Please help Snap to Curves / Curve Snapping EASY

[intovidfilm2]

using EP curve tool

grid / point snapping always work flawlessly...
image you have NURBS circle/curve on top, a NURBS circle/curve below, EASILY while using C/snap to curves I can create a point on the TOP curve, create some in-between points, and using C/snap to curves again to snap to the bottom curve

(duh right?)

the PROBLEM....
when going into F8 / component /vertex mode to edit the points, whenever i try to edit an END point that was placed on the TOP or BOTTOM curve originally with CURVE snapping... I can't figure out how to use CURVE snapping to ensure that point stays on the desired curve.
(or any curve for that matter)

If i used grid or point snapping that point will pop to a grid marker, or another vertex point.... it's driving me nuts that i can't get it to snap on the same curve it originally snapped to.

What I do throughout construction.
Delete all history by type
rebuild curves

Have tried the same process without deleting history/rebuilding/same thing.

If you have to pre determine your end point, that's got to be the biggest pile in the galaxy, ... it's hopefully O.E.....

Have had this issue now with a few RETAIL books/tutorials..

using MMB does NOT help... unless using it wrong somehow

Thank you !!!!!!!!...... off to try and "patch" my pulled out hair back:)

[joojaa]

select point to be moved, move your cursepor comfortably overe the curve to be snapped to and middlemouse click, maya will now jump the selected point to the crurve, even if you dont pick at the move gizme, works as will in create mode too (also a side efect if you middle mous click in create mode you get a normal move gizmo temporarily)

[intovidfilm2]

Thank you a TON!

Hadn't seen an explantion as clear as yours, which led me in the wrong direction...now there is no more operator error,and it works PERFECT.

(For the record, this should be classified as a bug,
...If ANYONE KNOWS why we have to hold the MMB, and hover over desired curve first, please let me know, as it seems there'd have to be a reason, perhaps something intermediate that i'm not aware of yet.....)

If not....
because X,V both snap at anytime, but C ,after initial point requires, as Joojaa stated, one must "move your cursepor comfortably overe the curve to be snapped to "

that's lame, and requires an extra effort....

in the end, veteran modelers, won't worry about it too much, because you're just used to working in that fasion, but for a n00b, and from an "intuitive" system like maya, this bit is anything but intuitive.

ThAnK yOu sooooooooo MuCh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joojaa]

Its definetly not a bug, its a feature. Se sometimes its hard to know what curve you want to use especialy if you are close to the gizmo since the object you start out with is aloso consisting of curves and becaus it chooses the closest object it would porbably choose that (few pixel preciosion means pretty random results)... Now if you middlemouse snap you are free to choose a curve wherever in the screen even if its NOT close to the gizmo, wich means you can move the point away from your view firts them middlemouse on the curve or edge you need and it will snap there.

This allows you to explicity choose the ege or curve you need wherever its easiest to singulary identify that curve you can then hold down the middlemouse and move along THAT single curve till you get where you want.

Example if you have a polygon with four outgoing edges and want to snap the point that is between theese edges and move it along one of the edges. Instead of moving the gizmo you move away form the center and middlemouse click comfortably away from the crossing now you know its going to be on that curve... Your free to move along that curve back and forth till you are where you wnat (even if the curve mooved the curve you snapped to stays as it was).

Note you are free to snap with the gizmo but as you may have noticed its not realy realiable middlemouse allows you to schoose what curve you are on. So you dont have to middlemouse click anything it just makes your life easier!

Ps this alos works on of thing such as vertex snap, So instead of dragging something 3 screenfull you can zoom to the vertex you want to snap to and middlemouse snap there even if the gizmo no longer is visible.

PPS. maya is not intuitive for zero knowlege, maya is intuitive to make sese once you know how it works wich is better tahan never intuitive. Sometimes its not possible to be 100% what you expect. But ebven thsi is explained in the manual. Dont expect to unearth all things in 10 minutes.

this brings us to whaole range of middlemouse moves, the idea with middlemouse is to enable you to do things away from the thing example select a channelbox name and middlemouse click allows you tos hange the value by middlemouse dragging in the viewport. Now it makes sense in the previous context.