| ThingMaker Documentation Chapter 7) Windows and Palettes

| Tools Palette Four Tools let you work with Things on the Scene Window. Click on the icons to activate each tool. Then click in the Scene Window. The Tools will act as follows: The Tools Palette Pointer
- For selecting and repositioning Things

  Path

- Animates the movement of a Thing along a line or a curve.

  Shape

- Draws polygonal shapes in the Scene Window which can appear filled-in or transparent.

  Color

- Changes the background color of the scene, as well as the color of Shapes and graphics.

  Pointer Tool
  The Pointer Tool selects and repositions Things in the Scene Window. Select individual Things just by clicking on them. To select more than one Thing, click and drag a rectangle around all of the Things in the scene. Then, click and drag one of the selected Things and the other elements will move with it.

  Path Tool
  The Path Tool lets you draw a Path - a series of lines between Control Points - along which a Thing can travel. If you create a path by dragging a Thing in one State, it will automatically travel along that path in all three States. However, you can also create different Paths for different States or put a Path in one State only.

  Adding a Path
  To add a path to a Thing, choose the Path Tool icon, click on the Thing in the Scene, and drag it around the Scene Window. When you are finished, release the mouse and the Path will appear as a series of rough, black lines connected by small squares. These squares are called Control Points, and once you've created a Path, you can modify it by adjusting the Control Points.

  If you don't click on a Thing after you've clicked the Path Tool, the program will create a Path in the Scene Window with no media attached to it. ThingMaker will display a Path Icon at the starting point of the Path. To add media to this Path, click and select the Path in the Scene Window, then drag a graphic to the Path Setting Sheet. (See "Path Setting Sheet.")

  Reselecting a Path
  If you click and select a Thing which has a Path attached to it, you won't see the Path in the Scene Window until you click on the Path icon in the Thing's Settings Sheet.

  Editing a Path
  There are a number of ways to edit a Path. You can move Control Points, add Control Points, extend the end of the Path, or change how the Thing is registered on the Path. Here are some things to try:

  Move a Control Point
  With the Path visible, move the cursor onto one of the Control Points. When it's correctly positioned, the cursor will change shape from a regular arrow to a dark arrow head. Click and drag the Control Point to a new location. The Path will redraw itself as you do this.

  Add a Control Point
  Add a Control Point to a Path by moving the cursor over the curve and right-mouse clicking. When the cursor is on the curve but not on a Control Point, it will change to a white-filled arrowhead. When you right-mouse click on the line, a menu appears. Choose the option to add a new Control Point.

  Delete a Control point
  To "Delete a Control Point" move the cursor over the Control Point until a black arrowhead appears. Right-mouse click, and choose the option "Delete Control Point" when the menu appears.

  Extend the Path
  The end of the Path is marked by a red Control Point (square) and a blue line extending from the square. You can extend the Path from this point. Move the cursor over the blue line. The cursor will change to the Path Drawing cursor. Click and drag on this point to continue the Path. As you drag, ThingMaker will extend the Path.

  Adjust the Smoothness of the Path
  You can also adjust the smoothness of the Path by using the Smooth and the Unsmooth buttons in the Path Settings Sheet. This option lets you restore or reduce the number of Control Points on a Path. (See "Path Settings Sheet" to learn more about making this adjustment.)

  A smooth Path contains fewer Control Points and makes a simpler line for easier editing. With fewer Control Points, moving only one point can quickly change the shape of a line.

  Changing the Registration of the Thing
  Where do you want your Thing to ride on a Path: above the line, below the line, or centered on the Path itself? You can decide what you want to do by adjusting the Registration Point - that is, the placement of the Thing - on the Path. This point is marked by a green square which lies at the beginning of the Path. To move it, click on the square and drag it within the region of the Thing. The region is marked by the dashed box. You cannot drag the green square outside this region, but you can move it anywhere inside the marked area.

  When you first draw the Path, the Registration Point will usually be at the Thing's center point.

  Path Settings Sheet
  When a Thing is modified with the Path Tool, a Path Icon with a Path Settings Sheet will appear in the Settings Palette for the Thing. The Path Settings Sheet contains all the parameters for the movement of the Thing on that Path. By adjusting the parameters, you can adjust what the Thing does on the Path. The Settings Sheet consists of two "pages" - a set of Basic controls and a set of Detail controls.

