Appearance Information

Use

The Appearance information is used to modify settings for the appearance of various objects such as primitives and modifiers. For example, if you apply a mirror modifier to an object, you can change the distance from the object’s axis where the object is mirrored, and you can select to activate the mirror modifier in the scene. You can select different options depending on the object type.

Features

Following are the different functions:

Archway Primitive Area

Used to modify the settings for the selected primitive.

Field	Functional Description
Optimize	Optimizes the object so that adjacent faces share vertices. For example, two triangles sharing an edge will share two vertices, reducing the total number of vertices for the two triangles from 6 to 4.
Generate UV	Creates a UV map for the object automatically
2-sided	Displays a face from both sides. The faces that make up the object are usually visible from one side only. This option is typically used when one or more faces are not displayed to ensure the object displays correctly. Selecting this option doubles the rendering time.
Flip Sides	Displays the inner faces, and hides the outer faces of the object. We recommend that you use this option instead of 2-sided as it does not increase the rendering time.
Outer Width	Determines the absolute outer X-dimension
Outer Length	Determines the absolute outer Y-dimension
Thickness	Determines the absolute thickness in the Z-direction. This can be modified by the tapers settings.
Wall Thickness 1	Determines the thickness of the walls in the X-direction (measured on the straight sections) as a percentage of Outer Width value.
Wall Thickness 2	Determines the thickness of the walls in the Y-direction (measured on the straight sections) as a percentage of Outer Length value.
Bottom Radius 1	Determines the X-radius of the two bottom inner arcs, as a percentage of Outer Width value. This option works in conjunction with the bottom inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the bottom inner corner arcs.
Bottom Radius 2	Determines the Y-radius of the two bottom inner arcs, as a percentage of Bottom Radius 1. For example, if you want circular arcs, set this to 100. Technically, it specifies the Y-direction semi-axis of the ellipse. If you want elliptical arcs that are taller than wide, use a value greater than 100. If you want an arc shorter than it is wide, use a value less than 100. This option works in conjunction with the bottom inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the bottom inner corner arcs.
Bottom Start Angle	Determines the start angle for the bottom inner arcs and is measured relative to an axis of the ellipse (or circle). A value of 0 for “Bottom start ang” makes the arc begin tangent to the vertical side that leads into it. Positive values bend inward, toward the inside of the object; negative values bend outward (if Keep Angles in Range is not selected). This option works in tandem with the other bottom inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the bottom corner arcs. Note The “start angle” is what is called an “eccentric anomaly”, which is useful in generating ellipses using a simple formula. For circular arcs, the two types of angle are identical. So, the start angle looks more accurate; for elliptical arcs, the start angle looks like it is in the proper direction, but that the value is “somewhat off” (the more eccentric the ellipse, the greater the discrepancy). None of this should affect the process of visually adjusting the start angle until it “looks right”. Start angle plus Included Angle gives the End Angle, which is also an eccentric anomaly, and subject to the same discrepancy. Again, it should not affect the process of adjusting the arcs until they “look right”. Ninety percent of the time, you are going to want a start angle of 0, and an included angle of 90, to make the arcs’ ends tangent to the straight sides to which they are connected, and the angle-discrepancy problem vanishes at those values, even for highly elliptical arcs.
Bottom Included Angle	Determines the included angle (or subtended angle) for the bottom inner arcs. It is the “number of degrees the arc spans”, beginning in the direction specified in Bottom Start Ang. Usually, you want a positive number that is less than 90 minus Bottom Start Ang. This option works in conjunction with the other bottom inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the bottom inner corner arcs. Note Keep Angles in Range enforces this option.
Bottom Outer Square Corners	Squares the bottom outer corners. Otherwise, the bottom outer corners are rounded, outset from the inner ones by the amounts specified by the wall thicknesses.
Top Radius 1	Determines the X-radius of the two top inner arcs, as a percentage of Outer Width. The arcs can be elliptical, so, technically, it is the X-direction semi-axis of the ellipse. This option works in conjunction with the top inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the top inner corner arcs.
Top Radius 2	Determines the Y-radius of the two top inner arcs, as a percentage of Top rad 1. For example, if you want circular arcs, set this to 100. Technically, it specifies the Y-direction semi-axis of the ellipse. If you want elliptical arcs that are taller than wide, use a value greater than 100. If you want an arc shorter than it is wide, use a value less than 100. This option works in conjunction with the top inner arc parameters to define the shape and size of the top inner corner arcs.
Top Start Angle	Determines the start angle for the top inner arcs and is measured relative to an axis of the ellipse (or circle)
Top Included Angle	Determines the included angle (or subtended angle) for the top inner arcs
Keep Angles in Range	Restricts the angles for the inner corner Start and Included angles so that the corner arcs act as expected. The start angles are restricted to the range 0 to 90 degrees; included angles are restricted to the range 0 to 90 minus the start angle. This keeps the arcs from bowing outward.
Top Outer Square Corners	Squares the top outer corners. Otherwise, the top outer corners are rounded, outset from the inner ones by the amounts specified by the wall thickness.
Bottom Arc Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the bottom arcs, or in the bottom arc directions. This option refer to divisions around the perimeter.
Top Arc Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the top arcs, or in the top arc directions. This option refer to divisions around the perimeter.
Vertical Edge Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the vertical edges, or in the vertical edge directions. This option refer to divisions around the perimeter.
Horizontal Edge Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the horizontal edges, or in the horizontal edges directions. This option refer to divisions around the perimeter.
Radial Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the radius, or in the radial directions. This option refer to the number of divisions radially outward from the center of the object.
Thickness Segments	Determines the number of segments into which the object is subdivided along the thickness, or in the thickness directions. This option refer to divisions around the perimeter.
Start Percent	Determines from where to start the frame to determine how much of the object to create. That is, you can create a partial object. It is measured from the base of the right straight section and counterclockwise for positive values around the perimeter.
Total Percent	Determines from where to start the frame to determine how much of the object to create. That is, you can create a partial object. It is measured counterclockwise for positive values around the perimeter. A value of 100 or greater (or -100 or less), the object is complete (closed), and has no end caps.
Back/Front/Outer/Inner/Beginning Cap/End Cap	Displays the face of the archway. We recommend using this option. Otherwise, you should select either the 2-sided or Flip sides option to ensure the object displays correctly.
Inner Angle	Determines the angle of rotation of the inner surface about its center. Typically, you should only use small values. If the angle is too large, the inner surface pops through the outer one, or faces become scrambled in other undesirable ways.
Inner Taper	Determines the thickness of the inner edges. It is an offset percentage of the Thickness option. For example, a value of zero has no effect as the thickness is already set by the Thickness option. A value of 100 doubles the thickness, and -100 makes the thickness equal to zero (a sharp edge). Note that the thickness value must be greater than zero for this option to function.
Outer Taper	Determines the thickness of the outer edges. It is an offset percentage of the Thickness option. For example, a value of zero has no effect as the thickness is already set by the Thickness option. A value of 100 doubles the thickness, and -100 makes the thickness equal to zero (a sharp edge). Note that the thickness value must be greater than zero for this option to function.
Inner 2-offset	Determines the movement of the inner surface around the axes in the Y direction. This value is a percentage of the Outer Width or Outer Length options, whichever is larger. If the offset is too large, the inner surface pops through the outer one, or faces become scrambled in other undesirable ways.
Inner 3-offset	Determines the movement of the inner surface around the axes in Z direction. This value is a percentage of the Outer Width or Outer Length options, whichever is larger. If the offset is too large, the inner surface pops through the outer one, or faces become scrambled in other undesirable ways.

