FAQ

If your Mac doesn't allow you to install Shape3d then you need to check the "Privacy & Security" parameters in the "System Settings...":

In the panel "Allow applications downloaded from" you need to tick "App Store and identified developers":

Then, when opening Shape3d, you will get the message: 

"Shape3d is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it."

You can now run the application by selecting Open.

There can be 2 reasons for that:

- The first one can be that the folder containing the files has a name with a special character, like S3d files 6'0" and more. If you remove the characters ", ', / or . then you'll get your files back. 

- The second reason could be that you didn't gave all the authorizations in the  "Privacy & Security"/"Files and Folders":

Shape3d X must have access to all your folders:

If you're experiencing repeated crashes of Shape3d you should also look at the "App Management" parameters and allow Shape3d X to update or delete other applications:

For any other problem with the installation of Shape3d X on your Mac check the FAQ: www.shape3d.com/FAQ.aspx

First try closing and opening Shape3d again. This font problem should only happens at the first opening.

If the problem remains, go to the menu File / Preferences and change the Retina Display setting:

If Shape3d is too slow on your Mac, even though you have the latest OS, you can try downloading the installer for Monterey or older OS at:

https://www.shape3d.com/Update/Download.aspx?Version=Mac

If you have Shape3d Lite installed, you need to uninstall it and install the full version instead!
You can download the full Shape3d installer (PC or Mac) at Download page. You need to Login first!

Your credit cards may be protected against foreign payments. You can use the Paypal payment instead; you don't need a Paypal account for that, they will just handle the payment locally for us.

If ever this doesn't work either, you can contact us at contact@shape3d.com to pay by bank transfert.

 Width and Thickness

A Shape3d model must always have a strictly positive width and thickness, in particular at the tail and nose!

-       It means that the tail and nose of the outline must be “squared” rather than “pined”.

-       In the same way, the stringer must begin and end with a positive thickness.

A tail and nose with a positive width and thickness will allow you to avoid mistakes due to the fact that you can’t see the slices defined at the very tail and nose.

 Exceeding the Board Length

All the design curves must lie between x = 0 and x = length. Any loop would be misinterpreted by the software.

 Smoothness and Continuity

Check the smoothness of the curves.

- A general rule would be: the less control points the smoother.

- Prefer continuous tangents  to angular tangents . The curves must not do any loop.

- Avoid zero length tangents because it could do a very small loop around the control point.

- Check that you didn’t insert two control points at the same place

You can use the E key shortcut that will show the superposed control points in green, kinks and loops in red.

 Slices

- Here again, the less slices the smoother. The right number obviously depends on the shape…

If you design a new model, a good way to get a smooth shape is to begin with the design of the center slice, and then make all the other slices from this one. For that you can use the copy-past facility: select a slice on the outline view, click on the copy button  in the toolbar, select another slice and press the past button . Modify these slices to make the shape smoothly evolve from the tail to the nose.

- The design of a slice usually needs 4 to 5 control points.

It is safe to define the apex point (green , with vertical tangents ), the rail point (blue , with angular tangents ), and possibly another point on the deck to have a better control of the rail shape. The deck center point generally has a horizontal tangent . Same for the bottom center point except in case of V or inverted-V.

- It is important to check that two slices are not placed at the same x position. For that you can use the list of slices that appears when you are designing a slice. This list shows each slice with its x position.

 Apex and Rail Definition

- Concerning the apex point definition, you have two choices: either you fix a point at the widest position that you set as the Apex point, or you don't define an apex point.

Note that defining the Apex point assures that the separation between the deck and the bottom cut in the CNC mode will be clean. In particular, if the edges of some slices are vertical, the detection of the widest point can either give the top or the bottom of the vertical section, and end up with a waterline that jumps from the top to the bottom of the vertical section.

If you define the Apex point, make sure it is the widest point on each slice, or it will give inconsistent toolpaths in the CNC mode.

- It is also important to define the Rail point, as it will assure a clean cut of the tuck of the rail. It will also allow you to define the number of paths you want between the stringer and the rail, and between the rail and the apex.

In the "Display" menu you can check the option "Curvature always". Then, the curvature will be displayed when you select a curve.

You can also choose to display the curvature just for one curve:

In the Top view, the list of curves contains all the curves corresponding to the points of the slices except the bottom stringer and deck stringer, plus the Outline curve (widest point of the slices, in case the Apex is not defined), and the Developed Outline (outline developed along the bottom stringer line).
In the Side view, the list of curves contains all the curves corresponding to the points of the slices, plus the Bottom and Deck Profiles (lowest and highest points of the slices), and the True Apex (height of the widest point of the slices, in case the Apex is not defined, or not correctly defined).

To display the properties of a curve, click on >> or double-click on its line.

Each curve can be displayed or not in a different color. The Curvature, Curvature Radius, and Directional Curvature Radius (same as SurfCAD) can also be displayed in other colors.

The option "Map on extended rail" allows mapping the layer's slices on a straight line extrapolated from the rail point. Note that since version 9.1.2.0 you can define a rail point on the bottom of the slices, but also on the deck.

