Hi Andrew,

There are scripts that Michael has written to help with this, they are the "CloseCurve" and the "MarkOpenCurveStart" the following link explains http://moi3d.com/forum/messages.php?webtag=MOI&msg=2888.1

You can also find a number of other useful scripts and their explanation on Petr's MoI page here http://kyticka.webzdarma.cz/3d/moi/

Cheers

Hi Danny

Thanks for your reminder of the scripts. I should have remembered to refer to them in my first post.

As someone who uses MoI with just a trackball (and very occasionally an onscreen keyboard for naming files and exports), I was hoping that this might be something that Michael could implement as a standard feature, either in V3 or a future release. Whilst the option to use scripts is very helpful at times, I must say I find it a bit of a bind trying to remember what is available and then triggering the script. It's the sheer simplicity of the MoI interface that makes it so easy to pick up again after not using it for a long period of time. We all find our ways of using software in our own way, but if a feature is only available as a script, I tend to find another way of doing it.

Thanks

Andrew

Hi Andrew, I'm not sure about doing something like the red that you're showing - red kind of has a connection with some kind of error or problem and if you had just some regular open curve it could potentially be confusing for someone to see ends displayed in red and think there was some kind of error with a totally normal curve.

So if it was going to be something that was displayed all the time then it would need to be kind of more subtle than that.

Then the other issue is whether it would be expected for there to be markers like that at the ends of every segment in the curve, or only at the ends of the full curve...

I've previously been thinking about having an extended properties dialog that you could pop up for selected objects and having some checkbox on that for enabling showing end markers. That could be a place where I could put all kinds of various diagnostic tools.

- Michael

Hi Michael

Just chose red at random for the example as it helped illustrate my point! I agree that red is definitely not suitable, and something subtle would fit in with the whole MoI3D default colour scheme. I actually find the default colours relaxing on the eyes when using it for long periods. As for the colour to use, it could even be as simple as the end of curve control points could be black, not white?

For my original request, I was only looking for the ends of the full curve, i.e. a control point that was not intermediate in a curve or as part of joined segments. Though thinking about it I can see the ocassional benefit of segment ends being highlighted as well, perhaps in grey, i.e. a midway status between a end of full curve (black), and a partway control point (white).

Having it as an option in an extended properties dialog (perhaps under the Options/View panel?), would be a perfect solution for me.

Like so many of the others on this forum who have said it before, having the chance to put issues like this to you (even if they aren't possible or acceptable), really makes MoI3D stand out from all the other packages I've used. I really appreciate the effort you put into this, and use MoI3D as part of my hobby time, because it is so fun and easy to use!

Andrew

Hi Andrew, in general I kind of dislike tagging things with too many special colors - for the most part colors are kind of reserved for you to use to organize your model using styles, and having too many various kinds of colors for other purposes can kind of be cluttering. It also tends to be kind of hard to make colors have really specific meanings to them other than a few cases like red = danger.

I was kind of thinking more about having them marked more by a difference in shape, maybe something like an extra ring around the outside of the the regular point.


> Though thinking about it I can see the ocassional benefit of segment
> ends being highlighted as well, perhaps in grey, i.e. a midway status
> between a end of full curve (black), and a partway control point (white).

The problem here is that curve points are not necessarily outlined in black - they will have the color of the style assigned to the curve. So for example if you select a curve and assign it style = Blue, and then turn on its control points currently, you should see the points actually have a blue outline then.


> Having it as an option in an extended properties dialog (perhaps under the
> Options/View panel?), would be a perfect solution for me.

You mean an option for making every curve in the whole model have its ends marked that way?

The way I was thinking was more that you be able to turn it on or off for just some particular curves that you have selected, probably the access point would be a button on the properties panel that shows up when you have selected some objects, something like this:



The idea there would be that pushing that "Properties" button would pull up an extended object properties dialog where I would have plenty of room to put in a lot of diagnostic and detailed information controls, something for turning on additional markers for endpoints could fit in well there.


> I really appreciate the effort you put into this, and use MoI3D
> as part of my hobby time, because it is so fun and easy to use!

Thanks very much Andrew, I'm really glad that you are having fun with MoI!

- Michael

> I really appreciate the effort you put into this, and use MoI3D
> as part of my hobby time, because it is so fun and easy to use!


I second that 100%.

Peace,
Rich_Art. ;)

Hi Michael

Understand fully now about the whole colour issue. Yes I can see that shapes would be better.

I'd be very happy with clicking on a properties button as you illustrated. It would also keep things simpler in the Options box, something I remember appreciating when first using the V1 Beta!.

Thanks again

Andrew