I see taht you can import .ai and .eds files in the spline modeller in Carrara but what can you do with it. If I have say a wing in .ai would the spline trace that wing into a mesh or am I way off track on the function of that import?

The spline modeler describes shapes in a vector based format, much like an eps file. The mesh modeler is a data base of x,y,z points in space. You can translate from spline to mesh but not vice/versa. The spline model is a smaller file, is scaleable and better for curvred (or organic) sahpes. You can import your wing drawing for the basic shape and play with the envelope descriptions for curves etc, it takes some time to get the "feel" of it. Best thing to do is re-read the manual on the spline modeler & then open up some of the models that are on the CD, ungroup them and "jump-in" on the elements to see how they were made.

Thanks I'll go do that I was really confused when reading about the .ai files and needed some clarity. Thanks.

Hi Archlite, I use the spline modeler for super exact control of shapes. When creating the objects above, I draw the Cross Section paths in Illustrator. I then also draw the Sweep Path. So for each 3-d shape, I import 2 Illustrator files. I can get precise mathmatical control over paths in a way that I can't with Carrara's drawing tools. If you go to the Free Stuff section and dowload the Wheel/torus file you can see that I 'freehand' drew the Rim and Tire portions of the file but the tread had to be perfect or you would notice it in the image. That was a job for Illustrator. Then I could import the path. Mark

Ooops, When I said Sweep Path (although you can import that too), I meant Cross Section and Envelope.

Hey man thanks, that helped out a lot.