8

266 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
• Click the first vertex and click Yes in the
"Close spline?" dialog to create a closed
spline.
To create a line using rectilinear and a ngle-snap
opti ons :
These two options aid in creat ing regular shapes:
• While creating a s pline with the mouse, press
and hold SHIFT to constrain new points to
90-degree-angle increments from previous
points. Use the default Initial type setting of
Corner and click all subsequent points to create
fully rectilinear shapes.
• While creating a s pline with the mouse, press
andholdCTRLtoconstrainnewpointsto
angle increments determined by the current
Angle Snap setting (page 2–12) .Tosetthis
angle, go to Customize menu > Grid and Snap
Settings, click the
Options tab (page 2–43) in
the Grid and Snap S ettings dialog , and change
thevalueintheAngle(deg)field.
The angle for each new segment relates to the
prev ious segment, so the angle snap works only
after you’ve placed the first two spline vertices
(that is, the first segment). Angle Snap need not b e
enabled for this feature to work.
To create a line from the k eyboard:
1.
Enter values in the X, Y, and Z fields to specify a
vertex coordinate.
2. Click Add Point to add a vertex to the current
line at the specified coordinate.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each additional vertex.
4. Do one of the follow ing:
• Click Finish to create an open spline.
• ClickClosetoconnectthecurrentvertexto
thefirstvertexandcreateaclosedspline.
Interf ace
Automatic Conversion to an Editable Spline
Bec ause the Line tool has no dimension parameters
to be carried over to the Modify panel, it converts
to an
editable spline (page 1–284) when you move
fromtheCreatepaneltotheModifypanel.While
you are creating the line, the Create panel displays
the original con trols, such as Interpolation,
Rendering, Creation Method, and Keyboard
Entry. After creating the line, when you go to
theModifypanelyouhaveimmediateaccessto
the S election and Geometry rollouts to edit the
vertices or any part of the shape.
Rendering and Interpolation rollouts
All spline-based shapes share these parameters.
See
Splines (page 1–261) for an explanation of
these parameters.
Creation Meth od rollout
Creation method options for lines are different
from other spline tools. You choose options to
control the type of vertex created when you click
or drag vertices.
You can preset the default types of spline vertices
during line creation with these settings:
Initial Type group
Sets the type of vertex you create when you click
avertexlocation.