The control points appear in the thickness view only if the thickness show is computed between two curves fixed to each other:

The Edited curves can be set Fixed to another edited curve . This means that the relative distance between the two curves will stay constant when the second curve is modified. For example one can set the Deck Stringer line Fixed to the Bottom Stringer line, so that the stringer thickness doesn’t change when the Bottom Stringer line is modified. This thickness can be displayed in the Thickness View.

If rail and stringer are both edited, you can choose to lock the rail line to the stringer line so that the depth of the concave or V doesn’t change when you modify the stringer line. Then you can display the depth of the concave or V in the thickness panel and stretch it vertically to have a better view of the details…

In the Thickness View, if the curve displayed corresponds to the thickness between a curve that is fixed to another one and this other curve, the control points appear and the curve can be modified. In this view the curvatures can be displayed, and the colors changed. Also the curve can be stretched vertically if it’s too flat to be seen correctly.

Go to the menu "File", then "New", or press the button “New”  . The following window pops up.

- Choose the model to start from between the examples proposed in C:\Shape3dmodels.

- Enter the name of the model you are going to design, and your name as a shaper. Add any comments you want.

- Choose the dimensions’ unit: centimeters, millimeters, inches or fractional inches.

- Check the box “symmetric nose/tail” for a twin-tip board.

- Input length, width, thickness, and tail/nose rocker.

- Check the box “Stringer measurement” if these dimensions are measured along the stringer. Uncheck it if they are measured along a straight line.

- Press OK.

The starting model appears in the Design mode.

You can visualize three components of the board at the same time, choosing between Outline, Profile, Thickness, or Slices in the toolbar.

The dimensions of the board appear in the Master Scale box.

To modify the design of the curves, left click on the control points. The selected control point becomes red.

You can move the control points with the mouse, or with the arrows of the keyboard.

You can delete a control point pressing the button “Suppr” of the keyboard, or with a right click, selecting “Control point”, “Delete”.

You can also add a control point with a double left click at the position you want, or with a right click, selecting “Control point”, “Add new point”.

The properties of the selected control point are shown in the “Control point properties” box.

Five kind of tangents exist: continuous tangents , angular tangents , vertical tangents , horizontal tangents , and continuous tangents with fixed angle .

Continuous tangents are usually used. The angular tangents are more appropriate for the rail point of the slices, the vertical tangents for the apex of the slices, and the horizontal ones for the widest point of the outline, the zero point of the bottom, or the highest point of the thickness.

When designing the slices, it is recommended to set the point type of the rail point as  , and the apex point as . They will then appear in blue and green respectively.

All the slices must have the same number of control points.

The position of the slices can be modified with a right click, selecting “Slices”, “Move slice”. It can also be changed with the mouse in the outline view.

You can add or delete a slice, in the same way.

You can visualize the “flow” of the slices maintaining a left click in the outline, profile or thickness view. The width, rocker or thickness appear at the same time, as well as the distance from the tail and from the nose.

To understand the idea behind the design of a board with shape3d, just think about the rule of thumb: the less points the smoothest. Similarly, the less slices the smoothest.

Visualize the result of your art in the 3D View mode.

As if you would design a board from scratch, go to the menu « File », then « New », or press the button “New”  , and fill in the name and size areas.

Then press the button “Guidelines wizard”.  The measurement wizard window pops up. You can choose to measure the dimensions of the board along the stringer:

or along a straight line, checking the box “Straight line measurements”:

Click on the button more if you want to place the guidelines at other positions than the default ones:

The positions of the guidelines along the length direction depend on the chosen unit: in centimeters, the guidelines are located at 5, 10, 20, 30 cm… from the tail and the nose. In inches, the guidelines are located at 1”, 3”, 6”, 12”… from the tail and the nose.

You don’t need to fill in each position box.

The outline and the profile will be automatically adjusted on the guidelines if you check the box “Automatic fitting”. Note that the Automatic Fitting is not always good enough!

Press “OK” to see the board in the Design mode.

The guidelines appear as green crosses. Their list, with the positions, appears on the right hand side of the bottom of the screen.

You can change their position with the mouse, or the keyboard, or with a right click in the “Guidelines” box, which will make the following window appear.

After changing the position of the guidelines, you can automatically fit the curves on the guidelines doing a right click on the selected curve.

If you click on a curve section between two control points, you have the possibility to adjust only this selected part of the curve, choosing “Fit selected curve to the guidelines”.

Then you have to choose if you want to adjust the length or the direction of each tangent, or both. And press OK.

You can also choose to adjust the whole curve, clicking on “Fit the whole curve to the guidelines”.

In this case you can choose the number of arcs (i.e. number of control points minus one) that will compose the whole curve. “Auto” will set it automatically, depending on the shape of the curve.

Once the design of the outline and profile is done, design the slices as explained in the chapter “Design a board from scratch”.

Go to the menu "File", then "New", or press the button “New”, and choose the tab “Blank design”.

Set the rough measurements of the blank and press “OK”. The blank will be automatically designed with square rails.

The smoothness of the curves is not guaranteed. You can modify the shape of the blank as shown in the chapter “Design a board from scratch”.

In the “Master Scale” window, the “*” button opens the Volume Wizard window that allows adjusting a dimension to get the desired volume.

Input the volume you want, and choose if you want all dimensions to be changed proportionally (Length+Width+Thickness), or only the width and thickness (Width+Thickness), or only the width, the thickness, or the length.

Then press OK!

