Create polygon primitives interactively

The steps for creating a polygon primitive interactively consist of multiple click-drag operations in the scene view. The number of click-drag operations varies depending on the primitive type.

For all primitive types, you can prepare as follows:

  1. Turn on Create > Polygon Primitives > Interactive Creation.

    Interactive Creation is turned off by default.

  2. Select Create > Polygon Primitives, and choose the primitive type, or select the primitive type from the Polygons shelf.

    If you want to change the non-interactive attributes that a polygon primitive is created with, such as Radius, Divisions, or Texture Mapping UVs, selectCreate > Polygon Primitives > (primitive type) > . The Tool Settings are displayed for that primitive type. See Polygon Primitives Options for more information.

    Note: Pressing Enter at any point during the interactive creation process immediately completes the primitive creation and skips any remaining attributes.

    If you want to skip interactively setting an attribute during the interactive creation process, single-click with your mouse to move to the next step.

  3. Set the axis for your primitive using the orthogonal views. Whichever view you create your primitive in—top, front, or side—is the way your primitive’s axis will be aligned (y, z, or x).
  4. Hold the Shift and Control keys during primitive creation to achieve the following effects:
    • Ctrl: Grows plane and cube primitives from their center. (No effect on all other primitives.) When adjusting primitive attributes in subsequent interactive steps, pressing the Control key momentarily reduces the mouse speed.
    • Shift: Constrains all primitives to three-dimensional equilateral proportions and grows them from their base. When adjusting primitive attributes in subsequent interactive steps, pressing the Shift key momentarily increases the mouse speed.
    • Ctrl + Shift: Constrains all primitives to three-dimensional equilateral proportions and grows them from their center.
  5. Create a primitive interactively using the following table:
    Primitive type To create the primitive interactively

    Sphere, Torus, Pyramid, Soccer Ball, Platonic Solids

    1. In the scene view, click-drag to create the primitive.

      The initial click-drag specifies the location for the primitive as well as the radius or scale for these primitive types.

      The Torus primitive has an additional click-drag step to specify the Section Radius attribute.

    2. In the scene view, click-drag to specify the subdivisions along the height and width of the primitive using the left mouse button.

      The Soccer Ball and Platonic Solids primitives do not have a subdivisions step.

    Cube, Cylinder, Cone, Prism

    1. In the scene view, click-drag to create the primitive.

      The initial click-drag specifies the location for the primitive as well as the shape of the base of these primitive types.

    2. Click-drag to specify the height of the primitive.
    3. Click-drag to specify the subdivisions along the height, width, and depth of the primitive.

      Note: The number of click-drag operations for the subdivisions varies depending on the primitive type.

    Pipe, Helix

    1. In the scene view, click-drag to create the primitive.

      The initial click-drag specifies the location for the primitive as well as the radius/width of the primitive.

    2. Click-drag to specify the height of the primitive.
    3. Click-drag to specify the following attributes for these primitive types:
      • Pipe - specifies the thickness of the pipe.
      • Helix - specifies the number of coils.

      Note: The Helix primitive has an additional click-drag step after the number of coils to specify the Radius attribute.

    4. Click-drag to specify the subdivisions along the height, width, and depth of the primitive.
  6. When the primitive creation steps are complete, the wireframe color for the primitive changes from a bright green to the green color for an actively selected object.
    Note: Primitives with caps (Pyramid,Cylinder, Cone, Pipe) have an additional attribute called Adjust cap subdivisions after create that is turned off by default. When you turn this feature on in the primitive’s tool options window, an additional step is added to the interactive creation process for those primitive types.
  7. Press T to activate the Show Manipulator Tool.
  8. In the In-View Editor that appears, adjust the poly<shape> node attributes.

To create a polygon primitive with a single click

  1. Select Create > Polygon Primitives > Interactive Creation. (Ensure that a check mark appears beside the Interactive Creation menu item)

    If you want to change the settings that the polygon primitive is created with, such as Divisions or Texture Mapping, select Create > Polygon Primitives > (Primitive Shape) > .

    There are specific single-click settings for primitive creation.

  2. Click in the scene view to create the primitive.
  3. Press T to activate the Show Manipulator Tool.
  4. In the In-View Editor that appears, adjust the poly<shape> node attributes.

To create multiple polygon primitives interactively

  1. Select Create > Polygon Primitives > Exit on Completion to turn off the feature. (Ensure that a check mark does not appear beside the Exit on Completion menu item.)

    You can create multiple polygon primitives in succession without having to return to the Polygon Primitive menu or Shelf.

Related topics

Parent topic: Create polygon primitives