Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
3.
Once you've got the polygon aligned,
Multiply | Extend | Rail Extrude
opens the Rail Extrude: Single window.
It has the following options:
•
Automatic
segmentation will let
LightWave make its best judgment as
far as how many “slices” to make and
where they should be so the extrusion
most closely follows the curve.
•
Uniform Lengths
lets LightWave
distribute its specified number of seg-
ments so they are all
equidistant
along
the curve's length.
•
Uniform Knots
tells LightWave
to distribute its specified number of
segments with relation to the place-
ment and number of
knots
(points) on
the curve.
•
Oriented
tells LightWave to
rotate
the poly,
aligning
it to the curve as it is
extruded.
4.
Accept the default settings shown in
Figure 5-22. The disc is extruded along
the curve (looking a little like the
ductwork from
Brazil
).
5.
Save your object. (Mine is
Objects\
Chapter05\RailExtrude_1.lwo
.)
6.
With the layer that has the curve in it
in the foreground, select
File | Export
| Path to Motion
. Save the motion
somewhere where you'll have intuitive
access to it (
Motions\Chapter5\
TunnelFly-Through.mot
is what I
used).
You will need to add “.mot” (with-
out the quotes) to the end of the file for
Layout to see it; Modeler doesn't do this
automatically when you use Path to
Motion.
7.
Now, use
Send Object to Layout
so
we can make a movie of our quick
example here.
8.
While in Layout, use <
[
> and <
]
>to
adjust the grid size so your extruded
object fills the screen nicely.
Figure 5-23
