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The editor's full-screen workshops

Open each editor tool full screen: rails, rocker and tail, outline, bottom and deck, with before and now and the volume as you go.

Level 4 · Construction · Shape · 20 min

Before this: Edit the outline, rocker and thickness.

You’re going to lower the rail in the tail of a board while watching six large sections, and then you’ll get to know the other four workshops: rocker and tail, outline, bottom and deck. Each workshop shows before and now, and the volume updates at once.

You need an .s3dx open in the editor and to know how to use its tools.

1. Open a tool full screen

  1. Press E to open the editor.
  2. Expand TOOLS and pick a tool, for example Rails (edges).
  3. The Open full screen button appears below Apply. Click it.

The workshop fills the whole window: the views on the left, the controls on the right. The values you had in the panel carry over to the workshop.

Each tool opens its own workshop:

Panel tools Workshop
Rails (edges) Workshop · Rails and edges
Rocker, Tail kick Workshop · Rocker and tail
Plan (outline) Workshop · Outline
Bottom: V and concave, Hull by sections, Foil flat zone Workshop · Bottom
Thickness / stringer, Bulb (deck), Deck Workshop · Deck and thickness

2. What every workshop shares

  • Before and now: before is the board as it was when you opened the workshop (dashed grey); now is in colour.
  • Volume at the top, with the before value, the now value and the difference. Next to it, each workshop’s own figures (rocker, widths, thickness…).
  • Accept keeps everything you did on the board as a single step in the history. Ctrl+Z undoes all of it.
  • Cancel (or Esc) leaves the board as it was.
  • While the workshop is open, the program’s other keys don’t work.

3. Rails workshop: lower the rail in the tail

Example: you want a lower rail in the tail without touching the rest of the board.

  1. Look at the Outline. Lines A to E are the fixed sections, at 10, 25, 50, 75 and 90 % of the length from the tail.
  2. Click the outline near the tail: section F appears there.
  3. Set Apex height Δ (mm) to, for example, −3.
  4. Set Center x (mm) to 300 and Zone (mm, 0 = whole board) to 300. The zone is shaded in the outline and in the graph.

Result: in the The rail along the board graph, the apex line drops in the tail. In the sections, the coloured line sits below the grey one. Under each section you see Rail height (chine → apex), Apex above the bottom, Width and Thickness; if a figure changes, the before value shows in brackets.

Tick Zoom into the rail in the sections to see the rail area up close.

The other sliders are the ones from the panel tool: Edge: soft ← → sharp, Edge at, Rail: thin ← → full, Chine height Δ (mm) and Chine bevel (°).

Click Accept when you like it.

4. Rails workshop: draw the rail with the curve

How to edit has two modes: Sliders and Curve.

  1. Click Curve. Seven points per line appear on the graph: orange for the apex, blue for the chine.
  2. Drag the two orange points closest to the tail down.
  3. Let go: the result shows in the graph, the outline and the sections.

The rail changes smoothly between the points and nothing changes beyond the end points. Reset the curve to zero starts again.

Common mistake: making a change with the sliders and then switching to Curve expecting to add the two together. Switching mode resets the other mode to zero.

5. Copy the rail from another board

  1. In Curve mode, click Copy the rail from another board….
  2. Pick an .s3dx. That board is only read: it’s never touched.

Result: the graph points take the apex and chine to the heights above the bottom of the other board, at the same fraction of the length. You can fine-tune them by dragging.

Tip: the heights are copied in millimetres, without scaling. It works best with a board of a similar size.

6. Rocker and tail workshop

Open it from Rocker or Tail kick. Use Tool to switch between the two.

  • Profile (bottom and deck on the centre line): Exaggerate the profile height (×) makes the curve easier to see.
  • Rocker curvature: if the line doesn’t jump, the curve is smooth.
  • Thickness along the board (mm).
  • At the top: Tail rocker, Nose rocker and Thickness.

With Tail kick, the What lifts drop-down chooses between Whole tail (bottom and deck) and Bottom only (deck unchanged).

Common mistake: applying a rocker, switching to Tail kick and expecting both changes. Switching tool undoes what the previous one did. Accept the rocker, open the workshop again and do the tail kick.

7. Outline workshop

Open it from Plan (outline).

  • The large outline, before and now, with marks at 300 mm from the tail, 300 mm from the nose and at the maximum width.
  • Outline curvature, to check that the outline stays smooth.
  • At the top: Max. width, Max. width at, Width 300 mm from the tail and Width 300 mm from the nose.

8. Bottom workshop

Open it from Bottom: V and concave, Hull by sections or Foil flat zone.

  • The outline: click it to place section F.
  • The bottom along the board (mm): the V (chine above the centre) and the Double concave.
  • Six sections cropped to the bottom, so you see the V and the concave large, with their Rocker (bottom centre).
  • At the top: Tail rocker and Nose rocker.

In Hull by sections and Foil flat zone nothing changes until you touch a control: their values are absolute.

9. Deck and thickness workshop

Open it from Thickness / stringer, Bulb (deck) or Deck.

  • The outline with section F, the profile (also with Exaggerate the profile height (×)) and Thickness along the board (mm).
  • Six sections with their Thickness, Width and Rocker (bottom centre).
  • At the top: Thickness and Max. thickness at.

10. Check and save

After Accept, expand HISTORY: the workshop is a single step. Save with Save s3dx… as usual.

Always check it in your design program (open it and check the volume) before you build.