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1156 Chapter 9: Surface Modeling
construction plane and the actual point offset
from the plane. You can move the mouse into an
inact ive viewport, in which case the software sets
the height of the point using the point’s Z axis in
the inact ive viewport. This lets you set the height
of the point with accuracy.
Snaps (page 2–41) also work when you change the
height of a point. For example, if you turn on P oint
snapping, you can set a point to have the same
height as another point by snapping to that other
point in an inactive viewport.
Procedure
To create a point curve s ub-objec t:
1.
Turn on Point Cu r ve.
2. In a viewport, click and drag to create the firs t
point, as well as the first curve segment. Release
the mouse button to a
dd the second point. Each
subsequent location yo u click adds a new point
to the curve. Right-click to end curve creation.
Note: If you begin the curve by clicking without
dragging, this al
so creates the curve’s first point.
However, if you release the mouse button more
than five pixels away from where you initially
pressed it, this
creates an additional point.
Whileyouarecre
ating a point curve, you can
press
Backspace to remove the last point you
created, and then previous points in reverse
order .
If Draw In All Vi
ewports is on, you can dr aw in
any viewpor t, creating a 3D curve.
To lift a point off the construction plane, use
the
Ct rl key as described earlier in this topic
under Drawing
Three-Dimensional Curves
(page 1–1155).
As with splines, if you click over the curve’s
initial point, a Close Curve dialog (page 1–1235)
is displayed
. Thisdialogaskswhetheryou
want the curve to be closed. Click No to keep
the curve open or Yes to close the curve. ( You
canalsocloseacurvewhenyouedititatthe
Curve sub-object level.) When a closed curve
isdisplayedattheCurvesub-objectlevel,the
initial point is displayed as a green circle, and a
green tick mark indicates the curve’s direction.
Interfa ce
Point Curve rollout (creation time)
Draw In All Vi ewpor ts—Lets you use any viewpor t
whileyouaredrawingthecurve.Thisisoneway
to create a 3D curve. When off, you must finish
drawing the curve in the viewport where you
began it. Default=on.
WhileDrawInAllViewportsison,youcanalso
use snaps (page 2–41) in any viewport.
Point Curve rollout (m odification time)
Clo se—Closesthecurve.Disabledifthecurveis
already closed.