CompuServe Messages

Once again, Compuserve's nasty habit of evaporating messages before I get a chance to read them strikes. David J. Marks (no relation) quotes someone else, saying only: >>spath.kxp >Bravo! I can't wait. Now if only my money tree grew a little faster. <g> And I have no idea what this is about, other than the obvious: someone (I have no way of knowing who) has proposed or is developing a .KXP called SPATH, that presumably (based on the Subj: name of this thread and also the name SPATH itself) helps smooth out Keyframer paths. I'm very, very interested in this, but have no idea how to find out more. 🙁 On the subject of Tension, Continuity, and Bias: it helps to understand them better if you liken them to the control vectors of a Bezier spline, such as is used in Illustrator, FreeHand, Corel Draw, Canvas, and the like — as well as the 2D Shaper and 3D Lofter modules of 3DS itself. I'll use 3DS to illustrate my point, since we all have it: Tension is related to the length of both vectors. Increasing Tension is the same as selecting "Modify/Vertex/Adjust" in the 2D Shaper, and then pulling both the red and yellow vectors out further (making the arrows longer) WITHOUT holding down the [Alt] key. Decreasing Tension is the same as shortening the arrows, again without holding the [Alt] key. Continuity is related to the ANGLE of the vectors to each other. If Continuity is 25, then the two vectors are in a straight line from each other. Changing continuity is equivilant to doing a Modify/Vertex/Adjust while holding down the [Alt] key so that only the yellow vector moves, and changing its DIRECTION without changing its LENGTH. Moving it one way is equivalent to increasing Continuity past 25 toward 50, while moving it the other way is equivalent to decreasing Continuity past 25 toward 0. Bias is related to the RELATIVE LENGTH of the vectors TO EACH OTHER. If the Bias is 25, then the two vectors are the same length (how long that is is determined by Tension). Increasing Bias is like Modify/Vertex/Adjust, first decreasing both vectors' lengths without changing their angle and without holding the [Alt] key, and then holding down the [Alt] key while increasing the length of the yellow vector to its original length (as it was before shortening it) and then increasing it further by the exact same amount that you shortened it before, without changing its angle. Reducing Bias is like reversing that process, increasing both and then reducing the yellow vector, so that the red has increased at the expense of the yellow.