You can choose to edit the dimensions taken along a straight line or along the stringer line, pressing the button “A Straight Line” or “The Stringer”.

- Measurements along a straight line give width and height measurements that are taken at a defined distance straight from the tail.

- Measurements along the stringer give width and height measurements taken at a defined distance along the curve of the bottom stringer from the tail.

Note that 12” from the tail along a straight line is farther from the tail than 12” from the tail along the stringer, so it will give a larger width and smaller rocker. And 12” from the nose along a straight line is farther from the nose than 12” from the nose along the stringer.

In the "Size and parameters" window, the "Sandwich" field can be used to remove a constant thickness on the whole board for sandwich construction. The sandwich thickness removed on the slices is displayed in the Design mode, and it will be taken into account for the cut in the CNC mode (the sandwich thickness can be changed in the CNC mode). On the other hand, it is not taken into account for the 3D exports in the STL, DXF or IGES formats!

There are 2 other ways to remove the sandwich thickness from a design, so that it will be taken into account in the CNC mode, and for the 3D Exports:

- The function "Add/Remove thickness", in the Components / Actions menu, allows adding or removing a given thickness all over the board (Pro option needed). Note that this function will give distortions if the shape is too complex.

- The second solution is to use a "Constant depth" 3D layer. A constant depth can be removed from the deck or the bottom of the board using a "Constant depth" 3D layer.

These 3D layers can be applied to the whole deck or bottom of the board setting the Inner Side Y Mapping to "Center" with Z Mapping to Deck, and Outer Side Y Mapping to "Center" with Z Mapping to Bottom.

The layer can be limited to the Rail point setting the Outer Side Y Mapping to "Rail curve" and the Z Mapping to Bottom.

The option "Smooth edges" option extends the layer to get a straight transition at the edges instead of a rectangular transition.

You can combine two 3D layers to remove a different thickness on the deck and the bottom. You can also use additional 3D layers to reate patches on some special areas.

One of the most important new feature of Shape3d X is that each curve (except the Developed Outline and the True Apex) can be Edited or not in the Top and/or the Side view. If a curve is Edited , it means that the user can modify the curves moving the control points and tangents. If a curve is Not Edited , it means that the curve is computed by Shape3d.

For example, in the Side view, one can choose to edit the Bottom and Deck Stringer curves, but also the Rail line at the same time (this is the case when you open a .srf file). It gives a complete control of both stringer and rail and let the other curves be computed by Shape3d. In this case the Rail points of the slices will be locked in the vertical Z direction.

When several curves are edited, if you click between two control points a window will pop-up to let you choose the curve.

Here are all the design possibilities you have for the Top View and the Side View curves:

-        In the Top View the most common design method is the work on the Apex curve (the curve corresponding to the control point defined as the Apex on the slices).

Then you can choose to also edit the Rail curve if you want more control on the Rail curve. You can also edit several of the bottom curves on the Top View to control the shape of the channels of a board for example:

-        If the slices don’t have an Apex point defined, you can choose to work on the Outline curve. But then you won’t be allowed to edit other curves like the Rail curve for example.

-        In the Side View the most common design method is the work on the Bottom and Deck Stringer curves, which correspond to the first and last control points of the slices.

Then you can choose to also edit the Rail curve if you want more control on the Rail curve. You can also edit the Apex curve in the Side View, which can be very useful on some shapes like paddle boards:

-        Another way of designing the side view is the work on the Bottom and Deck Profiles curves, which correspond to the shadow of the board. But then you won’t be allowed to edit other curves like the Rail curve for example.

The Edited curves can be set Fixed to another edited curve . This means that the relative distance between the two curves will stay constant when the second curve is modified. For example one can set the Deck Stringer line Fixed to the Bottom Stringer line, so that the stringer thickness doesn’t change when the Bottom Stringer line is modified. This thickness can be displayed in the Thickness View.

If rail and stringer are both edited, you can choose to lock the rail line to the stringer line so that the depth of the concave or V doesn’t change when you modify the stringer line. Then you can display the depth of the concave or V in the thickness panel and stretch it vertically to have a better view of the details…

In the Thickness View, if the curve displayed corresponds to the thickness between a curve that is fixed to another one and this other curve, the control points appear and the curve can be modified. In this view the curvatures can be displayed, and the colors changed. Also the curve can be stretched vertically if it’s too flat to be seen correctly.

If the option "Display curvature along the curve" is selected in the Preferences window (see menu Files), the curvature curves are displayed perpendicularly to the original curves.

In comparison, if this option is not selected, the curvatures are drawn along the X axis. In this case the curve is resized vertically so that the highest value is equal to the thickness or width of the board. As a result, if a part of the curve has a very high curvature, then the rest of the curvature curve will look very flat!

The second most important new feature of Shape3d X is the possibility to add or subtract shapes to a board. These shapes are called 3D Layers. To add a 3D layer, simply click on the button New 3D Layer in the Master Scale window.

The 3D layers can be added to the deck or the bottom of the board. Its curves and curvatures can be displayed in any color. If the Active box is not checked, its shape won't be added in the 3D view or in the CNC mode. Once created, the 3D layer appears at the end of the curves list. The name can be changed.

On asymmetrical boards, the 3D layers can be positioned only on one side (left or right), or on both.

