Creating Efficient Meshes from Rhino® Surfaces

by James Truax, ThermoAnalytics, Inc.

Version 1.0
I. Creating Surfaces
From Curve Network – (NetworkSrf ® Surface – From Curve Network)
1. Usage

This is the newest surface creating command Rhino has implemented. It is available in the latest beta
version at www.rhino3d.com. This command uses two series of curves to create a single surface.
These sets of curves run along and perpendicular to the surface.

This command has one option available when selecting the curves. This option is AutoSort, which tries
to determine what kind of surface you want with the selected curves. From my experience, AutoSort
does not work. Turning this option off allows you to manually select the curves that run in one
direction, then the curves that run in the other direction. There has to be a series of curves that are
continuous that will form the border of the surface. If there are any other curves that the command is
given, it will try to fit the surface to them. This makes matching details in a surface much easier.

2. Meshing Results

This command gives you great flexibility in creating the exact surface you want, without trying to use
the loft, sweep or any other command. The mesh it produces is all rectangles and is more independent
of the edge curves than other commands.

The biggest problem with this command is that not all elements are planar. Depending on the
geometry, some of the elements can be quite non-planar.

3. Example

The following mesh was created using the NetworkSrf

command. This produced similar results to that of the
loft, with the added control over the edges of the
surface.

Edge Curves
1. Usage

Edge Curves uses 3 or 4 curves to create a surface.

These curves need not be planer, but they are required
to be continuous throughout the series of curves. If the
command does not work it is likely because the curves are not continuous. This can be done by using
the EditPtOn command in conjunction with the Osnap Pt option.

EditPtOn ®Edit – Points Editing – Points Edit On

EditPtOn creates movable points on the curve so that the curve can be edited without having to
recreate the curve. The Osnap utility allows the cursor to snap to certain features of the geometry. By
moving the end of one curve to the end of another, this will create a continuous set of curves.

Osnap ® Clicking on the OSNAP box at the bottom of the workspace

2. Meshing Results

For simple, non-planar geometry, this command produces a mesh without triangles on the edge. This
is highly advantageous compared to other commands in Rhino. The mesh it produces is mainly
rectangles (quads), which is the best type of mesh for thermal analysis.

3. Example

The following is an example used to illustrate the surface

and mesh created using the EdgeSrf command.
Planar Curves – (PlanarSrf ® Surfaces – From
Planar Curves)
1. Usage

The Planar Curves command uses a series of planar

curves to create a surface. These curves must be near
perfectly planar and continuous for the command to work. There is no limit to the number of curves
that can be used to create a surface. See Edge Curve command for creating continuous curves.

2. Meshing Results

Every surface using this command produces nearly the same type of mesh. The mesh will have
rectangles in the interior and triangles along most edges. This occurs no matter what the curves.
Because it is just as easy to use another command to create planar surfaces, use of this command is
discouraged. The only advantage is that there is no limit to the number of curves, just as long as they
are ALL planar.

The only time PlanarSrf produces quality meshes is when the geometry is simple and contains no
curves.

3. Example

The following meshes were created using the PlanarSrf

command. Notice that the only area with rectangles
along the edge is on the straight edge at the bottom: the
straight vertical edge has triangles. The simple second
surface was simple enough that the command produced
a good mesh.

Loft – (Loft ® Surface – Loft)

1. Usage

The loft command creates a surface through a series of cross-section curves. There is no limit to the
number of curves used. This command tries to match the curves, but does not give control over the
opposite edges of the surfaces.

The most important thing to remember when using this command is that where you select each curve
is important. Select each curve near the same location for each curve. For example, select a series of
curves near the same end. This determines how the loft will create the surface. This command has
both style and tolerance control, and therefore does not always match the curves exactly.

2. Meshing Results

This command produces meshes that most of the time are all rectangles. The main disadvantage of
this command is that the surface and mesh are largely dependent on the geometry. Throughout the
interior of the mesh, the shape and orientation are dependent on the edges of the surface. The
following example will illustrate this point.

