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270 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
Many spline tools u se the Creation Methods
rollout. On this rollout you choose to define
splines by either their cen ter point or their
diagonal.
Edge—Your first click defines a point on the side or
at a corner of the shape and you dr ag a diameter
or the diagonal corner.
Center—Your first click defines the center of the
shape and you drag a radius or corner point.
Text (page 1–278) and Star (page 1–277) do not
haveaCreationMethodsrollout.
Line (page 1–270) and Arc (page 1–274) have
unique Creation Methods rollouts that are
discussed in their respect ive topics.
Keyboard Entry rollout
You can create most splines using keyboard entry.
The process is generally the same for all splines
and the parameters are found under the Keyboard
Entr y rollout. Keyboard entry varies primari ly in
the number of optional parameters. The image
aboveshowsasampleKeyboardEntryrolloutfor
theCircleshape.
The Keyboard Entry rollout contains three
fields for the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the
initial creation point, plus a variable number of
parameters to complete the spline. Enter values
in each field and click the Crea te button to create
the spline.
Line Spl ine
Create panel > Shapes > Splines > O bject Type rollout
>Line
Create menu > Shapes > Line
UseLinetocreateafree-formsplinemadeof
multiple segments.
Example of line
Procedures
To create a lin e:
1.
Go to the Create p anel and choose
Shapes.
2. OntheObjectTyper
ollout, click the Line
button.
3. Chooseacreationmethod.
4. Click or drag the start point.
Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging
creates a Bezier vertex.
5. Click or drag additional points.
Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging
creates a Bezier ve
rtex.
6. Do one of the follo
wing:
•Right-clicktocr
eate an open spline.