
2	General Enhancements
	In This Section: Symmetry Planes 14 View Panel 14 Layer Categories 15 Place Primitive Manipulator 16 Proportional Mod Control Window 16 Move CV Normal Can Pick Hulls 17 Three Point Construction Planes 17 Specify the Major and Minor Radii of a Torus Primitive 18 Substantial Improvements to the Plotting Interface 19 Align Hull 19 Documentation Enhancements

	Version 9 features revised and improved documentation: NURBS Modeling in Alias and Rendering in Alias have been substantially improved, including more illustrations. A new book, Data Transfer for CAD and Solid Imaging, combines documentation for CAT Direct Connect, SDRC Master Series, new Unigraphics support, and other information. Most books, including Basic Tools in Alias, Learning Alias, Animating in Alias, Polygonal Modeling in Alias, Games Data Transfer in Alias, and the Evalviewer User Guide, use a new, cleaner page layout and more descriptive headings. The global indices have been improved and navigation tables have been added to help you find information more quickly. Symmetry Planes


For more information, see Setting Symmetry on Layers in Basic Tools in Alias.	Symmetry planes help automate the process of modeling a symmetrical object by interactively displaying the mirrored half as you model. The new symmetry features allow you to: Work with an automatically updated symmetrical half, even in shaded mode. Align geometry for tangency with the symmetrical half using the *Symmetry align* tool. Convert the symmetrical half to real geometry using *Layers > Symmetry > Create geometry. View Panel*


For more information, see Using the View Panel in Basic Tools in Alias.	The view panel appears when you hold the camera move keys. It lets you: Quickly move the camera to common locations. Control the point of interest. Set and return to bookmarked views. Switch between true perspective and isometric projections. Layer Categories


For more information, see The Layer Stats Window in Basic Tools in Alias.	Layer Categories allow you to group several layers together so that you can use them as a group in any tool that acts on selected layers (for example, symmetry, rendering, and saving). Place Primitive Manipulator


For more information, see Creating Geometric Primitives in NURBS Modeling in Alias.	Primitives (for example, spheres, cubes and cones) now appear in the scene with a manipulator. You can use the manipulator to immediately move, scale and rotate the object into position without using the Xform tools. Xform > Modify > Proportional mod Proportional Mod Control Window


For more information, see Reshaping Regions of Curves and Surfaces in Basic Tools in Alias.	The options for the Proportional mod tool are now in a floating control window rather than a modal option window, so you can leave the window open and change options while you use the tool. In addition, the tool has the following improvements: A *Revert* button to undo changes. The sliders for setting the number of preceding and succeeding CVs have context-sensitive limits: the maximum limit of the slider is the maximum number of CVs you can possibly use. To select all CVs in a particular direction, simply drag the slider all the way to the end. Xform > Modify > Move CV normal Move CV Normal Can Pick Hulls


For more information, see Deforming Geometry by Moving CV along a Normal in Basic Tools in Alias.	After selecting *Xform > Modify > Move CV normal* from the tool palette, you can click a hull to move an entire row of CVs at once. Grids > Free plane Three Point Construction Planes


For more information, see Construction Planes in NURBS Modeling in Alias.	The *Free plane* tool now has a much easier way to create three-point planes: 1 Click the *Free plane* tool, or choose *Free plane* from the *Grids* palette menu. 2 Use curve, grid, or magnet snapping to click the three points of the new construction plane. The first click creates the new plane. The second and third clicks orient the plane. Objects > Primitives > Torus Specify the Major and Minor Radii of a Torus Primitive


For more information, see Creating Geometric Primitives in NURBS Modeling in Alias.	The *Torus* tool now has options allowing you to specify the minor and major radii when *Size* is set to *Absolute. The major radius is the distance between the center of the ring and the centerline of the tube. The minor radius is the radius of the tube itself. File > Output > Plot Substantial Improvements to the Plotting Interface*


For more information, see Plotting Wireframe Models in Basic Tools in Alias.	The plotting interface has had substantial improvements to make it easier to use: Turn off the *Show Bound. box* option in the *Layout* section of the *Plotting Interface* control window to see the complete content of the modeling windows that will be plotted. Use new options to better control the plotter. Object Edit > Align hull Align Hull


For more information, see Aligning Hulls to a Plane in NURBS Modeling in Alias.	The Align hull tool calculates the best fit plane for each row of CVs and aligns the CVs to that plane.