#More Features
3 messages in this thread
Steve,
Here are some things that I have found that would help me with certain
projects:
JPEG file format for mapping and backgrounds.
SCULPTURE
Translating or rotating a group of selected points by any single control
point in the selected group. For example, if I wanted to move a cube in x, y,
and z, I could selected the whole cube and then target one of the points as the
one that would be used in typing in a value for translation or rotation.
A Mirror funtion similar to cloning, but creating a mirror image across x,
y, or z.
A Save Selected Group function like the one in ACTION.
Seeing the floats in the numerical windows of x, y, and z.
ACTION
This is a little hard to describe. A while back, I told you about a rubix
cube type of anim that I was doing. Well, with the Ball & Socket movement in
ACTION, setting up actions to scramble and then unscramble the cube were so
complex that I bagged it for the moment. What would really help for an anim
like this and probably a lot of others, would be the ability to select two or
more segments and then group them temporarily as one single unit to be
translated, rotated, or morphed. Then they could be ungrouped, and used as part
of another grouped action. Using the rubix cube as an example, I could select
all nine segs on the left side yz plane and then rotate them as a group in a
+/- direction around the x axis. Then after deselecting them, I could select
the segs that make up the center xz plane, group them, and rotate them around
the y axis. These actions could be saved as Group Actions, eliminating the need
for applying one action to two or more objects in DIRECTION as well as greatly
simplifying the creation of some kinds of motion in ACTION. And if this were a
feature, then a Save for segment groups would be in order.
DIRECTION
The wireframe anims seem to be saved in a proprietary format. It would
help alot if they also could be saved as .FLI or .FLC files so that the
multiple wireframes that make up a big anim could be joined into one long
wireframe of the whole animation. There is also an effect that I would like to
use that would be a split screen animation of objects that are half rendered,
half wireframe.
I've also found that there is a limit to the number of projects that you
can list in the projects.hsh file before they quit showing up in the selection
windows. Is there a way out of this? Thanks for your time.
Michael S. Flynn
Michael-
PMFJI, but I think I can solve two of your problems.
>> Translating or rotating a group of selected points by any single control
point…
Just move the pivot point to the place you want to translate/rotate from. You
can always move the pivot back to its original place ( true, this is another
step, but not that big of a deal, IMO).
>>A Mirror funtion similar to cloning, but creating a mirror image across x, y,
or z.
Simply clone your selection then, while the new section is still highlighted,
press 1 2 or 3 to 'mirror' it on the x,y or z axis.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Kevin
Kevin,
The only description for Mirror appears on page 226 and it's in the ACTION
module. When I see "Flip" and "Mirror" they mean two different things. "Flip"
to me always meant the same as a 180 degree rotation around the selected axis.
Now I feel kinda stupid; I knew that something as basic as Mirror should be
available, but because I couldn't find anything that said Mirror exactly, I
assumed that it was not available. If I would have just asked, I could have
saved myself alot of work.
I usually do move the pivot if I am exactly aligned to the grid;
unfortunately that is not always the case. Also, I dislike moving it; I save my
work every two or three minutes, and if I have moved the pivot and then saved,
the next time I opened the file, the moved pivot would be at 0,0,0. Moving the
pivot won't solve the problem of translating of group of selected points to an
exact location. You can click the screen and the nearest point will be the one
whose coordinates change as you drag it in the X, Y, Z windows, but I much
prefer the method of manual entering numbers rather than dragging with the
mouse. If I could target one point in a selection as the translation point, I
could move things to where I want them with a minimum of time and effort.
Thanks for pointing out that "Flip" and "Mirror" are the same thing. It is
going to make my modeling life much easier.
Michael
S. Flynn