Lines, circles and polygons

A figure is made of lines and circles that hang from joints, plus filled shapes stretched between joints. On this page you build a whole character from an empty canvas and learn what each kind of part can do.

Make a figure from nothing

You will draw a body, a head, arms and legs, a tail, then fill a shape and test the result. Every step uses one tool from the Build tool bar.

1. Open Build with no figure selected. The Line tool is already on and the stage header says Drag on the canvas to draw the figure’s first line.
2. Drag upwards from the middle of the canvas: that is the body. The point where you pressed becomes the orange origin.
3. Press C for Circle and drag up from the top joint of the body: a head. Your drag is the circle’s width, from one side to the other.
4. Press L and drag out the arms from the top of the body and the legs from the origin. Two parts per limb give you elbows and knees.
5. Click Chain pen, click the origin, then click three or four points to the side for a tail. Press Enter to finish. The whole chain is one undo step.
6. Click Polygon, click three joints in order (for example both shoulders and the origin), then press Enter: a filled shape appears.
7. Click Edit joints, click the end of a part and turn on Static in Properties. Then click Test rig and move the figure about.

Try itMake a figure from nothing

Untitled animationSaved

AnimateDrawBuild

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Drag on the canvas to draw the figure's first line

0 of 7 done

1. Drag up: the body, and the origin.
2. Circle C: drag up from the top joint for a head.
3. Line L: draw arms and legs (5 lines or more).
4. Chain pen: click out a tail, then Enter.
5. Polygon: click 3 joints, then Enter.
6. Turn on Static for a part.
7. Test rig: pose it and watch the fill bend.

Lines

1. Pick Line (L). Press on the joint the new part should hang from and drag to where it should end.
2. Let go. The new line is selected. It copies the colour and width of the part it grows from, so a line out of a 12 px arm is 12 px wide.
3. Change it in Properties: Width, Opacity, colour, and in Geometry the exact Angle and Length.

A line that starts away from any joint still needs a parent: it hangs from the selected joint, or from the origin. Smart snapping helps you hit joints and line things up; hold Alt to draw freely.

Example: for a two-part arm, draw from the shoulder to the elbow, then from the elbow to the wrist. Check it in Test rig: turning the upper arm should carry the forearm. If the forearm stays behind, it hangs from the wrong joint: undo and draw it again from the elbow.

The Chain pen

Chain pen draws several connected lines one click at a time, which is quicker for tails, hair, ropes and spines.

1. Click Chain pen in the tool bar. Click the joint the chain starts from.
2. Click once for each new joint. The stage header counts the links, with Finish and a cancel button.
3. Press Enter, double-click, or click Finish. Backspace removes the last point, Esc throws the chain away.

Circles and the five shapes

Pick Circle (C) and drag out of a joint. The drag is the circle’s diameter: it starts at the joint and ends at the new joint on the far side. A circle is a part like any other, so it moves with its parent. A new circle is a White circle; change it with Shape.

Width is the ring’s thickness for White and Clear circles. A White circle also has a Second colour section in Properties.

Polygons that bend with the figure

A polygon is a fill stretched between joints. It does not have joints of its own: when the joints move, the fill follows. Use it for clothes, hair, capes and shields.

1. In Build, pick Polygon. The stage header says Click joints to trace.
2. Click at least three joints, going around the shape in order. Ctrl-click a joint further along to add every joint on the way in one go.
3. Finish: click the first joint again, press Enter, click Finish, or click the Polygon tool again. Esc cancels.
4. Click the fill to select it. Set its Fill color, opacity and Fill order (in front of or behind the lines).

With the Polygon tool, Shift-click inside a closed loop of parts to fill it straight away.

Example: for a sleeve, click the shoulder, elbow, wrist and a joint on the torso, in that order. Put the fill behind the arm’s lines, then bend the elbow in Test rig.

Static joints

Normally a part turns with its parent: rotate the forearm and the hand turns too. A Static part keeps its own angle when its parent turns. It still moves along with it; it just does not rotate.

1. Select the part with Edit joints.
2. In Properties → Geometry, turn on Static. Its joint turns grey.
3. Check it in Test rig: turn the parent and the static part stays level.

Example: a tray carried by a waiter stays flat while his arm swings. In Build, F10 (or Handles in the stage header) hides the grey static joints when they get in the way.

Bend a line

Set Bend in Properties → Geometry to curve a line, in degrees. 0° is straight; a negative value curves the other way. Bends are good for curved blades, tails and smiles. A polygon edge between two joints of a bent line follows the curve.

Move the origin

The orange origin is where the figure hangs from: it is the handle that moves the whole figure, and the point it turns and scales around. To put it somewhere else, right-click the joint you want and choose Set as origin. For a character that should scale from the floor, put the origin at the feet. Do this before you add rig rules.

If something goes wrong

• An unfinished polygon or chain is only a draft. Switching tools throws it away, so finish it first.
• The same fill twice (same joints in the same order) is not allowed. A different order makes a different fill.
• A fill hides your lines? Change its Fill order. It disappears when the figure turns? Check Visible sides and Flip facing.
• A limb does not follow its parent? It is attached to another joint, even if it looks connected. Look at the Structure panel to see what hangs from what.

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