3.1. View Layout

Pick an arrangement of views to model with. By default Curvy starts with a single viewport, but for precise editing it is often handy to use 4 views at once, and for copying a reference 2 views is useful.

3.2. Panels

Toggle visibility of any of Curvy's panels.

3.3. Quick Hide Panels  TAB

Hide or show all unpinned panels.
Useful for maximizing the size of the main 3D viewports, while hiding unused panels.

3.4. Frame Selected  F

Move the view to frame the currently selected objects.

3.5. Frame All  Shift+F

Move the view to frame all objects.

3.6. Reset All Views

Sets all views back to their starting position and rotation.

3.7. Load Persp Backdrop

Loads an image for use with Smart Backdrops.
See Also Smart Backdrop Tutorial

3.8. Load Lighting

Loads an hdr lighting environment for use with HDR Lighting.

3.9. Wireframe  A

View your mesh as edges and triangles. Handy when you need to reduce parts of the mesh during sculpting.

3.10. Grid

Draws grid lines in the 3D view to help get a sense of orientation. Also clamps curve drawing to the grid plane.

3.11. Overlay Backdrop  F9

Choosing Overlay Background makes your background visible through any objects you may have drawn, this helps line things up.

3.12. Opaque Backdrop

Turning Opaque Backdrop on makes the background image cover up your models entirely. This is helpful when you have more than one viewport open and want a clear view of a reference image in one view while you sculpt in another.

3.13. Show Curvature

For Adaptive Subdivision Meshes this option shades your model to exaggerate curvature.

When used on a default material it will appear over-exposed and too bright. To get the most from the curvature enhancement use a flat white base lightmap, and a dark orange base colour.

3.14. Outline Selected

Turn on to draw a thick outline around selected objects.

See below the outline is visible through other objects making it easier to locate objects in a busy scene.

3.15. Show Mask

Toggle the bright yellow&blue rendering of masked meshes. When turned off the mask will still take effect, it just won't be visible.

3.16. Show Edit Curves

Hides the curves that are usually visible on Lathe/Line/Loft objects.

3.17. Show Centre Lines

Draws a curved centre line in the middle of Lathe objects.

3.18. Expert GUI

Hides the controls in view corners. Along with Quick Hide Panels this lets you clear the whole window for clutter free editing.

3.19. Use Shaders

By default Curvy tries to use hardware accellerated graphics to get the best rendering. If your computer can't support this Curvy reverts to a simpler rendering style.

3.20. Render Shadows

If your graphics cards supports it Curvy renders a shadow in the viewports to enhance their 3D look and help locate objects in space.
This option lets you turn off shadows.

3.21. Use Pixel Shader 3.0

Advanced graphics cards support higher quality rendering. If you are experiencing graphical glitches you can try turning this switch off for simpler rendering.

3.22. Save View

You can save the Perspective view to disk using this command.
Normally the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard is enough to grab images out of Curvy - but for higher resolutions and an alpha channel use Curvy's built in screenshots.

You can pick BMP or TGA from the bottom of the save menu "Save As Type".

BMP files are saved as simple RGB, while TGA files include an alpha channel that lets you use the screenshot as a "cut-out" layer in paint programs.

Screenshot 1:1 saves the image at normal screen resolution. Screenshot x2 to x5 saves the screen 2 to 5 times bigger. These Hi-Res screenshots look best if AntiAliasing is disabled in your Graphics Card's options.