Editing Control Points

The Edit control points mode of the Curve through Control Points command enables you to modify the position of the selected control points (note that you can increase the precision of the free control point movement as described in " Smooth Point Positioning Using the Mouse").

Proceed as follows:

1 If not already selected, in the Mode drop-down list select Edit control points.

2 Select the control points (by clicking or using a window/lasso selection).



  • To select all the control points that lie between two of them, hold down the SHIFT key while selecting the control points corresponding to the first and the last point.


     
  • To deselect a selected point, click on it while holding down the CTRL key.
  • To add new point to the set of the already selected ones, click on it while holding down the CTRL key.


3 Move the selected points. You can move control points in one of the following ways:
 
  • By steps

     

  • By dragging the control point to another location using the mouse and then clicking the mouse button to fix it at the new location.

    Using some keys of the keyboard, you can constrain points to move along the direction of an axis. Proceed as follows:
    • While dragging the points (after you've pressed the selection button of the mouse), click one of the following keys (no matter whether upper or lower case). The selected points move along:
      H The horizontal direction of the screen (the cursor changes to following: ).
      V The vertical direction of the screen (the cursor changes to following: ).
      D The depth direction, that is the one perpendicular to the plane of the screen (the cursor changes to following: ).
      X The X direction of the Work Plane (the cursor changes to following: ).
      Y The Y direction of the Work Plane (the cursor changes to following: ).
      W The Z direction of the Work Plane (the cursor changes to following: ).
    • To release the constraint, release the selection button of the mouse. Click another of the above listed keys to change the constraint.


Undoing control point movements

As soon as you double-click on an empty position of the Graphics Area the change is applied.
 

4
 
5 You can increase the curve degree by using the Increase degree button. The degree of the curve is raised by one for each button press. The shape of the curve will remain unchanged.

first click second click

Please note that you can also control the continuity of the curve as described in "Controlling the curve continuity".

Tips and Tricks