Hi James, I'm glad that you like MoI!

> however I would like to know if there is a hot-key or something where I can
> insert the value of a point, corner, radius(whatever) without using the
> mouse to bring focus to the input field.

You don't have to push any separate hot-key, just start typing. Whenever you type a number, your keystroke and focus will automatically be placed in the x/y/z control. Except if a command is showing a numeric input as one of its options (for example the radius of a circle), focus will go there instead of into the x/y/z control.

When you're typing into the x/y/z control, if you type a single number and push enter, it will have the same effect as if you clicked on the distance control and typed - this sets distance constraint. So that's a way you can activate distance constraint without needing to click on the distance control first.

Also, if you type "<" and a number (like "<45"), it will be the same as if you clicked and typed into the angle constraint.

A couple of other things you may be interested in - you can type "r" and then a coordinate to specify distances relative to the previous point. So for instance, if you draw a line and place the first point somewhere, you can then type r1,1 to place the next point 1 unit in x and 1 unit in y away from the first point. There is also a distance<angle syntax supported, so for instance on the second point of a line if you type 5<45, it will place the second point of the line 5 units and 45 degrees away from the first point.

> The reason I ask (perhaps it's a bad habit),

Nope, not a bad habit at all - that control is also meant to be used for feedback as you're describing. Just start typing and I think it should do what you want! Let me know if it doesn't

> Next: I've been using b-curves with a 2D graphics programs, but I don't
> really know how to control them in 3D. Yes I can bend them around as you
> would in 2D with control points.

In general, I think you're probably better off not making the curves swoop around in 3D so much. It's easier to control things at first when you just deal with planar curves.


> However, when I blend, loft, or sweep I get unexpected results. Furthermore, I
> have no idea what the parameters do.

Can you please post one or two model files that show some of the curves and unexpected results that you're getting? Seeing an example would make it easier for me to understand what might be going wrong, and would make it easier for me to offer some specific suggestions.


> Could you please explain how I could design something to spec (say for
> instance a fan blade). whereby I know the overall diameter, pitch, and
> outlining blade profile with Moi and not end up with a twisted mess of
> lines.

Check out this thread: http://moi3d.com/forum/messages.php?webtag=MOI&msg=100.1 for some info. That's showing an approach for how to start to surface a crane hook given a blueprint. If you grab the model attached there, you can see some of the stages.

But I think the easiest way to help you would be if you could post some of your files that have twisted messy stuff in them.

- Michael

< like "<45", "5< 10", "r 1,6"
Cool tips !

Ps You give more infos than in the Documentation :)
Pss the "r" takes...the fonction "Rotate" (select object to Rotate)and not the next point of the line ??? :)

Two others I forgot to mention - type just "0" as an alias for the 0,0,0 origin point, and also you can prefix polar coordinates with w to get world polar coordinates, like w5<25 - that's distance 5, angle 25 away from the origin (not relative to previous point)

> Pss the "r" takes...the fonction "Rotate" (select object to Rotate)and not the next point of the line ??? :)

I think that's because you've got R=Rotate defined in your shortcut keys.

You can also use @ in place of r for relative coordinates, like @2,2 .

- Michael

> because you've got R=Rotate defined in your shortcut keys.
So the @ can be replace it :)
Cool system of coord entry :)

Excellent pointers! I havent been able to get the blender to work on two curves as I did previously.
As soon as I get it to work, I'll send a screen shot.

Thanks
James

> I havent been able to get the blender to work on two curves as I did previously.

For blend and loft, you need to pick nearby the ends that you want to line up. That's possibly one thing that you're running into.

Here's an illustration (using loft here):



When you click on the curves to loft or blend, MoI will match the endpoints that you clicked nearest to. If you happened to click near opposite ends, you can easily end up with twisted stuff.

If you do a window select around objects instead of clicking on them, MoI will do an automatic process to decide which way to align things. Most of the time the automatic process works well, so maybe I should revisit this and make the automatic process run even when you select by clicking as well.

- Michael

Maybe it's an advantage to keep this "crossing automatism" when we want cross curves :)

(and see of course the Michael's text rectification correction & above post image ! :D
http://www.silo3d.com/forum/showpost.php?p=60523&postcount=28
The Blend mystery was more complex than I had supposed :D

> Maybe it's an advantage to keep this "crossing automatism" when we want cross curves :)

I was thinking that there would be some option available for controlling it manually if you wanted. But having it do an automatic match for the initial default would probably make it easier to use for a wider set of people...

The current way is probably too hidden and subtle.

- Michael

Thanks again for the pointers. Obviously, I had different expectations.

James