poly_modeling





	Polygon Modeling

Switch over to the Modeling section, choose from upper left, status line.

Make sure the select by object type button is selected in the status line near the top for all examples.

Draw a Mesh
poly_draw
Use Mesh Tools->Create Polygon Tool to draw a polygon
     Draw counter clockwise in most cases. This insures the shape is not inside-out.
     Hit Enter when you are done creating the shape

Bevel Plus a NURBS curve to make a poly beveled object
bevel_plus
Choose Create->Curve Tools->CV Curve Tool->
     Click on Curve Degree 3 Cubic for rounded curves, use 1 Linear for straight curves.

Draw the outer curve counter clockwise.
     Hit Enter button on the keyboard when you are finished.

Choose Curves->Open/Close Curvesl->  to close
     Select Shape: Ignore
(Or draw the last point on top of the first with point snap.)

Add holes if you like, draw them clockwise.

Select outer curve first, then the inner curves if you want to bevel with holes.
Choose Surfaces->Bevel Plus->
     Select Convex Out
          Extrude distance: .5
          Create cap: At start and At end
     Under the Output Options tab
          Output geometry: Polygons
          Along Extrusion, Samples: 1

Adobe Illustrator curves can also be brought in to use with Bevel or other tools. (Save as an old Illustrator format such as 8.0)

Curve to Flat Polygon Mesh with Bevel Plus
bevelplus_flat_poly
Start with a NURBS curve. Create->Curve Tools->CV Curve Tool Make sure the curve is closed, or the first point is on top of the last point (use v point snap). You can also add holes with this procedure. This creates something similar to planar surface, the geometry is cleaner.

Select the curve(s), outer curve first
Choose Surfaces->Bevel Plus ->

Under Bevel tab:
     Create bevel: Check At start, uncheck At end
     Bevel width: 0
     Bevel depth: 0
     Extrude distance: 0
     Create cap: Check At start, uncheck At end

Under Output Options tab:
     Along Extrusion: Samples: 1
     Along curve: Samples: For Linear curve degree, input 1, for Cubic curve degree, input 3 or more
Click Bevel

Select the model and run Mesh->Cleanup...
     Select Lamina faces (faces sharing all edges)
          This will get rid of all double surfaces.

Select the model and run Edit Mesh->Merge->
     Make sure the Tolerance is very small

Extrude (poly)
poly_extrude
Choose select by component type   and make sure the faces button    is pushed in; this will allow you to select faces. Select the top face by clicking on the little square in the middle of the face.

Select Edit Mesh->Extrude
Click the red box at the end of the red arrow of the extrude manipulator to change to scale mode. Select the box at the center of the manipulator and scale down the face a little.

Hit "g" to run Extrude again)
Click on the blue arrow and drag straight up

You may also use rotate to add extrusions.

Later try animating extrude for Game of Thrones title sequence effect. Any tool can be animated though construction history.

Extrude to make a Hollow Body or Offset Surface for thickness
3DP_01a_hollow
If you would would like a hollow body follow these instructions.

View wireframe mode, hit 4
Right mouse to select all the faces
Select Edit Mesh->Extrude.
     Select Keep Faces Together   (This option is on the mini menu.)
Move the blue (z axis) extrude arrow to the desired thickness.

Soft Selection
softselect
Double click the Move tool on the left to bring up the Tool Settings.
Open the Soft Selection Section
     Enable Soft Select:

Change to Select by Component Type
     Select Poly Vertices
     select_poly_verticies
Select a vertex and move it.

Play with the Falloff radius options.

Turn off Soft Select when you are done. (Soft Select is also turned on for Rotate and Scale.)

Switch back to select by object type near the top.

Delete Face
poly_delete_face
Use the Right Mouse button over your polygon to bring up the mini menu to select Face
     Hit Delete
(This is a poly primitive Helix)

Delete Edge/Vertex
delete_edge_vertex
This is a great way to clear up extra polygons
(A vertex usually cannot be deleted individually, first delete the edge.)

Select the Edges
Right mouse over an edge, select Edge from the mini menu, double click the edge to select the entire ring. (You may need to select and edge and double click the one next to it.)

Use Edit Mesh->Delete Edge/Vertex

Multi-Cut
poly_interactive_split
Select Mesh Tools->Multi-Cut Tool
     Hold down Shift, click on an edge and drag down until the point snaps to 50% then release.
     Now click on the opposing edge and drag down until the point snaps to 50% then release.
     Select another tool such as the Select Tool to stop the Multi-Cut.
This added 2 vertices, an edge and a face to a cube.

