How does the Clear / Split Components tool work in Aspire for cookie-cutting and cropping 3D components?

Overview

The Clear and Split tools use a vector as a "cookie cutter" to edit 3D components. There are three functions: Clear Component Inside Selected Vectors, Clear Component Outside Selected Vectors and Split Component. You can punch a hole in a component, trim away everything outside a vector outline, or split a component into two independent pieces. This is often the cleanest way to get a shape the modeling tools cannot produce directly: make the general shape first, then crop it to the exact outline you need. The tools are in the Modeling tab of Aspire (the 12.5 VCarve Pro manual has no section for them).

The Three Functions

1. Clear Component Inside Selected Vectors

Removes the contents of the 3D model that is INSIDE the selected closed vector.

Effect: a void or hole in the component wherever the vector overlaps it.

Use for:

• Punching a hole in a background texture so a clipart element can sit cleanly in it
• Windows or openings in a relief plaque
• Making a ring or donut from a solid dome (clear the inner circle)
• Removing unwanted parts of an imported 3D model

2. Clear Component Outside Selected Vectors

Removes the contents of the 3D model that is OUTSIDE the selected closed vector, keeping only what is inside.

Effect: the component is cropped to the exact shape of the vector.

Use for:

• Trimming a swept shape to a leaf, bird or other organic outline (the most common use)
• Isolating one element from a large model (for example one animal from a scene)
• Fitting a texture or weave inside an oval or sign shape
• Making a component that exactly matches a logo or letter outline

3. Split Component

Splits the selected component into TWO independent components. You select the component and a single vector that marks the split boundary. Both pieces are kept.

• Closed vector: acts as the cookie cutter, as if pushed through the component. You get an inside piece and an outside piece.
• Open vector: the software extrapolates from the ends of the vector to the edge of the modeling area to make the split line.
• The new components are named with "- A" and "- B" added to the original name.

Use for:

• Splitting a large relief into halves or sections for separate machining runs
• Creating left and right pieces from one component
• Dividing a model for assembly
• Separating a figure from its background for independent adjustment

Even split tip: draw a straight line across the center of the component, select the component and then the line, and click Split. Split takes a single vector, so use one vector per split and repeat with a second line for a three-part split.

Key difference: Split keeps both pieces. Clear Inside and Clear Outside destroy the unwanted portion.

Selection Order Matters

1. Select the component(s) to edit FIRST
2. Select the vector that defines the cropping region LAST (for example by Shift-clicking it)
3. Click Clear Inside, Clear Outside or Split

The last-selected object defines the boundary. If you select in the wrong order, the wrong object becomes the boundary.

If you select several components or a component group, the software prompts you to bake them into a single component first. Keep backup copies of the originals before baking.

Practical Use Cases

Example: weave inside an oval

1. Create an Extrude and Weave component across the full job area
2. Draw an oval where you want the weave to appear
3. Select the weave component, then the oval
4. Click Clear Component Outside Selected Vectors
5. The weave now exists only inside the oval, and the vector is unchanged and can be reused (for example as a toolpath boundary)

Several boundary vectors: you can select more than one closed vector at once and the operation uses all of them.

Trimming at a Height Instead of a Vector

To cut a model off at a specific height (flatten the top of a shape), add a flat plane component whose Base Height equals your cut height and set its combine mode to Merge Low. The Low option is only available when combining components, not in the modeling tools, so set it afterward in Component Properties. Low keeps the lowest of the overlapping heights, so everything above the plane is cut off. Place the plane above the model in the Component Tree.

Clear Outside vs. Level Clipping

Both can leave you with a model that only shows inside a boundary, but they work differently. Level Clipping is available in both VCarve Pro and Aspire.

Clear Outside (permanent):

• Erases the component's height data outside the vector
• The component itself is changed, so moving it carries the cropped shape with it
• Changing or moving the vector afterward has no effect
• Undo (Ctrl+Z) reverses it only straight away, so duplicate the component first if you may want the original

Level Clipping (non-destructive):

• Trims the components on a Level to closed vectors without changing the underlying components
• Select the vector(s), right-click the Level and choose Clipping, then Apply. Everything inside the vectors is untouched and everything outside is removed from the model.
• Moving or editing components on the clipped Level updates the clip automatically
• Moving or editing the clipping vector does NOT update the clip. Right-click the Level and choose Clipping > Update (with the vector selected) to re-read it. If no vector is selected, the previously used vector is reused.
• To remove the clipping, right-click the Level and choose Clipping > Remove

Common Mistakes

• Selecting the vector first and the component last
• Forgetting that Clear Outside removes everything OUTSIDE the vector
• Expecting to keep both pieces after Clear Inside or Outside (use Split for that)
• Not backing up components before a multi-component bake or a clear
• Using a closed vector that sits very close to the component edge, which can leave a tiny sliver
• Expecting a Level Clipping region to follow a moved vector without using Clipping > Update
• Using Split with more than one vector. It needs a single boundary vector

For a worked example of sweeping a shape and then cropping it to a leaf outline, see the entry on Two Rail Sweep plus Clear Outside. For smoothing a whole component, see the entry on Smooth Components.