Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 4, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Claytools 1.2, the latest version of Sensable’s virtual modelling clay, comes with many new features, especially for working with curves. The “Split all” function makes it possible to have a point inserted into both splines retrospectively wherever splines intersect. The “Auto-Join” function automatically removes points from lines when they are no longer necessary.
Curves can now be managed conveniently in layers and folders, and performance when working with curves is also significantly better than before. Whereas previously it was only possible to hide individual objects, the user can now hide either all curves or all meshes directly. If they use a curve to partially extrude the mesh, they can now choose whether to extrude all faces in the same direction or in the direction of their normal vector.
After they have been created, the user can now deform basic objects such as cubes and cylinders even more precisely by moving vertices, edges or individual faces. In the “File new” dialogue, they can specify certain splines as start splines that are in the scene from the outset.
When creating a mask, it is now possible to add the drawn masks either to the existing masking, or subtract them from it. The viewing angle in the viewport can be enlarged and reduced, and for transformations the user can use either the world coordinate system or the object’s local coordinate system. The “Refresh Model” button redraws the object.
To add parts to the existing clay, the user now also has a simple sphere available. When exporting a model, the polygon-reduction algorithms are now finer and the “XPress3D” export format has been added.
For hollow objects, the user can specify during import whether they should be filled as before, or should remain as they are.
The interface has been expanded with quick help, which always automatically shows in its window the help page for the button that has just been clicked.
The new update is to be available in August. For exact prices, please contact Sensable.
Further Links:
- Sensable
