Curves and Profiles

Use Lathe for a form around an axis, and Profile for a form that follows a path.

Extrude an open 2D stroke

Choose Polygon for straight segments or Curve for a smooth path. Open the Actions Panel with Q and select Open Stroke under Mode. Set Width to the total width of the surface centered on the path.

Place at least two points and use Ctrl+Click to finish. Polygon finishes with the points already placed; Curve includes the final click. The endpoints remain separate. Bevel rounds the corners of the resulting surface; Chamfer gives them straight cuts. Use the usual extrusion handle to give the surface depth, then apply Create or a boolean operation.

Width, corner treatment, and path points remain editable before applying. Closed Shape restores the filled contour mode (at least three points).

Create a lathed form

1. Choose Lathe in Shapes and place its preview.
2. Open its Shape properties.
3. Edit the Profile to change the silhouette of the revolved form.
4. Use Reset to return the profile to its starting shape if needed.
5. Choose an operation in the Actions Panel and apply it.

The profile determines how the surface changes along the lathe axis. Move or scale the overall preview separately from editing the profile.

Draw a Profile

1. Choose Profile in Shapes.
2. Click to place the path points.
3. Use the mouse wheel while drawing to scale the profile.
4. Use Ctrl+Click to finish the path.

A new Profile starts with a circular cross-section and a Polyline path.

Edit the path

Open the Actions Panel with Q and choose Polyline or Curve under Stroke Type. Polyline keeps the authored path segments straight and is the default; Curve interpolates a smooth path through them.

Drag the path to add a point. Move points to change the path; remove a point with Delete or by dragging it onto a neighbor.

Use an orange handle or Alt + mouse wheel to scale the profile at a path point. Local scaling makes tapered cables, pipes, or decorative forms.

Edit the cross-section

Open the Actions Panel with Q and choose Profile to open the profile editor. The editor supports built-in and file presets, linear, Catmull-Rom, and B-Spline interpolation, and smooth or sharp points.

Inside the profile editor:

• Click the curve to add a point.
• Drag a point to reshape the cross-section.
• Click a point to change smooth/sharp behavior.
• Draw on empty grid space to start a new profile.
• Use the editor's reset and undo/redo controls while experimenting.

Apply the shape

For a Profile, choose Add to make a new object, or choose a supported boolean operation. Use Enter to apply, or Ctrl+Click a target object. The equivalent new-object operation for Lathe is Create.

Round an edge with Bevel

1. Select the object that should receive the cut.
2. Choose Bevel in Shapes.
3. Move near a highlighted object edge and click to accept the Edge locked marker as the exact start point. Snapping is automatic, including just outside the object's silhouette.
4. Click tangent point A on one adjacent face.
5. Click tangent point B on the opposite face. Both face points are projected to the cross-section station defined by the edge point.
6. Click highlighted hard edges to extend the polyline. Use Ctrl+Click to place its final point and finish it.
7. Open the Actions Panel with Q, choose Polyline or Curve under Stroke Type, and adjust Bevel or Chamfer.
8. Use Enter or Ctrl+Click on the target to commit the result.

The adjacent faces may be curved, including surfaces created by a boolean cut. Choose A and B on the two sides of the selected edge. Keep both picks near the start point to define the local cross-section.

The start point stays on the target's mesh edge in both perspective and orthographic views. When edges overlap on screen, the front edge wins. The position along the edge remains under your control.

Once captured, the edge stays locked while you position the start point. Small sideways mouse movements cannot switch to a nearby edge. On a curved edge you can move along its connected segments. To select a different edge, move clearly away from the locked edge first.

Bevel has no cross-section editor and no boolean-operation selector. It is always subtractive. While an amount slider is dragged, the cutter updates immediately but the expensive live cut is recalculated only when the slider is released. Bevel creates one tangent rounded transition between A and B; Chamfer connects them with a straight diagonal. Raising one control resets the other so that only one cut style is active. Polyline is the default stroke type and keeps the authored path segments straight; Curve interpolates a smooth path through them. After the path is confirmed, drag the visible A and B handles to refine the two tangent distances. Path points remain freely editable as well.

For a planar contour with dimensions and constraints, use Sketches and Extrusion.