Create a surface normal line

[electrorob]

Hi all,

I would like to know if there is a easier/faster way to create a surface normal line, because since there is no such a tool for that, my way to get it, is to create a point on a surface(or any entity) then I create a plane on the surface (with that point as origin) which is set as a contruction plane, and finally create a line from that point in the new Z direction(which is the plane normal).

By the way, I have used many other 3d CAD softwares, and in all of them exists such a command for that purpose, and I wonder why in Alias is not available, which it may be sometimes quite frustrating and time-consuming.

Thank you in advance.

[wayne.olive]

You could create a vector and snap it to the surface and then click the axis controls to align the vector with the surface normal?  Once you have the vector created, you can use it in Alias to do a variety of things (as an input to other tools).  Depending on your workflow, this might solve your issues?

There is a longer discussion here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/alias-forum/surfaces-normals/td-p/10063972

[electrorob]

Hi,

Thank you for your answer. You are right, you can do it with a vector instead of a plane.

Anyways, I will propose this command (in Alias Ideas) to be integrated in the line palette, because I think is a must for creating basic geometry.