[Figure 3-19] Scaled chest

Scaling and Tapering Elements
The Scale tool (S) changes the size of the element along a single axis, but you can cause the element to be uniformly scaled along all axes at the same time by holding down the Shift key while dragging. The Taper tool (P) is similar to the Scale tool, except it scales only one end of an element leaving the other unchanged. The result of a tapered element is to make the object long and thin or short and fat. Figure 3-19 shows a figure whose chest and collarbones have been scaled.

[Figure 3-20] Pop-up color palette

Open Color Selector

Coloring Elements
Although the real place to apply colors and textures to a figure element is in the Material Room, which is covered in Chapter 8, “Creating and Applying Materials,” you can place basic flat colors to elements using the Color tool (C). Clicking with this tool on an element causes a pop-up color palette, shown in Figure 3-20, to appear. You can select a color from this pop-up color palette by dragging over the color that you want to select. Clicking a color in the palette closes the pop-up color palette. Figure 3-21 shows a figure with a dark color applied to its body.

[Figure 3-21] Figure with colors

The Color tool adds colors to material groups such as Shirt, Pants, Skin Color, and so on, instead of to elements. If you create a new material group, then you can apply color to a specific element. More on material groups is covered in Chapter 8, “Creating and Applying Materials.”

[Figure 3-22] Zoomed figure

Using the View Magnifier Tool
The View Magnifier tool allows you to zoom in on an area without changing the parameters of the current camera. To use it, simply click the area that you want to zoom in on. Each successive click zooms further in on an area. Clicking with the Ctrl key (or Command key on the Mac) held down zooms out. You can also zoom in on a region by dragging over the zoom area with the View Magnifier tool. Figure 3-22 shows a zoomed figure that used the View Magnifier tool.

[Figure 3-23] Direct Manipulation Tool controls

Scale controls
Rotation controls

Using the Direct Manipulation Tool
The Direct Manipulation tool surrounds the selected element with icons that can be used to move, rotate, and scale the selected element, as shown in Figure 3-23. By dragging these controls, you can change the element’s position, rotation, and scale in the X, Y, and Z axes. The yellow boxes at each axis let you scale the selected object and the red, green, and blue circles let you rotate about a single axis with red for the X-axis, green for the Y-axis, and blue for the Z-axis. These controls have the same effect as dragging the corresponding parameter dial.

The mouse cursor changes to match the corresponding action when moving it over the top of the various controls for the Direct Manipulation tool.