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The Target button lets you click a single vertex and move the cursor over an adjacent vertex. A rubber band line stretches from the first selected vertex to the target weld vertex, and the cursor changes to indicate that the vertex under the cursor may be selected. Clicking the target vertex welds the two vertices together.

Note

When two vertices are welded, the new vertex is positioned at a location that is halfway between both vertices, but when Target Weld is used, the first vertex is moved to the location of the second. •

Weight and Crease

The Weight settings control the amount of pull that a vertex has when NURMS subdivision or a MeshSmooth modifier is used. The higher the Weight value, the more resistant a vertex is to smoothing. For edge and border subobjects, the Weight value is followed by a Crease value that determines how visible the edge is when the mesh is smoothed. A value of 1.0 ensures that the crease is visible.

Remove Isolated and Unused Map Vertices

The Remove Isolated Vertices button deletes all isolated vertices. Vertices become isolated by some operations and add unneeded data to your file. You can search and delete them quickly with this button. Good examples of isolated vertices are those created using the Create button but never attached to an edge.

The Remove Unused Map Vertices button removes any leftover mapping vertices from the object.

Editing Edge and Border subobjects

All the edge editing tools are located in the Edges and Borders panels, shown in Figure 14.16. Many of the Edge subobject options work in the same way as the Vertex subobject options.

FIGURE 14.16

All the Edge specific commands are available when the Edge subobject mode is enabled. Many of the Border subobject commands are the same as those for Edges.

Bridge Edges

The Bridge button for edges allows you to create a new set of polygons that connect the selected edges. If two edges are selected when the Bridge button is pressed, then they are automatically connected with a new polygon. If no edges are selected, then you can click the edges to bridge after clicking the Bridge button. The selected edges on either side of the bridge can be different in number.

You also can access the caddy for the Bridge feature. This caddy offers the options to Bridge Specific Edges or to Use Edge Selection. The Bridge Specific Edges option has two buttons for each edge. If you click one of these buttons, you can select an edge in the viewport. The Use Edge Selection option lets you drag a marquee in the viewport to select the edges. The Bridge Edges caddy also includes options for setting the number of Segments, the Smooth value, and a Bridge Adjacent value, which increases the triangulation for angles above the given threshold.

Split and Insert Vertex

The Split button adds a new vertex at the middle of the edge and splits the edge into two equal sections. This button is handy when you need to increase the resolution of a section quickly.

The Insert Vertex button lets you add a new vertex anywhere along an edge. The cursor changes to cross-hairs when it is over an edge. Click to create a vertex. When in Edge, Border, Polygon, or Element subobject mode, this button also makes vertices visible. Within the Ribbon's Edges pane, you can set the number of vertices to be placed evenly along the selected edges using the number spinner next to the Insert Vertices tool.

Create Shape from Selection

The Create Shape from Selection button creates a new spline shape from selected edges. You can also select options for Smooth or Linear shape types.

Spin

The Spin button rotates the hidden edges that break up the polygon into triangles (all polygonal faces include these hidden edges). For example, if a quadrilateral (four-sided) face has a hidden edge that runs between vertices 1 and 3, then the Spin button changes this hidden edge to run between vertices 2 and 4. This affects how the surface is smoothed when the polygon is not coplanar.

Cap Poly

The Cap Poly