Using the Texture Manipulator

The texture manipulator modifies the 3D projection of a texture in an appearance before converting the texture to UV coordinates on the surface of the part.

Using the Texture Manipulator is different from using texture parameters such as Tile, Shift, and Rotation to adjust texture mapping. The latter parameters act in UV space after you apply the projection to the part's surface.

The texture manipulator functions much like the transform manipulator except that you use the texture manipulator on textures in appearances and you use the transform manipulator on models. Translation and rotation operate the same for both controls, but scale operates differently with the texture manipulator.

These steps apply only to parts that have mapped appearances using textures.

To use the texture manipulator:

  1. On the toolbar, click Selection Tool > Appearance .
  2. Select a part in a model.
    The part's parameters appear in the Palette on the Appearances tab.
  3. In the Palette, on the Appearances tab, on the Texture Mapping tab, click Manipulate Texture.
    Manipulate Texture does not appear if you specify UV as the Texture Mapping Mode.
  4. Use the table below to use the texture manipulator.
    Action Description
    Scale the part Drag any of the cubes at the corners of the texture manipulator.
    Translate or rotate the part When you move and rotate a part, it affects the texture projection.

    See Using the Transform Manipulator to use this tool.