3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [183]
Tip
Using the Shift key, you can select loops of subobjects even more quickly. If you select a single vertex, edge, or polygon, and then hold down the Shift key and click on an adjacent subobject, the entire loop or ring of subobjects is automatically selected. •
Editing geometry
When no subobject modes are selected, several Ribbon panels are available, as shown in Figure 14.9. These panels contain many of the same features that are found in the Edit Geometry rollout in the Command Panel. Features contained here include, among many others, the ability to create new subobjects, attach subobjects to the mesh, weld vertices, chamfer vertices, slice, explode, and align. These panels are available regardless of the subobject mode that is selected, but some of these tools are disabled depending on the subobject mode that you select.
FIGURE 14.9
The Ribbon includes many general-purpose editing features that are always available.
Many of the tools, such as Relax, MSmooth, Tessellate, PConnect, and Quadrify All, include options for accessing settings by clicking the small arrow to the right of the button. These options open up a caddy of settings that are located in the viewport right next to the selected subobject. These caddies allow you to change the settings and immediately see the results in the viewports. The OK (check mark icon) button applies the settings and closes the dialog box, and the Apply (plus sign icon) button applies the settings and leaves the dialog box open. Similar caddies are available for other subobject-specific buttons such as Extrude, Bevel, Outline, and Inset.
Preserve UVs
UV coordinates define how a texture map is applied to an object's surface. These UV coordinates are tied closely to the surface subobject positions, so moving a subobject after a texture is applied moves the texture also. This could cause discontinuities to the texture map. The Preserve UVs option lets you make subobject changes without altering the UV coordinates for an existing texture.
The caddy for the Preserve UVs option lets you select a Vertex Color and Texture Channel to preserve. Beneath the Preserve UVs button in the Edit panel is a Tweak button. This button lets you move the UVs for the given object. The value beneath this button is the map channel that you can adjust.
Repeat Last
The Repeat button in the Edit panel repeats the last subobject command. This button does not work on all features, but it's very convenient for certain actions.
Enabling constraints
The Constraints options limit the movement of subobjects to a specified subobject. The available constraints are None, Edge, Face, and Normal. For example, if you select and move a vertex with the Edge constraint enabled, the movement is constrained to the adjacent edges.
Slicing and cutting options
The QSlice button lets you click anywhere on an Editable Poly object where you want a slicing line to be located. You can then move the mouse, and the QuickSlice line rotates about the point you clicked. When you click the mouse again, a new vertex is added at every place where the QuickSlice line intersects an object edge. This is a very convenient tool for slicing objects because the slice line follows the surface of the object, so you can see exactly where the slice will take place.
For the QuickSlice and Cut tools, you can enable the Full Interactivity option (located near the bottom of the Polygon Modeling panel). With this option enabled, the slice lines are shown as you move the mouse about the surface. With Full Interactivity disabled, the resulting lines are shown only when the mouse is clicked.
Beneath the QSlice tool is the Cut tool. The Cut button is interactive. If you click a polygon corner, the cut edge snaps to the corner, and a new edge extends from the corner to a nearby corner. As you move the mouse around, the edge moves