ICE modeling lets you build or modify polygon mesh topology procedurally. You can do things like: generate multiple instances with individual variations, build structures that follow terrain, shatter objects based on an animatable controller, and achieve many other effects by building custom compounds.

ICE modeling involves the Topology attribute of polygon mesh objects. This is a special attribute with a special data type that describes the object's topology. You can get, modify, and set this attribute to change an object, or simply set it to build a mesh from scratch. When building from scratch, you can start with an empty mesh using the new command Get Primitive Polygon Mesh Empty.

ICE modeling lets you:

• Build polygons.
• Modify polygons, edges, and vertices.
• Apply materials.
• Apply texture projections.
• Apply user normals.

In addition, there are many factory compounds for specific tasks, such as:

• Extruding polygons, including extrusions along particle strands.
• Cloning topology.
• Repeating topology.
• Merging topology.
• Shattering simple topology.

For concepts and procedures related to ICE modeling, see ICE Modeling.

For reference information about the nodes and compounds for ICE modeling, see Tool Tab > Topology and Task Tab > Topology.