For nose/tail symmetrical boards, the 3D layers can be defined as "Centered X", which means that the center of the layer is at the center of the board. Or it can be set as "Symmetrical nose/tail", which means that it must be placed on the back half of the board, and will automatically be duplicated on the nose of the board symmetrically.

There are 6 kinds of 3D layer:

There are 3 interpolation modes: In the Homothetic Z/YZ mode, the height of the slices is rescaled homothetically with the width and with the ends Z variation. In the Angular Z mode the height of the slices doesn't depend on their width, it's adjusted with the angle of its ends. The Homothetic Z/Y Angular Z mode is a mix of the two other modes: the height of the slices is rescaled homothetically with the width, and then adjusted with the angle of its ends.

 You can add as many "Measurement bars"  as you want:

This button allows displaying the measurement bars that gives the measurements of all the displayed curves of a panel at a defined distance from tail or nose.

The option "Map on extended rail" allows mapping the layer's slices on a straight line extrapolated from the rail point. Note that since version 9.1.2.0 you can define a rail point on the bottom of the slices, but also on the deck.

The Ctrl + C keys
Ctrl + C copy the curve (outline, bottom, deck, thickness, or slice) in the clip-board. Then, you can past this curve on another board, or on another slice if the curve is a slice.

The Ctrl + V keys
Ctrl + V Past the copied curve on the selected curve.

The Ctrl + A keys
Ctrl + A selects all the points or all the guidelines.

The Ctrl + Z keys
Ctrl + Z call the Undo.

The Shift + Ctrl + Z keys
Shift + Ctrl + Z call the Redo.

The Ctrl + N keys
Ctrl + N open the New board window.

The Ctrl + O keys
Ctrl + O open the board files browser.

The Ctrl + S keys
Ctrl + S save the modifications.

The Ctrl + R keys
Ctrl + R save the modifications and load the actual shape as the reference shape.

The Ctrl + B keys
Ctrl + B switch from one board to another if several boards are open at the same time.

The H key
H hides all the points to let a clean curve.

The T key
T shows the tangents of all the control points of all the displayed curves.

The E key
E shows the design errors (superposed control points in green, kinks and loops in red) of all the displayed curves.

How do I use the Buoyancy line function to know how the board will float when I’m on it?

Let’s say you’re 70kg (with gears), and the board weight 6kg. Then the total needs 76L to float on the water (on fresh water, for very salty water it can go down to 74L).

So if your board is more than 76L, you’re good. You can set the buoyancy volume (BV) to 76L, and Shape3d will compute the buoyancy height (BH), and the waterline, wet surface…

To summarize:
Buoyancy Volume (BV in Liters) = Total weight (in Kg)

Now if the board is less than 76L, is it possible to know how much I’ll sink on it? Yes, approximatively. If the board is 50L, then it’ll need 26L more to float. The volume of a men of 70kg is approximatively 70L (add a couple of liters if he wears a wetsuite). So 26L on his 70L will be immersed when he’s on the board. That 36% of his body, it should be between the knees and the waist.

To summarize:
% of rider body immersed =  100*(Total weight (in Kg) – Board Volume (in L)) / (rider weight (in Kg)).

Now where should you place the foil mast once you have computer the buoyancy line? 

Then Shape3d gives you the position of the center of buoyancy, and usually, you center the rider center of gravity on the buoyance center so that it's stable at the start. 

Then you place the mast so that the front wing is right bellow the rider. So at the end the front wing should be right bellow the center of buoyancy. In this process we neglect the repartition of weight in the board.

The Stringer is the center curve, bottom or deck. The Profile is the shadow, so the Bottom Profile curve is the curve of the lowest points of the slices, and the Deck Profile is the curve of the highest points of the slices:

If you change your username (Surname) on your account https://www.shape3d.com/My%20Account/MyAccountAcceuil.aspx, then you won't be able to unlock the files you protected with your old surname!

You need to change back to your old surname and then unregister/register again your license in Shape3d. Then you'll be able to open these protected files.

We recommend you protect your files with both username and a password so you can still use the password in case you change your username or need to open the file on someone else computer.

There are three ways of importing a design made with another CAD software in Shape3d: using an export in the IGES format, or an export in the STL format. With the first two methods you'll need the Scan Import option, with the last method you'll need a Design Pro license.

- If the shape is simple enough, you can do an export as NURBS (spline) surfaces in the IGES format of your design and try to open it directly with Shape3d. If the structure of the surfaces is simple enough and has no trimmed areas, it might work directly. In most cases you'll get distorsions. Watch the video tutorial about this:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/VideoTutorials.aspx?Search=IGES

- If this doesn't work you'll need to do an export as meshes in binary STL. And then load the STL as scan data in the Scan import option. You can read this FAQ about it:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/FAQ.aspx?Search=scan%20import

and watch these video tutorials:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/VideoTutorials.aspx?Search=scan%20import

- If you don't have the Scan import option but a Design Pro license, you can load the STL file as a ghost to copy the shape "by hand". You can use the automatic fitting functions to adjust the outline, stringer and slices curves on the ghost.

The Outline Dev is the outline developed along the bottom stringer curve: it's the outline of the board if you make it completely flat on the ground, with no rocker. It is useful if you want to print a template that you'll place on the bottom of the blank to cut the outline of the board.

