VS3D Hammer Mode

1.3.2 Hammer Tip Application.

Once a hammer tip is defined, the hammer tip (shown as green outlines) will track the cursor as the mouse is moved over the sculpture grid window. The solid outline shows there the hammer will have full force. The dashed outline shows where the hammer will have 50% force. The dotted line shows the farthest extents (edge) of the hammer tip. Often, all three outlines are close together. The size of the green outline will not necessarily match the apparent size of the hammer tip as displayed in the Hammer Tip window. This can be due to the size of the sculpture grid and any zoom factor applied to the view. If the sculpture grid View Mode zoom factor is set to "1:1" (one grid point per screen pixel) then the hammer tip outline size will match the size shown in the Hammer Tip window. The Hammer Tip window always shows the hammer tip at one grid point per screen pixel.

Click and release either mouse button to impart a hammer blow to the sculpture grid at the desired location. Click and drag either mouse button to "scrape" the surface with the hammer tip. If a region is currently defined and visible, all hammer blows/scrapes will only have effect inside the region. The properties of the hammer blow/scrape can be set via the controls at the lower left corner of the window (when the main mode is set to "Hammer").

"=" (equals) : In this mode, a hammer blow will set the sculpture surface under the hammer tip to the Z height specified. In other words, use this mode to set the sculpture grid heights "equal" to the specified value.

"+--" (plus-minus) : In this mode, a hammer blow will add or subtract a specified value to the sculpture grid Z heights in the area under the hammer tip.

"<" (less than) : In this mode, the resulting sculpture grid Z heights under the hammer tip are set to the lesser of the existing Z heights, and the specified hammer blow height.

"Z" : This field specifies the hammer blow height for all hammer modes except "Smooth". The Z height value can be positive or negative.

"Avg: Off | On" : Normally, this setting is "Off". When "On", all the sculpture grid Z heights under the hammer tip are averaged before each hammer blow is applied. This setting is not visible when the hammer mode is "Smooth".

"Smooth Window" : This field specifies the amount of smoothing applied with each hammer blow. The smaller the number, the more localized the smoothing. The larger the number, the broader the smoothing. The minimum possible value is 3, and the maximum is about a third of the hammer tip grid dimension (in grid points). Smaller values are usually better. This field is only visible when the hammer blow mode is set to "Smooth".

1.3.2 A