  Basic Path Settings Sheet
  The Basic Settings Sheet for the path is displayed when you click on the Path Icon in the Settings Tray.

  Speed
  Adjust the rate at which a Thing moves along a given Path. The fastest speed is about one thousand times faster than the slowest speed.

  Pace
  Determines the rate of speed at which a Thing moves between Control Points.

- Constant pace means a Thing will move at the same velocity along the entire distance of the Path.
- As drawn means the velocity of the Thing will change based on the distance between the Control Points.

  The greater the distance between the Control Points, the faster the Thing will travel. With this effect, a Thing traveling at a constant rate of speed can accelerate over the length of the Path. Its speed will mirror the pace at which the Path was drawn.

  Use the "As Drawn" parameter to adjust the distance between Control Points to achieve interesting "ease-in" and "ease-out" effects where you can alter the perceptible pace and speed of the Thing.

  Play
  Lets you adjust the number of times the object moves along the Path.

- Continuously means the Thing will move along the Path until the Scene ends or the Thing changes State.
- Number of times means the Thing will move along the Path the number of times you type in and then it will stop.

  Travel
  Determines how the Thing moves on the Path.

- One Way means the Thing will travel along the Path from beginning to end, then return to the beginning and repeat.

- Back and Forth means the Thing will move along the Path from beginning to end and then travel backwards from the end of the Path to the beginning.

  Preview Window
  Provides a preview in the Settings Sheet of how the Path will look when played.

  Preview play/stop button
  Preview how setting the parameters will impact the speed of the object as it travels on the Path. Use the Preview Window to see what your Thing will look like when it is traveling in the larger Scene Window.

  Detail Path Settings Sheet
  This setting sheet lets you further refine and modify the characteristics of the motion of your Thing as it travels along a Path. It is displayed by clicking the Detail tab on the Basic Path Settings Sheet.

  Stop position
  Determines where the Thing will stop after it has played a certain number of times.

- Stop on first point means the Thing will jump to the start of the Path.
- Stop on last point means the Thing will stop at the Path's end point.

  This control is not available if Travel is set to "Back and forth." When that option is chosen, the Stop position control will be disabled and the Thing will always stop at the beginning of the Path.

  Play to End of Sequence
  Check this box if you want the Thing to play to the end of the Path before switching to another State. (See also "Play to End" in the discussion of "States" in this Reference.)

  Connect Points As
  Choose the kind of lines that will be drawn between Control Points.

- Curved lines provide you with the ability to create circles, ellipses and curved movement.

- Straight lines ensure that the Path segments between Control Points will be straight.

  Begin Path At
  A parameter that determines what happens to the movement of a Thing along a Path when it changes States.

- MouseOver/click point
  This means when the State changes, the Path of the Thing in the new State will begin where Path of the Thing in the previous state ended.

- Beginning of previous Path
  This means the Path for the current State will begin at the starting point of the Path for the previous State (so the Thing will appear to jump to its starting point).

- End of previous Path
  This means the Path of the current State will start from the end point of the previous State's Path.

  This control is disabled for a path in the Default State.

  Smooth Path/Unsmooth Path Reduce or restore the number of Control Points that make up a Path.

- Smooth Path
  This removes Control Points for a "smoother" Path.

- Unsmooth Path
  This restores Control Points back to the original number of points you specified. You cannot add more Control Points to the Path by pressing the Unsmooth Path button.

  Fewer Control Points
  This means a smoother Path and a smoother Path means easier editing. A Path with many Control Points - an UnSmooth Path in ThingMaker - is useful when drawing Paths with sharp twists and turns, but it takes more time to edit.

  Pressing the Smooth Path button repeatedly will remove all but the first and last Control Points. At this point, pressing Smooth Path again will not result in any changes to the Path.

If you use Smooth Path to reduce the number of Control Points, then you decide to change the number of Control Points using the right mouse click menu, the Unsmooth Path button will not be able to restore Control Points to the Path.

Removing Paths
To remove a Path from a Thing, drag the Path Icon from the Settings Tray to the Trash Can of the Settings Palette.

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