How does the Create Shape tool work in Aspire, and what are all the profile types, height controls, and advanced options?

Overview

Create Shape is the most fundamental 3D modeling tool in Aspire. It builds a 3D component from one or more closed vectors. There are five separate Create Shape tools on the Modeling tab: Flat, Round, Angled, Smooth and Custom. The vector outline defines where the shape sits; the profile settings define how it rises.

What changed in version 12: earlier versions had one Create Shape form with every profile in it. Version 12 replaced it with separate tools. The tools have interactive handles in the 3D view, so you can adjust properties in place and get rapid feedback, and you can still type values in the form. Created shapes remember the properties used to make them, so you can come back later and tweak them. To edit an existing shape, select the component and open the same shape tool again. Double-clicking a component in the Component Tree opens Component Properties instead, which is where you adjust height, base height, fade, tilt and appearance.

Profile Types

Flat (Plane)

Creates a flat plane at the height set in Base Height. Hold Shift when clicking the Flat tool to create a Zero Plane the size of the material instead of a flat component from the selected vectors.

• Use for: flat background planes, sign bases, platforms and any level surface.
• Controls: Base Height (the height of the plane), plus Fade, Tilt and the combine options. There is no profile, Limit or Scale because there is no profile to scale.

Round

The profile rises from the edge with a convex curve, giving a dome, lens or organic bulge.

• Profile: sets the angle of the edge. The higher the angle, the steeper the shape.
• Use for: leaves, petals, hills, pillows, animal bodies, cheeks, domed plaques and bosses. Most organic relief starts here.

Angled

Creates straight sloping sides rising from the vector edge, with no curve.

• Profile: sets the angle of the slope. The higher the angle, the steeper the sides. The vector outline decides how it looks from above: the same angle gives a cone on a circle and a pyramid on a square.
• Use for: bevels, prism-style lettering, star shapes, crown molding profiles, faceted signs, chamfers and any shape that needs straight edges.

Smooth

Creates an S-shaped profile with a smooth curve at both the bottom and the top of the model. Round gives a single dome arc, whereas Smooth gives one curvature at the bottom and another at the top.

• Smoothing slider: moves the curve toward more concave (minimum) or more convex (maximum). In the 3D view you can also adjust the start and end angle with handles.
• Blend To Inner Vectors: applies the profile across the selected vectors, blending from the outside vectors to the inner vectors.
• Use for: flowing transitions, pillow or cushion shapes, molding-like profiles and soft organic shapes where a plain dome is not right.

Custom

You select the closed vectors plus one open vector that draws the profile you want. The final shape is taken from the part of the profile that lies above the line joining its two end points, so the profile vector should usually have a leg. A profile without a leg is interpreted differently from how it looks. Custom also has Blend To Inner Vectors.

• Use for: molding profiles, coves, ogees, bowl interiors and any non-standard cross-section. For the full workflow, see the entry on the Custom Profile option.

Which tool to use

For choosing between Create Shape and the other modeling tools, see the entry on which Aspire 3D modeling tool to use.

Height Controls

These appear on the Round, Angled, Smooth and Custom forms.

• Profile: on Round and Angled, the angle of the edge. The final height depends on the angle and on the size of the vector: a wider vector rises higher at the same angle because the slope has more distance to travel.
• Limit: caps the height of the shape without rescaling the profile. Enter a value or use the slider. The top is cut off flat at that height. Use it to guarantee a component stays within the material thickness.
• Scale: scales the shape up or down while keeping its general profile. The height box becomes available once this is ticked. Use it when you want an exact height and the same profile shape, or when components must match each other in height.
• Base Height: adds a flat base plane below the profile you chose, which lifts the whole component before the profile shape begins. For example, a 0.1 inch Base Height under a curved profile 0.3 inch high gives a component that starts 0.1 inch up and reaches 0.4 inch total. Keeping a base under a foreground component helps it stand proud of a background it is merged with. Test values on a small piece first; 0.05 to 0.15 inch is a common starting point for borders and faces.
• Total Height: the overall height of the model. It changes when you edit Profile, Limit, Scale or Base Height, and typing a height here updates the Scale and Base Height values to match. Check it before you apply to see how Base Height and the profile height add up.

Making a dish or recess: older tips describe a negative profile angle that pushes the shape below the modeling plane. That is not documented for the 12.5 Create Shape forms, so do not rely on it. To cut a recess into the model, create the shape and give its component a Subtract combine mode, then check the result in the 3D view and a toolpath preview.

Fade and Tilt

Both are set in the 3D view with the Set Anchor button, then two clicks.

• Fade: the first click is the point that stays at the current height. The second click is the point the component fades down toward, by the percentage you choose. The fade is linear between the two points. Useful for making a component appear to recede or tuck behind another one.
• Tilt: the first click is the pivot that stays at zero. The second click is the side that is raised by the angle you enter. Type the angle and press the Space Bar to apply it. The tilt applies over the whole component.

For examples, decisions and editing later, see the entry on Tilt and Fade in the Create Shape tools.

Working with Multiple Vectors

Select several closed vectors before opening Create Shape. Inner vectors inside an outer vector make the shape recognize the inside and outside relationship, which is how letters such as O, B and P get their counters, and how rings and frames are made.

Preserve Internal Corners: when a shape has both external and internal corners (the inside of a V or X, or a polygon), leaving this unticked rounds the internal corners. Ticking it keeps the internal sides straight so they meet in a sharp, mitered crease.

For rings, borders, frames and Blend To Inner Vectors, see the entry on using Create Shape with multiple nested vectors.

Buttons on the Form

• Apply: creates the shape from your settings. You can keep changing options and click Apply again to update it.
• Reset: removes the current shape but keeps the selection, so no component is created if you then close the form.
• Start New Component: saves the current component, deselects everything and begins a new one. The form values are kept until you Close. New components land on the active level of the Component Tree.
• Close: exits the form. Ctrl+Z undoes the shape if you do not want it.
• Combine with other components: name the component and choose how it combines with the others in the Component Tree.

Workflow

1. Draw all your vector shapes first (background, mid-ground, foreground). The tools need closed vectors; an open vector will not work, except as the profile in Create Shape - Custom.
2. Work from back to front, creating the background component first.
3. Create each shape and choose its combine mode: Add stacks height, Subtract cuts negative shapes, Merge keeps the higher of overlapping areas.
4. Use Base Height and Scale to control layering depth.
5. Refine final details with the Sculpting tools.

If the Apply button will not activate or the shape looks wrong, see the entry on troubleshooting Create Shape.

Job Resolution and Create Shape Quality

Components are generated at the job's 3D resolution (set in the Job Setup form). Standard (fastest) suits most parts. High (3 x slower) suits parts over about 18 inches that still have small details. Highest (7 x slower) suits very large parts, over about 48 inches, with small details. The resolution is spread over the whole job, so keep the job size just big enough for the carving. A 6 inch sign in a 48 inch job gets very few pixels and cuts with jagged edges.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving the height uncontrolled: the shape may be taller than the material. Check the total height against the material thickness in Material Setup.
• Zero base height on a foreground component set to Merge, so it sinks into the background.
• Wrong profile for the job: Round for a bevel (use Angled), or Angled for organic work (use Round or Smooth).
• A job much larger than the carving, which makes edges look blocky when cut.
• Not naming components, which makes a busy Component Tree hard to manage.