Fill Hole
Use Mesh->Fill Hole to fill in if there is one hole on your model. (Select by object type near the top. )
(This tool works best if there is 1 hole to fill or maybe 2.)
poly_fill_hole

Insert Edge Loop
poly_edge_loop
Select Mesh Tools->Insert Edge Loop Tool
Click and drag to add new edges (polygons and vertices)

Append to Polygon
poly_append
Select Mesh Tools->Append to Polygon Tool
     Select an edge to start
     Look at the arrows, select the next edge following the arrows
     Keep selecting edges until you are finished
If needed, use the Selection tool to end

Bevel
poly_bevel
Select Edit Mesh->Bevel->
This will add a bevel to an entire object or selected edges

Merge
Use Edit-Mesh->Merge->     (Open the dialogue window.)
     Set Threshold to .0001 (This depends on your model)
This will cleanup redundant vertices
Make sure you threshold tolerance is not too large, otherwise you will lose faces.
poly_merge

Add Divisions
Select Edit Mesh->Add Divisions->

Extract a Polygon into a separate shape
Right mouse over the shape, select Face, select the faces you want to separate
Choose Edit Mesh->Extract

Combine Polygons
Select all the polygon shapes you would like to combine.
Choose Mesh->Combine

Separate Polygons
Select a poly object
Choose Mesh->Separate

Use a Boolean Operation to add more divisions

Create a Star
Choose Create Polygon Primitives->Disc->
     Select Sides: 10
     Select Subdivision Mode: Pie     (less verticies)
     Select Subdivisions: 1

Right mouse over the disc
     Select Vertex
     Select every other vertex
Use Scale to scale in the points.

Remove the edges on the face of the star:
Select the Edges
     Right mouse over an edge, select Edge from the mini menu.
Use Edit->Delete

Use Edit Mesh->Extrude to extrude the star

Create the Cube with Divisions
Create->Polygon Primitives->Cube-> with extra divisions on the top surface.
     Width divisions: 10
     Depth divisions: 10

In the persp view menu, select Shading->Wireframe on Shaded
     Hit 5 for shaded too

Intersect the cube into the extruded poly shape, there should be overlaps.

Select the extruded star shape, then select the cube.

Select Mesh->Booleans->Intersection

Use Edit->Delete by Type->History

Use Deform->Nonlinear->Bend
     Rotate the bend deformer 90 degrees in Z to match the intended bend
     Use the Channel Editor to modify the Curvature of the Bend

Use Edit->Delete by Type->History again to delete the deformer in order to bring the shape into Unity.

Display Poly Counts
Select Display->Heads Up Display->Poly Count

poly_count

Any NURBS Tool can be used to create Polygons, Loft
poly_loft
Switch over to the Modeling section, choose from upper left, status line.
Draw a couple NURBS curves, Create->Curve Tools->CV Curve Tool
Select Surfaces->Loft->
     Choose Polygons
     Choose Quads
     Choose Tessellation method: General
          Change U type to: Per span # of iso params
          Change V type to: Per span # of iso params
          Input Number U: 3 (If this is too jaggy, increase)
          Input Number V: 1
     Hit Apply

Chord Height
If you are texture mapping a loft shape, you may want to try this.
Draw a couple NURBS curves, Create->Curve Tools->CV Curve Tool
Select Surfaces->Loft->
     Choose Polygons
     Choose Quads
     Choose Tessellation method: General
          Change U type to: Per span # of iso params
          Change V type to: Per span # of iso params
          Input Number U: 1 (Leave lower when using chord height ratio)
          Input Number V: 1
          Select Use chord height
     Hit Apply
This will add more polygons.

NURBS Planar Surface to Make Polygons
planar_poly
Draw one or more curves, place one inside of the other.

Use Curves->CV Curve Tool->

Select the outer curve first, the the rest

Select Surfaces->Planar->
     Choose Polygons
     Choose Quads
     Choose Tessellation method: General
          Change U type to: Per span # of iso params
          Change V type to: Per span # of iso params
          Input Number U: 1 (If this is too jaggy, increase)
          Input Number V: 1        ""
          Uncheck Use chord height   (default not selected)
     Hit Apply

You may clean up the extra edges and vertices, see image above
     Right mouse over poly, select Edge from the mini menu, select all inner edges.
     Use Edit Mesh->Delete Edge/Vertex

Right mouse over poly, select Vertex, make sure all the extra vertices are deleted.

Sphere from a Cube for better Texture Mapping

                                               Cube-Sphere versus a Poly Sphere

Select Create->Polygon Primitives->Cube->
     Select Edit->Reset Settings
     Select Each face separately

Image Texture Map
Select the cube.

Use the right mouse key over cube to bring up the marking menu, select Assign Favorite Material->Standard Surface.

Under the Attribute Editor, on the right side of the screen    (Or Ctrl a)
     Find the new Standard Surface Shader tab.

Click the Map Button across from Base Color
     Select the File icon
          Change Filter Type to Off (less blurry, default Quadratic)
          Choose an image
                It is best to keep your images in the scenes directory for Maya.
                And keep a copy of your image in the Assets directory for Unity.
          Under Arnold
               Change Filter Type to closest (less blurry, default smart_bicubic)
Hit 6 (shader display) to view the texture shaded on the model.

Smooth the Cube into a spheroid
Select the Cube

Run Mesh->Smooth, 2-3 times

You may repeat the texture in the hypershade window.
     Select the Textures tab
          Double click the texture
     In the Attribute Editor, switch to the place2dTexture tab
          Change Repeat UV to a higher value.