Character Primitive Area

Used to modify the settings for the selected character primitive.

Field	Functional Description
Normal Deviation	Determines the maximum angular deviation (in degrees) allowed between a analytical surface and its triangulation. Pairs of triangles do not incorporate a dihedral angle greater than this amount. For example, this setting dictates the minimum number of facets around a smaller circle or cylinder regardless of the surface deviation setting. This parameter gives you added control over faces with very small radii. Lower values result in finer tessellations, while higher values give coarser tessellations.
Height	Determines the height of the character.
Extrude	Applies thickness to the character. Note that you cannot only see extrusion for 2D files by rotation. However, you can use the different preset views to see any extrusion you have applied.
Character	Determines the character that is displayed in standard ASCII format. For example, a value of 50 displays `2`, and a value of 100 displays `d`. Used to modify the settings for the mirror modifier.
Modifier On	Activates the selected modifier in the scene.
Modify Normals	Inverts the normals to match the originals.
Centre Anchor	A position, based on the center of the selected object, that is the central point about which the mirror is applied.
Destination	The offset distance that is applied to one side of the mirror and not the other.
Direction	The axis to mirror the objects. For example, you could mirror the objects along the X, XY, or XZ axes.
Offset	Offsets the mirrored objects the distance of the selected axis. For example, imagine a mirror aligned with the plane created by the X and Y axes. Now imagine the object reflected in that mirror. If the offset is zero, the mirror passes straight through the origin of the object. If the offset is non-zero then the mirror is offset from the object, so the mirror image will also be offset from the original model.