DSM Version 4.0 and newer:
The blend tool is now available under Design->Edit options. Demos below:
1. Boat hull - bow section
2. Nose cone - aviation
3. Fitting varying curved profiles on the same face (alternative to PULL and SWEEP)
4. Basic use with guide curves
You can create blends between points, edges, or faces.
To create a blend
- Enter the Blend tool
- Select a point, edge, or face
- Ctrl+Select a corresponding point, edge, or face
- You can select more than two objects
- The blend is previewed as you select
- Complete the blend
You can blend both closed and open sections to a single point as shown below.
Options
The following options are available in the Blend tool Options panel when you select the appropriate geometry for a blend.
- Rotational blend: Create cylinders and cones whenever possible during the creation of a blend. You must have selected faces, points, or edges that can be rotated around a common axis.
- Periodic blend: Go all the way around when blending. The blend will begin and end at the first selected object. You must have selected three or more faces, points, or edges that can be rotated around a common axis, and that also span an arc greater than 180 degrees. (Blending between 3 equal-radius circle faces creates a torus.)
- Ruled sections: Create straight edges when you blend. When you blend between faces, this option has the same affect as selecting the face and its edges.
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Local guides: Selected guide curves only influence areas near to them.
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Clocked guides: Guide curves are oriented relative to the face edges instead being simply translated from vertex to vertex.
Clocked guides Unchecked Clocked guides Checked -
Sheet metal blend: Forces the tool to create developable surfaces. A developable surface is defined in mathematics as a surface with zero Gaussian Curvature (i.e. a surface that can be flattened into a plane). The tool attempts to create planes, cylinders, and cones, in that order to maximize the planar areas. It is restricted to blending between two parallel planes.
Sheet metal blend unchecked Sheet metal blend checked - Normal to Centerline: When on by default, Normal to Centerline forces the Blend algorithm to keep sections normal to the centerline. When off, the algorithm has more freedom to adjust sections so that a surface can be created.
Normal to centerline on Normal to centerline off - Show UV grid: This option is ON by default to help visualize contours by displaying a grid on the preview. Use the dropdown slider to increase or decrease the density of the grid.

When blending between colored objects, the blended geometry takes on the color of the object that was selected first.
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DSM Version 2.0/2.1:
This question has been asked many times and there are several ways to do this.
This solution came from Jacant
- Draw your two different shapes
- Draw two lines to connect the two surfaces.
- Select both surfaces.
- Use the 'Pull' tool with the 'Sweep' option. Control click select the two lines as the sweep profile. Enter.
- Three surfaces will be created.
- Select the three surfaces and join together using the 'Combine' tool.
- One Solid created.
- Delete the curves.
There are a few things to watch out for:
Comments
5 comments
Can you kindly elaborate on what to watch out for? I'm trying to do exactly what the 2nd figure shows, a curve tube, and was not able to just as you've indicated by the cross. I can't make sense out of figure 2-2, thus I could not proceed. Kindly enlighten me. Thanks in advanced!
I think it is just saying that when you draw the connecting lines, ensure that they are to the faces of the shape (hexagon in this example) and not the corners
It works, thanks!
Hi, I am trying to blend a rectangle into a circle, but it always looks like the rectangle "rotates" into the circle. What am I doing wrong?
Ничего подобного. Все выглядит намного хуже:
не должно быть!
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