Assembly Mode

Allows your connected object to rotate in all directions around a pivot gizmo, which is great for making joints like hips, wrists, shoulders and necks in characters.

The rotation is literally all directions, so unless you're making freaky monsters, limit the angle of rotation by selecting use limits in the tweak menu.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. In the hips example, the hip would be the parent and the leg the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which. The pivot gizmo is also labelled - this is the part around which the ball joint turns.

Let's make a joystick. Head to sculpt mode, turn on grid snap, and select a cube for the base. Use edit shape to get it looking the way you want. Select start new sculpture.

Select a cylinder for the stick. Again, use edit shape to make it suitably long and skinny. Add a sphere for the knob on the top. Or not. Be as fussy or sloppy as you like!

The main thing is to have two sculptures - a base and a stick. Head back to assembly mode and select a ball joint. Connect the base and the bottom of the stick.

It's important that the stick is at the child end. You may need to fiddle around a bit to get the connector positioned correctly. It's easy enough to move it after you've placed it.

Just hover over one of the connected objects and follow the button prompt to reposition connectors. Now we need some logic. Stamp a microchip down and open it up.

Add a controller sensor, a splitter and an advanced mover to it. Tweak the controller sensor and make it remote controllable.

Connect the left stick local output on the controller sensor to splitter input on the splitter. This will separate up/down and left/right for us from

Now connect the left/right output of the splitter to the X speed input of the advanced mover, and the up/down to the Z speed. Drag the Y speed slider to 0.

Whack the movement strength slider up to 100%. Close the microchip, and snap it onto the stick part of the joystick. Go into play mode from the options menu to try it out.

Use this when you want the connected object to rotate around an axis. This makes it perfect for stuff like dials, cogs, doors, knees on characters and so on.

Select use limits in the tweak menu to limit the angle of rotation if you don't want your object to spin all the way around. Knees and doors, for example, will need limits.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. On a radio dial, the radio would be the parent and the dial the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which. The pivot gizmo is also labelled - this is the part around which the bolt turns.

Let's make a door. Go to sculpt mode, turn on grid snap, select cube and then use edit shape. Make it look something like a door. Select start new sculpture.

Repeat the previous steps to make a new shape, this time making a door lintel. Go back to assembly mode and position the door and lintel next to each other.

Get a bolt and connect the lintel to the door. Now we need to position the pivot gizmo. That's the pink one in the middle.

Select it, then grab it and rotate it 90° so that its section of rod is parallel to the door. Grab the door and move it. It should move just like a door.

You may need to fiddle about with it a bit, as bolts are a little hard to get at first. If you think of it as a hinge that might help.

Exactly the same as a bolt, but this one has power, so it will rotate automatically at the speed, angle limits and so on that you set up in the tweak menu.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. On, say, a merry-go-round, the base or ground would be the parent and the platform the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which. Also labelled is the pivot gizmo, the part around which the motor bolt turns.

Let's make a windmill. Or something like it. Up to you how much sculpting you want to do. For the purposes of learning about bolts, all you really need is 2 separate sculptures.

At the very least make one of them long and thin (the sail) and the other a chunky block (the building), to get the idea. It's best if you create your shapes with grid snap on.

This is really helpful when using connectors in general, because aligning the connectors is a whole lot easier using the grid and with objects created on the grid.

Once you're happy with the shapes, get a bolt and connect the "building" of your windmill (the parent) to the middle of the "sail" (the child).

When placing each end of the bolt, if you use align to grid you'll find the bolt will line up neatly. Once you've placed the bolt, start time and see if it's working properly.

If not you can just pause time and move it. If you hover over one of the connected objects, you'll get a prompt to reposition connectors. This is very useful indeed.

You can then reposition any of the parent, child and pivot gizmos. Again, you may have to fiddle around. Connectors take practice. Don't worry about what it looks like.

Bolts and other connectors aren't visible unless you make them so. The important part to get right is the pivot, as that's where the action happens.

The same type of movement as a slider, but a piston has power, so it will cycle between its start and end points repeatedly. Great for moving platforms in particular.

You can adjust things like the motor strength and speed (to be exact, the number of cycles per minute) in the tweak menu.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. In the moving platform example, the platform would be the child and whatever it's fixed to the parent.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which.

Let's try it out. Stamp a shape, then select start new sculpture and stamp another (you can't connect objects with connectors unless they're separate sculptures).

Get a piston and connect the two shapes. Now get a light, and connect connector completion on the piston to the power port on the light.

Connector completion outputs a signal corresponding to how far along in its cycle the connector is. It's a useful way to trigger events in your creations.

So when you start time, the light will fade up and down with the movement of the piston.

Useful when you want the connected objects to slide toward and away from each other on a linear path, as if connected by a stiff rod. Like a sliding door, for example.

They won't move in any other way once connected, but you can move the gizmos and adjust various tweaks on the connector and the objects to fine tune the movement.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. In the sliding door example, the wall would be the parent and the door the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which.

Using a slider, you can make your own brightness control for a light. Stamp a shape, select start new sculpture, and stamp another.

Get a slider, and connect the two shapes. Tweak the shape at the child end of the slider, and set it to grab under imp interaction.

Stamp in a light, and connect connector completion on the slider to the power port of the light. Now grab the shape and move it back and forth.

You're controlling the brightness of the light. What else could you do with this?

This leaves a connected object free to tumble and swing around more or less the way it would if connected by real-world string or a chain. Think wrecking ball.

Like real string, the objects can get closer together but never any further apart than the length of the string.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. In the wrecking ball example, the crane would be the parent and the ball the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which.

Let's play with some string. Stamp a shape, then select start new sculpture and stamp another. Select string, then connect the two shapes together.

Start time, grab the parent shape, and wave your imp around enthusiastically. What fun stuff could you make with this?

The same sort of movement as string, but elastic has the added feature, as you'd expect, of being stretchy and bouncy, so you could make a bungee or a slingshot with it.

You can adjust how stretchy and bouncy it is in the tweak menu using the slack and strength options.

Don't forget to start the connector at the parent and finish at the child. In the slingshot example, the handle would be the parent and the pouch the child.

The parent and child gizmos are labelled clearly with more info so you know which is which.

Let's have some fun with it. Stamp a shape, then select start new sculpture and stamp another. Select elastic and connect the two shapes together.

Tweak the child shape and set glow to about 12% or so. Tweak the elastic and connect connector completion to the glow slider input on the shape.

Make sure your shapes are off the floor, then start time and watch the glow effect on the child shape as it bounces around on the elastic.