Contents

License & Copyright iii

Contents. v

About This Manual 1

Chapter 1 Introduction. 3

Chapter 2 Basic Principles. 5

The Spline and Spring Analogy. 6

B-Spline Properties. 9

Bibliography. 10

Chapter 3 Getting Started. 11

Chapter 4 Maxsurf Windows. 13

View Windows - General 14

Maxsurf Coordinate System.. 14

Setting the Frame of Reference. 14

Setting the Zero Point 16

Setting the Vessel Type. 17

Setting Units. 18

Taking Measurements. 19

Setting up the Grid. 19

Displaying Contour Lines. 24

Zoom, Shrink, Pan and Home View.. 27

View Windows. 31

Body Plan Window.. 31

Plan and Profile Windows. 35

Perspective Window.. 36

Tool Panes. 38

Assembly Pane. 38

Properties Pane. 41

Table Windows. 45

Table Windows – General 45

Control Points Window.. 51

Markers Window.. 53

Surfaces Window.. 53

Offsets Window.. 53

Graph Windows. 57

Graph Windows - General 57

Curve of Areas Window.. 58

Calculations Window.. 60

Maxsurf Settings. 64

Maxsurf Preferences. 64

Colour and Font 65

Chapter 5 Using Maxsurf 67

Working with Markers. 68

Working with Markers – Concepts. 68

Working with Markers - Procedures. 68

Generating Markers for Developable Surfaces. 78

Working with Surfaces. 80

Surface Types in Maxsurf 80

Surface Stiffness. 82

Surface Appearance. 85

Surface Properties. 85

Outside Arrows. 87

Surface Materials and Skin Thickness. 88

Surface Precision. 89

Displaying Curvature on Contours. 91

Rendering a Surface. 92

Surface Operations. 97

Trimming Surfaces. 106

Bonding Surfaces. 115

Working with Control Points. 123

Adding Control Points. 123

Deleting Control Points. 124

Moving Control Points. 125

Aligning Control Points. 127

Smooth Controls or Straighten Controls. 130

Manipulating Groups of Control Points. 132

Compacting Control Points. 136

Grouping Control Points. 138

Displaying Control Points. 139

Control Point Weight 140

Advanced - Transpose. 145

Calculations. 146

Hydrostatics. 146

Calculate Girth. 148

Calculate Areas. 149

Surface Fitting. 151

Surface Fitting – Concepts. 151

Surface Fitting – Procedures. 154

Fitting a NURB Surface to Markers. 155

Generating a TriMesh Surface. 162

Using Parametric Transformation. 167

Search Parameters. 168

Scaling factors. 170

Hull Shape Comparison. 172

Parametric Transformation Restrictions. 172

Americas Cup Yachts. 173

Input of Data. 174

Pasting (General) 174

Importing Background Images. 174

Importing DXF background. 179

Importing DXF Markers. 179

Importing IGES Surfaces. 181

Importing Rhino .3dm files. 182

Output of Data. 183

Printing. 183

Copying. 186

Offsets Data Output 187

Animation Files. 188

Exporting a Maxsurf Design. 188

Chapter 6 Maxsurf Reference. 195

Toolbars. 196

Customising Toolbars. 196

Maxsurf Toolbars. 199

Menus. 202

File Menu. 202

Edit Menu. 203

View Menu. 204

Marker Menu. 205

Controls Menu. 207

Surfaces Menu. 209

Display Menu. 211

Data Menu. 213

Window Menu. 215

Help Menu. 215

Right Click Menu. 217

Appendix A Data Export 218

Pictures and Text 218

2D Drafting Data. 219

3D Drafting Data. 220

3D Surface Definition. 221

Appendix B Surface Algorithms. 223

Appendix C Command Keys. 224

Appendix D Moving Files Across Platforms. 226

Moving Files From Macintosh to Windows. 226

Moving Files from Windows to Macintosh. 227

Index. 229