Ruled

A ruled surface is generated from two curve sub-objects. It lets you use curves to design the two opposite borders of a surface.

Using two curves to create a ruled surface

Reference

You can animate the parent curves or their CVs to change the ruled surface.

When you turn on the Ruled button, and while a ruled surface sub-object is selected, a rollout with the ruled surface parameters appears at the bottom of the command panel.

Flip Beginning and Flip End: Flip one of the curve directions used to construct the ruled surface. A ruled surface is created using the directions of the parent curves. If the two parents have opposing directions, this can lead to a ruled surface shaped like a bow tie. To correct the situation, use Flip Beginning or Flip End to have the ruled surface constructed using a direction opposite the corresponding parent curve’s direction. These controls spare you the need to actually reverse the curve.

How To

To create a ruled surface:

1. In a NURBS object that contains at least two curves, turn on Ruled.
2. Drag from one curve to the other.

3DS MAX generates a dependent surface using the two curves as the surface’s opposite edges. It generates the perpendicular edges automatically.