I'm pretty sure that's a physical impossibility, to put a curve into a chain, without moving the links or making it appear shorter. So such a depiction would not be realistic.
Besides that though, it's just not possible for a 2D, non-animation, graphics program. Because each time you move a chain link, it intersects differently with the next link.
If you've already learned how to draw a chain, then you probably already understand how to make one part of the chain link look like it's on top of the next link, in one place, and in another place, to look like it's under the next link. This is simulating 3d in a 2d medium.
So once you understand that, you must be able to see how much work would be needed, each time you want to change how the links interact. I suggest you try your hand at it :-)
You'll need to look to Blender, or other similar 3d modelling program. But I don't think....well I'm not sure, but I don't think Blender can do animation. For 3d animation, you might need to look at Synfig.
All best, brynn
-----Original Message----- From: Hans Carlson Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2017 1:53 PM To: inkscape-user@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Inkscape-user] Movable Chain
I'd like to create a movable chain of sorts... I'm not sure how or if this is possible with inkscape (0.91)...
There seems to be lots of tutorials that show how to create a chain using Pattern along Path, the problem is, once the chain is created that's the end of the tutorial. I need to go a step further and actually move/manipulate the chain without deforming the links or changing the length of the chain. Maybe the "Pattern along Path" examples are completely wrong for what I want to do.
To put it another way, take a real physical chain... 10' long, sitting on the floor. I can move the chain around, pull on one end, push the chain in the middle, shape it into an S curve, form a circle with the chain, etc. All the while, the individual links are exactly how they started -- they haven't been stretched or bent or deformed in any way. And while the actual length of the chain can very a little bit it's limited by how much slack there is in the individual links.
Now, I want to do the same kind of thing in inkscape. I want to create a line long enough to hold exactly 60 circles, 20px in diameter with 5px space between each circle. Then, and this is the important part, I want move and reshape this "chain" around the canvas, just like I can do with a path composed of lots of nodes. But, I don't want the circles to change shape. The space between the circles can change a *little bit*, but should be limited... like the links in a real chain.
I'm very new to both vector graphics and inkscape, so I'm not sure if what I'm trying to do is easy, difficult or impossible. I would appreciate some enlightenment.
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