The Edit Poly modifier provides explicit editing tools for different sub-object levels of the selected object: vertex, edge, border, polygon, and element.
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Create or select an object. >
Modify panel > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Edit Poly
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.
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.
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 
Hotkey Editor, open the Group drop-down list, and choose Edit Poly or Editable Poly. The actions in boldface can be assigned as press/release shortcuts. Not all are assigned; for information about assigning keyboard shortcuts, see the Hotkey Editor.
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 |
| Optional Culling | 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.
Interface
Stack Display
For more information on the stack display, see Modifier Stack.
- Show End Result
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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.
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 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).