How do I get Da Light??

[Clements]

I accidentally rotated a light behind my text such that I can no longer select the light with my cursor. I tried rotating the lights and moving to the timeline frame where the light pointer exposes itself but, of course, it seesm you can't select the light while in the timeline mode.

Any suggestions other than deleting the text or not being so careless in the first place? : )

[Clements]

I accidentally rotated a light behind my text such that I can no longer select the light with my cursor. I tried rotating the lights and moving to the timeline frame where the light pointer exposes itself but, of course, it seesm you can't select the light while in the timeline mode.

Any suggestions other than deleting the text or not being so careless in the first place? : )

[Egg Bramhill]

The easiest way to relocate your light arrow is to tip your text to 90 degrees, you can normally drag the ligt then. If you can't see the light, then use the drop down menu to select the lost light and give it a vivid colour.
Hope this helps, if not post your file and I'll see if I can relocate it for you.
Egg

[Clements]

... thanks for replying.

Fortunately, this problem happened in a file that I was using as a test (to practice 3D-5). The text I had was extruded so much that it still covered the "rear" light when I rotated as you suggested. Unfortunately, it would seem that the user would have to change the properties of the extrusion, etc., in order to get at the light.

Too bad one could not pick the back light by tabbing to it (or choosing its' color palette) and then use the arrow-keys to pivot the light back out into view.

Perhaps the next version of 3D could include a method to bale people out in situation like this.

[Clements]

The file

[simsmj]

Hello John,

I couldn't see the blue light at all, and the timeline won't let you grab it in mid-frame because the lights were animated too. However, I just loaded the x3d file into Notepad, and amended the line for Lighting3Theta, which was at 6.something, and I made it 10.something and resaved. Reload into Xara3D, and select the lights, and the blue light is now accessible, (just). I agree that another means of selection would be useful.

Hope this helps,
Mike

http://www.simsmj.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/weesig.gif
Just chugging away...
Mike Sims

[Clements]

Cool to know the file is editable in a text editor.

I've only read about version 5's ability to copy styles from one file to another. Perhaps saving the original file to a new name, opening the new file, deletiing the text, adjusting the light, saving the new file, and then applying only the lighting attributes of the new file to the old (original) file would work too ?????

[simsmj]

but I've just tried it. You can't export a style as such, but you can import a style from an existing .x3d file, and specify what elements you want copied, ie. lighting only or just about everything except the objects themselves.

It actually looks quite flexible.

Playing with x3d files in Notepad could be dangerous, in the sense that you could ruin the rendering of a file in Xara3D, but it also shows some interesting details. For instance, when you rotate an object in Xara3D, it is the observer viewpoint that is actually moving, and the lights move with the observer. The lights positions are stored as vertical and horizontal angles from the observer viewpoint, irrespective of the postion of that viewpoint. The three angles shown at the bottom right of the Xara3D screen actually show the observer Phi, Theta and Rho angles. Phi is the angle along the horizontal plane, Theta the angle along the Vertical plane, and Rho is an offset applied to the Vertical plane, and would seem to have nothing to do with z-rotation.

Mike

http://www.simsmj.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/weesig.gif
Just chugging away...
Mike Sims

[Christine Farrelly]

Go in to text mode - move the cursor to the beginning. Enter a character (any will do) press return twice.

Come out of text mode the light is visible. Move the light to a more reasonable place then go back into text mode and delete the extra characters.

Christine

[Clements]

leave it to "incredible Christine" for a simple, direct solution.

: )