| ThingMaker Documentation Chapter 4) Working With Tools

| Editing the Path When the Path is visible, you can edit it in a number of ways: you can click and drag the Control Points to change the shape of the Path, you can add and delete Control Points to simplify or complicate the Path, and you can extend the Path. There are also some features in ThingMaker that will Smooth or Unsmooth the Path.

Moving Control Points
The Path is defined by a series of Control Points. The Control Points appear as small squares along the line. You can move these Control Points to change the shape of the Path.

1. Make sure the Thing is selected and the Path Icon appears in the Settings Sheet.
The Path should appear on the screen as a set of lines connecting a series of squares.

2. Move the cursor over one of the squares on the Path.
The cursor should change to a black arrowhead.

3. Click and drag the Control Points.
The Control Points move. As you move a Point, the Path will redraw itself to travel through the Control Point's new location. Release the mouse when you are satisfied with the new location.

Deleting Control Points
If a Path has too many Control Points, you can delete Control Points.

1. Move the cursor over a Control Point.
The cursor will change to the black arrowhead.

2. Right mouse click.
A context Menu appears that contains the choice Delete Control Point.

3. Choose Delete Control Point.
ThingMaker deletes the Control Point.

You can delete Control Points until only the beginning and ending Points remain. ThingMaker will not let you delete these last two Control Points.

Adding Control Points
Control Points can be added to a Path.

1. Move the cursor over the line but not over a Control Point.
The cursor should change to a white-filled arrowhead.

2. Right mouse-click.
A context Menu appears with the option Add Control Point.

3. Choose Add Control Point Menu item.
ThingMaker adds a new Control Point to the Path.

Extending the Path
You can extend the Path by adding more Control Points and dragging them to a new location, as above, or you can extend the Path by clicking and dragging.

1. With the Path visible, move the cursor over the blue line extending from the last Control Point.
The last Control Point is red; the first is green.

2. The cursor changes to a four-way arrow.
This cursor means that you can click and drag to extend the Path.

3. Click, drag, and release the mouse when the Path is finished.
The Thing will appear on the screen, and the Path will be extended as you drag.

Smoothing the Path
In the above exercises, you learned how to remove and add Control Points. Control Points help you to create more complex Paths, but sometimes the Path Tool creates more Control Points than you really need. The more Control Points you have, for example, the more difficult it becomes to quickly alter the Path. That's where the Smooth and Unsmooth Path functions come in. They let you remove Control Points quickly and easily.

1. With the Path selected and visible within the Scene, click on the Detail Tab of the Path Settings Sheet.
The Path Settings Sheet has two pages of options - Basic Options and Detail Options.

2. Click on the Smooth Path Button.
The number of Control Points is greatly reduced.

3. Continue clicking until only the first and last two Control Points remain in the Scene.

4. Click the Unsmooth Path Button.
Control Points are restored to the line.

5. Continue clicking the UnSmooth Button.
The Unsmooth Button restores the Path to the original number of Control Points. After that, clicking the UnSmooth Button will have no effect.

The Smooth and Unsmooth Button perform opposite functions. After Smoothing a Path, you can usually UnSmooth a Path. But if you adjust the number of Control Points or move Control Points elsewhere in the Scene, the Unsmooth Path Button will no longer be able to restore the Path to its original shape.

<--Previous | table of contents | Next -->