9

506 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Edit Modifiers and Editable
Obj ects
To achieve hig h ly detailed modeling effects, you
can directly tra nsform, modify, and align the
geometry of objects at a sub-object level (page
3–1017),usingtheModify panel (page 3–758).The
following table shows the different object t ypes
and their respective sub-objects.
Object Type Sub-Object Geometry
Mesh Vertex,Edge,Face,Polygon,Element
Poly Vertex,Edge,Border,Polygon,Element
Spline Vertex,Segment,Spline
Patch Surface Vertex, Edge, Patch, Element, Handle
NURBS Curve Curve CV or Point, Curve
NURBS Surface Surface CV or Point, Surface
With the exception of NURBS, to gain access to an
object’s sub-objects, in most cases you must first
either convert the object into an editable object,
or apply an y of various modifiers to the object,
such as Edit Mesh/Spline/Patch or Mesh/Spline
Select. The Select modifiers simply let you specify
sub-objects for modification by subsequently
applied modifiers. The distinctions between
transforming an object into an editable object and
applying an Edit modifier to it are as follows:
Method Advantage Disadvantage
Editable object More efficient
Can animate
sub-objects
Lose creation
parameters
Edit/Select
modifier
Keep creation
parameters
Less efficient
Cannot animate
sub-objects
To convert a parametric object to an editable
object, see any of the following topics:
Editable Mesh Surface (page 1–996)
Editable Poly Surface (page 1–1022)
Editable Spline (page 1–289)
Editable Patch Surface (page 1–968)
ToapplyanEditmodifier,seeanyofthefollowing
topics:
Edit Mesh Modifier (page 1–634)
Edit Spline Modifier (page 1–680)
Edit Patch Modifier (page 1–638)
To apply a Select modifier, see the following topics:
Mesh Select Modifier (page 1–719)
Poly Select Modifier (page 1–762)
Spline Select Modifier (page 1–831)
Volume Select Modifier (page 1–952)
Patch Select Modifier (page 1–751)
Modifying at the Sub-Object Level
To achieve highly detailed modeling effects, you
can directly transform, modif y, and a lign the
geometry of objects at the sub-object level (page
3–1017).
Sub-objectsarethepiecesthatmakeupobjects,
such as vertices and faces. You can also access
and transform the sub-object components of
modifiers.
The particular geometry available at sub-object
level depends on the object type. See Edit Modifiers
and E ditable Objects (page 1–506) for details on
each object type.