3. Example

The following mesh was created using the Loft

command. Notice that the shape of the elements on the
interior of the surface are largely dependent on the
edges of the curves. Therefore, when creating surfaces
be sure to make the curves as simple as possible.

Sweep 1 Rail – (Sweep1 ® Surface – Sweep 1

Rail) and Sweep 2 Rails - (Sweep2 ® Suface –
Sweep 2 Rails)
1. Usage

These commands both create surfaces using cross-section curves swept along a path. Sweep1 should
be used when one edge of the surface is irrelevant. Sweep2 should be used in all edges of the
surface are important.

These commands both have simplifying options so that the tolerance of the surface can be adjusted.
The Sweep1 command has a style option, as well, although I have never used it.

2. Meshing Results
 As with most of Rhino’s commands, the quality of the surface is largely dependent of the quality of the
curves. Therefore, the quality of the mesh is largely dependent on the quality of the surface. These
commands produce meshes of good quality, but using the Sweep command is more difficult than using
the NetworkSrf command.

Revolve – (Revolve ® Surface – Revolve) and Rail Revolve – (RailRevolve ® Surface

– Rail Revolve)
1. Usage

These commands should be used when the geometry is circular. The revolve command is simple to
understand and has meshing advantages if the situation presents itself.

2. Meshing Results

As with any mesh, it depends on the nature of the

surface. Because the creation of a surface using the
Revolve command uses a central point, the mesh will
emanate from that central point as well. This helps
capture heat flow radiating out from a central location. If
this feature is not desired, then using another command
may be necessary. All of the elements are rectangles
except for the central elements. Because of symmetry,
all of the elements created from the Revolve command
are planar. This is not necessarly true for the
RailRevolve command. The following picture illustrates
this point.

Patch – (Patch ® Surface – Patch)

1. Usage

This command is similar to the EdgeSrf command. Both the Patch and EdgeSrf command should be
used when the border of a surface is known, and there is no prominent direction of the surface. The
surfaces created are different. Patch uses a series of perpendicular curves, called spans, which
compose the surface. These spans run in perpendicular directions called U and V. These curves rarely
are parallel to any edge of the surface. Therefore the mesh produced is often in irregular directions.
See Edge Curve command for creating continuous curves.

2. Meshing Results

Because there is no control over how the Patch

command creates these spans, the mesh created is often
irregular. The following picture shows a surface created
by Patch on the right and the mesh created on the left.
(Notice how the spans are not parallel to the edges of
the surface, and how that affects the mesh.)

Point Grid – (SrfPtGrid ® Surface – From Point

Grid)
1. Usage

This command uses a series of points in the form of a grid to create a surface. The user decides how
many points are needed in the rows and columns. The points that are used for the surface are created
beforehand. This is useful for creating surfaces from other surfaces. Points can be projected onto the
old surface, and then the new points are used to create the new surface.

2. Meshing Results

The mesh created from Point Grid surfaces are all rectangles. The elements created are not
necessarily planar or consistent. The shape of the element greatly depends on the points used to
create the surface. If the points are not uniform in direction or spacing, this will affect the mesh. This
basic concept is true for all of Rhino surface creation commands.

Drape – (Drape ® Surface - Drape

1. Usage

This command uses existing surfaces or solids to create a surface. The surface created is always a
rectangle. The surface is approximate to placing a blanket over an object—any shape that the object
has, the surface will have a similar shape. The Drape command does not produce an exact replication.
 2. Meshing Results

This command produces meshes similar to that of the Point Grid mention earlier.

Bitmap – (Heightfield ® Surface – Heightfield from Bitmap)

1. Usage

This command uses a picture to create a surface. It uses the brightness of the colors or values of a
grayscale to create a surface. It gives you the options that determine the height of the surface and the
number of sampling points. The surface created should only be used to estimate another surface. It is
not accurate enough to produce an exact surface.

2. Meshing Results

The mesh created is all rectangles, but not necessarily planar. The mesh created is similar to those
created by the Point Grid and Drape commands mention earlier.

