Video Tutorials

I think that the best way to learn about curves and the handles is to check out some tutorials on Bezier Curves. Here’s one that I found for you that explains a bit and has an interactive curve that you can play a little with: bezier curves tutorial

And then here, @Douglas explains them in Seamly.

But to briefly explain how the length of the handle will affect the curve…

If you draw a perfect square - each side 10cm - and you would like to draw a perfect circle inside the box, then, using the curve (spline) tool, you would create the curve to touch on all 4 side at the halfway mark. Your handle will go at the angle of the lines that you selected the nodes. The length of the handle will be roughly 55% of the line between the selected node and the corner of the square to create the perfect circle. Anything more or less than the 55% will result in a more square type of circle or some other odd shape.

So, the closer to the 55% handle length, the more perfect your circle will be.

image

Here’s the file that you can play with:

Curve Handles.val (2.5 KB)

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Or in the case of curves in general… the smoother the transition between one curve and another.

Or “0.551915” to be more precise. :slight_smile:

I put this value in a custom “bez_approx” variable and multiply a line length by it for control point length formulas.

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Thank you so much! I am in a different time zone and I look forward to your replies to my query in the morning! Never failed me… thank you…better than coffee.

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Again, big thanks for your tips, Douglas, and for not getting tired of my questions! I just wanted to smoothen a curve that I manually created…and look where it’s taken me!? Bezier curves! …we learn something new everyday…

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