Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
•
The
Shape
buttons let you
invert
the
effect (so the bottom tapers instead of the
top), have the taper affect both ends at
once, or affect just the middle of the
selected geometry.
•
The
Presets
pop-up menu gives you
quick access to four combinations for the
sliders below it that shape the
curve
of the
linear falloff. (You can see examples of the
effect of changing these sliders in Figure
5-15.)
•
The
Range
of the effect defaults to
Automatic. However, by right-clicking and
manipulating the gizmo, you are telling
LightWave that you want to specify a fixed
angle and/or position for the effect. Clicking
on Automatic releases your specified, fixed
settings.
Pressing <
n
> opens the Numeric win-
dow for Taper and activates a little gizmo
(seen on the “Base Object” in Figure 5-15)
to give you a visual interpretation of the
Taper tool's effect. Right-clicking and drag-
ging the gizmo's ends will let you exactly
position and angle the tool's effect.
Through the Numeric window, you can
adjust the falloff of the effect to “sculpt”
how Taper affects your selected geometry.
•
The
Falloff
pop-up menu lets you
choose from several complex ways of let-
ting the taper effect dissipate through
space. (We use Linear because it is what
you will most often use. However, through
this pop-up menu, the tool can even refer-
ence the settings on a weight map that
you've created. To find out more about
these falloff settings, explore the Light-
Wave manual.)
Twist
The Twist tool is something I don't use all
that often, but when I need it, there's noth-
ing else that can fit the bill like this tool can.
Technically, it spreads out
rotation
through
your selected geometry in relation to how
far each bit is away from the effect's root. In
layman's terms, it
twists
stuff. The Twist
tool is accessed through
Modify | Rotate
| Twist
.
Twist also obeys the same kind of falloff
rules that Taper does. By shifting the falloff
sliders, the twist in Figure 5-16 (on the
following page) begins gently from the bot-
tom, increasing as it reaches the top of our
stack of segments.
You can move and angle the area of effect
for the twist by right-clicking and dragging
on the gizmo in the viewports. This sets
the Range to Fixed, just like in Taper. Click
on Automatic to revert to LW's automatic
settings.
Note
Twist is a cool tool, but it is notorious for cre-
ating many non-planar polys. Check your
work for non-planars after using Twist.