II. Recommendations
Creating Useful Curves
1. Creating Curves

In all of the following commands, the curves can be created by any means at your disposal. The main
concern in building surfaces is that the final curve must have no irregularities.
Join ® Edit – Join
During the creating of curves, a curve can be made by joining it to another. When this is done, the
final curve is not a single fluid curve. There will still be points where the curve is not smooth. Once
the curve or curves that are to be used are set, they must first be joined.
Rebuild ® Curve – Edit Tools – Rebuild
After the curves are joined, the next step is to rebuild them. This step reconstructs the curve using
options given by the user. The options are Point Count and Degree. Point count is the number of
sampling points that are used to re-create the curve. This should be as small as possible, while
retaining the desired shape.
Note: If the curve that is being re-created has sharp angles that need to be kept, then the curve
should be divided into sections so that only sections without the sharp sections are rebuilt. The
rebuild command smoothes out any curve, so that the final curve is an approximate curve.
DupEdge ® Curve – From Objects – Duplicate Edge
Another method to create useful curves is to reuse curves from existing surfaces. This is done by
using the DupEdge command. This command creates a curve replicating an edge of a surface.

2. Editing Curves

Many commands in Rhino require that all vertices line up exactly. If you try to create a surface and the
command does not work, it is likely because the curves are not continuous. The new version of Rhino
will actually form many of surfaces, regardless if the curves are continuous or not. You must be careful
of this potential prob. This may produce a curve but it may not be the one you intended, and you will
experience problems later when your surface doesn’t fit properly with the rest of the part. To ensure
that your curves are continuous, you can use the EditPt commands.
EditPtOn ® Edit – Point Editing – Point Edit On
Ptoff ® Edit – Point Editing – Points Off

3. Example

In the example shown here, the surface

will be formed from the three curves. The
lines don’t share the same vertices,
though. You can fix this by first selecting
all the lines. Once all the lines are
selected, you can turn the edit points of
the line on. These are points on the
curve that allow you to change the curve
with out having to re-create it.

You can see that the lines now share the

same common end point. You will now
be able to form the desired curve. After
you are done editing your line you must
either type PtOff or press the Esc key to
turn point editing off.

Commands that produce good

surfaces
1. From Curve Network
 This command is one of the easiest
commands to use once you figure out
how to use it. If you turn off AutoSort in
the options for this command, it will
prompt you to select the curves in the
first direction. Select all of the curves in
one direction, IN ORDER. Hit return, and
then do the same thing for the other
direction, roughly perpendicular to the
first set of curves. Remember that only
the edge curves need to be continuous;
the rest of the curves will be used to fit
the new surface. This command gives
you the greatest flexibility, while at the
same time producing the best surface.

2. Edge Curves, Loft, Sweep Commands,

Revolve, Rail Revolve, and Point Grid

These commands all produce good

meshes. They should be used according
to the geometry presented. If the
geometry is circular, use the Revolve or
Rail Revolve commands. If the only
curves available are the edge curves, use
the EdgeSrf command. If you are given
cross-section curves, use the Loft or
Sweep commands, or consider using the
NetworkSrf command.

Commands that produce poor

surfaces
1. Patch and Planar Curves

These commands produce surfaces that

produce meshes with triangles along the
curved edges. Because there are other
commands that produce much better
meshes using the exact same geometry,
my recommendation is to use the
commands described above.

2. Drape and Bitmap

All of these commands create surfaces that produce meshes that are all rectangles. These all produce
good meshes, but should only be used when the situation presents itself. This is when you have
means of producing a surface that is similar to the surface required (e.g., if the surface is going to be
used as a building block for another surface, like a skeletal framework for the final surface.)

Editing Effects
1. Trim, Split, JoinSrf

These commands are ways of editing a surface. My only recommendation concerning these types of
commands is to use them to create a first draft of a surface. Then use this surface to create the final
version. If you do all of the editing to an initial surface, then use commands like Duplicate Edge
(DupEdge), Duplicate Border (DupBorder), or Project (Project) to extract curves from a surface. Once
you have these curves, rebuild them and use them to create the desired surface.

Learn More About Meshing

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