9

Line Spline 271
• Click the first vertex and click Yes in the
"Close spline?" dialog to create a closed
spline.
To create a line using r ectilinear and angle-snap
opti ons :
These two options aid in creating regular shapes:
• While creating a spline with the mouse, press
and hold
Shif t to constrain new points to
90-degree-angle increments from previous
points. Use the default Initial typ e setting of
Corner and click all subsequent points to create
fully rectilinear shapes.
• While creating a spline with the mouse, press
and hold
Ct rl to constrain new points to angle
increments determined by the current Angle
Snap setting (page 2–12). To set this ang le, go
to Customize menu > Grid and Snap Settings,
click the Options tab (page 2–46) in the Grid
and Snap S ettings dialog , and change the value
in the Angle (deg) field.
The angle for each new segment relates to the
prev ious segment, s o the angle snap works only
after you’ve placed the first two spline ver tices
(that is, the first seg ment). Ang le Snap need not be
enabled for this feature to work.
To create a line from the keyboard:
1.
Enter values in the X, Y, and Z fields to specify a
vertex coordinate.
2. Click Add Point to add a vertex to the current
line at the specified coordinate.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each additional vertex.
4. Do one of the following:
• Click Finish to create an open spline.
• ClickClosetoconnectthecurrentvertexto
thefirstvertexandcreateaclosedspline.
Interfa ce
Automatic Conversion to an E ditable Spline
Because the Line object has no dimension
parameters to be carried over to the Modify panel,
it converts to an editable spline (page 1–289) when
you move from the Create panel to the Modify
panel. While you are creating the line, the Create
panel displa ys the original controls, such as
Interpolation, Rendering, Creation Method, and
Keyboard Entry. After creating the line, when you
go to the Modify panel you have immediate access
to the S elect ion and Geometry rollouts to edit the
vertices or any part of the shape.
Rendering and Interpolation rollouts
All spline-based shapes share these parameters.
See Splines (page 1–266) for an explanation of
these parameters.
Creation Method rollout
Creation method options for lines are different
from other spline tools. You choose options to
control the type of vertex created when you click
or drag vertices.
You can preset the default types of spline vertices
during line creation with these settings:
Initial Type group
Sets the type of vertex you create when you click
avertexlocation.