Edit Poly Modifier

The Edit Poly modifier provides explicit editing tools for different sub-object levels of the selected object: vertex, edge, border, polygon, and element. The Edit Poly modifier includes most capabilities of the base Editable Poly object, except for Vertex Color information, Subdivision Surface rollout, Weight and Crease settings, and Subdivision Displacement rollout. Edit Poly lets you animate sub-object transforms and parameter changes. In addition, because it's a modifier, you can retain the object creation parameters and change them later. For detailed information about animating with Edit Poly, see these procedures.

• Create or select an object. > Modify panel > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Edit Poly
• Create or select an object. > Graphite Modeling Tools > Polygon Modeling panel > Apply Edit Poly Mod
• Standard menu: Create or select an object. > Modifiers menu > Mesh Editing > Edit Poly
• Enhanced menu: Create or select an object. > Modifiers menu > Edit/Convert > Edit Poly

Edit Poly gives you these options:

• Transform or Shift+Clone the selection, as with any object.
• Use the options supplied on the Edit rollouts to modify the selection or object. Later topics discuss these options for each of the polymesh components.
• Pass a sub-object selection to a modifier higher in the stack. You can apply one or more standard modifiers to the selection.

Tip: You can exit most Edit Poly command modes, such as Extrude, by right-clicking in the active viewport.

Overriding Actions with Press/Release Keyboard Shortcuts

While working with poly objects, you can use a “press/release keyboard shortcut” to temporarily override the current operation and perform a different one. As soon as you release the keyboard shortcut, you return to the previous operation.

For example, you might be working at the Polygon sub-object level, moving polygons, and need to rotate the object to access a different part of it. Instead of having to exit the Polygon sub-object level, rotate the object and then re-enter the sub-object level, you could simply press and hold 6, rotate the object, release the key, and immediately return to moving polygons.

To see a list of press/release keyboard shortcuts, go to Customize Customize User Interface Keyboard panel, open the Group drop-down list, and choose Edit Poly or Editable Poly. The actions in boldface are the ones that you can assign as press/release shortcuts. Not all are assigned; for information about assigning keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard Panel.

The actions in boldface can function as press/release shortcuts.

Differences Between Edit Poly and Editable Poly

Functionality in Edit Poly is mostly the same as that of Editable Poly. Please note the following differences:

• Edit Poly is a modifier, with all properties that modifier status entails. These include the ability to place Edit Poly above a base object and other modifiers on the stack, to move the modifier to different locations in the stack, and to apply multiple Edit Poly modifiers to the same object, each containing different modeling or animation operations.
• Edit Poly has two distinct modes of operation: Model and Animate. See Edit Poly Mode rollout.
• Edit Poly eliminates the Full Interactivity switch; this feature is on all the time.
• Edit Poly provides two new ways of obtaining an existing selection from lower in the stack: Use Stack Selection and Get Stack Selection.
• In addition to the caddies in common with Editable Poly, Edit Poly gives you an Align Geometry dialog, available from the Settings button on the Edit Poly Mode rollout.
• Edit Poly lacks Editable Poly's Subdivision Surface and Subdivision Displacement rollouts. There are no Weight or Crease settings for vertices, edges, or borders. If you need to use Weight and Crease settings with Edit Poly, apply a Meshsmooth modifier, set Iterations to 0, and then make the settings as desired. Also, there is no provision for setting vertex properties such as color.
• In Animate mode, you begin a slice operation by clicking Slice, not Slice Plane. You still need to click Slice Plane to move the plane around. You can animate the slice plane.
• In some cases, several Undo commands might be required to revert from changes made with certain Edit Poly operations, such as Extrude.

  For example, if you extrude a polygon using the Extrude Polygons dialog, there will be three Undo actions. The first undoes the Commit, which happens automatically when you click the dialog OK button at the end; the second undoes the change in height (from 0 to the height you set); and the third undoes the entry into the Extrude operation.

