Toolbox: Mesh Tools

To display the Mesh Tools, from the Toolbox click the Modify tab, and then click the Mesh button.

The Mesh Tools are used to edit polygon meshes, and are divided into four groups: Add, Select, Merge/Remove, and Edit.

Add Group

Vertex: Adds vertices to the selected polygon mesh.
Edge: Adds edges to the selected polygon mesh.
Face: Adds faces to the selected polygon mesh.

Select Group

The Select tools are used to select elements of a polygon mesh using various methods.

Expand Selection

Expands the selection area.

See also Expand Selection

Shrink Selection

Shrinks the selection area.

See also Shrink Selection

Invert Selection

Inverts the selection of vertices, edges, or faces.

Deselect All

Deselects all vertices, edges, or faces.

Loop Selection

When two faces are selected in Face Selection Mode, extends the selection in a loop around the polygon mesh.

Ring Selection

In Edge Selection Mode, selects the edges in a ring "parallel" to the originally-selected edge(s).

See also Ring Selection

Select Boundary Edges

Used to select edges forming an outline around the selected faces.

Select Inside Area

Using the selected faces or edges as a boundary, selects the faces or edges on the side with fewer polygons.

See also Select Inside Area

Contiguous Surface

Used to select the faces that share common vertices with the currently selected faces.

Select Plane

Used to select all of the polygon faces lying in the same plane as the currently selected face.

Select Manifold Geometry

Selects faces connected to the selected face, stopping at non-manifold edges and border edges.

See also Select Manifold Geometry

Detect

The Detect tool is used to detect and select elements of a polygon mesh that tend to cause modeling, rendering, or 3D printing errors, and elements with other specific structures. Elements that can be selected are Overlapping Vertices, Overlapping Faces, Non-Manifold Edges, Internal Faces, Border Edges, Non-Planar Faces, Concave Faces, Negative Curvature Vertices, Small Elements, and Planar Faces. If you suspect one of these elements is causing an error, use the Detect tool to find it and fix the problem. You can also select or deselect a specific kind of face such as faces having three or four vertices.

Overlapping Vertices: Selects overlapping vertices. Overlapping vertices are vertices that have identical coordinates. If you find overlapping vertices, select them and perform Vertex Merge.
Overlapping Faces: Selects overlapping faces. Overlapping faces are faces that share all of the same vertices. If you find overlapping faces, delete one of them.
Non-Manifold Edge: Selects non-manifold edges. A non-manifold edge is an edge shared by three or more faces. Selects faces that contain a non-manifold edge. If you find a non-manifold edge, remove it.
Internal Face: Selects internal faces. An internal face is a face that is enclosed inside other polygons, such as inside a box. If you find an internal face, remove it.
Border Edges: Any border edges (edges only connected to a single face) are selected.

See also Border Edges
Non-Planar Faces: Selects non-planar faces. A non-planar face is a polygon with vertices that do not all lie in the same plane. If you find a non-planar face, move the problem vertices so that they lie in the same plane as the other vertices in the polygon.
Concave Faces: Selects polygons with vertices on the inside of the face (resulting in a concave surface).
Negative Curvature Vertices: Selects vertices with negative curvature, which cause wrinkles.
Small Elements: Selects faces small than, or edges shorter than, the threshold value.
Planar Faces: Selects faces flatter than the angle specified by the threshold value.
Select Triangle Faces: Adds faces composed of three vertices (triangle polygons) to the selection.
Select Square Faces: Adds faces composed of four vertices (quadrilateral polygons) to the selection.
Select Other Faces: Adds faces with more than four vertices to the selection.
Deselect Triangle Faces: Deselects faces composed of three vertices (triangle faces).
Deselect Square Faces: Deselects faces composed of four vertices (quadrilateral faces).
Deselect Other Faces: Deselects faces composed of more than four vertices.

Merge/Remove Group

Merge Face: Merges the selected contiguous faces.
Remove: Removes the selected vertices and edges, leaving the surrounding faces.

See also Remove
Remove and Cleanup: Removes the selected vertices and edges (including unnecessary vertices), leaving the surrounding faces.

See also Remove and Cleanup
Cleanup Vertices: Deletes vertices that do not affect the shape's geometry, used after edges are removed.

See also Cleanup Vertices
Merge Vertices: Merges the selected vertices.
Edge Collapse: Collapses the selected edges or faces along those edges.

See also Edge Collapse
Merge Close Point: Merges multiple vertices that lie in adjacent coordinates into one vertex.
Merge Objects: Combines multiple polygon meshes into a single polygon mesh.

Edit Group

Face

Creates a new face between the selected vertices or edges.

Strip Face

Removes the selected faces while leaving their edges.

