Hi David, also you wrote:

> Why are the lines doubled and do I need to keep them?

You can delete the original curves that you used to construct the Network surface if you no longer have any use for them. In fact it's kind of good to either delete or hide them if you are done using them so that they won't get in the way of selecting other objects.

They are not automatically deleted because MoI doesn't know if you possibly still want to use them for other purposes, like if you want to edit them and have the Network update, etc... Most commands in MoI that create objects from curves do not automatically delete the original curves because of this, it's up to you to delete them if you want after the surface is created.

- Michael

The curves you use the generate surfaces and solids in MoI, remain... Just after you create and object like this, they will actually remain "selected".. You can either rename/stylize them to hide and keep, or delete right away..

Actually, MoI has a history mechanism.. Just after you generate your network, turn on control points for one of those generating curves, and adjust it a bit... You'll see the command calculation begin again, and the surface/solid will update!!!

FYI

Michael,
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, you described what I'm seeing exactly.

" Your original curve objects that you drew initially and gave as input into the Network command are also still around, those are separate objects from the surface that was created or the surface edges that are sub-objects of the surface."

Do I need to keep the original curve objects? For example, I might be modeling a car fender and what to attach a new curved surface to one to the one I just created.

Hi David,

> Do I need to keep the original curve objects?

It depends on what you plan to do in later steps with the model.

If you plan to use the curve for other constructions then you may want to keep it and just hide it instead of deleting it.

But it's also possible to use a surface edge as input to a creation command as well, like if you want to select a surface edge you can then do an Extrude or revolve or whatever with it just the same as a regular curve object.

But if you wanted to do some kinds of edits like pull some control points around or trim away part of the curve, etc.. then those are things that are more easily done to the original curve than to an edge.

You can also make a duplicate of an edge to make a standalone curve object from it by selecting the edge and then doing a copy (Ctrl+C) and then a paste (Ctrl+V).


But you don't always need to keep the original curves, and you don't always need to delete them either - it all depends on what things you are planning to do with your objects. But it is often a good idea to at least hide them though so that they won't be in your way for selecting other objects.

- Michael

Michael,

Thanks for explaining this.

One more question.....Is there a way to select only the original curve objects for hiding or deletion after creating the surface? It seems I have to hunt for the correct curve and risk deleting the surface I just created.

Hi David,

> Is there a way to select only the original curve objects
> for hiding or deletion after creating the surface?

They'll actually still be selected immediately after running the Network command, so that's the easiest time to do something with them. You won't need to do any kind of extra selection steps if you deal with them right at that time.


> It seems I have to hunt for the correct curve and risk deleting
> the surface I just created.

Curves have a higher selection priority than surfaces when selecting by clicking, so if later on you want to select them just move your mouse nearby them and click, the curve will get selected in that case and not the surface.

That's actually one of the reasons why it is good to hide them, because they can tend to get in the way since they get selected more easily than surfaces.


You can also use the Scene browser to select all curve objects in the model, to do that, bring up the scene browser panel (click the Browser button in the bottom of the window), and go to the Types section and click on the text there that says "Curves" - that will select all curve objects in the model:



Click on the text part of the line there to select all curves, or if you just want to hide them click on the eye part of the line to hide them all with one click.

- Michael

Awesome!

Thanks again