Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
By edge beveling the top of this box, we
create the same basic effect as if we had
used the traditional Bevel tool. However, if
we select the edge around the center of the
box, we can “open” it to create an additional
band of polygons. Dragging to the right
makes the bevel larger, while dragging to
the left makes it smaller. Edge Bevel is
particularly helpful when working on char-
acters, where beveled edges can be used to
create wrinkles in the character's skin.
Figure 3-87
Super Shift is a handy alternative to the tra-
ditional Smooth Shift tool. While Smooth
Shift allows you to push and scale groups of
polygons, it does not give you independent
control over either process. Super Shift,
however, does, thus enabling you to per-
form a “group bevel” on your polygons. In
addition, Super Shift automatically gener-
ates polygons with zero offset and a
Maximum Smoothing Angle of zero simply
by activating the tool. (While the benefits of
that may not make sense now, they will
later when we talk about sub-patch
modeling.) For now, let's take a quick look
at the differences between Smooth Shift
and Super Shift.
When pushing these polys out of the ball
using Smooth Shift, Modeler looks at each
individual polygon's normal to determine
how it should move and scale the entire
group. Super Shift, on the other hand, aver-
ages the group's normals. What that means
in practice is that Super Shift won't “puff
up” the polys on a curved surface as it
pushes them out.
Figure 3-88
