TM element offset can also be used to offset surface vertices, although there are some limitations associated with it and not as flexible as the component is with the lines.
The component can only be used for planar surfaces. If your surface represents planar walls, slabs, footings then the component will work well with such surfaces.
The component does not support offset operations that try to twist or cause an out of plane translations of the surface. Only inplane movements are permitted.
For e.g. if the surface is modelled in XY plane then no offsets can be applied in Z direction.
Offsets can be applied in two direction pathways:
- GCS: This option can be used while applying offsets as per the Rhino co-ordinate system.
- Local Grid: This offset can be used for offsetting vertices in the local plane of the surface.
Hence if the surface lies in the XYZ plane, offsets can still be applied but in the surface’s own/local plane but not using the GCS.
Rest of the functionality of the component is same as for the lines and the user is requested to go through the ‘TM Element Offset-Lines‘ documentation to gain a thorough understanding of the component functionality.