There are 3 editing modes for modifying a Surface — Edit, Move, and Structure.
Edit Mode
The Edit Mode allows you to add and adjust vertices of the masks of any selected Surface.
Click on the Edit Icon in the Toolbar or press V. Any number of surfaces can be selected. You can select a single surface by clicking on one surface, or you can select multiple surfaces by drag-selecting to create a selection box that captures any number of surfaces. Once surface(s) are selected, their vertices, control points, and edges are available for edit.
Translation
Vertices and edges can be selected and translated. Click on any vertex or edge to edit it. Translate the vertex or edge by moving it in any direction. Shift+Click to add/remove the vertex from the selection set. Drag select to capture multiple vertices.
Adding Curvature
⌘/CTRL+Drag on a vertex to add control points to that point, which makes both edges it is attached to into a bezier curve. Click+Drag a control point to edit the location of both control points - the control point that is clicked is freely translated and the opposing control point will move to keep the curve smooth. ALT/option+Drag will allow editing of only the control point clicked, leaving the opposing control point unaffected, which creates a corner in the curve. ⌘/CTRL+Click+Drag a control point to edit the location of both control points and to mimic the translations done to one control point on the opposing control point.
Adding Points
⌘/CTRL+Shift+Click on a Path to add a new point on that path where clicked. A point will appear along the path to guide where you'd want to place it.
Move Mode
The Move Mode allows you to scale, rotate, and translate the selected Surface(s) or the selected Surface's content.
Click on the Move Icon in the Toolbar, press M, or click on a content layer in the layers panel. Any number of surfaces OR content layers from the same surface can be selected. You can select a single surface by clicking on one surface, or you can select multiple surfaces by drag-selecting to create a selection box that captures multiple surfaces. You can also select multiple surfaces in the layers panel by ⌘/CTRL+Click to add/remove from the existing selection. A single click will replace the selection with just the clicked item.
Double Click selects a content layer for transformation. You will see parts of the layer that sit inside the structure.
Vertices, control points, and edges are not visible in this mode. Instead, an axis aligned bounding box is drawn around the selection. The selection set can be scaled, translated, or rotated.
Scale
Hover over a vertex of the bounding box. The cursor should now be the scale icon. Click+Drag the vertex in any direction to scale the box. You can constrain the aspect ratio with ⌘/CTRL.
Translation
Hover over anywhere within the bounding box. The cursor should become the move icon. Click+Drag in any direction to translate the box.
Rotation (applies to Surface's content only)
Hover above and adjacent to the bounding box's vertices or edges. The cursor should become the rotate icon. Click+Drag in any direction to rotate the box. ⌘/CTRL+Drag restricts the allowed angles to be multiple of 10 degrees.
Perspective Warp Mode
As of Lightform Creator 2.0, the Perspective Warp tool has replaced the Structure tool. It is accessible through the toolbar button with the same icon as the old Structure tool. To open projects created by older versions of Lightform Creator, read about the Project Warning Message for Structure Data.
How it Works Now
The Perspective Warp tool operates on content. To use it, you must first select an Asset layer.
By default, content is not deformed and looks flat.
Depending on your project, this might be the desired look. If the object you are projecting on is at an angle from the projector, you may want to deform or warp the content to give the appearance of a 3D-like perspective. That's where the tool's "Perspective Warp" name comes from.
Imagine the object in the above screenshot representing an angled real-world surface, such as the side of a box. We might prefer to make the Signal image look like it's on the surface of the box. To do this, drag the corners of the Perspective Warp controls, deforming the content.
At first, this looks similar to what you could achieve with the old Structure tool or just modifying the content item in Creator 1.x.
The differences:
- Unlike the old Structure tool, you can apply Perspective Warp separately to multiple content layers.
- Perspective Warp doesn't just deform the content, it creates a 3D-like perspective. This can be demonstrated by moving the content - click and drag the content to a new location. Notice that the content is a little smaller than before. It appears as though it has moved into the distance using the perspective that you previously defined.
Properties Panel Controls
A few perspective-oriented controls have been added to the Properties Panel for surfaces and content.
Asset "Perspective" Controls
Select an Asset layer. You can find a "Perspective" group in the Properties Panel.
- Fit to Surface: Automatically adjusts the content's perspective to match the Surface's dimensions when clicked. It is only enabled if the Surface contains 4 points.
- Reset: Removes the Perspective Warp when clicked. This button will be disabled if there is no perspective warp.
Surface "Perspective" Controls
Select a Surface layer. You can find a "Perspective" group in the Properties Panel.
Auto Fit New Content: Automatically adjusts the content's perspective to match the Surface's dimensions for all Asset layers in a Surface. Enabling this control is the equivalent to manually performing "Fit to Surface" on each Asset layer.