The new node sculpting is the cat's meow....
And given an inch, I'll take a mile!
It would be nice to be able to specify how the nodes are displaced. The current algorithm appears to be based on displacing a node as a Gaussian (Bell curve) function of the distance along the path from the dragged node. This works nicely in adjusting small sections of a path (or spirals). It is not quite as effective in sculpting text (try sculpting just a few letters). One could imagine other useful algorithms:
1. Displacement as a function of linear distance from dragged node.
2. Displacement as a function of perpendicular distance from a line through the dragged node and parallel to the direction of the drag.
3. Displacement as a function of closest distance along path for closed paths. This would avoid a discontinuity in the displacement between the first and last points of a closed path.
4. Displacement proportional to 1 - x^2/x'^2, where x is the perpendicular distance from the dragged node and x' the perpendicular distance of the end selected nodes. This would allow "wrapping" an object around a can given #2 is implemented. (OK, this is really a parabolic displacement and one should also move points in the perpendicular direction to wrap an object around a can, but this would be a good enough approximation in many cases.)
5. When more than one path or sub-path is selected (as in selecting a few characters or parts of a few characters), use the end nodes of the first and last path as the reference points. Currently the first and last points of the sub-path with the dragged node are used.
6. Choosing the reference points (other than the selected end nodes) where the displacement is zero.
Trying to sculpt text exposes two problems. The first is that the Object->Path function creates two overlapping end points for each closed path. I think that these two points should be merged. The second is that "Add Nodes" creates two extra overlapping nodes at the beginning/end of a close path.
Tav