Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
B evel
Bevel
is another key tool for dividing an object, particularly useful in working
with hard surface objects. The tool is used for creating a bevel along selected
edges or the edges connected to selected faces or vertices. It is akin to slicing
of the corner where faces meet, revealing a new face and edges, and is
frequently used to add a slight rounding ef ect along the corners of an object.
Bevel is also a handy way, as you will see throughout the topic, to quickly add
geometry to a mesh.
Bevel Tool; Modify
To get a feel for how Bevel works, let's return to the cube with three
subdivisions on each side.
Bevel; B
●
Select an upper edge on one side and double-click to select the whole top
edge.
●
Select
Modify
>
Bevel
from the top menu or press
B
. A round manipulator
will appear that will allow you to adjust the size of the new polygon.
●
You can also press and hold
B
when performing the initial bevel to adjust
the size with the mouse.
The result should look like Figure 3.7b. It is very important to adjust the Bevel
in a noticeable way, or it has the potential to create invisible stacks of polygons
that will dramatically change how the model looks when subdivided.
Bevel
can also be used with faces and vertices, as seen in Figure 3.7a
and c. You will notice one problem with using
Bevel
on faces within a mesh:
it creates triangles at each corner (Figure 3.7c). These can be eliminated using
the
Merge
tool, which we discuss later in the chapter.
FIG. 3.7
The Bevel tool is akin to slicing of a piece of an object and revealing new faces and edges. These
screen shots show beveling a vertex, an edge, and a face.
