9.5.2

904 • CHAPTER 18
THE SHADERS • 905
Using the Spline shader
Projecting the spline onto an object can seem tricky at rst. Proceed as follows.
 Ensure the spline is smaller than the object. Drag and drop the spline into
the Spline box in the Attribute manager (if the box is ghosted, disable the Text
Spline option).
 Set Plane to the plane in which the spline lies or mostly lies (this is XY for
spline primitives by default). Enable Fill and choose background texture and
line texture colors that will make the spline easy to see on the object.
 Fine-tune the position and size using X Offset, Y Offset, X Scale and
Y Scale.
Spline
Drag and drop the spline to be used into this box. This can be a spline primitive or a standard spline.
The spline’s coordinate system plays a crucial part in the projection of the spline — see ‘Plane’.
Background Texture, Line Texture, Fill Texture
These settings specify the texture used for the background, line and ll. Close the spline to prevent
unusual ll results.
X Offset, Y Offset, X Scale, Y Scale
These parameters move and scale the projected spline in the X and Y directions. Use negative Scale
values to mirror the spline projection.
Plane
Denes which plane in the spline’s coordinate system is used for the projection. For spline primitives,
choose the XY plane.
Single Pixel
Enable this option to set the line’s thickness to one pixel (the Line Width and Smooth Width options
will then be disabled). If the lines seem jagged, in the Render Settings, on the Antialiasing tab, set
Antialiasing to Best. (Textures are not smoothed in the Geometry antialiasing mode).