OOF2: The Manual

The Move Nodes Toolbox allows the position of Skeleton Nodes to be set manually. Unless Nodes moved in this way are subsequently pinned, other Skeleton modification routines may move them away from their assigned spots.

Figure 4.12 shows the arrangement of the Toolbox. The Toolbox operates in one of two modes, set by the buttons at the top marked Mouse and Keyboard. In both modes, the boxes labelled x and y show the current position (in physical coordinates) of the Node being moved, and the boxes labelled shape energy and homogeneity show the change in the shape energy and homogeneity of the Elements surrounding the moving Node.

Figure 4.12. The Move Nodes Toolbox

The Move Nodes Toolbox and a portion of the Canvas, showing a Node in motion.

To move a Node in Mouse mode, simply click on or near the Node in the Canvas, and drag it to its new position. (The Node's Skeleton must be in the topmost Skeleton Layer in the Canvas.) While the Node is being dragged, ghostly versions of the Segments connected to the Node are drawn, and the displayed position, shape energy, and homogeneity are continuously updated.

Moving a Node in Keyboard mode allows for more precise placement, if you happen to know the desired position numerically. Switch to Keyboard mode and click on the Node to be moved. Its position will be entered in the x and y boxes, and the Node will be highlighted in the Canvas by a pink dot.^[11] To move the Node, type new coordinates in the boxes and click the Move button at the bottom of the toolbox.

In either mode, moving a Node triggers the OOF.Graphics_n.Toolbox.Move_Nodes.MoveNode command.

Moves that create illegal Elements will be rejected unless the box marked Allow illegal moves is checked. It can be convenient to temporarily create illegally shaped Elements when moving multiple Nodes, as long as no illegal Elements remain at the end. During a move, the Toolbox indicates if the moving Node is in an illegal position. At other times, it indicates the number of illegal Elements in the Skeleton.

The Undo and Redo buttons at the bottom of the Toolbox are duplicates of the Undo and Redo buttons on the Skeleton Task Page.