The new Connect command connects selected points and edges with new edges. There are no options for this command. You just make a selection and run the command. Here's an image showing the before and after result in both point and edge mode. The new Connect command connects selected points and edges with new edges. There are no options for this command. You just make a selection and run the command. Here's an image showing the before and after result in both point and edge mode.
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Connect points before |
Connect points after |
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Connect edges before |
Connect edges after |
As you can see in the edges images you can apply the command to more than one area at a time. So quite a handy tool but I do wonder about the logic in having 2 commands with same name but that do different things? The other connect command being the one in Object Manager that connects separate objects to create a new combined object.
The Dissolve command deletes selected edges. Here's a basic example of the command in action. A loop selection is done on a loop of edges and the Dissolve command is run.
Dissolve command in action |
The command takes into account the Phong angle. Useful on a more complex object than a cylinder. Here's another example on a slightly more complex object. The object on the left is the original and shows the selected edges. The other 3 objects have different phong angles as shown. The results are different after the Dissolve command has been run.
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Dissolve command using phong angles |
If you change to point mode and also enable N-Gon display you'll see more clearly what has happened. Where the phong angle is below the threshold where the polygons get smoothed and the edges appear sharp the edges only are deleted. The points remain and the edges are converted to N-Gons. Where the phong angle is higher the points are deleted leaving only polygons.
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Points are still there with low phong angles |
If you hold down the Shift key when using the Dissolve command then the result will be like the right hand object with a phong angle of 80°. Phong angles are ignored. The documentation says that Phong Breaks will also be taken into account. I couldn't get this to work and I suspect there's a bug that stops manually created phong breaks from being evaluated. Another one that left me scratching my head with this tool is where the documentation says "Points can also be removed using the Connect Points/Edges command." With the Connect Points/Edges command I was only ever able to create points not remove them.
The Spin edge command is a command / tool that I've come across following Lightwave tutorials and doing the modelling in CINEMA 4D. Lightwave calls this tool the Spin Quads tool. To achieve the same result in CINEMA 4D up until now took a little legwork. The idea is to rotate selected edges to get a better edge flow. Here's a before and after image that shows the effect of using the tool.
Spin edge tool - Before and after |
As you can see in the animation there's quite a difference. Sometimes you can end up with shading problems but it's usually just a matter of going into polygon mode, selecting the offending polygon and running the Move Up Sequence command once or twice.
Hardly earth shattering but the Phong Break Selection Tool now has an option to select all broken edges. Have to say I had never used this tool prior to the review. One thing that I note with it that appears to be a shortcoming is the slider isn't interactive. i.e. the selections don't appear until after you have released the mouse button. This makes using it trial and error.
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Phong break selection tool |
Okay so there's a few useful new additions but nothing major. I would hope that in Release 11 MAXON does some serious work on the modelling tools. Some of the equivalent tools in other 3D applications work better and or have more options. The Bridge tool in 3DMax for example has options for sub-divisions and scaling of those sub-divisions. The classic example of where this is used is when modelling car mag wheels. You start with a smaller cylinder as the hub and have a tube object as the rim. These are connected and you then use the bridge tool to create the spokes. Being able to create sub-divisions when bridging makes the process a lot quicker.