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Newbie to blender here. I'm trying to take a curve or traced object and essentially make it wider all the way around. I'd also like to do the same, later but make the same object thinner all around. I'm trying to make a cookie cutter for my daughter and I want to make the object below porportionally wider, then drop a copy of it (only thinner) on top and join the objects together, this will be the "stamp" or cutting edge. Am I thinking about this correctly?

First "Layer" I want wider

enter image description here

I'd like to make the copy of this object much thinner and drop it on the top.

Thanks in advance!!!

which vertex are you referring to?

vertex?

gfuller40
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1 Answers1

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Not sure I understand you correctly, I am assuming you want a wider on top, narrower on the bottom section for the cookie cutter, one cutting side sharper edge, and one wider side to make pressure, is that correct?

If so, I'd say it would probably be easier to design the section you desire as a separate curve object, then use it as bevel object in your chicken curve.

Bevel Object

It would probably work best if your chicken was a "single stroke curve" instead of a double curve with a designed stroke width.

Otherwise if that is not possible (I see bifurcating strokes in there) you may achieve a similar effect using a "half section" instead. Just make sure the wider part of the section is always narrower than half the with of the chicken stroke to avoid self intersections and artifacts.

Half Curve Bevel

EDIT

Here is an example file. Have in mind that if this is for 3D printing or other Computer aided manufacturing process, there may be geometric issues with production. Shape cleaned up and slightly altered to reduce some of the self intersections. Edit the "Chicken Cookie Cutter" object to control the shape of the section to your liking.

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Duarte Farrajota Ramos
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  • you are AWESOME! This is exactly what I'm looking to do. I created the image in illustrator and exported it as a vector image (just because I'm more familiar with Illustrator). Please excuse my lack of knowledge in Blender... I don't have the curve button (right above "3D" in your first animation) or setting you are using. Is this a plugin or something? I have the latest version of blender but it is not there. – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 01:37
  • It is no addon, that is default blender if it is not there you might have converted your curve object to a mesh, making the curve options unavailable. If so import it again and leave it as a curve object. If the answer solved your problem consider marking it as accepted, or upvoting it if it helped you – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 01:42
  • You're right... I converted it. I'm lost at the part where it goes from double outline to 3d....Maybe I'm in over my head... I'll mark this as answered and upvote regardless! – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 01:57
  • The difference may be that this is an image? – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 02:00
  • That is no image, an image would not look like that when imported, I am guessing you imported this as an SVG file, if not that is what you should do. From double outline to 3D it is the exact same method as single outline above, it uses a second curve object purposefully designed to behave as section (or bevel object) on the chicken curve. Only difference is I removed half the section to suit the double stroke. Design your own to fit your purpose – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 02:06
  • Correct - I imported it as an SVG file. I think I'm just to dumb to figure this out right now, or ever. That being said, thank you for your time, and explanation! – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 02:15
  • What is the thing in the middle you are using when you click to select "segments"? – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 02:26
  • There is nothing complicated about it, just let me know exactly where you are stuck. All you need to do is create one new curve object, shaped as the section of the cutter (might as well design it in Illustrator, and import since you seem more familiar with it), then assign it as bevel object on the chicken curve, that's it. Other than that all you have to keep in mind is changing the fill to Both as in the second GIF, and making sure the bevel object has it's origin in the right place relative to the geometry. Just post your blend file if you need further assistance – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 02:29
  • That is the object that defines the shape of the section profile of the cutter, design your own in illustrator if it is easier to you, then import it, and make sure the origin is correctly placed relative to it's shape. The origin point will determine how it will be swept along the chicken curve – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 02:32
  • I guess I'm stuck at creating the second (double) outline of the chicken and extruding/placing it. I have no idea how you created that, but it's awesome.... I've dropped the file here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/notedj1vznj44ye/Chickenblend.blend?dl=0 – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 02:42
  • File added to answer, there may be some self intersections due to the double stroke – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 03:14
  • That is exactly what I was trying to accomplish - thank you so much. Did you copy the object and then overlay/modify the bevel? is there a way to make the inner bevels/lines shorter than the outter "cutter" shape of the cutter? I know this is a lot to ask and I truly appreciate your expertise and patience! – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 03:21
  • It is just one single object, I did not copy anything. You can make the inner lines thinner or thicker dynamically, by just enter edit mode on the small curve at the center of the chicken named Chicken Cookie Cutter and modify its vertex as desired, like described above in the answer. It will automagically update the chicken cookie cutter. – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 03:34
  • Look, thank you for your patience.... I'm either way over-thinking this or just plain retarded - probably the latter.. I just can't seem to figure this out... I'ts really frustrating at best but again, thank you. – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 03:45
  • After sleeping on this a bit I think I get it.. I haven't had time to play around with it yet as I'm at work but I see the little curve you made for the bevel now clearly in both examples. My problem was with trying to view this. I have not been able to try again yet but I'll look harder this time :) Still curious as to how you draw a 2d curve and extend it to run the length/outline of the chicken curve and mesh them together, pretty cool. My apologies again for the frustration last night!!! – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 15:47
  • "Still curious as to how you draw a 2d curve and extend it to run the length/outline of the chicken curve and mesh them together" It is clearly illustrated in both gifs above, you draw the curve then pick it as a Bevel Object – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 18:38
  • Got it! I have to recreate this as I need to cut and re-add the inner components to the chicken curve as they will not but cutting, but printing instead. They will be shorter. In trying to replicate your second curve, when trying to assign the bevel curve, it screws things up massively. I think this is due to the bevel object's origin being off. – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 18:42
  • Yes, you have to adjust the bevel object's origin and also be mindful of the chicken objects both scale (which should be at [1,1,1] and per-vertex radius (which should also be 1) – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jan 12 '17 at 19:10
  • ok. I will use your file to reference the origin points on my new version and hopefully I will have some better luck. The matching scale makes sense too. This is very informative and has been an excellent starting point for me. Now as far as bevel curve placement on the canvas, this can be anywhere as long as the origin of both the chicken curve and the bevel curve are set to match? – gfuller40 Jan 12 '17 at 19:46