The functions in an editable mesh are the same as those in the Edit Mesh modifier, with the exceptions bulleted below, plus new features described in the sections that follow. It’s important to note that there are several new features that have been developed for the editable mesh that are not included in the Edit mesh modifier. So, whenever possible, we recommend using the editable mesh rather than the Edit Mesh modifier.
Editable Mesh Modifier (Object)
Editable Mesh Modifier (Vertex)
Converting an object to an editable mesh replaces the creation parameters in the stack so that the base of the stack is “Editable Mesh,” which provides most functions that were previously found in the Edit Mesh modifier. Converting to an editable mesh freezes the creation parameters, which are no longer accessible or animatable. So, before converting to an editable mesh, you have to decide if you can do without the creation parameters
A number of functions that were once in the Edit Mesh modifier have been changed to individual modifiers. If you want to maintain the creation parameters, but perform certain functions that were in the Edit Mesh modifier, you can use these new modifiers instead. Examples of the new modifiers would be the Mesh Select Modifier , which provides all of the selection tools that were in the Edit Mesh modifier, and the Delete Mesh modifier, which performs parametric deletions of previously selected geometry.
In addition, although sub-object selection in an editable mesh is passed up the Stack to subsequent modifiers, you no longer use multiple Edit Mesh modifiers to change selection on different levels of the Stack. In fact, in most cases, you won’t want to use the sub-object selection of the Editable Mesh later in the Stack. To take care of this, a Mesh Select modifier has been added . In total the Edit Mesh functions that have been added as modifiers include:
Attach Multiple button: This has been added at the Object selection level. Click the Attach Multiple button to display the Attach Multiple dialog, which contains a list of all other objects in the scene. Select the objects you want to attach to the current editable mesh, and then click OK. (The dialog is basically the same as the Select by Name dialog.)
Clear All button: This button is added to the Smoothing Groups section at Face selection level. Click Clear All to clear all smoothing groups in all selected faces.
Build Face & Flip Normals: Build Face has been changed slightly so that the face you build becomes the selected face. In addition, a keyboard shortcut (f) has been added for the Flip button in the Normals area. Put the two together, and you can easily flip the normals of your faces as you build them. Note that to use the Editable Mesh keyboard shortcuts, you must first enable the Plug-in Keyboard Shortcut Toggle.
Edge/Divide: Faces created with this function inherit the smoothing group(s) from the original divided faces.
Hidden Edge Displays: While in Edge selection mode, if you select so-called invisible edges, they become visible. Now, the selected invisible edges are displayed as dashed lines so you can distinguish them from visible edges within the same selection.
Detach: The Detach function, for both vertices and faces now has the ability to create elements within the same object, rather than a new object. In the Detach dialog is a checkbox, labeled Detach to Element. When this is checked, the object name field is disabled. When you click OK, the selected geometry is detached from the rest of the object, but it remains a part of the objectan element.
When you move vertices while the Animate button is onat any selection levelthe vertices become animated. Essentially, this means that you can directly animate at the sub-object level.
As soon as you animate one or more vertices, a new track is created in the Track View, labeled Object [Editable Mesh]. The children of this track are numbered verticesone track for each animated vertex, labeled: Vertex 1, Vertex 2, and so on. Each Vertex track is assigned a Bezier Point3 controller.
Note: Keep the following in mind:
Since animated vertices generate tracks, you can also select vertices by clicking the associate green triangle icons in the Track View. You can add to the selection by holding CTRL while clicking, and subtract from the selection by holding ALT.
Warning: Selecting vertices in the Track View actually performs selection even if the object is not currently selected. In addition, if the deformation of your object is based on recent sub-object vertex selection that’s been passed up the Stack, this will change the vertex selection, and therefore the resultant modification of the object.
This is not a new function, but an implementation in Editable Mesh of the way local vertex transforms already work in the Edit Mesh modifier. That is, when you select several vertices and are in Local transform mode, tripods appear for every selected vertex oriented according to each vertex normal (the average of the face normals surrounding the vertex).
You can now assign colors to vertices. This ability is primarily added for game developers and developers of radiosity renderers. In most cases, the average user will not need to access this function.
The assignment of vertex colors is implemented in these two places:
The swatch in the vertex sub-object level lets you assign colors to selected vertices, while the swatch in the face sub-object level lets you assign colors to the vertices of selected faces.
At the simplest level, you assign a color to a vertex by selecting that vertex, clicking the color swatch to display the Color Selector, and then choosing a color. If more than one vertex is selected, the color is assigned to all of the selected vertices.
Similarly, at face sub-object level, you can select a face, and then click the color swatch. The color you choose at this selection level is assigned to the three vertices that make up the face. If more than one face is selected, all vertices of all selected faces are assigned the color.
As a default, all vertices are white. The color swatch displays the color of the selected vertices only if they’re all the same color. If one or more of the assigned colors is different, the swatch is black to show lack of commonality.
Keep in mind that a single face has three vertices, while a single vertex can share any number of faces. Likewise, a single vertex can be assigned any number of colorsone for every face it shares. As a result, you could select a single vertex with multiple colors and the color swatch would appear black.
Although vertex colors are primarily designed for programmers, you can display the results in the viewports or in the rendered scene using the following methods:
Displaying Vertex Colors in Viewports: Turn on the new Vertex Colors checkbox in the Display command panel. Note that vertex coloring only appears in Smooth or Smooth + Highlight shaded displays. It does not appear in non-shaded or faceted display modes. See for details.
Rendering Vertex Colors: You can render the colored vertices by applying a material to the object that has a Vertex Color map assigned to the diffuse channel.
The visual effect of vertex colors is a ramp of color generated between the vertices. Thus, three different colors assigned to the vertices of a face result in a tri-gradient of color across that face.
Important: Avoid changing vertex colors on an object using a second UVW mapping channel. The coordinates stored for vertex colors are also used to provide the second channel of UVW mapping coordinates. Since these coordinates are shared by two distinct functions (vertex colors and mapping coordinates) they can’t be used by both at the same time. If you do change the vertex colors, the mapping coordinates for the second UVW channel will become disordered.