9

Mesh Select Modifier 719
Ice—
The defau lt Solidity setting.
Glass—Uses a high S olidity sett ing to simulate
glass.
Jelly—Causes a significant drooping effect in the
center.
Plastic—Relatively solid, but dr oops slightly in the
center as it melts.
Custom—Sets any solidity between 0.2 and 30.0.
Axis to Melt group
X/Y /Z—Choosetheaxis(localtotheobject)on
which the melt will occur. Note that this axis is
localtotheMeltgizmoandnotrelatedtothe
selected entity. By default, the Melt g i zmo’s axes
are lined up w ith the object’s local coordinates, but
you can change this by rotating the gizmo.
Flip Ax is—Normally , the melt occurs from the
positive direction toward the negative along a
given axis. Turn on Flip Axis to reverse this
direction.
Mesh Select Modifier
Create or select and object > Modify panel > Modifier
List > Mesh Select
Make a selection. > Mod ifiers menu > Selection M odifiers
> Mesh S elect
The Mesh Select m odifier lets you pass a sub-object
selection up the st ack to subsequent modifiers.
It provides a superset of the selection fun ctions
available in the Edit Mesh modifier (page 1–634).
You c an select vertices, edges, faces, polygons or
elements, and you can change the selection from
sub-object level to object level.
Note the following:
• When you apply the Mesh Select modifier
and then go to any sub-object level, the
select-and-transform buttons in the toolbar
are unavailable, and the Select Object button is
automatically activated.
•TheMeshSelectmodifierautomaticallyturns
off the Show End Result button, which becomes
"spring loaded" w h ile you’re i n the modifier.
For more information on the stack display, see
Modifier Stack (page 3–760).
Using X For m M odif ier s to Ani mate a
Mesh Selection
When you apply a Mesh Select modifier, there
are no animation controllers assigned to the
sub-object selection. This means that the selec tion
has no way to "carry" the transform information
needed for animation.
To animate a sub-object selection using Mesh
Select, apply either an XForm or Linked XForm
modifier to the selec tion. These modifiers provide
the necessary controllers for animating the effects
of transforms. In a sense, they give "whole-object
status" to the sub-object selec tion.
• XForm (page 1–959)
Animates transforms directly on a sub-object
selection. Creates a gizmo and center for the
sub-object select ion. You can animate both,
with the center acting as a pivot point for the
selection.
• Linked XForm (page 1–712)
Lets you choose another object to control the
animation. The sub-object selection is linked to
the "control object." When you t ransform t he
control object, the sub-object selection follows
accordingly.
Procedure
To use the Mesh Select modifier:
1.
Create a mesh object.
2. Apply a Mesh Select modifier .