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28 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids
Cone angle manipulator
Cone angle manipulators are used by a spotlight’s
Hotspot and Falloff controls.
Pr ocedur es
To create a cone angl e ma nipulator :
1.
IntheCreatepanel,gotoHelpers
and choose Manipulators from the drop-down
list.
2. ClicktoturnonConeAngle.
3. Drag in a viewport, and then release the mouse.
The cone angle manipulator is c reated a long
the negative Z axis of the viewport in which you
drag. In other words, its initial position points
away from you.
To change the angle of a cone a ngle mani pulator :
1.
Turn on S elect And Man ipulate.
Tip: If you are still in the Create
panel, turn on Select Object before using the
manipulator. Otherwise, it is too easy to create
a new one.
2. In a viewport, move the mouse over the
manipulator.
The manipulator turns red when the mouse is
over it and it is available to be manipulated.
Also,atooltipappears,showingthenameof
the m anipulator and its cur rent value.
3. Dragthebaseoftheconeanglemanipulator’s
cone.
The Angle value changes as you drag the
manipulator. This value can range between 0.0
and 360.0.
To select a cone angle manipulator:
1.
Turn on S elect Object.
Yo u c a n a l s o u s e S e l e c t A n d M o v e ,
SelectAndRotate,andthescaleoptionsona
cone angle manipulat
or.
2. Turn off Selec t A nd
Manipulate.
If you don’t turn off
Select And Manipulate, you
adjust the manipulator’s Angle value without
affecting its properties.
3. Adjust the properties of the selected
manipulator.
To connect a cone angle manipulator so it controls
another object:
1.
Select the cone angle manipulator.
Note: Select And Manipulate must be off
before you can select the manipulator.
2. Choose Animation > Wire Parameters > Wire
Parameters.
Yo u c a n a l s o r i g h t - c l i c k t h e m a n i p u l a t o r a n d
choose Wire Parameters from the Transf orm
(lower-right) quadrant of the quad menu.
A pop-up menu appears over the manipulator.
3. In the pop-up menu, choose Object > Angle.
4. Drag to the object you want to manipulate, and
click it.
A pop-up menu appears over the object.