Lesson IX - Modifying Shapes In The 2D Shaper (Part III)
In this lesson you will continue to learn how to modify shapes in the 2D Shaper. We shall explore the the Polygon... submenu in the Modify menu in this lesson. First access the 2D Shaper by hitting the "F1" key on your keyboard. Then click on the shapes function Modify. This will bring up a list of commands and submenus. Click on the Polygon... submenu. You will see the following commands : Move, Rotate, Scale, Skew, Mirror, Adjust, Linear, Curve, and Delete. We shall discuss these commands in an interactive tutorial.

The Move Command
This command does just what it is expected to - it moves polygons. You can constrain the movement to the y-axis or the x-axis after selecting the command by pressing the tab key. You can also clone the object by holding shift while you move and object. The original object will remain in it's original location whereas a new object will be created in the moved destination. To use this command, click Move on the Polygon... menu. Then click on the desired shape. Move your mouse cursor around to move the polygon. Once it is at the desired location click once.

The Rotate Command
This command is used to rotate polygons. If the local axis button is not activated then the object will be rotated around the global axis. This may result in the object going out of view if the object is located far away from the global axis. Rotating an object on its local axis causes it to be rotated but remain in the same location. To use this command click Rotate and then click on the target shape. Use your mouse to rotate the object. The degrees of rotation is shown near the the top of the screen. Once you have sufficiently rotated the object click once and the shape will be placed.

The Scale Command
This command allows you to scale a shape by displacing it's vertices based on either the global or local axis. The scale operation is done in percentage form. You will notice that if you do an enlarging scale based on the global axis the object will grow and also move away from the global axis. If you scale down and object based on the global scale it will shrink and move towards the global axis. However, if you turn on the local axis then the object will not be moved, only scaled. To use this command, click Scale on the menu. Then click on the target object. Move your mouse to choose the percentage of scale - the maximum being 400%. Then click again to complete the procedure.

The Skew Command
This is another command that utilizes the global and the local axes. The Skew command moves vertices of a shape on both ends of the object in opposite directions that are parallel to the skew axis which is determined by pressing the tab key. As with the Scale command, using global axis will also move the object. To use this command, click on Skew and then click on the desired object. Move your mouse cursor around and you will notice the effect of the skew. Click once to place the shape.

The Mirror Command
This command basically takes a shape and mirrors it on the selected axis or axes. You can mirror a shape based on the x-axis, the y-axis or both axes - this is determined by pressing the tab key. You can also make a copy of the object by holding down shift when carrying out the mirror process as with the move command. To use the Mirror command, click Mirror and then click on the object to be mirrored. The object will automatically be mirrored based on the axis/axes you have specified with the tab key. You can then move the object to a desired location before clicking to place the object.

The Adjust Command
This basically allows you to change the form of shapes by adjusting the spline values of its vertices around. Notice that this command is similar to the Vertex...Ajust command because you are required to select a vertex after choosing the shape. To use this command, click Adjust and move your mouse cursor over to the viewport . Then, click on a polygon. You will be prompted to select a vertex on the polygon. The vertex will be adjusted in accordance to your mouse movements. Click once when you are done.

The Linear Command
This command makes a non-linear shape linear by adjusting the segments in the polygon so that they are straight. Thus, you can use this command to make a circular polygon into a rectangular one. To use the Linear command, click Linear and click on the target polygon. The segments on the polygon will be automatically straightened.

The Curve Command
This command does the exact opposite of the Linear command. It equally curves all the segments of a polygon by adjusting the spline values of the two end vertices of the segment. The curve is also biased based on other connecting vertices if there are any. To use this command, click Curve and click on the target shape. The shape will be curved automatically.

The Delete Command
This command does just what it's expected to - delete polygons. Deleting a shape causes it to disappear completely. So use this command with care. To use this command click on Delete followed by the shape to be deleted.

3D Studio MAX
There are similar commands found in 3D Studio MAX. Therefore it is advisable to read the content above because the commands in 3DS MAX function in the same way. These commands are found under the Modify tab when you select a vertex or select and object then click "Sub-Object" and select "Polygon".

This concludes the third part of the lessons related to the Modify menu which discussed the Polygon... submenu. We will explore another submenu in the next lesson .

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