Following is a table showing the Edit Poly functions that are and are not animatable. Functions that are not animatable are unavailable in Animate mode. Functions marked “Yes” can be animated explicitly in Animate mode.

Functions marked “Proc” cannot be animated explicitly, but can be animated procedurally. This means they can be applied to different parts of the Edit Poly object at different points in the animation by means of an animated sub-object selection passed up the stack. For further information, see this procedure.

Function	Animatable?
Transform sub-objects	Yes
Shift+Transform sub-objects	Yes
Constraints	No
Preserve UVs	No
By Vertex	No
Ignore Backfacing	No
Ring	No
Loop	No
Shrink	No
Grow	No
Selection conversion	No
Named Selection copy/paste	No
Soft Selection (most settings)	Yes (but not painting soft selection)
Shaded Face toggle	No
Delete	Proc
Create Vertex	No
Create Face	No
Create Edge	No
Collapse	Proc
Attach / Attach List	No
Detach	No
Slice	Yes
Quickslice	No
Cut	No
MSmooth	Proc
Tessellate	Proc
Make Planar	Proc
View Align	Yes
Grid Align	Yes
Relax	Yes
Hide Selected	No
Hide Unselected	No
Unhide All	No
Remove	Proc
Break	Proc
Extrude	Yes
Chamfer	Yes
Bridge	Yes
Weld (selected)	Proc (can animate Weld Threshold)
Target Weld	No
Connect	Yes
Remove Isolated Vertices	Proc
Remove Unused Map Verts	Proc
Remove	Yes
Split	Yes
Insert Vertex	No
Weld (selected)	Yes (Threshold)
Target Weld	No
Connect (Vertex)	Proc
Connect (Edge)	Yes
Create Shape	No
Edit Triangulation	No
Cap	Proc
Insert Vertex	No
Extrude	Yes
Bevel	Yes
Outline	Yes
Inset	Yes
Retriangulate	Proc
Flip	Proc
Hinge from Edge	Yes
Extrude Along Spline	Yes
Set Material ID	Yes
Select by Material ID	No
Set Smoothing Group	Yes
Select by Smoothing Group	No
Auto Smooth	Proc

Edit Poly Workflow

Edit Poly differs from other Edit modifiers in 3ds Max in that it provides two different modes, available on the Edit Poly Mode rollout: one for modeling and another for animating. By default, Edit Poly operates in Model mode, whose modeling functionality is mostly the same as that of Editable Poly; animation is unavailable in this mode. Alternatively, you can work in Animate mode, which makes available only functions that you can animate.

Each Edit Poly modifier set to Animate mode can preserve any number of keyframes animating a single operation type, such as transforming faces, on the same sub-object selection. To animate other parts of the object, or to animate a different operation on the same sub-object selection, just use another Edit Poly modifier.

You’ll find functions specific to the active sub-object level on a special rollout, leaving the Edit Geometry rollout with functions that can be used at most sub-object levels, as well as at the object level.

Also, many commands are accompanied by a Settings button, which gives you a second way to use the command:

• In Direct Manipulation mode, activated by clicking the command button, you apply the command by manipulating sub-objects directly in the viewport. An example of this is Extrude: You click the Extrude button, and then click and drag sub-objects in the viewports to extrude them.
  Note: Some buttons, such as Tessellate, operate on the mesh immediately, with no viewport manipulation required.
• Interactive Manipulation mode is well suited to experimentation. You activate this mode by clicking the command's Settings button. This opens a non-modal settings interface (typically a caddy) and places you in a preview mode, where you can set parameters and see the results immediately in the viewport on the current sub-object selection. You can then accept the results or cancel the operation. Alternatively, you can apply the settings to the current sub-object selection and then make one or more subsequent selections and apply or change the settings. Make the selection, optionally change the settings, click Apply And Continue, and then repeat with a different selection.
  Attention: When you click Apply And Continue, the settings are “baked into” the selection, and then applied again to the selection as a preview. If you then click OK to exit, you will have applied the settings twice. If your intention is to apply them only once, simply click OK the first time, or click Apply And Continue and then Cancel.
  Note: Changes implemented in Interactive Manipulation mode with editable poly objects cannot be animated. However, they can with Edit Poly objects.

