"Les Patterson" <les### [at] txcybercom> wrote in message
news:3C5### [at] txcybercom...
> Bob,
>   Thanks for your help in both replies.

Welcome to whatever I can manage to help with.

> I understand how to use (From, Using, & To) for the movements, but the
> spline/path is giving me problems now. Also, if I can figure out the
> spline coordinates, I might just close the end of the path closest to
> camera and have a full figure8, keeping everything in front of the
> camera. I can get straight lines and curved lines but no crisscrossing
> lines or figure 8 yet.

That movement you have set up is probably uneven.  The spline path will yank
the airplane around through it as though on the end of a snapping whip, well
what I mean is that the interploation of points between won't be very
steady.  Of course you would like acceleration and deceleration I'm sure but
you must be careful how you set the points up.  The spacing between them
should relate to speed, i.e. shorter spacings are slower and longer spacings
are faster.  There's been a lot done in the way splines are calculated
within POV-Ray but Chris Colefax's generator macro is external and I can't
remember how it goes about it.  Would be obvious once you've rendered out
the animation and viewed it.
3D graphing paper (nonexistant I guess :-)) would be perfect for planning
such things out.  A figure-8 wouldn't be a problem anyway, it shouldn't
tangle up.  ;-)

bob h

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