Camera
Controls
When the big stars tried to get director John Ford to shoot the all important career building close-up, he would say, "You want a close-up, move towards the camera."
Fortunately, the camera is a lot easier to move in the Course Architect, and you've got four of them to place around your course.
Most of the control and placement of the cameras takes place in the Top View,
although you can control the active camera in the Camera View
by double-clicking anywhere in that view (except when the Sculpt Tool is active).
Main Areas
Concept
Camera Control
Camera Placement
Controlling View Angle
Concept:
Think Hollywood. You'll be placing cameras around a course the way a director places cameras to get the best shot.
In the Top View, the camera is represented by a triangle with one curved side and two straight lines with a colored square at their vertex. The straight lines make up the view angle, which is how much of a 360-degree circle you can see in the Camera View. (The default view angle is 60 degrees.) The colored square represents the camera itself, and the other small squares are control handles that let you pan, swivel, raise and tilt the camera to get the best view of your course. You can also place multiple cameras to save time and get a better lay of the land.
Placing the cursor over one of the camera handles turns the cursor into an icon specific to that handle. Clicking and dragging the handle lets you control the camera. So, for example, to move the camera itself, you'd place the cursor on the colored square until it became four arrows, then click and drag the camera where you wanted it in the Top View. The Camera View will automatically change to reflect the camera's new position.
Camera Control:
Top View
The Top View is where most of the work gets done. Cameras are represented by small colored squares and triangles. The handles that control them are represented by various small squares.
Moves the actual camera.
Turns the camera left or right.
Swivels the camera around the focal point.
The center of what you'll see in the Camera view.
Altitude Handle: Raises and lowers the camera height
Tilt Handle (at end of arrow): Tilts the camera up or down.Pass the cursor over these Control Handles to see their icons. Drag the handle to adjust the camera in that manner. The scene in the Camera View will change to reflect the camera's new position.
If your camera's altitude and tilt get completely out of control, you can reset them by right-clicking in the Camera View and choosing Normalize Camera from the pop-up menu.
Camera View
Double-click anywhere in the Camera View pane to call up the control triangle.
This representation of the camera has control handles similar to the ones in the Top View. The main differences between the Top View camera and the Camera View camera are that the control handles are in slightly different positions, and that the Camera View triangle is a one-use tool. After you use it once, the triangle vanishes, and you have to double-click again to get it back.
The camera handle in the Camera View is in the middle of the triangle. The handle at the bottom vertex swivels the camera around the focal point. The two handles on the upper end of the triangle will pan the camera around its base.The handle closest to the top of your screen adjusts the altitude of the camera and the handle at the end of the arrow adjusts the tilt.
Walking Around
For more precise camera movement in the Camera View, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to "walk" around your course. The Up and Down arrows move the camera forward and backward, while the Left and Right arrows turn the camera -- well, left and right. Hold down the Shift key at the same time to take bigger steps. This is an excellent way to see how the course will really look when you play it.
Camera
Placement
The more, the merrier! If you place all four available cameras around your course, you'll save time by not having to move around as much. You'll see the contours of the course much more efficiently.
To place a new camera in service, go to the Camera Tool and select any color that isn't already being used. (Red is the default camera; it's already there when you open up a course.) A new camera will appear at the bottom of the Top View window. It will become the active camera, and the scene in the Camera View will be what this new camera sees.
There are several ways to move the new camera where you want it. Another, more efficient, way is to move the Top View around until the spot where you want the camera is approximately in the middle. Then right-click in the Top View and choose Center Camera, along with the color of the camera you want to move. The camera will move to the center of the pane.
If you want to go to a particular hole, the most efficient way is to choose Go to Hole… from the View menu. In the dialog box, choose the number of the hole, plus whether you want the camera at the flagstick or at one of the tees. Click OK, and the camera will instantly be where you wanted it.
Controlling
View Angles
To control your view angle (the width of the triangle in the Top View or the peripheral vision in the Camera View), press the plus and minus keys on the numeric key pad to expand (+) or reduce (-) the field of view a few degrees at a time.
A wider view angle, up to 120 degrees, is good for walking around the course and getting the big picture. When the view angle is greater than 120 degrees, things get very distorted, as though you're walking around the course with the clubhouse fishbowl on your head.
Narrowing your view angle to about 20 degrees is useful when you're working on greens and such.
In the mid 1840s, a tree sap imported into Britain called Gutta percha was found to be perfect for molding after it had been boiled. When they got dented and misshapen, they could be reboiled and fixed. "Guttie" balls were solid at first. The change to this rugged, heavier ball forced a change in clubs as well, as the wooden clubs made for the lighter feather-filled balls deteriorated with the new solid balls.