Bevel Op Property Editor

 
 
 

| General | Rounding

Bevels selected edges, selected points, or the contour of selected polygons on a polygon mesh.

To apply: Select components on a polygon mesh then choose Modify Poly Mesh Bevel Components from the Model toolbar.

To redisplay: Select the beveled polygon mesh, click the Selection button on the Select panel, then click the Bevel Op icon.

General

Distance

The amount of beveling. The values depend on the Type and Units settings.

This is the only option you can adjust when beveling selected points.

Also note that if the object has been scaled non-uniformly along different axes, then the beveling will also be non-uniform. If you want uniform beveling, first freeze the object's scaling before applying the bevel.

Type

Controls the direction in which Distance is measured:

  • Bevel width is the width of the new polygons created by the Bevel operator.

  • Along bisectors is the distance between the original, unbeveled edge and the new polygon created by the Bevel operator.

  • Along adjacent polygons is the distance between the original, unbeveled edges and the new edges created by the Bevel operator.

Units

Determines the values used by the Distance slider:

  • Relative to selection uses relative values based on the size of the edges to be beveled.

  • SI Units allows you to enter exact values in Softimage units.

Center

Controls the position of the bevel, allowing you to create lopsided bevels.

Joint options

Manage collisions

Automatically collapses points that collide with each other as you increase the bevel distance. This prevents overlapping polygons that can result when beveling, especially near sharp corners. Note that only collisions between adjacent components are detected.

You can turn this option off if you need to ensure that the number of vertices does not change when the bevel distance is animated, or if you prefer to manually clean up any overlapping polygons.

Uniform mitering

Controls the tessellation at junctions between two beveled edges:

  • When this option is off, 2-edge junctions with three or more polygons on the same side are tessellated by polygons in order to preserve the surrounding geometry.

  • When this option is on, all 2-edge junctions are single edges. This may result in cleaner geometry in the beveled region but may also change the shape somewhat in the surrounding areas.

Hard edges

On contour

Marks the outer edges created by the Bevel operator as hard.

On 3+ edge junctions

Marks the edges at junctions between three or more beveled edges as hard.

Min angle for 2 edge junctions

Controls the minimum angle for marking 2-edge junctions as hard. If the dihedral angle between two adjacent polygons on the same side of the beveled edges is greater than this value in degrees, the junction is marked as hard. A value of 0 marks all 2-edge junctions as hard, and a value of 180 marks none as hard. If you set this angle to the same value as the Angle for automatic discontinuity in the object's Geometry Approximation property, then discontinuities on the object will propagate to the beveled region.

Rounding

Nb subdivs

The number of subdivisions in the bevel.

As long as this value is nonzero, the other options on the Rounding tab are available and can be used to control the rounding.

Sharpness

Controls the shape of the profile. A value of 1 uses an arc-like segment (the default). Higher and lower values increase or decrease the tension, or the influence of the tangency of the adjacent polygons, similar to adjusting the length of Bezier control handles. A value of zero gives a flat profile.

Junctions

Tesselate

Turns tesselation of junctions on or off. When this option is off, no junctions are tesselated and the other Junctions options are unavailable. When this option is on, all junctions of three or more beveled edges are tesselated and you can use the other options to tesselate 2-edge junctions and control other aspects of the tesselation.

2 edge junction min angle

Controls the minimum angle for tesselating 2-edge junctions. If the dihedral angle between two adjacent polygons on the same side of the beveled edges is greater than this value in degrees, the junction is tesselated. A value of 0 tesselates all 2-edge junctions, and a value of 180 tesselates none.

This option is not available when Tesselate is off.

3+ edge junctions parameterization

Controls the direction of the smoothness and the flow lines at junctions where three or more edges meet.

  • Plus maintains continuity between the junction's center and the middle of each side of the junction's contour.

  • Diamond maintains continuity between adjacent sides of the junction's contour.

Extrapolation

Amount

Multiplies the displacement of the rounding effect above the flat bevel. Positive values produce exaggerated bulges, and negative values produce incised bevels. A value of zero produces no extra displacement, and a value of -1 produces an exactly inverted displacement.

Keep tangency

Ensures that the borders of the beveled region remain continuous with the adjacent polygons when the extrapolation amount is nonzero.