The length of the Outline dev is larger than the length of the projected outline! Check the FAQ about the "difference between measurement along a straight line and along the stringer" for more details.

Once the foil has been designed in Shape3d, you can export it to Xfrl5 or Flow5 from the menu File -> Xflr5/Flow5 export, Component -> Slices -> NACA profile generator menu:

Note that the foil must be designed as in the screenshot delow: with the leading edge to the right, and the trailing edge to the left.

Xflr5 is open source software that can be downloaded from https://www.xflr5.tech/xflr5.htm

The export consists of the defined number of .dat profiles (30 here) and an xml file.

Open Xflr5 and click on the File -> New Project menu:

Then File -> Open, and select all the .dat:

Then go to the menu Module -> Wing and Plane Design:

Then Plane -> Import plane(s) from xml file(s):

And select the xml file exported by Shape3d:

In 3D View mode, we can check that the foil has been imported correctly:

We can then directly launch a lift analysis from the Analysis -> Define an Analysis menu:

You can do an analysis at a given speed (Type 1), or at a given lift (Type 2). The Type 2 analysis is very interesting to see how a foil will behave with a given user:

You must then choose the method in the Analysis tab. Ring vortex works well. We're not going to check Viscous just yet, which will allow us to get lift faster.

In the Inertia tab we enter the weight of the rider + gear, 80kg for example:

Then in the Aero data if tab, enter the water density 1000kg / m3 and its viscosity 1.3e-6 m² / s:

We click on the Save button, then in Polar View mode we click on the Analyze button to start the analysis:

This analysis calculates for each inclination of the foil (here between -5 ° and 20 °) the speed it takes for the foil to carry 80 kg (a lift of 784 N therefore). You can also display the drag Fx for each speed (with the inclination that corresponds to it).

Here we see that for this low aspect 1650cm² foil (rough copy of the Naish Jet 1650), at 5 m/s (~ 10 kt) you need an inclination of 2 °. Below 6 kt it takes more than 12 °... We can deduce that we can start pumping around 6 kt, but that normal navigation is only done from 10 kt roughly.

The drag Fx is here only the residual drag due to the vortices, and we see that it is greater the lower the speed and the large inclination. It only decreases as speed increases, which is unrealistic as there is no viscous drag.

To add the slimy drag it is a bit longer. You have to go to the menu Module -> XFoil Direct Analysis:

Then in the Analysis -> Batch Analysis menu:

Then select all the profiles, and launch the Type 1 analyzes between -5 ° and 20 °:

It takes several minutes, and at the end of it, the polars for all angles and Reynolds numbers between 4000 and 3e6 are displayed.

We can then return to the Module -> Wind and Plane Design menu, and define a new analysis, by checking the Viscous box this time:

We obtain a lift identical to the previous analysis, but a higher drag which increases at high speed. There is therefore a minimum drag for a given inclination and speed:

There is therefore an optimum range of use between 9 kt and 12 kt.

Note that you can change the speed unit in the Options -> Preferences menu, but there is a small bug that causes the display to always revert to m/s with a scale that is not always good . You must then right click -> Current Graph -> Define Grapgh Settings, then Reset Graph Scales.

We can compare these results with a foil of 1040 cm² of higher aspect ratio (rough copy of the Naish Jet HA 1040):

We can see here that the bank at 10 kt is not 2 ° but 4 °. We descend to 2 ° around 12 kt. The minimum drag is around 14 kt, and the optimum range between 12 kt and 16 kt.

These results are not 100% reliable, but fairly true. We made a quantitative comparison with the results obtained with OpenFoam (a large simulation software, the analyzes are very long and require large computers) by Decathlon and we were very close to the lift level for inclinations of up to 15 °. The advantage here is that it takes less than 5 min in total to get an analysis.

You can also do Type 1 analyzes to obtain the optimum incline at a given speed (10-15-20 kt here):

You can also add a stabilizer: in Shape3d export it as a Wing, and then add it to the plane you already created/

The same procedure can be done to export your foil to Flow5, which is more advanced than Xflr5, and which is now free as well:

https://flow5.tech/flow5.html

In Shape3d, make sure you export your foil wing as a Plane:

Then the .dat profiles and an Xml file will be exported to the selected folder just as for the Xflr5 export.

In Flow5, create a new plane, and go to the menu File / Load foil(s) to load the .dat profiles.

Then go to the menu Module / Plane design:

And then Plane / Import / From an xml file:

You’ll see the result of the importation straight away in 3D:

The analysis procedure is then similar to what you do in Xflr5 but has more advanced functions.

In the "Curvature Mode" the highly convex areas will be displayed in green and yellow, and the highly concave areas will be displayed in pink and red. The blue areas are almost flat. The relative curvature radius R can be adjusted to show the curvature (C = 1R) changes more effectively.

Radial

Longitudinal

The menu “Marks” gives access to the lists of measurements of the outline, profile and slices.

The coordinate axis is classically defined with the X-axis as the longitudinal axis, the Y-axis as the transversal axis, and the Z-axis as the vertical axis.

Outline and stringer: Provide the marks needed for creating the design. The meaning of the column is as follow:

X-Coordinate: Position on the longitudinal axis.

X-Developed>: Position of marks on the board, taking into account its curve (Essential to draw the marks on the foam loaf after cutting).

