AC3D Forums - View Single Post - Location of the Normal on a Complex Surface?

Terry Capps · 30th June 2007, 09:26 AM

At first, I thought that the location of the Normal of a surface was at the Center of Mass of the surface, and it is for a simple triangle, but when I created a surface that consisted of two adjacent triangles, combined, I found that the Normal was not at the center of the combined surface.

Can anyone tell me how to calculate the location of the Normal? I saw Andy's reply to someone's request for the code for determining the Normal, but I'm not familiar with the C language or whatever it is written in. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to locate the location of the Normal in mathematical terms.

I have found it useful for controlling the Extrusion of a complex shape along a curved path. See the attached images for the thread called "Extrude along path with Non-Symmetrical surface?", Post #5.

30th June 2007, 09:26 AM	#1
Terry Capps Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Corsicana, Texas Posts: 133	Location of the Normal on a Complex Surface? At first, I thought that the location of the Normal of a surface was at the Center of Mass of the surface, and it is for a simple triangle, but when I created a surface that consisted of two adjacent triangles, combined, I found that the Normal was not at the center of the combined surface. Can anyone tell me how to calculate the location of the Normal? I saw Andy's reply to someone's request for the code for determining the Normal, but I'm not familiar with the C language or whatever it is written in. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to locate the location of the Normal in mathematical terms. I have found it useful for controlling the Extrusion of a complex shape along a curved path. See the attached images for the thread called "Extrude along path with Non-Symmetrical surface?", Post #5. Last edited by Terry Capps; 30th June 2007 at 10:35 AM.