Draw Continuous Line

[nocturne00]

Hi All, im having some trouble when I draw lines, just occured to me now on how to do it in max coz I draw most 2d lines from AutoCAD already.

How do I draw a line continuously without it cancelling when I pan around? I need to draw a countinuous line around a cylinder but everytime I pan around the line command cancels.

 

Thanks and Regards!

[Cad64]

You can use the "I" key to center your view to where the mouse cursor is, so when you get to the edge of the viewport, hit the "I" key and your view will shift to the center of the viewport and you can continue drawing.

[nocturne00]

Hi; sorry my question went the wrong way, but actually it solved my next question about drawing continuously whilst using pan and centering. Great Tip.

 

actually I wanted to draw a continuous line while orbiting around an object, because whenever I pan and rotate the line command cancells so i have to rotate then start a new line from the previous segment.

I've attached an image for reference.

 

The white line will go around the tapered cylinder like a helix, but everytime I pan and orbit to the other side, the continuity breaks.

 

Thanks again for any help

[Cad64]

Instead of drawing a continuous line around and around and around, why don't you just create a "Spring" object. Then apply a "Taper" modifier and an "FFD 4x4x4" modifier. You would get a much better result in a fraction of the time.

[nocturne00]

Hi Cad, actually the posted image is just for clarity's sake, i'll be drawing lines for creating winding decks, bridges, walkways, building facade treatments, and other things, its just that whenever I draw the lines, each time I'm done tracing the paths, I always have to connect the lines after, then apply the modifiers needed.

[Cad64]

Sorry, I don't know how to draw a continuous line while orbiting.

[nocturne00]

was afraid of that,,, i've checked out a lot of tutorials but somehow no mention of this issue, it seems almost like it is really done that way. Thanks for all the help, the other tip on pressing "I" really helped a lot actually.

 

Cheers!