See also Strip Face

Bevel

Used to extrude the selected face along the normal line direction by manipulating the Virtual Joystick. If multiple faces have been selected, each of them is extruded in its normal line direction. If edges are selected, Round Edge is applied centered on the selected edges. If vertices are selected, Round Edge is applied centered on the selected vertices.
When Bevel is selected, parameters for Bevel appear in the Tool Parameters, allowing you to enter specific numeric values. Small adjustments can also be made after using the Virtual Joystick.

Extrude

Extrudes the selected edges or faces by dragging. If multiple edges or faces are selected, they are extruded collectively.

Thickness

Creates thickness for the faces of one or more selected polygon meshes. Unlike Offset, this tool creates faces with thickness for the selected polygon mesh after flipping and unifying the normals and deleting the original face, as necessary. Thickness can be added outwards or inwards from the surface, or in both directions. It can also be automatically generated.

Caution If nonselected faces are adjacent to the selected faces, side faces are not created even if the Side Face checkbox is enabled. This is to avoid edges shared by multiple faces.

Caution If the Distance is set to 0, thickness is not added, so as to avoid overlapping faces.

See also Thickness (Polygon Meshes)

Bridge

Creates a face connecting two separated faces. The Bridge Tool Parameters displays parameters that let you fine tune the action after using the Virtual Joystick.
When Bridge is selected, parameters for Bridge appear in the Tool Parameters, allowing you to enter specific numerical values. Small adjustments can also be made after using the Virtual Joystick.

Separate/Copy

This tool is used to separate the selected polygon mesh in various ways.

Separate Selected Faces: Each contiguous surface selected is detached as a separate shell.
See also Separate Tool
Separate Selected Faces as New Shape: The selected faces are detached as a new shape.
See also Separate Selected Faces as New Shape
Copy as New Shape: Copies the selected faces to a new polygon mesh. If multiple polygon mesh faces have been selected, Detach merges them to create one new polygon mesh.
Mirror: Performs a mirror copy of the selected face, centered on any axis.
Separate Selected Non-Manifold Edges: Selected polygon faces with non-manifold edges are separated from those non-manifold edges.
See also Separate Selected Non-Manifold Edges
Separate All Non-Manifold Edges: If the selected polygon mesh contains any non-manifold edges, the relevant faces are separated so that they no longer share the same edge.
Separate Discontinuous Faces: The shells of the selected polygon mesh will be separated, resulting in multiple shapes. (Each shell will become a separate shape.)
See also Separate Discontinuous Faces
Separate Shells: The shells of the selected polygon mesh will be separated, resulting in multiple shapes. (Each shell will become a separate shape.)
See also Separate Shells

Add Point

The Add Point tool allows you to add a control point by dragging across a line object in Modify Mode.

Knife

Cuts (separates) the selected face by dragging.

Loop Slice

Subdivides the edges of the selected shape. If square faces are stretched out, the edges are continuously divided by the same ratio.

See also Loop Slice

Divide

Divides the selected face into equal horizontal and vertical segments. In addition, selected polygons with four or more sides can be divided into triangles.

2 - 8: Specifies the number of divisions. After dividing the face, the number of divisions can be changed by dragging in the Figure Window or editing the value in the Tool Parameters.
Triangulate: Divides the selected face into triangles, each composed of three vertices.
Flip Triangle Edges: Flips the diagonal edge of faces composed of two triangles.
Edge Optimization: Optimizes the edges of the shape for as smooth a surface as possible.

Align

Aligns the position of the selected vertices, edges, or faces to the one closest to the specified direction. This can be used to create straight lines.

Polygon Reduction

Reduces the number of faces of the selected mesh while retaining its shape to the extent possible.

See also Polygon Reduction

Polygon Smoothing

Smoothes or emphasizes the irregularities in a polygon mesh by moving vertices.

See also Polygon Smoothing

Normals

This tool is used to manipulate the direction of normals of the selected faces.

Flip: Flips (inverts) the front and back sides of the selected faces.
Unify: Unifies the normals of the selected faces so they all point outward, or inward, whichever direction has more to begin with.
Orient Outward: In Modify Mode, orients all normals of the selected faces outward. In Object Mode, orients all normals outward.

See also Orient Outward

Subdivision Surface

This tool is used to specify the subdivision surface settings.

OpenSubdiv: Sets the subdivision method to OpenSubdiv.

See also Subdivision Surface Method (OpenSubdiv)
Catmull-Clark: Sets the subdivision method to Catmull-Clark.
Doo-Sabin: Sets the subdivision method to Doo-Sabin.
None: Sets Round Edge to None.
Edge Sharpness: Opens the Tool Parameters for specifying the sharpness of individual edges of shapes with OpenSubdiv applied.

See also Subdivision Surface Method (OpenSubdiv)