is not advisable to change this value.
Default: false
-stitch(-st) boolean createqueryedit
Stitch curve segments together. It is not advisable to change this value.
Default: true
-subdivisionDensity(-sd) int createqueryedit
Maximum subdivision density per span
Default: 5
-tolerance(-tol) linear createqueryedit
Tolerance
Default: 0.01
-useGivenNormal(-ugn) boolean createqueryedit
Use the given normal (or, alternativelly, geometry normal)
Default: 1
Common flags
-constructionHistory(-ch) boolean create
Turn the construction history on or off.
-name(-n) string create
Sets the name of the newly-created node. If it contains namespace path, the new node will be created under the specified namespace; if the namespace does not exist, it will be created.
-object(-o) boolean create
Create the result, or just the dependency node.
-range(-rn) boolean create
Force a curve range on complete input curve.

Flag can appear in Create mode of command Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command Flag can be used more than once in a command.

MEL examples

// offset all active curves to the specified distance:
offsetCurve -d 4.0;

// create offsets for the specified curve and turn loop cutting off:
offsetCurve -cl off curve1;

// create offsets with circular arcs at the breaks in the curve and use
// a cutting radius of 2.0 if there are any loops in the offsets:
offsetCurve -cb 1 -cl on -cr 2.0 curve1;