2 Point Curves

Description

The 2 Point Curves command can be considered to be a subset of the more general Draw Curves command. Here you can create linear curves defined by only two points very quickly. This efficiency is due to an automatic Apply that occurs following every second point placement. Therefore all you have to do is define consecutive pairs of points and with each second point placement a new connector or database curve is defined.

Select Create, 2 Point Curves. Then define consecutive pairs of points for each new curve to be created. When done creating 2 Point Curves, click OK to close the panel.

At the top of the 2 Point Curves panel you can find the Entity Type frame with options to define the type of curve to be created: Connector (), Database (), or Source ().

Below the Entity Type frame, we present the standard options to explicitly specify the points that will define the curve being created:

• XYZ: Enter the XYZ coordinates of the control points defining the curve being created.
• Snap to Points: If checked on, this option allows you to specify the points defining the curve by picking any selectable point directly on the Display window. Snapping is taking place when a bullseye cursor is displayed ().
• Slope Guides: This option allows you to ensure that the linear curve being created is tangent/orthogonal to an existing curve or normal to a database surface. With the option checked on, and with the first control point of the linear curve being defined shared with an existent curve, slope guides tangent and orthogonal to the existent curve at the shared point's location will be shown in the Display window. Moreover, if the existent curve is constrained to a database surface, an additional guide normal to the surface at the shared point's location will also be shown. The guides are color-coded broken lines (see image below). Dragging the second control point of the linear curve near the proximity of one of the guides will lock the cursor motion in the preferred location and highlight the entity providing the selected slope.
  The linear curve being defined (yellow) shares its first control point with an existent database-constrained curve (green). The image shows the different types of slope guides available in this case and their color-coding scheme.
   

  Caution: Note that source curves do not provide slope information. This means that slope guides will not be available when creating a new linear curve (connector, database, or source) that shares its first control point with an existent source curve.

• Advanced: This expandable frame contains the following less frequently used options by which the location of the two points defining the linear curve can be specified: XYZ Offset, UV, UV Offset, Normal Offset, and Projection. These standard options are explained in detail in the Point Placement section.

Unique to the 2 Point Curves command is the option to either Delete Last Point or Delete Last Curve depending on which point definition you are on. On the first point defined, the command button provides the Delete Last Point option. After the second point and new curve are defined, the command button provides the Delete Last Curve option. Note that the Delete key on your keyboard can be used as a shortcut for these two deletion options.

Demonstration