Freehand

Use Freehand to create hand-drawn splines directly in the viewport.

Use the Freehand Spline tool to create hand-drawn splines using a mouse or other pointing device. You can constrain the spline to be drawn only on selected objects in the scene which then automatically follows their contours.

Piped icing created by drawing a freehand spline constrained to two objects: a donut and plate.

Interface

Rendering and Interpolation rollouts

Most spline-based shapes share these parameters. For details, see the Rendering and Interpolation rollouts in the Spline Primitives and Extended Splines topic.

Freehand Spline rollout, Create mode

Rollout shown before spline is drawn.

Show Knots
Displays knots on the spline.

Create group

Granularity
The number of cursor position samples taken before a knot is created.
Threshold
Sets how far the cursor must move before a new knot is created. A higher value increases the distance.
Constrain
Constrains the spline to selected objects in the scene.
Pick Object button
Enables Object Selection mode for constraining objects. When you have finished picking objects, click again to complete the operation.
Clear
Clears the list of selected objects.
End Create On Button Up
When enabled, creates a Freehand spline when the mouse button is released. When disabled, the shape is continued when the mouse button is pressed again, automatically connecting the open end of the spline; you must press Esc or right-click in the viewport to finish drawing.

Options group

Curved/Straight toggle
Sets whether the segments between knots are curved or straight.
Closed
Draws a line between the beginning and the end of the spline to close it.
Normals
Shows the resulting normals of the constrained spline in the viewport.
Offset
Offsets the position of the hand-drawn spline away from the surface of the constraining object.

Statistics group

Number of Splines
Displays the number of splines in the shape.
Original Knots
Shows the number of knots automatically created while drawing the spline (0 before drawing).
New Knots
Shows the new number of knots (0 before drawing).

Freehand Spline rollout, Modify mode

Rollout shown once the spline has been created.

Show Knots
Displays knots on the spline.

Options group

Sampling
Sets the sampling amount. Values greater than zero progressively reduce neighboring knots, smoothing the result.
Curved/Straight toggle
Sets whether the segments between knots are curved or straight.
Closed
Draws a line between the beginning and the end of the spline to close it.
Normals
Shows the resulting normals of the constrained spline in the viewport.
Offset
Offsets the position of the hand-drawn spline away from the surface of the constraining object.

Statistics group

Number of Splines
Displays the number of splines in the shape.
Orig Knots
Shows the number of knots automatically created while drawing the spline.
New Knots
Shows the new number of knots (0 before drawing).

Procedures

To create a freehand spline:

  1. From the Create panel, turn on Shapes.
  2. From the drop-down list, choose Splines.
  3. In the Object Type rollout, click Freehand.
  4. Set Threshold and Granularity to adjust the sampling when drawing, and set any additional options such as Rendering options, End Create On Button Up, and Offset.
    Tip: Check Enable in Renderer if you want the result to be visible when rendered.
  5. In a viewport, drag the cursor to draw the desired shape.
  6. Release the mouse button to complete the shape. If the End Create On Button Up option is disabled, press the Esc key or right-click in the viewport to finish.
    Tip: After drawing a Freehand spline, use the Spline Relax and Spline Overlap modifiers to fine-tune the results.

To constrain a Freehand spline to one or more objects in a scene:

  1. From the Create panel, turn on Shapes.
  2. From the drop-down list, choose Splines.
  3. In the Object Type rollout, click Freehand.
  4. In the Freehand Spline rollout, enable the Constrain option.

    If an object is already selected it in the scene, it will be automatically added to the Constrain list.

  5. Click Pick Object and select objects from the scene.
  6. Click the blue Pick Object button again to disable it.
  7. In a viewport, drag the cursor over the selected object(s) to draw a shape.

    The resulting spline will not go outside the edges of any constraining objects and will automatically follow the contours of the shapes.

  8. Release the mouse button to complete the shape. If the End Create On Button Up option is disabled, press the Esc key or right-click in the viewport to finish.
    Tip: After drawing a constrained Freehand spline, use the Spline Relax and Spline Overlap modifiers to fine-tune the results.

Parent topic: Splines

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