Hi Will, I was testing the manipulator in Cinema4D 10, maybe the one in XSI is different?

The one in C4D definitely feels pretty weird when used only in 2d. For example here is a curve in the top view, with the scale manipulator on.



To scale with it, I have to grab a point somewhere that seems rather arbitrarily on the _interior_ of the curve. I have never seen any 2D illustration program scale objects in this manner, it is just weird to have to grab such an arbitrary inside point to initiate the scaling.

After scaling, it looks like this:



This also feels weird that the manipulator did not change after the scale, it doesn't feel like it is connected very much to the object.

None of this is really an issue when using the manipulator when working on a section of selected vertices in the 3D view, it works great there.


Rotation brings up this huge thing right in the middle of the curve:



Again, I've never seen a 2D illustration app that handles rotation by placing a giant control right smack in the middle of your design...

Are the manipulators in XSI significantly different from this?

It definitely will be a nice feature to be able to rotate or scale without starting up a command - a manipulator frame that goes around the outside of the selected objects will allow for that as well, but not feel as weird when used with 2D shapes only...

- Michael