by Kenneth Styrberg
Relevant to Blender v2.35
Taper is a tool for curve objects. In the Edit panel
(F9) you have a TaperOb
field where you put the name of the curve that will define
the width of the curve object.
Important rules
Only the first curve in a TaperOb
is evaluated.
Starting width is from left to right.
Negative widths are possible too, but rendering can cause artifacts.
It scales the width of normal extrusions based on evaluating the taper curve, which means sharp corners in taper curve won't be easily visible.
In Figure 9.34, “Taper example 1” you can clearly see the effect the left taper curve has on the right curve object. Here the left taper curve is closer to the object center and that results in a smaller curve object to the right.
In Figure 9.35, “Taper example 2” a control point in the taper curve to the left is moved away from the center and that gives a wider result to the curve object on the right.
The curve object is extruded with a curve circle. (See the section called “Extrude Along Path” for more on curve extruding).
In Figure 9.36, “Taper example 3”, we see the use of a more irregular taper curve added to a curve circle.