Menu Cells

Polygon (Matter Module)

The Polygon menu cell commands in the Matter module allow you to create patterns on an object by defining different materials for selected individual polygons or groups of polygons on a polygon mesh object.

You must first assign a global material to the object using the Material menu cell.

Select by Tag Vertex

Selects or deselects all tagged polygons on the object. The mouse buttons are configured as follows:

The left mouse button selects all tagged polygons.
The middle mouse button deselects all tagged polygons.
The right mouse button toggles between the two actions.

Select by Rectangle

Allows you to do a rectangular selection of polygons on the object. Polygons do not have to be tagged first, as with the Select mode by tag vert command, but the entire polygon must be enclosed in the rectangle to be selected. The mouse buttons are configured as follows:

The left mouse button selects one or more polygons.
The middle mouse button deselects one or more polygons.
The right mouse button toggles between the two actions.

Select by Raycasting

This command allows you to select a polygon by clicking on it, and works only on selected polygon mesh objects.

Unlike the Polygon -> Select by Tag Vertex and Select by Rectangle commands, this selects the closest polygon facing the camera. As a result, you never inadvertently select the polygon directly behind your selection, on the other side of the 3D object.

Note:: This assumes that the polygon's normals are facing the camera. If the object is inverted, the polygon on the opposite side from the camera is selected instead.

Procedure

In any mode:

1. Select a polygon mesh object.

2. Choose the Polygon -> Select by Raycasting command or use the g Supra key.

3. Click on the polygon you wish to select: the selection is highlighted when you release the mouse button.

The mouse buttons are configured as follows:

The left mouse button selects the polygon.
The middle mouse button deselects the polygon.
The right mouse button toggles the polygon selection.

Any subsequent transformations or deletions are applied to the selected polygon(s) if you are in POL mode.

Select All

Selects all the polygons of an object.

Unselect All

Deselects all polygons.

Toggle All

Inverts the status of all polygons (unselected polygons become selected and selected polygons become unselected).

Current Material

Displays the file name of the current material in the status line. The polygons associated with the current material are highlighted in pink.

Previous Material

Makes the previous material current. The polygons associated with the current material are highlighted in pink.

Next Material

Makes the next material current. The polygons associated with the current material are highlighted in pink.

Assign New Material

Allows you to define a new material for the selected polygon by opening the Material Editor dialogue box.

Assign Current Material

Assigns the current material to the selected polygon.

Automatic Colourize

Automatically assigns colours to the object based on the association of the adjacent polygons.

Automatic Texture

Automatically assigns a texture to the selected polygons. This is the same as adding a material and texture to a selection of polygons, choosing the Txt_Oper -> Info UV Coord. (2D Global) or Txt_Oper -> Info UV Coord. (2D Local) commands, and accepting the default texture coordinates. This command lets you quickly add local textures to a group of selected polygons. To do this, see the Assigning Textures to Polygons section of the Defining Materials and Textures User's Guide.

Using this command also has one advantage: the texture coordinates automatically adjust the texture to fit it over all the selected polygons. After you have assigned the texture using this command, it works just like any other stored texture, meaning you can edit the texture coordinates using the Txt_Oper -> Info UV Coord. (2D Local) command.

However, since this command attempts to make the texture fit on the selected polygons, there are also some limitations for what you can select:

You can only select four-sided surface polygons, such as the face of a cube or most of a polygon mesh sphere (the polygons at the poles of a sphere are only three-sided, so you can't select this area).
Since the command is mapping a square image on a surface, it needs a rectangular grid of polygons. This means, for example, that you cannot select a side of a polygon mesh sphere if one polygon in the middle of it is unselected.

The command checks that the selected polygons are valid for the operation and informs you if it finds a problem.

SOFTIMAGE 3D Reference - 19 APR 1996