Menu
: SURFACE : Deform:TaperShortcut
: NoneThis command shrinks the target surface in proportion to its distance form a neutral line. The part of the surface on the centerline will not be affected whereas more remote parts of the surface will be scaled by an increasing amount. This has the effect of giving a taper or relief to the sides of a model as would be required for casting or injection molding.
After executing the command a parameter box appears requesting the axis direction for the taper. The surface will not change along this axis but it will be reduced in size in the other two axes.
A second parameter box appears asking for the maximum scaling value in the other two axes and where the neutral centerline is to be positioned. There are three options for this at the fixpoint or at either extreme of the surface in the taper axis.
The accuracy of the taper depends on the definition of the surface. The command automaticaly determines if a the resulting surface will be accurate and refines the surface if necessary.
All trim curves and textures applied to the surface will be discarded during the taper.
It is possible to taper B-spline and Bézier surfaces though to ensure smooth surfaces are generated it is better to bend B-spline surfaces.
The illustrations below show an initial cylinder and the three possible results. In each case the taper axis is Z and the scaling values where 0.5. The first result is for the fixpoint option (the fixpoint was at the origin). The other two are for the +Z and –Z options.