Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
If the Separate Extracted Faces option is enabled, the extracted face will be a separate
poly object; otherwise, it will remain a part of the original.
You can use the Extract tool to cre-
ate a hole in an object and still keep
the original face(s). When you use
this tool with the Split Polygon tool
to make custom edges, you can create
cutouts of almost any shape.
Figure 4.42
Pull off the faces.
The Smooth Tool
The Smooth tool (choose Mesh
➔
Smooth) evenly subdivides the poly
surface or selected faces, creating sev-
eral more faces to smooth and round
out the original poly object.
The Sculpt Geometry Tool
You can use a Maya feature called
Artisan
to sculpt polygonal surfaces. Artisan is a paint-
ing system that allows you to paint attributes or influences directly onto an object. With
the Sculpt Geometry tool usage of Artisan, you paint on a polygon surface to move the
vertices in and out, essentially to mold the surface.
To access the tool in polygon modeling, select your poly object and choose Mesh
➔
Sculpt Geometry Tool
r
.
For more on sculpting, see the
section “Using Artisan to Sculpt
NURBS” in Chapter 5. The workflow
is much the same as for sculpting with
NURBS; the only difference when
sculpting polygons is that the surface
behaves in a slightly different manner
when sculpted. Unlike the NURBS
sphere, where the brush strokes give
smooth curves in and out, a polygon
surface is more jagged. Of course,
if you create the poly with a large
number of subdivisions, you'll have a
smoother result when using the Sculpt
Geometry tool. (See Figure 4.43.)
Figure 4.43
The Sculpt Geom-
etry tool deforms
the surface.