Procedures

To animate an Edit Poly operation on a sub-object selection:

1. Select an object.
2. Apply the Edit Poly modifier.
3. Go to the first frame at which to set a key and turn on (Auto Key).
4. On the Modify panel Edit Poly Mode rollout, choose Animate.
5. Make a sub-object selection.
6. Perform an operation on the selection, such as a transform or extrusion.
7. Proceed to the next keyframe and continue to change settings for the current operation and sub-object selection.

   If you change the selection, the existing animation is applied to the new selection, and lost from the previous one. If you change the operation, any changes from the previous animation are frozen (that is, “baked” into the model) at the current frame, and only new keyframes are recorded in the current Edit Poly modifier.

   To animate different sub-object selections using different operations, use multiple applications of the Edit Poly modifier.

To apply an Edit Poly operation to an animated sub-object selection:

This procedure demonstrates procedural animation with Edit Poly: the ability to change the location of application on an object during an animation using an existing, animated sub-object selection.

1. Select an object.
2. Create an animated sub-object selection. One way to do this is to apply a Volume Select modifier and animate the gizmo's transform, or animate the modifier effect by using an animated texture map.
3. Apply the Edit Poly modifier.
4. Go to the same sub-object level in Edit Poly, and then, on the Selection rollout, turn on Use Stack Selection.
5. Scrub the time slider.

   The animated selection appears on the Edit Poly object.

6. On the Modify panel Edit Poly Mode rollout, choose Animate.
7. Perform an operation on the sub-object selection, such as a chamfer or extrusion. You don’t need to turn on Auto Key or use Set Key.
   Note: With Use Stack Selection on, you can't change the selection.

   Now, when you play the animation, the Edit Poly effect moves along with the animation of the sub-object selection.

   If you decide to animate a different function procedurally, first click Edit Poly Mode rollout Cancel.

Example: To apply an Edit Poly operation procedurally to an animated model:

Edit Poly lets you layer an animated sub-object operation on top of an existing animation. Try this brief example:

1. Create an animated model, such as a box with an animated Bend modifier.
2. Apply an Edit Poly modifier, and on the Edit Poly Mode rollout, choose Animate. Also turn on (Auto Key).
3. Go to the Polygon sub-object level.
4. Go to frame 20 and extrude a polygon.
5. Play the animation.

   The extrusion animation plays “on top” of the existing animation. This isn't possible with the Edit Mesh modifier.

Interface

Stack Display

For more information on the stack display, see Modifier Stack.

Show End Result

Because Edit Poly is a modifier, if you apply further modifiers and then return to the Edit Poly stack entry, Show End Result is on by default, and you can still see the results of any modifiers above Edit Poly on the stack. This is different from the Editable Poly object, where if you apply a modifier such as Symmetry and then return to the Editable Poly stack entry, you cannot see the effect of the modifier on the object's geometry. While at a sub-object level, if you turn on Show Cage on the Edit Poly Mode rollout, you can see the final object as a white mesh, the original sub-object selection as a yellow mesh, and the original Edit Poly object as an orange mesh.

Edit Poly Mode rollout

This rollout provides access to Edit Poly's two modes of operation: Model, for modeling, and Animate, for animation of modeling effects. For example, you can animate the Taper and Twist settings for polygons extruded along a spline.

During and between sessions, 3ds Max remembers the current mode for each object separately. The same mode remains active at all sub-object levels.

Edit Poly Mode also gives you access to the current operation's caddy, if any, and lets you commit to or cancel out of modeling and animation changes.

Model

Lets you model using the Edit Poly functions. Operations in Model mode cannot be animated.

