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fairing, fair

English translation: join smoothly using a faired curve or faired surface

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:fairing, fair
Selected answer:join smoothly using a faired curve or faired surface
Entered by: Ken Cox

14:52 May 10, 2006
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Computers: Software / 3D modeling
English term or phrase: fairing, fair
I received the following explanation of "faired" from client "joined so that surfaces blend smoothly"

In general I think that fairing means "to reduce the curvature"

but in this string: "Fair Points" ...what does the software do to points??
Elena Ghetti
Italy
Local time: 22:51
join smoothly using a faired curve or faired surface
Explanation:
Based on your previous questions, I understand this to be a command/instruction that means 'join the indicated/selected points using a faired curve or faired surface'.

Incidentally, 'fair' or 'fairing' does not exactly mean 'reduce the curvature', but instead (approxmately) to make the radius of curvature as large as possible -- i.e., to transform abrupt curves into smooth, gradual curves.

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-05-10 15:54:02 GMT)
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With regard to the 'translation technique' details, this could also conceivably be a text string that is intended to be concatenated with other text strings to generate user messages. In that case, your chances of producing a usable translation are just about zero, and there's nothing you can do about it. As one of the Proz peers pointed out in a forum posting a while back, Americans (in particular) are generally blissfully ignorant of any syntax other than their own and thus devise text strings that can be put togeher like puzzle pieces to generate meaningful messages in English, but which are more or less a disaster for translators.
Selected response from:

Ken Cox
Local time: 22:51
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +3join smoothly using a faired curve or faired surface
Ken Cox
3smoothing
jccantrell
3cleaning up
Michael Tovbin


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
smoothing


Explanation:
I am not sure about 'fairing' but from your client's explanation, I would think this is a synonym for 'smoothing.'

In CAD software, the models are made up of planes, points, lines curves, etc. A lot of the curves are made up of small line segments, from one point on the curve to the next. This makes for a ragged appearance.

Most software has a built-in 'smoothing' button to fudge this ragged appearance and make it smoother.

Perhaps this is what your client had in mind.


    Reference: http://www.crd.ge.com/~lorensen/smooth/smooth.html
jccantrell
United States
Local time: 13:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 25
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
join smoothly using a faired curve or faired surface


Explanation:
Based on your previous questions, I understand this to be a command/instruction that means 'join the indicated/selected points using a faired curve or faired surface'.

Incidentally, 'fair' or 'fairing' does not exactly mean 'reduce the curvature', but instead (approxmately) to make the radius of curvature as large as possible -- i.e., to transform abrupt curves into smooth, gradual curves.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-05-10 15:54:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

With regard to the 'translation technique' details, this could also conceivably be a text string that is intended to be concatenated with other text strings to generate user messages. In that case, your chances of producing a usable translation are just about zero, and there's nothing you can do about it. As one of the Proz peers pointed out in a forum posting a while back, Americans (in particular) are generally blissfully ignorant of any syntax other than their own and thus devise text strings that can be put togeher like puzzle pieces to generate meaningful messages in English, but which are more or less a disaster for translators.

Ken Cox
Local time: 22:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Dave Calderhead: it is the technique for making fluid dynamic surfaces for aeroplanes and high performance boats, etc.
1 hr
agree  Isodynamia
17 hrs
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
21 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
cleaning up


Explanation:
In the references I have seen, fairing is a mathematical technique of reducing the noise arising when a 3D or curved surface is represented using a set of (reference) points rather than a mesh.

It is a technique for making the surface sharper (as in a more faithful representation of the original, like an image) rather than smoother.

HTH

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2006-05-10 18:48:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Let me rephrase, it is a technique for making the detail of a surface sharper.


    Reference: http://www.zib.de/geom/publications/
    Reference: http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/vmml/admin/upload/PStream.pdf
Michael Tovbin
United States
Local time: 15:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Ken Cox: good point, but I don't understand why you think fairing 'sharpens' features. From what I see in your references (e.g. 4.3.4 in the second one), fairing is a smoothing operation. Of course, it could make features 'clearer' (but not sharper).
1 hr
  -> because reducing noise is not the same as smoothing. Smoothing makes things fuzzier, noise reduction makes them sharper.
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