Run a file of live forms

WhereThe top bar: the row of words that begins File, Edit.

DoDownload p2-11-start.blend from Files above and open it. Then choose File > Save As and save it under the name below, in a folder of yours. Open an exercise file and keep the start file safe (P0-07) shows how.

Typemy-forms.blend

You should seeThe 3D view looks straight at the front: a drop-shaped plate on the left and a curved strip to its right, both solid grey. The title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-forms.

It worked whenThe title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-forms.

WhereThe section bar, then the Live Forms panel lower in the sidebar.

DoClick Metal, then click Plate 1 in the list of forms.

You should seeThe plate turns orange. The list names both live forms, each with a small coloured square: green reads live, up to date; yellow, stale, waiting to rebuild; orange, frozen, too heavy to follow a drag; red, error, the last rebuild failed. Both squares here are green. This Form opens under the list for the plate, with the buttons Rebuild, Make Real, Remove Live, Duplicate and Clean Up.

It worked whenThis Form names Plate 1.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, under This Form: the button Rebuild.

DoPress Rebuild.

You should seeNothing changes on the plate: it was already up to date. The status bar says “Plate 1 rebuilt”, and its message fades. Rebuild is for a form that is too heavy to follow its drawing while you drag: you press it to build the form at once.

It worked whenThe plate looks as before and its square is still green.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, under This Form: the button Duplicate.

DoPress Duplicate.

You should seeA third form, Plate 2, joins the list. It stands exactly over Plate 1, so the 3D view looks the same. It is not a link: its outline is a copy of the first one’s, drawn again in the same place.

It worked whenPlate 2 is in the list.

WhereThe Live Forms panel: click Plate 2 in the list, then, under Sources, press the name of its outline.

DoClick Plate 2, then press the outline’s name under Outlines.

You should seeThe copy’s own outline is selected and orange, and This Form shows the copy. Its name is CJ Pen.002: Select on a source always selects that source.

It worked whenThe outline is orange.

WhereThe 3D view. Move the pointer off the sidebar and into the dark area.

DoPress G, then X, then type 14, then press Enter.

You should seeThe copy of the plate slides to the right and stands beside the first, which has not moved. G starts a move, X keeps it along the X axis, 14 is millimetres and Enter drops the outline there. The copy follows its own outline, so moving the outline moved the copy and nothing else. The small box at the bottom left, headed Move, is Blender’s Adjust Last Operation box: leave it alone.

It worked whenTwo plates stand side by side.

If it goes wrongNothing moves: the pointer is still over the sidebar. Move it over the 3D view and press the keys again.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, under This Form: the button Remove Live.

DoPress Remove Live.

You should seePlate 2 leaves the list, and its plate stays in the 3D view. The plate keeps its shape as an ordinary object: it no longer follows its outline. The outline is a drawing in the file that nothing uses.

It worked whenPlate 2 is no longer in the list, and its plate is still in the 3D view.

WhereThe Live Forms panel: the list at its top.

DoClick Strip 1 in the list of forms.

You should seeThe strip turns orange. You are about to delete it: it leaves hidden helper objects behind, and the next steps show how to clear them.

It worked whenThe strip is orange.

WhereThe 3D view. Move the pointer off the sidebar and into the dark area.

DoPress Delete.

You should seeThe strip is gone from the 3D view, and only its drawing, the thin dark arc, stays. The form is gone with it, but its hidden helpers, the pieces the add-on built it from, are still in the file. You cannot see them in the 3D view: they are hidden on purpose.

It worked whenThe strip is gone from the 3D view and only the thin arc of its drawing is left.

If it goes wrongNothing is deleted: the pointer is still over the sidebar. Move it over the 3D view and press the key again.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, under This Form: the button Clean Up, the last one.

DoPress Clean Up.

You should seeThe status bar says “Removed the helpers of 2 form(s) that are gone”, and its message fades. Two forms are gone: the strip you deleted and the copy that Remove Live made plain. Clean Up never touches the helpers of a form that is still live: Plate 1 keeps its own, and it is still in the list.

It worked whenThe list of live forms names Plate 1 and no other.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+S.

You should seeBlender writes your copy at once, with no question, because the file already has a name. An asterisk, *, in the title bar marks changes that are not saved, and it goes now. Save your work and get it back (P0-12) says more about saving.

It worked whenThe title bar begins my-forms and carries no asterisk.