Introduction
The Bat and Ball example teaches you how to build a new Animoid from scratch. You'll also build a Behavior that animates the Animoid.

You'll learn how to join Segments together and how to move and resize them.

You can expect to take at least 20 minutes to complete the steps described in this example.

Directions
You should plan to follow the directions below as you read this tutorial.

Each bullet point is a task you should follow. If you ever get lost, you can always restart at the beginning.

Perform the tasks as you read each one. Don't try to read the whole tutorial first. After you are complete you can always go back through the text to make sure you understand how you did it!

You can print this tutorial to make it easier to read while following the directions. (It's about 11 pages long.)

Three-Button Mouse
ANIMOIDS works best with a three-button mouse.

If you have a two-button mouse then hold down the Alt key while you left click the mouse to simulate the Center Mouse Button.

(Some systems also allow you to press both buttons simultaneously on a two-button mouse to simulate the Center Mouse Button.)

If you are a Mac user with a one-button mouse then hold down the Opt key while you click the mouse to simulate the Center Mouse Button. Hold down the Command key while you click the mouse to simulate the Right Mouse Button.

Glossary of terms used in this tutorial

Main Menu	The dropdown menus at the top of the application from File to Help. [more]
Main Toolbar	The row of icons that appear under the Main Menu. [more]
Main Tabs	The tabs from Start to Characters and Props that appear under the Main Toolbar. [more]
3D Canvas	is the area at the center of the main window where the 3D objects display when you are editing an object. [more]
Action Panel	is the tree and some buttons that appear at the left side of the 3D Canvas. [more]
Action Button	is a button that sits in the Action Panel. [more]
Action	is a task that occurs when you click on the action description in the Action Panel. [more]
Options Panel	is a graphical tree of options that appears at the right side of the 3D Canvas. [more]
Control Panel	Control Panels appear at the bottom of the application, often as a result of selecting an Action. [more]
Canvas Toolbar	is a set of buttons that appear just above the 3D Canvas. They control mouse action. [more]
Dialog	is a small window that pops up when you need to enter some data or answer a question.

Starting a new object from scratch
First we create a new Animoid and save it.

• Select File, New from the Main Menu.

• Select Animoid from the Dialog that appears.

  Wait until the red Animoid appears and the Status field at the bottom of the 3D Canvas reads "Ready".

• Select File, Save as... from the Main Menu.

• In the Dialog that appears, change the word untitled to something like "My Bat and Ball" the click the Save button.

• Click on any (red) Segment of your Animoid.

• Select Edit, Cut from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-X).

  The selected segment should disappear.

• Repeat the last two steps until the original object has disappeared.

Build the Bat Handle
We are going to build the bat out of three linked segments: a handle, a neck and a paddle.

We link the segments so that when we move the handle, the paddle moves as well!

• Select Action Add New Segment. (You may need to scroll down the Action Panel to find this action.)

  A Create new segment Dialog will appear.

• Accept the default settings and just click OK on this Dialog.

  A solid red tube will appear pointing towards the top of your screen.

• Select Action Rename Segment.

  A SEGMENT NAME Control Panel will appear.

• In the Segment NAME Control Panel, change the Segment name field from "new_1" to "handle" and click the Apply button.

• From the Canvas Toolbar click on the (Rotate) Segment button which looks like  

  Once selected the border of the button will turn green.

• Click on the new handle Segment and drag the mouse to the top, right of the 3D Canvas until it looks something like:
  
• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

  Note: the picture of your Animoid in the Options Panel will not change until you restart the ANIMOIDS program.

Build the Bat Neck
We will use the Segment Duplicate and Attach commands to add the neck of the bat to the handle.

• Click on the handle Segment in the 3D Canvas and make sure the Selected Segment field at the top of the 3D Canvas shows the word handle.

• Select Action Duplicate selected Branch.

  A second Segment will appear close to the original.

• Select Action Attach selected Branch and click on the handle Segment.

