Hi Brian, on your first example, you've got a 5-sided polygon and the outside offset is 5 sided with rounded corners, and the inner one has 5 lines.

5 components in each thing, I'm not sure why you don't consider these to be related?

It looks like the differences in this case from what you are expecting are due to some of the options that you've changed - when you set Corners : Round you'll get rounded areas on corner extensions. If you set this to the default "sharp", then the larger shape would also be a straight-edged 5-sided polygon closer in resemblance to the original.

Also, you've unchecked the "Trim" option - that's why the inside one is made up of 5 overlapping lines. If you turn Trim on then the inside one would also be another 5-sided polygon as well.


On your second example, you've got something with tight bends in it, and your offset distance is a lot bigger than the curvature of the bend - this would create an offset that loops back around on itself with curly-cue type things, but with Trim turned on it will try and remove the loops. Sometimes MoI will get confused with this type of offset and you might not get the portion that you need - that's why there is a Trim option that you can turn off so that you can get the entire piece with curly-cues if you want which can then be cleaned up.


Try it with the default settings on your polygon (corners: sharp, and trim on), and with a much smaller distance with your one with the tight bends, and the results should be easier to understand I think.

- Michael