Applying Operations
Operations are used to modify the attributes of a shape. For example, the Bend Operation is used to Bend a shape, the Fill Material Operation is used to fill the shape with a material etc.
To alter the default settings for an operation right-click on the operation's button when it is enabled. Default settings are available when there is a small red triangle in the upper right corner of an operation's button. Operation defaults can also be set using the Remember These Settings button of the Shape Layers Panel.
Click
to display the
Shape Operations panel. Or
select the Operation Tab
to show all Operation sub-panels.
Operations may operate on Shapes, Faces or Points. Only those operations that apply to the current selection will be available.
Detail Operations
Detail Operations are used to add or remove detail from a shape. They affect not only the shape of the shape, but also the number of faces and points.
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Bridge Creates a bridge between two selected faces. If the faces you want to connect are not on the same shape it will be necessary to merge the shapes first. This operation can also be used to create a tunnel through a shape by selecting faces that are on opposite sides of the shape.
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Chamfer Chamfers points and edges. Once you have chamfered a point or edge you can increase or decrease the chamfer by shift-scaling with the Edit Control. Or alternatively you can change the Amount setting.
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Consolidate (Available with
3D Canvas Pro) Automatically merges faces where the resulting merged faces are planar and convex. A Level option allows you to specify the amount the resulting faces can be non-planar and non-convex. If your model is made up of triangles try the Merge Triangles operation. Note that this operation is not visible by default. To make this operation available select Options from the Tools Menu, select the Operations tab, and click the operation's check box.
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Divide Divides the selected faces or edges.
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Smooth Divides the faces that make up the selected shape and smoothes it.
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Edge Creates an edge between two selected points.
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Extrude Extrudes and optionally bevels the selected faces or edges.
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Flip
(Available with 3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Flips the selected shape along an axis.
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Inset Creates a new faces inset within the selected face or faces.
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Invert Inverts the shape. This results in the shape becoming inside-out, or if the shape was already inside-out, it will become right-side out. This is commonly used to correct problems with geometries imported from other 3D modeling programs.
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Merge Triangles (Available with
3D Canvas Pro) Automatically merges triangles where the resulting merged faces are planar and convex. A Level option allows you to specify the amount the resulting faces can be non-planar and non-convex. This operation is primarily used to convert imported models into quadrilaterals for easier modelling. Note that this operation is not visible by default. To make this operation available select Options from the Tools Menu, select the Operations tab, and click the operation's check box.
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Mirror (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Mirrors the selected shape along an axis.
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Optimize (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Optimizes the geometry of the shape. This often results in a smaller number of faces, but may also correct rendering problems that result from deformation, point editing and face editing. It is also useful to optimize shapes prior to Boolean set operations. This is likely to be useful when shapes have been deformed, point edited or face edited.
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Point Position Allows direct entry of the position of a point.
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Reduce (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Reduces the number of faces and points in a shape while maintaining shape detail. In the example below an imported shape had its point count reduced from 6000 to 1000
with little affect on the shape of the shape.
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Solidify (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Solidifies a shape. Often when shapes are imported from other 3D modeling programs, the shapes are not solid. This operation attempts to fill any holes found. If this Operation does not make the shape solid, or makes it even less solid, try using the Triangulate Operation on the shape first.
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Split (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Splits the selected point or points.
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Tip (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Creates Tips on the selection.
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Triangulate (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Triangulates the selection. This is commonly used in conjunction with the Solidify shape Operation to correct problems with geometries imported from other 3D modeling programs.
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Trim (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Trims the selection.
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Unlink (Available with 3D Canvas Pro) Used to unlink faces so that they no longer share points. When applied following a Burst or Swirl operation it permits their animation to be exported to the MD2 format and the Neutral shape Format.
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Weld (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Welds selected points into a single point.
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Weld-Nearest Welds the nearest point to the selected point. |
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Weld-To-First Welds all selected points to the first point selected. |
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Weld-to-Nearest
Welds the selected point to the nearest point. |
Deform Operations
Deform Operations change only the shape of a shape.
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Bend Bends the selected shape. By default the Bend operation bends the entire shape 45 degrees. The portion of the shape to bend is enclosed in a volume called an "Operation Control". You can adjust the region of the shape to bend and direction of the bend using the Operation Adjustment tool. The amount of bend applied can be adjusted as indicated here. The region to bend can be enclosed in either a box operation control or a cylinder operation control depending which best fits the region. Note that it is often easier to adjust the region to bend by first setting the bend amount to 0 degrees.
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Bulge (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Bulges the selected shape.
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Center (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Centers the selection in its group.
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Equalize Equalizes a selection of points along either the X, Y or Z axes. The options for this operation can be adjusted using the Shape Layers Panel when the operation is the active layer.
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Mirror (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Mirrors the selected shape along the Z axis.
The options for this operation can be adjusted using the Shape Layers Panel when the operation is the active layer.
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Scale (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Scales the selection.
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Shift (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Shifts the selection.
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Snap-Scale (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Snaps the size of the selected shape to the Snap To Interval.
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Soften Softens
the edges a
shape. Similar to the Smooth operation though it does not increase the
number of faces or points. It also can be used on a selection of faces,
edges or points. |
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Taper Tapers the selected shape. By default the Taper operation tapers the entire shape 50 percent. The portion of the shape to taper is enclosed in a volume called an "Operation Control". You can adjust the region of the shape to taper and direction of the taper using the Operation Adjustment tool. The amount of taper applied can be adjusted as indicated here. The region to taper can be enclosed in either a box operation control or a cylinder operation control depending which best fits the region. Note that it is often easier to adjust the region to taper by first setting the taper amount to 0 percent.
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Twist (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Twists the selected shape. By default the Twist operation twists the entire shape 45 degrees. The portion of the shape to twist is enclosed in a volume called an "Operation Control". You can adjust the region of the shape to twist and direction of the twist using the Operation Adjustment tool. The amount of twist applied can be adjusted as indicated here. The region to twist can be enclosed in either a box operation control or a cylinder operation control depending which best fits the region. Note that it is often easier to adjust the region to twist by first setting the twist amount to 0 degrees.
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Miscellaneous Operations
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Material-Fill Fills the selection with the current material from the Material Palette. Typically this should be the final or near-final operation applied to a shape since many Operations destroy any material applied. If you decide to apply a destructive operation after the material, you can move the material operation within the list of layers.
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Unwrap (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) The Unwrap operation is used to create a texture that can be painted in a Paint program and applied to a shape.
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UV Map (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Fills the selection and permits manipulation of the created texture coordinates.
Also available is the UV Re-Map operation which permits the update of texture coordinates without application of a new material.
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UV Re-Map (Available with
3D Canvas Plus/Pro) Used to manipulate texture coordinates. See the UV Map operation for more information.
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Burst (Available with 3D Canvas Pro) Burst the selected shape.
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Crease Adjusts the creasing of the selected shape.
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Adjust Points (Available with 3D Canvas Pro) Used to animate points. A typical use for this operation is the animation of facial expressions.
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Swirl (Available with 3D Canvas Pro) Swirls the selected shape.
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