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Split a face so that a vertex is added at its center
Split polygon components
Create edge loops that are offset from an edge
Insert an edge loop
The Insert
Edge Loop Tool lets you select and then split the polygon
faces across either a full or partial edge ring on a polygonal mesh.
The Insert Edge Loop Tool is
useful when you want to add detail across a large area of a polygon
mesh or when you want to insert edges along a user-defined path.
For a description of an edge ring, please refer
to
Select an edge ring.
When you insert an edge loop, you are splitting
the polygon faces associated with the selected edge ring. The Insert
Edge Loop Tool lets you insert one or more edge loops
across a full, partial, or multidirectional edge ring.
Possible workflow scenarios are as follows:
To
insert an edge loop across a full edge ring on a polygonal mesh
- In
the scene view, select the polygonal mesh.
- From
the Polygons menu set, select
Edit Mesh > Insert Edge Loop Tool > .
The Insert Edge Loop Tool settings
editor appears.
- Ensure
that the default options are set as follows:
- Maintain
position: Relative distance from edge
- Auto
complete: On
When Maintain position is
set to Relative distance from edge,
the preview locator is positioned based on a percentage distance
along the edge (25%, 50% and so on) When Auto complete is
turned on you can select a full edge ring and immediately split
the corresponding faces.
- Click
the edge on the polygonal mesh where you want a set of new edges to
be inserted across the mesh. Do not immediately release the mouse
button.
A green dotted edge loop preview
locator line appears within the edge ring that is selected perpendicular
to the edge you clicked. The edge loop preview locator indicates
where the new edge loop will be inserted across the mesh once you
release the mouse button.
- Depending
on the orientation of the selected edge ring on the mesh, drag your
mouse in either a side to side, or back and forth motion to position the
edge loop preview locator.
- Release
the mouse button when you have moved the edge loop locator to the
desired location.
The new edge loop is inserted on the polygon
faces associated with the selected edge ring. The new edge loop
remains selected so that you can perform additional operations on
the edges.
- When
you have split the desired polygons, do one of the following to
exit the tool:
- Choose
the Select Tool in the (Hotkey:
q).
- Choose
another tool or feature that performs the next operation on the selected
edge loop.
For example, selecting the Move
Tool to move the selected edge loop, selecting Edit
Mesh > Extrude to extrude the selected edge loop,
or converting the edge loop selection to faces.
To insert a partial
edge loop across a polygonal mesh
- In
the scene view, select the polygonal mesh.
- From
the Polygons menu set, select
Edit Mesh > Insert Edge Loop Tool > .
The Insert Edge Loop Tool settings
editor appears.
- Set
the following options:
- Maintain
position: Relative distance from edge
- Auto
Complete: Off
NoteWhen the Auto Complete option
is turned off you can select a partial edge ring without the edge
loop being automatically inserted after you release your mouse button.
- Click
an edge of the polygonal mesh to indicate the starting point of
the partial edge ring where you want the new edge loop to be inserted
across the mesh.
The edge is selected and a green vertex appears
on the edge you clicked to indicate the selection.
- Click
a second edge that you want to be the ending point of the partial edge
ring. The second edge should be parallel to the first edge you selected.
All of the edges between the first and second
edges you clicked become selected and a dotted green edge loop preview
locator appears across the selected edge ring. The preview locator
indicates where the new edge loop will be inserted across the mesh.
- If
you want to cancel the selection of a particular edge, + on that
edge and continue your selection. If you want to cancel the edge
selection entirely, click anywhere in the scene view off of the mesh.
- When
you have completed your selection process, either press or and
select Complete Tool from the marking
menu that appears.
An edge loop is inserted at the location that
was indicated by the edge loop locator on the polygonal mesh. The
new edge loop remains selected so that you can perform additional
operations on it.
- When
you have completed the desired polygon splitting, you can do one of
the following to exit the tool:
- Choose
the Select Tool in the Toolbox (Hotkey:
q).
- Choose
another tool or feature that performs the next operation on the selected
edge ring.
For example, selecting the Move
Tool to move the selected edge loop, selecting
Edit Mesh > Extrude to
extrude the selected edge loop, or converting the edge loop selection
to faces.
To
insert a multidirectional edge loop
- In
the scene view, select the polygonal mesh.
- From
the Polygons menu set, select
Edit Mesh > Insert Edge Loop Tool > .
The Insert Edge Loop Tool settings
editor appears.
- Set
the following options:
- Maintain
position: Relative distance from edge
- Auto
Complete: Off
NoteWhen the Auto Complete option
is off you can select a partial edge ring that is multidirectional
without the edge loop being automatically inserted after you release
your mouse button.
- Click
an edge of the polygonal mesh to indicate the starting point of
the partial edge ring where you want the new edge loop to be inserted
on the mesh.
The edge is selected and a green vertex appears
on the edge you clicked to indicate the selection.
- Click
a second edge that you want to be the ending point of the partial edge
ring. The second edge must be parallel to the first edge you selected.
All of the edges between the first and second
edges you clicked become selected and a dotted green edge loop
preview locator appears across the selected edge. The preview locator
indicates where the new edge loop will be inserted across the mesh.
- To
continue the existing edge ring path in a different direction, click
on an edge that is directly adjacent to the edge you last selected
to indicate the change in direction for the selection.
- Continue
to select edges and/or change the direction in your edge ring path
as described in steps 5 and 6 above.
NoteYou can change the direction of your edge
ring selection path several times, but the path should not be constructed
so that it crosses an existing area of selection. When the selection
path intersects itself the edge insertion mode of the tool cannot
determine where to insert an edge loop. In these situations, you
need to perform multiple edge split operations.
- If
you want to cancel the selection of a particular edge at any time
during the selection process, + on the
desired edge. If you want to cancel the edge selection entirely,
click anywhere in the scene view off of the mesh.
- When
you have completed your selection process, either press or and
select Complete Tool from the marking
menu.
An edge loop is inserted at the location that
was indicated by the preview locator on the polygonal mesh. The
new edge loop remains selected so that you can perform additional
operations on it.
- When
you have completed your edge loop insertion, do one of the following
to exit the tool:
- Choose
the Select Tool in the Toolbox (Hotkey:
q).
- Choose
another tool or feature that performs the next operation on the selected
edge ring.
For example, selecting the Move
Tool to move the selected edge loop, selecting
Edit Mesh > Extrude to
extrude the selected edge loop, or converting the edge loop selection
to faces.
NoteWhen the
Auto Complete option
is off, you can also insert a partial edge loop on faces that are
not comprised exclusively of four-sided polygons by clicking two
edges for any given face in sequence along the desired path. This
specifies the direction of the selected ring path.
Insert Edge Loop Tool notes
You
can turn many of the Insert Edge Loop Tool options
on or off while the tool is active using a marking menu. This assists
your workflow by letting you continue your work without having to
re-open the tool options window.
To
change the tool options when the Insert Edge Loop Tool is
active
- Press + + anywhere
within the scene view away from a surface.
The Insert Edge Loop Tool options
(Auto Complete, Absolute
distance from edge, Relative distance from
edge, and Multiple edge loops) appear on
a marking menu.
- Depending
on your desired workflow you can select any of the options from
the marking menu to either turn them on or off.
You can continue to use the Insert
Edge Loop Tool and the options you selected will be used.