Aligner+

Note: Lightwave is shipped with a plugin called "Aligner". Aligner is an almost perfect copy of my plugin Aligner+. The thuth is that Aligner+ is older than Aligner. I wrote Aligner+ at the time of Lightwave6.5. Newtek copied my lscript. They did it without even call me, or say thanks for the idea! I'm very sad about it. They did it also with Dimension+, they simply copied my plugins, make some changes, but they never say thanks for that. This is not gentle.
I'm sorry because Aligner is also better than my Aligner+ because It can scale the object too. But if you scale the object it isn't positioned the right way anymore.
Ahi, ahi ahi, Newtek! Next time you copy my plugin do it the right way! :-(

Aligner+ Realtime 1.5

Description
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Aligner+ Realtime is a plugin for Lightwave modeler to align an object in the foreground with another object in the background or with the origin of the world 0,0,0. You can also align a selected part of the object, the rest of the object will move accordingly.
There are 5 kinds of alignment for each axys. You can also choose to don't move the object along a specified axys. To understand exactly the meaning of each button try aligning only on one axys.
Modeler is updated every time you press a button in realtime!!

Instructions
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This plugin has been tested on Lightwave8
bg= background
fg= foreground

You have four way to use this plugin:

A) If you select a foreground layer and a background layer
The object in foreground will be aligned with the object in background

B) If you don't select a background layer
The object in foreground will be aligned with the origin of the world 0,0,0

C) If you select some points or polygons of the object in foreground and you select a background layer
The selected part of the object in foreground will be aligned with the object in background. The object will not be deformed because also the unselected points and polygons will move.

D)If you select some points or polygons of the object in foreground and nothing in the background.
The same ad above except that the selected part of the object in foreground will be aligned with the origin 0,0,0.

The buttons!
This is the meaning of the buttons (I refer to the X axys to explain better but the meaning is the same on each axys)
(none) The object will not move along this direction.
( - - ) The right side of the fg object will be aligned to the left side of the bg object (the objects are side by side).
( - ) The left side of the fg object is aligned with the left side of the bg object (the objects overlap).
(center) The center of the fg object is aligned with the center of the bg object.
( + ) The right side of the fg object is aligned with the righ side of the bg object (the objects overlap).
( + + ) The left side of the fg object will be aligned to the right side of the bg object (the objects are side by side).

Warning: The initial state of the buttons is always "none"
If you press "cancel" everything will be back to the situation before you started the plugin.
If you press "Ok" but You change your mind, You will need lots of undos to return to the initial situation. I suggest you to raise the number of undos of Lightwave to avoid problems (press "o")

Example: You have a bottle in fg and a table in bg and you want the bottle to stand at the center of the table.
Press (center) in X
Press ( + + ) in Y
Press (center) in Z

Example2: You have a vertical straight pipe in background and a pipe in foreground that is vertical at the bottom but it turns to the left at the top. You want to join them exactly. Select the points on the bottom edge of the curved pipe. Use aligner choosing center on X, and z and ++ on Y axys. The pipes will be joined exactly

Don't forget that you can use Aligner+ also to rest an object on the ground!

History
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21/11/04 Version 1.5 Realtime Every time you press a button the modeler will be updated in realtime!
15/01/02 Version 1.3 Now buttons remember their last position. Useful for repeat the same alignment many times
10/01/02 Version 1.2 Changed initial state of the buttons
27/12/01 Version1.1 Added buttons "none". Now you can choose one or more polygons or points as pivot for alignment
06/11/01 Version1.0 First release.

Known bugs
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None so far. Find them and write me!

Future features!
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I want to add a feature to move only a selected part of the object in foreground

Disclaimer
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I am not responsible for the way this plugin is used, or for any loss of information that may be due to crashes caused by this plugin.

Support
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Gianni Soldati
http://www.giannisoldati.com
robotjeeg@hotmail.com

Click the icon to download the plugin!