Hull-Z: Height of the bottom compared to 0.

+sdw: Z height minus the thickness of the sandwich (defined in Board/Properties).

Deck: Z height of the deck compared to the point z = 0.

-sdw>: Height of the deck minus the sandwich thickness.

Outline: Width Y at X.

-sdw: Width minus the sandwich thickness.

Carre: Width Y of the edge point.

>-sdw>: Edge width (taking into account the sandwich, see Plan/Slices full size to visualize this position).

Slices: The marks of a given slice.

Shape lines: Marks of the shape lines. See screen Plan/Shape plans 1 and 2 to understand the meaning of the columns.

Origin of the coordinate system (related to the foam loaf after hot wire cutting):
S1Y, A1Y, A1y, and A2y: represent the middle of the loaf.
S1Z, S2Z, A1z, and A2z: represent the lower edge.
S2Y: represent the exterior edge.

The point is to draw the S1 and S2 shape plans lines first, and cut the plans.

Then you can draw the A1 and A2 plans lines, and cut the secondary plans to get closer to the final shape.

The Righting arm corresponds to the lateral displacement of the buoyancy center that happens when a heel angle is applyed to the board.

The Metacenter is the intersection between the axis of the board and the line that goes vertically above the  buoyancy center. The Metacenter is computed with a very small heel angle.

What is he signification of the Metacenter height value? The higher the Metacenter the more stable is the board.

Basically, if the gravity center of the rider is higher than the Metacenter and he's a beginner, he will fall. 

In the Plan mode, the menu "Full Scale" gives access to full scale views of the curves and the developed surfaces of the deck and the bottom. The limit of the surface can either be the Apex or the Rail curve:

The surface can either be printed directly, or saved as a multi-pages full scale PDF.
Note that the developed surface can also be exported from the Export function in the File menu.

You can move the labels of the plugs and 3D layers with the mouse. If you save the file, the labels position will be saved.

To get the measurements of the concave or V in the Plan mode the Rail point needs to be defined on the slices in the Design mode, and the Rail curve must be displayed in the Side view of the Plan.

If you click in the Disp. column on the Rail curve line of the Side view, then you'll get the rail curve displayed and the concave or V depth (V/Conc.):

The "Hydrostatic Stability" calculation is not available if you set the Category "Surfboard" or "Kitesurf" for exemple. To unlock this functionality you must set the category to "Stand Up Paddle" or "Windsurf", "Canoe" or none.

The machine file is the file that contains the default settings used in the CNC mode of Shape3d.

If you open a new board file that hasn’t been used in the CNC mode, the CNC parameters will be loaded from the machine file, and the complete location of the machine file will appear in the title of the CNC properties window.

If the board file already contains some CNC parameters, the parameters will be loaded from the board file, and the CNC properties window will have the title “Parameters from board file”.

The machine file can be changed in the CNC properties window clicking on the button “Change machine file”. It can also be changed directly in the Preferences window.

The Preferences dialog box can be opened through the menu "File", "Preferences...":

This is where you can directly change the location of the Machine File. It is very important to keep this file in a safe folder (not in the default exe folder or it will be replaced next time you update Shape3d), and to do a backup, since it contains all the default settings corresponding to your machine. If ever these settings are modified by mistake, you can get you settings back reloading the backup machine file.

The "Format file" contains the header and the footer that will be inserted in the G-Code cutting files. It must contain instructions need by the post-processor and supported by your machine. 

Here is an example of G-Code format file:

[ $MODEL_NAME$ $SIDE$ $DATE$ ]
[ $MCU_CUTTER_TYPE$ ]
[ $DIMENSIONS$ ]
[ $H1_H2$ ]
[ $TAIL$ $NOSE$ ]
[ $DECK_TAIL_30.0$ ]
[ $DECK_NOSE_30.0$ ]
[ $BOT_TAIL_30.50$ ]
[ $BOT_NOSE_30.5$ ]
[ $STRUT_TAIL_30.50$ ]
[ $ STRUT _NOSE_30.5$ ]
[ $MACHINE_FILE$ ]
[ $BLANK_FILE$ ]
G28                              [G28  HOMES MACHINE]
G91                              [G91  RELATIVE MODE]
G92 X0 Y2. Z2.5                  [G92  RESETS POSITION CORD.]
G1 XYZ F555                      [SYC. MACHINE / F=FEEDRATE]
M61                              [M61  START DUST MOTOR]
M3                               [M3   START SPINDLE MOTOR]
S12500                               [S3   13,500 RPM SPINDLE]
G90                              [G90   ABSOLUTE MODE]

Z2.0000 F222   [RAISE CUT. OFF BOARD]
M5
M64
X-13.0000 F222

The tags between $$ will be replaced by the corresponding values:

