PolyToolsPolyDraw : GlobalUtilityPlugin
This GlobalUtilityPlugin introduced in 3ds Max 2011 exposes an interface providing access to the Graphite PolyDraw tools.
The functionality was first implemented in 3ds Max 2010 using different functions that were not officially supported as MAXScript tools. This interface consolidates all relevant properties and methods in one place and let MAXScript users apply them in their own tools.
PolyToolsPolyDraw interfaces:
Get/set the Offset value defining the distance from the Grid/Surface to draw at.
Get/set the Minimum Distance value defining the size of the smallest polygon generated during drawing.
Get/set the Branch Taper value which defines the amount of tapering applied to branches while being drawn.
Negative values shrink the branches, positive values make them thicker, and a value of 0.0 causes no tapering.
When set to true, geometry generated after using the Topology tool will be welded to the original geometry.
When set to true, painting a surface after calling the .Surface() method will produce mainly quads.
PolyDraw Methods
Activates the Drag tool which lets you move around elements on the surface or on the grid.
The functionality of the Drag tool depending on the keys pressed is as follows:
Enters Step Build drawing mode.
Below are the different functions of the Step Build tool, depending on which keys are pressed:
Activates theBorder tool which lets you work on the open edges of the object. Open edges are edges that have only one polygon attached to them.
Below are the different functions of the Border tool:
You can also use this tool to edit the object in screenspace. Sub-object elements will be moved perpendicular to the current view. There is no need to change the active coordinate system for this to work:
Activates the Optimizer tool which can be effectively used to optimize meshes by quickly sketching away details.
Here are the functions of the Optimize tool depending on the keys pressed:
Activates theShapes tool which lets you quickly draw polygon shapes on grid or surface.
The result after one click-drag will be a single polygon shaped as you drew it, projected onto a model or grid. This tool has the complementary tool "SolveSurf" to create a workable mesh from the shape. With these two tools combined it is very easy and fast to create as an example details on the surfaces of other object. See below for more info about SolveSurf.
Here are the different functions for the Shapes tool depending on the keys pressed:
| Keys Pressed |
Function |
| No Keys Pressed |
Click and drag to draw polygon shape. |
| Ctrl |
Click to delete polygon. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Alt |
Click and drag to move a polygon. |
Activates the Splines tool which lets you draw spline shapes on a geometry surface or grid. These splines can then be made renderable or used in a loftting operation to create quick details.
The functions of the Splines tool:
| Keys Pressed |
Function |
| No Keys Pressed |
Click and drag to draw splines. |
| Ctrl |
Click to delete spline. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Alt |
Click and drag to move the closestspline. |
Enters Surface mode - drawing on the grid or other objects will create a mesh of polygons. If the property PolyToolsPolyDraw.SurfaceDoQuads is set to true , the polygons will be mostly quads.
Returns true on success, false on failure.
It lets you draw lines on a surface where the lines form a grid of quads or triangles, then automatically create a mesh from that grid.
When the user right-clicks to step out of the tool a polygon mesh is automatically created from the lines.
If the PolyToolsPolyDraw.TopoAutoWeld property is set to true , the created mesh will be attached to the selected Editable poly object and vertices that are close on the border will be welded together. This way you can continue adding to the surface of the selected object.
The distance set in the PolyToolsPolyDraw.MinDistance property will determine the resolution of the lines. If the value is too small some faces might be missed in the polygon creation. A value of 10 with the unit type set to pixels should work well in most cases.
Here are the different functions of the PolyTopo tool that depend on which keyboard key is pressed:
Activates the Strips tool which lets you paint strips of polygons where the strips turns to follow the movements of the mouse. This provides a good way to quickly lay out the topology foundation for a mesh.
Here are the functions of the Strips tool depending on the keys pressed:
Activates the Branch tool which lets you paint multi segmented extrusions from polygons with optional tapering to form "branches". The extrusions will be aligned to the screen.
The value of the PolyToolsPolyDraw.BranchTaper property determines the difference in size between the first and the last polygon in the branch. A value of -1.0 will make the last polygon as small as possible. The PolyToolsPolyDraw.MinDistance property lets you set the distance between the segments in the extrusion.
Here are the functions of the Branch tool depending on the keys pressed:
Modeling Tools Drawing Methods:
Activates the Swiftloop tool which lets you place edgeloops at the position you pick on an edge. It also lets you slide edges or edge loops in different ways.
Below are the different functions of the tool, that depend on which keyboard keys are pressed:
The Connect tool lets you paint and edit connections between edges and vertices. If the "Set Flow" checkbox is checked the created edges will be automatically adjusted to fit the flow of the mesh. Below are the different functions of the tool, that depend on which keyboard keys are pressed:
See Also
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