Create Polygon Tool

The create polygon tool is used to create a custom shaped polygon.

The create polygon tool is located in the menu under Mesh > Create Polygon Tool.
It can also be found in the hotbox-menu if polygons are shown, under Mesh > Create Polygon
Tool. Or in the marking menu (which can be brought up by holding shift + right click) when
nothing is selected.

Clicking on the option box when selecting the tool may modify the Create Polygon Tool’s
settings. Settings that may be changed include;

Divisions, which divides the edge by the number of divisions selected and adds vertices along the
edge where needed.

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An edge drawn with 4 divisions.

Keep new faces planar

This determines which plane the polygon will append to. By default any new faces will lie in the
same plane as the polygonal mesh you append to.

Limit the number of points

The number of vertices that make up the polygon may be limited to any amount between 3 and
100. Note: If this option is selected, divisions may not be added.

Texture space
The texture space is also an option between, Normalize, Unitize and None. This option
determines how the polygons uvs are created and dealt with.
Normalize maintains the polygon’s shape within the uv editor.
Unitize uses all of the texture, distributing the polygons uvs between the corners of the texture.
None denotes that uvs won’t be created for the polygon.

After a polygon has been created some setting may still be modified. Within the attribute editor
the texture space setting may still be changed between, normalized, unitized and none. The edges
may still be subdivided by distributing vertices along the edges. Additional vertices may also be
added in the attribute editor.
Once selected the tool is used by left clicking to place each vertex of the new polygon and then
hitting enter to close the polygon.

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A Polygon created using the Create Polygon Tool.

The Create Polygon Tool can be a very useful tool to quickly and easily lay down a shape of an
object or face that is more complicated than a square or circle. However a concern to be mindful
of when using this tool is that often the results of the Create Polygon Tool will be n-gons
(polygons with more than 4 sides). While Maya won’t have much problem with rendering n-gons,
if being created for a game engine polygons must be quads or tris. Limiting the amount of points
used to 4 can monitor this. In doing so the ease and speed of this tool is limited. A manual
cleanup of the polygon after creation may be a better option.
Cut Faces Tool
The Cut Faces Tool splits all selected faces along a cut line.

The Cut Faces Tool is located in the menu under Edit Mesh > Cut Faces Tool. The hotbox-menu
when Polygons are shown under Edit Mesh > Cut Faces Tool and in the marking menu (Shift +
right click) when a face or object is selected.

The Cut Faces Tool has an option box that can help determine how the faces will be split.

Interactive
The interactive cutting line tool is the default option for the cut faces tool, and displays an
interactive line that is pivoted to the mouse’s coordinates. When cutting with the interactive
cutting line be aware that the cameras perspective is taken into account when splitting the face.
For precise cuts using the top, front and side views is recommended.

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Cut as a straight horizontal line in perspective.

YZ, ZX, XY plane

These options position a cut line along the selected plane. A projection is displayed for the
placement of the cut.

Extract Cut Faces

Splits then extracts faces along one side of the cut line. Which side is indicated by a dotted line.
Extract offset
Extract offset sets the amount the surface will be offset after the faces have been extracted.
Delete Cut Faces
Splits then deletes faces along one side of the cut line. Which side is indicated by a dotted line.

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Dotted line indicating which side of the cut will be deleted.

After a cut has been made some elements may still be edited in the attribute editor. Exact
measurements may be entered in the Polygon Cut Faces Attributes to modify the cut center, cut
plane rotation and cut plane size. As well as whether the cut is deleting, extracting or just cutting
the faces. If extracting the extract offset may be modified.

The Cut Faces Tool can be very useful in quickly segmenting or cutting into a face. It is also a
useful tool in creating a cut in perspective around a 3d object. Cutting wildly with this tool can
end up creating n-gon. While this tool could be used for cleanup as it adds edges to faces, it is not
entirely accurate.
Merge Vertex Tool
Merge Vertex Tool merges all currently selected to a target vertex or the centre of all selected
vertices.

The Merge Vertex Tool is located in the menu under Edit Mesh > Merge Vertex Tool in the
hotbox menu when polygons are shown under Edit Mesh > Merge Vertex Tool or in the
marking menu (Shift + Right Click) when one or more vertices are selected.

Although there aren’t any options for the merge vertex tool there are a few different ways the
application can be approached. Selecting the Merge vertex tool from the menu or the hotbox-
menu will enter the merge vertex mode, where the user drags a vertex onto a second vertex and
they merge on the second vertices location.

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Selecting the two vertices to merge.

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The end result.

Vertices can also be merged by first selecting all the vertices to be merged and selecting merge
vertices in the marking menu, then selecting merge to center. This option will make the distance
directly between all of the selected vertices the new vertex.

Although a very simple tool the merge vertex tool can be very useful in cleaning up object,
particularly when separate objects have been combined.
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Two meshes being merged using the merge vertex tool.

When merging vertices over two planes the resulting surface may not be in just a single plane,
which can cause problems shading the face in game engines.