Intersection and Trim
Many of the examples so far have focused on the construction of higher dimensional geometry from lower dimensional objects. Intersection methods allow this higher dimensional geometry to generate lower dimensional objects, while the trim and select trim commands allow script to heavily modify geometric forms after they’ve been created.
The Intersect method is defined on all pieces of geometry in Dynamo, meaning that in theory any piece of geometry can be intersected with any other piece of geometry. Naturally some intersections are meaningless, such as intersections involving Points, as the resulting object will always be the input Point itself. The other possible combinations of intersections between objects are outlined in the following chart. The following chart outlines the result of various intersection operations:
With: | Surface | Curve | Plane | Solid |
Surface | Curve | Point | Point, Curve | Surface |
Curve | Point | Point | Point | Curve |
Plane | Curve | Point | Curve | Curve |
Solid | Surface | Curve | Curve | Solid |
The following very simple example demonstrates the intersection of a plane with a NurbsSurface. The intersection generates a NurbsCurve array, which can be used like any other NurbsCurve.
// python_points_5 is a set of Points generated with
// a Python script found in Chapter 12, Section 10
surf = NurbsSurface.ByPoints(python_points_5, 3, 3);
WCS = CoordinateSystem.Identity();
pl = Plane.ByOriginNormal(WCS.Origin.Translate(0, 0,
0.5), WCS.ZAxis);
// intersect surface, generating three closed curves
crvs = surf.Intersect(pl);
crvs_moved = crvs.Translate(0, 0, 10);
The Trim method is very similar to the Intersect method, in that it is defined for almost every piece of geometry. However, there are far more limitations on Trim than on Intersect.
| Using: Point | Curve | Plane | Surface | Solid |
On: Curve | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Polygon | - | No | Yes | No | No |
Surface | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Solid | - | - | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Something to note about Trim methods is the requirement of a “select” point, a point which determines which geometry to discard, and which pieces to keep. Dynamo finds and discards the trimmed geometry closest to the select point.
// python_points_5 is a set of Points generated with
// a Python script found in Chapter 12, Section 10
surf = NurbsSurface.ByPoints(python_points_5, 3, 3);
tool_pts = Point.ByCoordinates((-10..20..10)<1>,
(-10..20..10)<2>, 1);
tool = NurbsSurface.ByPoints(tool_pts);
pick_point = Point.ByCoordinates(8, 1, 3);
result = surf.Trim(tool, pick_point);
Last modified 1yr ago