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300 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
After turning on Connect and before b eginning
the refinement process, turn on any combination
of these options:
•
Linear—When on, makes all segments in the
new spline straight lines by using Corner
vertices. When Linear is off, the ver tices used
to create the new spline are of the Smooth type.
•
Bind First—Causes the first vertex created in a
refinement operation to be bound to the center
of the selected segment. See Bound Vertex (page
3–919).
•
Clo sed —When on, connects the first and last
vertices in the new spline to create a closed
spline. When Closed is off, Connect always
creates an open spline.
•
Bind Last—Causes the last vertex created in a
refinement operation to be bound to the center
of the selected segment. See Bound Vertex (page
3–919).
End Point Auto-Welding group
Automatic Welding—When Automatic Welding is
turned on, an end point vertex that is placed or
moved within the threshold distance of another
endpointofthesamesplineisautomatically
welded. This feature is available at the object and
all sub-object levels.
Threshold—The threshold distance spinner is a
proximity setting that controls how close vertices
can be to one another before they are automatically
welded. Default=6.0.
Weld—Converts two end vertices, or two adjacent
vertices within the same spline, into a single vertex.
Move either two end vertices or two adjacent
vertices near each other, select both vertices, and
then click Weld. If the vertices are within the unit
distance set by the Weld Threshold spinner (to the
right of the button), they’re converted into a single
vertex.Youcanweldaselectionsetofvertices,as
long as each pair of ver tices is w ithin the threshold.
Co nnect —Connects any two end vertices, resulting
in a linear segment, regardless of the tangent
values of the end vertices. Click the Connect
button, point the mouse over an end vertex until
the cursor changes to a cross, and then dr ag from
one end vertex to another end vertex.
Insert—Inserts one or more vertices, creating
additional segments. C lick anywhere in a seg ment
to insert a vertex and attach the mouse to the
spline. Then optionally move the mouse and
click to place the new vertex. Continue moving
the mouse and clicking to add vertices. A single
click inserts a corner vertex, while a drag creates a
Bezier (smo oth) vertex.
Right-click to complete the operation and release
the mouse. At this point, you’re still in Insert
mode, and can begin inserting vert ices in a
different segment. Otherwise, r ight-click again or
click Insert to exit Insert mode.