Animate

Lets you animate using the Edit Poly functions.

In addition to choosing Animate, you must turn on Auto Key or use Set Key for animating sub-object transforms and parameter changes. Alternatively, in Animate mode you can apply a single command, such as Extrude or Chamfer, to an animated sub-object selection passed up the stack.

Tip: If you use Set Key to animate with Edit Poly, be sure to turn on Key Filters Modifiers.

Note: The Edit Poly modifier can store any number of keyframes animating a single operation, such as transforming polygons, on the same sub-object selection. Use additional Edit Poly modifiers to:

• animate other parts of the object
• animate repeated applications of the same operation on the same sub-object selection
• animate repeated applications of a different operation on the same sub-object selection

For example, say you want to animate a polygon extruding from an object from frame 1 to 10, and then moving back to the original position over the next 10 frames. You can accomplish this with a single Edit Poly modifier using the Extrude function, setting one keyframe at 10 and another at 20. However, say you want to animate a polygon extruding outward, and then animate movement of one of the resultant side polygons. In that case, you'd need two Edit Poly modifiers: one for the extrusion, and another for the poly transform.

Tip: While modeling in Animate mode, you can use Commit to freeze the animation at the current frame.

[label]

Shows the current command, if any. Otherwise, it shows <No Current Operation>.

When you're working in Model mode using direct manipulation (that is, working in the viewports), the label shows the current operation during drag operations, and then returns to the unavailable state.

When you're working in Model mode using a caddy, or in Animate mode using direct manipulation or a caddy, the label continually shows the current operation.

Commit

In Model mode, using a caddy, accepts any changes and closes the caddy (same as the OK button on the caddy). In Animate mode, freezes the animated selection in its state at the current frame and closes the dialog. Any existing keyframes are lost.

Tip: Commit lets you use animation as a modeling aid. For example, you could animate a vertex selection between two positions, scrub between the two to find a suitable in-between position, and then use Commit to freeze the model at that point.

Settings

Toggles the caddy for the current command.

Cancel

Cancels the most recently used command.

Show Cage

Toggles the display of a two-color wireframe that shows the editable poly object before modification or subdivision. The cage colors are shown as swatches to the right of the checkbox. The first color represents unselected sub-objects, and the second color represents selected sub-objects. Change a color by clicking its swatch. The Show Cage toggle is available only at sub-object levels.

The cage displays the original structure of the edited object.

Typically this feature is used in conjunction with the MeshSmooth modifier because it lets you easily toggle visibility of the unsmoothed base object while simultaneously viewing the smoothed result, but it works with any modifier.

Tip: Show Cage is also particularly helpful when used with the Symmetry modifier.

Selection rollout

The Selection rollout provides tools for accessing different sub-object levels and display settings and for creating and modifying selections. See Selection Rollout (Edit Poly Modifier).

Soft Selection rollout

Soft Selection controls apply a smooth falloff between selected sub-objects and unselected ones. When Use Soft Selection is on, unselected sub-objects near your selection are given partial selection values. These values are shown in the viewports by means of a color gradient on the vertices, and optionally on the faces. They affect most types of sub-object deformations, such as the Move, Rotate, and Scale functions and any deformation modifiers (such as Bend) applied to the object. This provides a magnet-like effect with a sphere of influence around the selection.

For more information, see Soft Selection Rollout.

Edit (sub-object) rollout

The Edit (sub-object) rollouts provide sub-object-specific functions for editing an Edit Poly object and its sub-objects. For specific information, click any of the following links:

Edit Poly (Object)

Edit Poly (Vertex)

Edit Poly (Edge)

Edit Poly (Border)

Edit Poly (Polygon/Element)

Edit Geometry rollout

The Edit Geometry rollout provides global functions for editing an Edit Poly object and its sub-objects.

Paint Deformation rollout

Paint Deformation lets you stroke elevated and indented areas directly onto object surfaces. For more information, see Paint Deformation Rollout (Polymesh).