Help!!

[Anonymous]

Good Evening,

I have been trying unsuccessfully for the past three days to model a 3D heart in inventor. At this point I am getting incredibly frustrated. I have a sketch and I have tried using my own skill sets and those of a few forum posts to create this heart. However despite my best efforts I haven't been able to do it. The look I am going for is a 3D heart that has rounded features for 3D printing. I know their are other easier programs out there to do this but its really important I figure this out. I have seen a post from someone that shows it being done with loft and rails. However despite my best efforts I haven't been able to get inventor to create a smooth loft from all the section views. Each time I can create a straight loft but when I try to use the 2D sketch of the heart as a rail it fails and says the rail doesn't intersect the sections....However I have checked over and over again and they do interest so I don't get it. I am attaching the screen shot of the heart. Along with a copy of what I have tried up to this point. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Loft is a very powerful tool. A lot of new users like to use the command whenever possible without understanding how it should behave. It can lead to frustration. Loft was designed to tackle under-defined shape progressing in a forward manner. To get a good loft, the sections should be topologically similar and the path or guide rails should be curvature continuous. For this case, the sections are indeed similar but the guide rail (heart shape) does not lead to good mappings.

I personally think another surface tool Boundary Patch is more appropriate here. Simply pick the heart-shape edges and set Tangent conditions for all edges. You will get a nice boundary patch. Then use Sculpt command to turn it into a solid. Could you try it and see if this workflow is less frustrating?

Many thanks!

[-niels-]

I made this heart shaped locket for the valentine themed Friday pictures, i've attached the heart shape (IV2016, removed the rest of the locket)

I used "loft to point" to create the shape, but i did not put the fillets in my sketch instead adding them afterwards.

Hope you can get some inspiration out of it.

[JDMather]

You should state what version of Inventor you are using when you are not using latest release - I see 2016 Service Pack 0.

You should install the latest Service Pack for your version of Inventor.

Sketch1 is not fully defined.

I would (almost) never use a Fixed constraint.

I prefer to not use Projected Cut Edges, or extra workplanes.

Back in a bit with a revised example.

...and Help!! is not a very descriptive thread title....

OK, as I start to work up an example I notice that the geometry would be impossible to measure in the real world?

I also notice that it is very very tiny.

Are your intended units mm or inches?

[JDMather]

Is it really your design intent to create an asymmetrical shape?

[Anonymous]

No. If it's asymmetrical then it's a mistake on my sketch.

[JDMather · Accepted solution]

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@Anonymous wrote:
.... a mistake on my sketch.

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I have started over a couple of times myself.

You didn't answer my question about intended units?

Can you start over locating Sketch1 relative to the Origin as shown?

[Anonymous]

I will do that later on tonight after work

[Anonymous]

OMG! I feel so stupid! That was absurdly simple......*sigh* I was making it so hard on myself. Thank you so much. 

Dan

[WHolzwarth]

Hmm. But Loft to point doesnt follow the guiding sketches.

I had to use some tricks in 2016 for that. In 2017 task was easier by using boundary patch with guide rails.

[JDMather]

Here is my example from yesterday - now I will take a look at your example.

[WHolzwarth]

That's pretty good, Jeffrey. Not a Loft to point, as I thought.