  The new Segment should jump to the end of the handle.

• Click on the new Segment to select it - it should be called handle_1. The Selected Segment field at the top of the 3D Canvas shows the word handle_1.

• Select Action Rename Segment.

  A SEGMENT NAME Control Panel will appear.

• In the Segment NAME Control Panel, change the Segment name field from "handle_1" to "neck" and click the Apply button.

• Select Action Button Stretch (Segment)   .

  A STRETCH SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the neck Segment with your Right mouse button and drag your mouse down to reduce the width of the neck until it looks something like:
  

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

Build the Bat Paddle
We will use the Segment Duplicate and Attach commands to add the paddle of the bat to the neck.

• Click on the neck Segment in the 3D Canvas and make sure the Selected Segment field at the top of the 3D Canvas shows the word neck.

• Select Action Duplicate selected Branch.

  A second Segment will appear close to the original.

• Select Action Attach selected Branch and click on the neck Segment.

  The new Segment should jump to the end of the neck.

• Click on the new Segment to select it - it should be called neck_1. The Selected Segment field at the top of the 3D Canvas shows the word neck_1.

• Select Action Rename Segment.

  A SEGMENT NAME Control Panel will appear.

• In the Segment NAME Control Panel, change the Segment name field from "neck_1" to "paddle" and click the Apply button.

• Select Action Button Stretch (Segment)   .

  A STRETCH SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the paddle Segment with your Left mouse button and drag your mouse down to reduce the length of the paddle as small as possible.
• Select Action Button Scale   .

  A SCALE Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the paddle Segment with your Right mouse button and drag your mouse up to increase the diameter of the paddle Segment.

  You probably won't be able to make it very big. So we'll play a trick with the SCALE Control Panel to allow it to make the Segment bigger.

• Click on the handle segment to select it.

• Click on the paddle segment to select it.

• The Scale slider on the SCALE Control Panel (or dragging the Right mouse button ) will now let you double the size of the paddle.

• Repeat the last three steps until the paddle starts to overlap the handle.

  Next we'll flatten the paddle.

• Select Action Button Flatten (Segment)   .

  A FLATTEN SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the paddle Segment with your Left mouse button and drag your mouse down to flatten the paddle.

  It should now look something like:

  

  If you need to rotate the bat to get a better look at it, use the following two tasks.

• From the Canvas Toolbar click on the Move Camera button which looks like  

  Once selected the border of the button will turn green.

• Click anywhere on the 3D Canvas and drag the mouse to rotate the bat. (You are actually moving the Camera but it looks as if it's the bat that is moving.)

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

Adjust open position
Since we moved both the Segments and the camera in the above steps, we are not sure how the new object will look when it is first opened (in the default camera position).

We want the position when first opened to look good since that's what other users will see if they open the object themselves or position it in a Movie Scene.

We'll re-rotate the bat to look good for the default camera position and we'll save the file before adding the ball.

• Click Main Tab Characters and Props to reload the current object.

• Select Action Button (Rotate) Segment   .

  A ROTATE SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Make sure that the branch checkbox of the ROTATE SEGMENT Control Panel is selected. This will ensure that the complete Segment Branch rotates - not just the selected Segment.

• Click on the handle with your Left mouse button and drag to reposition the Segment to get the bat in a position where it can be seen fairly clearly. E.g.
  
• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

Add the Ball
Since the ball Segment is not going to be attached to the bat we'll create it as a Root Segment.

• Select Action Add New Segment.

  A Create new segment Dialog will appear.

• Accept the default settings and just click OK on this Dialog.

  A red tube will appear pointing up.

• Select Action Rename Segment.

  A SEGMENT NAME Control Panel will appear.

• In the Segment NAME Control Panel, change the Segment name field from "new_1" to "ball" and click the Apply button.

• Select Action Button (Move) Branch   .

  A MOVE BRANCH Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the ball with your Left mouse button and drag to position the ball under the paddle.

