9

740 Chapter 8: Modifiers
2.
In the Generation Parameters group in the
MultiRes Parameters rollout, click the Generate
button to initialize the mesh.
3. In the Resolution group, use the keyboard or
spinner controls to decrease the Vert Percent or
Vert Count value.
As the ver tex and polygon counts decrease, the
meshupdatesinrealtimeintheviewports.
To maintain par t of a mesh at f ull r esolution while
reducing the r est:
1.
Select a model and apply the MultiRes modifier.
2. In the modifier stack display, click the + icon
next to the MultiRes modifier to open the
sub-object hierarchy.
3. Click the Vertex label to access the Vertex
sub-object level.
4. Selecttheverticesinareaswhoseresolutionyou
want to maintain.
5. In the Generation Parameters group, turn on
Maintain Base Vertices.
6. Click the Generate button to initialize or
re-initialize the mesh.
N otice that the selected vertices look like
asterisks instead of standard ticks.
7. Reducetheresolutionasinthefirstprocedure.
The selected vertices are the last to be removed
during vertex reduction.
Note: You can change the base ver tices at any
time by selecting a different group of vertices
and regenerating the mesh.
To merge vertices:
If there a re gaps between vert ices that you want
to close as vertex resolution decreases, use the
Vertex Merging feature of the MultiRes modifier.
With vertex merging, vertices within a given
threshold distance eventually collapse during
vertex reduction.
You can estimate the gap length by activating
the Select Object tool (page 1–61),movingthe
mouse cursor over the extents of the gap in the
active viewpor t (it mig ht help to access the Vertex
sub-object level), and comparing the values
displayed in the X/Y/Z readouts in the st atus bar,
or use the Tape helper (page 2–24) object to get
an exact measurement. Enter the estimated gap
length value in the Threshold field.
1. Select a model and apply the MultiRes modifier.
2. Turn on Vertex Merging. This makes the Merge
Threshold and Within Mesh controls available.
3. Set the appropriate parameters:
• To define the maximum distance over which
vertices are merged, enter a value in Merge
Threshold.
• To merge boundaries of adjacent elements
and vertices within elements, turn on Within
Mesh.
4. Click the Generate button.
The effect of t he change is displayed in the
object.
After the Generate button is clicked, a busy
cursor wil l display. If the merge threshold is too
largerelativetothedimensionsofthemodel,
the busy cursor may display for a long time. To
cancel the generation process at any time, press
the
Esc key.