[ New model Deck 04/26/15 15:58:31 ]
[ MCUTOOL T1 D40.00 R10.00 F50.00 L40.00 C1 ]
[  1867.70 x 460.00 x 60.58 ]
[ H1 : 100.10, 0.00 H2 : -100.10, 0.00 ]
[ TAIL : -1876.35, 19.58 NOSE : -26.52, 41.34 ]
[ DECK TAIL 30.00 : 29.51 ]
[ DECK NOSE 30.00 : 39.53 ]
[ BOT TAIL 30.50 : 14.30 ]
[ BOT NOSE 30.50 : 26.60 ]
[ STRUT TAIL 30.50 : 14.30 ]
[ STRUT NOSE 30.50 : 26.60 ]
[ Machine_BullNose_Supports.s3d.xml ]
[ 6.2-R.s3d ]
G28                              [G28  HOMES MACHINE]
G91                              [G91  RELATIVE MODE]
G92 X0 Y2. Z2.5                  [G92  RESETS POSITION CORD.]
G1 XYZ F555                      [SYC. MACHINE / F=FEEDRATE]
M61                              [M61  START DUST MOTOR]
M3                               [M3   START SPINDLE MOTOR]
S12500                               [S3   13,500 RPM SPINDLE]
G90                              [G90   ABSOLUTE MODE]

G1 X-24.3236 Y0.0000 Z82.5673 F200
X-24.3236 Y0.0000 Z60.2295 F10
X-24.3336 Y0.0000 Z60.2301
X-26.3336 Y0.0000 Z60.2701
…
X-29.4442 Y0.0000 Z97.0201 F222

Z2.0000 F222   [RAISE CUT. OFF BOARD]
M5
M64
X-13.0000 F222

You can use the tags $DECK_TAIL_0.0$ $DECK_NOSE_0.0$ $BOT_TAIL_0.0$ $BOT_NOSE_0.0$ with any distance from tail or nose to get the height of the deck or bottom stringer (along a straight line, in the unit used in the CNC mode of Shape3d). $STRUT_TAIL_0.0$ $STRUT_NOSE_0.0$ will give you the blank bottom height during deck cut, and the board deck height during bottom cut.

- For 4-5 axis machines, in addition to the cutter dimensions, you can specify the number of axis: 4 or 5.

- The Max cutter angle/Oz is the maximum angle of the tool axis with the vertical axis in ° that the machine can handle.

- The Switch cut angle/Oz is the angle of transition between the cut with the tip of the tool and the cut with the vertical part of the tool. Set this angle between 45° and 90° to cut the bottom rail of the board with the vertical part of the cutter.

- The Max var angle is maximum variation of the tool angle along one path from tail to nose. If this angle is set to 0, the tool will keep a constant tilt from tail to nose, the tilt changing between each line.

- The Arm length is the length of the arm between the center of rotation to the tip of the tool.

- The Ref. A angle is the angle A written in the exported cutting files when the tool is vertical. The sign of the angle can be inverted.

- The Ref. B angle (for 5 axis only) is the angle B written in the exported cutting files when the arm is in the Oyz plan (the slices plan). The sign of the angle can be inverted.

With the multi bull nose option, you can defined the dimensions of up to 6 cutters: one for the Stringer path, one for the Outline path, one for the 3D Layers, one for the Plugs, one for the rest of the Bottom cut, and one for the rest of the Deck cut.

If a cutter is not checked, the first bull nose (Lines) will be used instead.

The default command for tool changing are:

Start Lines cutter: < Changement cutter lignes >

End Lines cutter: < U5 >

Start Stringer cutter: < Changement cutter stringer >

End Stringer cutter: < U4 >

Start Outline cutter: < Changement cutter outline >

End Outline cutter: < U3 >

Start Bottom Lines cutter: < Changement cutter lignes bottom >

End Bottom Lines cutter: < U6 >

Start 3D layers cutter: < Changement cutter 3D layers >

End 3D layers cutter: < U7 >

Start Plugs cutter: < Changement cutter plug >

End Plugs cutter:: < U8 >

These commands can be changed adding the following tabs in the post processor format file:

Start Lines cutter:  < START_TOOL_1 > ... < /START_TOOL_1 >

End Lines cutter:  < END_TOOL_1 > ... < /END_TOOL_1 >

Start Stringer cutter:  < START_TOOL_2 > ... < /START_TOOL_2 >

End Stringer cutter:  < END_TOOL_2 > ... < /END_TOOL_2 >

Start Outline cutter:  < START_TOOL_3 > ... < /START_TOOL_3 >

End Outline cutter:  < END_TOOL_3 > ... < /END_TOOL_3 >

Start Bottom Lines cutter:  < START_TOOL_4 > ... < /START_TOOL_4 >

End Bottom Lines cutter:  < END_TOOL_4 > ... < /END_TOOL_4 >

Start 3D layers cutter:  < START_TOOL_5 > ... < /START_TOOL_5 >

End 3D layers cutter:  < END_TOOL_5 > ... < /END_TOOL_5 >

Start Plugs cutter:  < START_TOOL_6 > ... < /START_TOOL_6 >

End Plugs cutter:  < END_TOOL_6 > ... < /END_TOOL_6 >

 Cutting Speed

You can change the speed of the cutter at special points of the cutting path (the "cutting points"). Click on this button to display the Cutting Speed window and change the different speeds, or the speed unit.

- The Acceleration distance allows for smooth speed increases over this fixed distance. The Deceleration distance allows for smooth speed reductions over this fixed distance.

- You can set a Maximum curvature radius that will define the "kinks" of the toolpath. Then, you can set a special speed for the kink zones. This is especially useful for the wings...

- The relative length of the Begin and End areas of the paths can be defined separately for lines, outline, and stringer.