• Select Action Button Stretch (Segment)   .

  A STRETCH SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the ball with your Left mouse button and drag down to reduce the length of the segment and effectively turn it into a sphere.

  It should now look something like:

  

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

Add texture and color
To make the bat and ball look just a little better we'll add a wood texture to the bat and color the ball white. We'll also shrink the neck length.

• Select Action Button Texture   .

  A Choose Texture Dialog will appear.

• Once the Dialog shows a tree of textures, scroll down and find a texture called Wood1. Click on the icon for this texture to select it.

  At the top of the 3D Canvas the Action on next Pick field should say set texture - filename.

• Click the all three segments of the bat (handle, neck and paddle) to apply the texture. If you find it difficult to click on the neck because it is small and surrounded by bigger Segments, just select it using the Selected Segment pulldown list. That has the same effect as clicking on the segment itself.

• Select Action Button color   .

  The Color Chooser Dialog will appear.

• From the Color chooser Dialog click on the color you want (e.g. white) then click on the OK button.

• Click the ball to apply the selected color.

• Select Action Button Flatten (Segment)   .

  A FLATTEN SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Pick the neck segment by selecting it from the Selected Segment pulldown list (at the top of the 3D Canvas).

• Move the Squeeze Z slider on the SQUEEZE SEGMENT Control Panel until the neck Segment is much shorter.

  It should now look something like:

  

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

Make it move
Since ANIMOIDS is all about motion, we'll use the bat and ball in a simple behavior. Even a very simple behavior can make a plain object much more interesting.

We start by creating a new Behavior.

• Select File, New from the Main Menu.

• Select Behavior from the option window that appears.

  A Dialog will pop up and ask you to choose an Animoid.

• Select the My Bat and Ball Animoid (the one you created in the previous sections of this tutorial) by single clicking on it's picture or name in the Dialog.

• Select File, Save as... from the Main Menu.

• In the Dialog that appears, change the word untitled to something like "My Bat and Ball" the click the Save button.

• Select Action Button Record   .

  This will allow you to make changes to your Behavior.

• A BEHAVIOR Control Panel should be visible.

  Change it's Steps field from the default (of 5) to 2 and press the Save button.

  The Step slider should redraw to show that only two steps exist.

• While the Step slider is still on value 1, select Action Button (Move) Branch   .

  A MOVE BRANCH Control Panel will appear.

• Click on the ball to with your Left mouse button and position the ball under, but just touching the bat.

• You may also need to click on the ball to with your Right mouse button to move the ball back and forward. It should look something like:
  

• Click the Save button on the BEHAVIOR Control Panel to apply your changes to the Behavior.

• Move the Step slider BEHAVIOR Control Panel to value 2.

• Use mouse drag or move all three sliders on the MOVE BRANCH Control Panel to get the ball positioned further away from the bat.

• Click the Save button on the BEHAVIOR Control Panel to apply your changes to the Behavior.

• Select Action (Rotate) Segment   .

  A ROTATE SEGMENT Control Panel will appear.

• Make sure the branch checkbox of the ROTATE SEGMENT Control Panel is checked. This will ensure that the complete Segment Branch rotates - not just the selected Segment.

• Click on the new handle segment to select it, since it is the root for the entire Branch. The Selected Segment field at the top of the 3D Canvas shows the word handle.

• Use mouse drag or move all three sliders in the ROTATE SEGMENT Control Panel to lift the bat a little further away from the ball. E.g.
  
• Click the Save button on the BEHAVIOR Control Panel to apply your changes to the Behavior.

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.

• On the BEHAVIOR Control Panel click the Run button.

  Your Behavior should now be running.

• On the BEHAVIOR Control Panel change the Steps/cycle field from it's default (4) to 1.5 (and hit the Enter key before you leave the field).

  The Behavior will run a little faster.

• Select File, Save from the Main Menu (or just type CTRL-S) to save your work.