RealFlow can read → splines that have been saved in SVG format (“Scalable Vector Graphics”) - a XML-based file format. Furthermore, splines can also be drawn inside RealFlow directly. SVG splines are exported from popular illustration and image-processing applications. The spline-based tools and nodes are located here:

Spline shelf

Drawing Splines

When you choose “Spline” from the “Spline” shelf, an empty container is added and the → viewport is set to “Edit” mode. A yellow frame indicates this mode:

A new control point is created with Ctrl/Cmd + RMB. If you want to add Bezier tangents to the control point do not release the mouse, but drag it to control curvature.
If you do not drag the mouse after the creation of control point you will get a linear connection between the points. It is not possible to change a control point's type from linear to Bezier or vice versa.
New points will always be added after the spline's last point.

Remove Points

Select one more points (Shift-click).
Press Del.

Add Points

Press Ctrl/Cmd.
Move the mouse over the spline where the new points should be inserted – a circle appears.
Right-click to add the point.
New points are always added as Bezier points.

Interrupt and Resume Spline Creation

The creation of control points can be interrupted and resumed at any time with a click on

Spline node > Node Params > Options > EDIT

Close and Reverse Splines

Spline node > Node Params > Options > Closed | Reverse

Importing Splines

Splines are imported either as separate, editable scene elements or connected to a → “DSpline” daemon, an → “ESpline”, or Dyverso → "Spline" emitter directly. The entire process includes just a few steps. First, choose how to import the spline from the “Spline” shelf. Then, a new window appears. The entries are exactly the same for all import options:

Under “...” the SVG is opened.
With “Center at origin”, the spline's original position will be neglected and the node is place at [0, 0, 0].
When “Pivot at center” is active RealFlow will recalculate the spline's pivot.
“Parent to Null” creates a null object and adds it to the spline's → “Parent to” field. If the null is animated the spline will follow its motions.
If the SVG contains more than one spline it is a good idea to “Group” them.
“Combine” is used to connect multiple splines. When enabled RealFlow creates connections between the individual splines.
“Plane” lets you choose the spline's 2D orientation: “XY”, “YZ”, and “XZ”.
“Scale” changes the spline's size – the value acts as a multiplier.

Once the spline has been imported, it can be edited. To do this, please click on

Spline node > Node Params > Options > EDIT
For a detailed description of how to work with splines please take a look at the “Editing Splines” subchapter below.

Editing Splines

In order to make a spline editable (this also applies to → “ESpline", → “DSpline”, and Dyverso → "Spline" nodes), select the node and click on

Spline node > Node Params > Options > EDIT
or the pencil icon in the icon bar.
A yellow frame appears around the viewport (see first image above)

By default, the spline's intermediate points are added by RealFlow automatically with “Adaptive” method. To change this go to:

Spline node > Node Params > Options > Intermediate points type > Uniform

With this option you will get an even distribution of subdivision points, and their number is controlled with “@ points”. The more points, the smoother the curve. In “Adaptive” mode, the number of intermediate points is controlled with “@ angle”. Smaller values create more subdivision. With higher settings, the spline becomes more and more edgy.

The mentioned intermediate points are made visible with

Spline node > Node Params > Display > Show intermediate points

This panel provides many more options for enabling or disabling a spline's viewport elements:

Green: original spline | Orange: hull curve | Yellow: control point indices

Control points can only be moved, but not scaled or rotated. To reposition a point, press W and click on a control point or a tangent handle. You will see an axes cross:

Drag one of the axis to perform a locked motion along the X, Y, or Z direction.
Drag one of the small coloured rectangles for a free motion.
When a tangent handle is positioned both tangents are affect. If you want to move the tangents individually please select the associated control point, and choose Spline node > Node Params > Options > CP handle smoothness > Broken
Multi-selections of control points and tangent handles are possible with Shift-click.
Spline nodes can only be deleted when the “EDIT” mode is off.

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