- Click on a line of the Cutting Speed window, to enlighten the corresponding sections of the cutting path. These sections appear in blue when the speed is minimum and red when the speed is maximum.

Double click on the cutting speed window lines to change the speeds.

If the speed is set to 0, it means that there won't be any speed change while entering in this speed area.

Each speed section can be de-activated for simplicity, so the Default speed will be applied and less speed will need to be defined.

You can also place the mouse pointer on the cutting path points to display the current speed and right-click on it to enlighten all the cutting path sections that have the same speed. You can also move the cutter along the cutting lines with the up and down arrow keys and press Enter to show the Cutting Point dialog box and change the value of the speed.

You can set a tilt angle around the Oy axis in the plugs properties if you uncheck the Auto-surface positioning option:

So if it shows that the board is tilted by 1.2° in the CNC mode you should set the same angle 1.2° to get the plug vertical:

If you set the "Number of slices" equal to the number of definition slices (including the tail and nose tips slices), the exported cross sections will be exactly at the same x positions as the definition slices.

To export the developped surface of the board go to the menu File / Export.
- Check the option Top view, and select the curve that will be the limit of the surface you want to export: it can be the Apex curve, or the Rail curve for exemple. It can also be the contour of a 3D layer, if you designed a recessed deck using a 3D layer for exemple.
- Check the options Developped length and Developped Surf. from Deck. or Developped Surf. from Bot.
- In the Options panel check Polylines, and you can set a margin (positive if you want to extend the surface, or negative if you want to reduce it).
- The surface can be exported in the text, PDF, DXF or IGES formats.
- You can set a multiplication factor of needed. With text, DXF and IGES you can change the export unit.

For exemple, to export the developed surface of the deck of the board until the bottom rail curve, select "Rail" in the list of curves and check the options Developped length and Developped Surf. from Deck:

Note that it is also possible to print the developed surface in full scale, or as a multi-pages PDF from the Plan mode.

Yes, go to the menu File / Export, select Side View: Stringer (bot+deck), Polylines, and the the Stringer shift to 4.5cm:

What you can do is use the Create Mold function in the Actions menu:

Then you get the bottom negative:

And you can export the stringer curves:

You'll get the full scale counter-scoop:

- Choose the importation format "BOARD" and browse to open the file you want to import (DXF, G-Code, or text format). Click on the button "load".

- The scan points appear on the controller. The grey points are the file data, and the blue points are the one that will be imported into Shape3d.
Check that everything is alright (tail at x=0, deck upward ...).

 If everything looks alright:

Check the "automatic fitting" box and click on OK.
It will take a few seconds to adjust the curves on the scan points.

 If the scan data doesn't look good:

If the scan data doesn't look good on the controller after importation, click on “Advanced”:

- Check the box "One side" if the file contains only half of the board.

- If the digital probe is a ball, you can input the probe radius, which will be subtracted to the dimensions.

- If you want to import your data into a board that is in the "Stringer" design mode, check Profile detection: "Stringer". The software will then look for the stringer data around the X axis (with the tolerance fixed in the box Slices: "Tolerance"). On the other hand, if you want to import your data in a board that is in the design mode "Profile", check Profile, and the software will look for the lowest and highest points of each slice to create the profile.

- If you want to import your data into a board that is in the "Deck" design mode, check Top import: "Deck". If you want to import your data in a board that is in the design mode "Thickness", check Thickness, and the software will recreate the thickness from your data (in this case your data must be clean).

- You can also reduce the number of slices if too many of them have been scanned.

- You can tune the tolerance. It allows the importation of slices even if they are not right in the Oyz plan.

- You can switch the axis: the X must be the length direction (towards the nose), the Y must be the width direction, and the Z must be the vertical direction (towards the deck).

- You can change the direction of each axis.

- You can reduce the scan data to a window in each direction using the function “Filter”.

- You can apply an offset to the data in each direction using the function “Offset”.

- If the board is not well aligned with the axis, you can apply two rotations around the axis of your choice.

Then press “Apply”. Note that if you press the button “Load” again, your axis settings will be conserved, but the data will be repositioned so that the tail is at x = 0.

Launch the automatic fitting when it looks good.

 If the automatic fitting fails:

You can do the importation of the data without adjusting the curves automatically. Then the dimensions of the model will be adjusted with the data dimensions, but the curves of the model won’t be fitted on the guidelines. It can be a good way to see what’s wrong with them, and move, or remove, the bad ones.

Then, you can choose to adjust each curve automatically or by hand.

 When the automatic fitting is finished:

Check all the curves of the model:
- Check profile and outline. The automatic adjustment may not be perfect. You can do the automatic adjustment again choosing the number of control points you want (right click, automatic fitting, fit the whole curve, choose the number of arcs). You can do it by hand as well. Check in particular the points and tangents at each end, and then, the smoothness of the curves.
- Check the slices; the automatic fitting tries to place a control point right at the rail, but if the rail is not sharp enough, or if
the scan data is not very clean, the control point can very well be at a wrong position. If so, you can clean the guidelines and do an automatic fitting again. But the safest way is to place the control point right at the rail by hand and adjust the slice, arc by arc. Do it for each slice.
DO NOT HESITATE TO DELETE THE SLICES THAT DO NOT LOOK NECESSARY; the less slices the smoother (same with the control points).