User Manual

Adding Points
Adding Points to a polygonal effect mask is relatively simple. Immediately after adding the node
to the Node Editor, there are no points, but the tool will be in Click Append mode. Click once in
the viewer wherever a point is required for the mask. Continue clicking to draw the shape of the
mask. When the shape is complete, click on the initial point again to close the mask.
When the shape is closed, the mode of the polyline will change to Insert and Modify. This
allows for the adjusting and adding of additional points to the mask by clicking on segments of
the polyline. To lock down the mask’s shape and prevent accidental changes, switch the
Polyline mode to Done using the Polyline toolbar or contextual menu.
When a Polygon (or B-Spline) mask is added to a node, a toolbar appears above the viewer,
offering easy access to modes. Hold the pointer over any button in the toolbar to display a
tooltip that describes that button’s function.
 Click: Click is the default option when creating a polyline (or B-Spline) mask. It is a
bezier style drawing tool. Clicking sets a control point and appends the next control
point when you click again in a different location.
 Draw: Draw is a freehand drawing tool. It creates a mask similar to drawing with
a pencil on paper.You can create a new mask using the Draw tool, or you can
extend an existing open spline by clicking the Draw tool and starting to draw from the
last control point.
 Insert: Insert adds a new control point along the spline.
 Modify: Modify allows you to safely move or smooth any exiting point along a spline
without worrying about adding new points accidentally.
 Done: Prevents any point along the spline from being moved or modified. Also, new
points cannot be added. You can, however, move and rotate the entire spline.
 Closed: Closes an open spline.
 Smooth: Changes the selected control point from a linear to a smooth curve.
 Linear: Changes the selected control point from a smooth curve to linear.
 Select All: Selects all the control points on the spline.
 Keys: Shows or hides the control points along the spline.
 Handles: Shows or hides the Bézier handles along the polyline.
 Shape: Places a reshape rectangle around the selected spline shape. Using the
reshape rectangle, you can deform groups of control points or entire shapes much
easier than modifying each point.
 Delete: Deletes the selected control point(s).
 Reduce: Opens a Freehand precision window that can be used to reduce the number
of controls points on a spline. This can make the paint stroke easier to modify,
especially if it has been created using the Draw tool.
 Publish menu: You can use the publish menu to select between publishing the
control points or the path. Publishing is a form of parameter linking, it makes the
selected item available for use by other controls. It also allows you to attach a control
point to a tracker.
 Follow Points: Allows a selected point to follow the path of a published point.
The point follows the published point using an offset position.
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