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

Bibliography. 8

Chapter 3 Getting Started. 11

Installing, Starting and Opening. 12

Installing Maxsurf 12

Starting Maxsurf 12

Opening an Existing Design. 13

Moving a Control Point 15

Creating your first Design. 17

Adding a Surface. 17

Setting up your Units. 18

Modelling Edges. 19

Setting your Frame of Reference. 22

Setting up your Grid. 23

Viewing in 3D.. 25

Saving Your Design. 26

Showing the Net 26

Inserting Control Points. 29

Setting Surface Stiffness. 32

Removing Control Points. 34

Chapter 4 Maxsurf Windows. 35

View Windows - General 36

Maxsurf Coordinate System.. 36

Setting the Frame of Reference. 36

Setting the Zero Point 37

Setting the Vessel Type. 38

Setting Units. 40

Taking Measurements. 40

Setting up the Grid. 40

Zoom, Shrink, Pan and Home View.. 47

View Windows. 50

Body Plan Window.. 50

Plan and Profile Windows. 53

Perspective Window.. 54

Assembly Window.. 56

Table Windows. 60

Table Windows – General 60

Control Points Window.. 67

Markers Window.. 68

Surfaces Window.. 75

Offsets Window.. 76

Graph Windows. 79

Graph Windows - General 79

Curve of Areas Window.. 80

Calculations Window.. 82

Maxsurf Settings. 86

Maxsurf Preferences. 86

Colour and Font 87

Chapter 5 Using Maxsurf 89

Working with Surfaces. 90

Surface Types. 90

Surface Stiffness. 95

Surface Appearance. 98

Surface Properties. 99

Outside Arrows. 100

Surface Materials and Skin Thickness. 101

Surface Precision. 103

Surface Curvature. 105

Surface Operations. 109

Trimming Surfaces. 118

Bonding Surfaces. 127

Fitting Surfaces. 134

Surface Fitting with Genetic Algorithms. 134

Assisted Manual Fit to Markers. 138

Background Images. 142

Modelling Developable Surfaces. 146

Developable Surfaces Example. 146

Control Points. 151

Adding Control Points. 151

Deleting Control Points. 152

Moving Control Points. 152

Display of Control Points. 155

Masking the Net 156

Manipulating Groups of Control Points. 157

Advanced - Transpose. 169

Calculations. 170

Hydrostatics. 170

Calculate Girth. 172

Calculate Areas. 172

Using Parametric Transformation. 174

Search Parameters. 174

Scaling factors. 177

Hull Shape Comparison. 179

Parametric Transformation Restrictions. 179

Americas Cup Yachts. 180

Input of Data. 181

Pasting (General) 181

Importing DXF background. 181

Importing DXF Markers. 182

Importing IGES Surfaces. 183

Importing Rhino .3dm files. 184

Output of Data. 185

Printing. 185

Copying. 188

Offsets Data Output 189

Animation Files. 189

Exporting a Maxsurf Design. 190

Chapter 6 Maxsurf Reference. 195

Toolbars. 196

Customising Toolbars. 196

Maxsurf Toolbars. 199

Menus. 201

File Menu. 201

Edit Menu. 202

View Menu. 203

Marker Menu. 204

Controls Menu. 205

Surfaces Menu. 207

Display Menu. 209

Data Menu. 212

Window Menu. 214

Help Menu. 214

Appendix A Data Export 215

Pictures and Text 215

2D Drafting Data. 216

3D Drafting Data. 217

3D Surface Definition. 218

Appendix B Surface Algorithms. 219

Appendix C Command Keys. 224

Modifier Keys. 224

Special Keys. 224

Control Point Weights. 225

Menu Shortcuts. 225

Appendix D Moving Files Across Platforms. 228

Moving Files From Macintosh to Windows. 228

Moving Files from Windows to Macintosh. 229

Index. 231