Path Widget Help
The Path Widget is composed of a spline or hermite curve and several
sub-widget "control points" (the "spline" in the figure is simulated
by cylinders). The control points consist of a sphere, an arrow for
the tangent (for hermite curves), and two arrows which define the
"look at" and "up" directions for an object at that point on the path.
The primary use of the View Widget is to create either a spline curve
or a hermite curve. If this curve is to be used as a path (such as
for an animation sequence), then the user may control the orientation
of the object (or camera) at each control point on the path. If the
user is creating a spline, then the tangent at each control point is
unnecessary, so they may be turned off by changing Modes (see below).
The same is true if the orientation is not needed.
The user may drag any arrow about its associated sphere, but the
distance will remain constrained. The two orientation arrows will
maintain their orthogonality throughout manipulation by the user. A
control point sub-widget may be moved by dragging its sphere.
Finally, the entire widget may be dragged by its spline.
SCI Research Group
Computer Science Department Research