How do you twist a blended solid?

[AP23]

I'm trying to attach two reference lines to the top and bottom of a solid blend. This way I can manually or through parameters twist the blend in the z-axis. When I attach the lines to the top and bottom of the blend, I still can't twist the blended shape.

Anyone knows how to do this?

[Elmo]

You need to give the top and the bottom lines of your Blend parameters as you are vreating it. If want to keep the shape the same you can you just lock angles and dimension lines. Then lock one line to an angle parameter and see if it twists when you are finished creating it.

[archjake]

I think the process was to have two parallel reference planes. Lock the two ends of your blend to them and then rotate one of the reference planes. From what I heard this is an unsupported feature and may cause problems but I didn't have any problems the two times I played with it.

[AP23]

I'm probably doing something wrong. Only the reference planes rotate but not the blend.

[Elmo]

You haven't locked any part of the blends to the referance lines so it wont work. If you can't understand what I mean I'll create an example for you and post it here.

[dbaldacchino]

I saw that at AU last year....the presenter was using refrence lines, not planes.

[DanielleAnderson]

Yes - Phil Read is the man who was rotating the solids I think at AU last year. Perhaps he will magically pop up on the forums here and straighten us out (bad pun, sorry ). I would like to know how to do it too, I was doing a demo of massing and had to make those sorts of shapes by joining multiple blended objects - that's another way you can do it, although it's a pain.

[hj]

You have to create the reference lines before creating the solid, and set the reference lines as your work plane when creating the base and top.

Sorry Phil,

[Scott D Davis]

It involves a cut/paste. Draw the sketch, highlight and select. Ctrl-X. Change Workplane. Ctrl-V onto new plane. Finish sketch.

something like that......credit goes to Matt Jezyk, at least for me!

[Elmo]

Yes - Phil Read is the man who was rotating the solids I think at AU last year. Perhaps he will magically pop up on the forums here and straighten us out (bad pun, sorry ). I would like to know how to do it too, I was doing a demo of massing and had to make those sorts of shapes by joining multiple blended objects - that's another way you can do it, although it's a pain.

The one that Phil did uses alot of formulas. Initially it looks complex but in actual fact it is rather easy to understand. You only get a little lost if your not following the instructions he made. Ultimately it all works of a parameter that you schedule so that you can change it's level(it's a shared parameter) so that it calcualtes it's next twist or "phase". Here is an example that of what he did.