Mesh Selection Tools

Use

The Mesh Selection tools are used to select elements of a mesh.

The following mesh element selection options are available from the Mesh Select toolbar:

  • Vertices: A vertex is a corner of a polygon where two edges meet, or of a polyhedron where three or more faces meet. A polyhedron is a three-dimensional solid bounded by polygons. By default, vertices are displayed as red dots when selected.

  • Faces: A face or polygon is a flat, two-dimensional manifold region, usually a triangle, bounding a polyhedron. By default, selected polygons are displayed as lilac faces outlined by red borders.

  • Surfaces: A flat two-dimensional manifold region that may comprise of several polygons. A surface is all the polygons that are co-planar. Selected surfaces are displayed similar to faces.

  • Surface Patches (Separate Mesh Element): Selects objects, based upon their part ID. For example, when an object is selected, the corresponding part (patch) is selected. Selected surface patches are displayed similar to faces.

  • Polylines: Polylines, as opposed to edges, comprise of one or more connected, straight-line segments. By default, selected polylines are highlighted in lilac.

While using the selection tools, you can make multiple selections by pressing and holding the Ctrl key, enabling the Selection Lock option, or using any of the area selection tools from the 3D Editor toolbar.

The following operations are available on selected mesh elements:

  • Vertices: Selected vertices can be transformed (moved) using the Move tool in the 3D Editor toolbar.

  • Faces, Surfaces and Surface Patches: Selected faces can be transformed using the Move, Rotate, or Scale tools in the 3D Editor toolbar or assigned a specific material by dropping the material on the selection. They can also be deleted or separated from the rest of the object using the Mesh Select Right-Click Menu.

  • Polyline: Selected polylines can be assigned a specific material by dropping the material on the selection.

Activities

Selecting an Object’s Vertex

  1. Choose Select Mesh Vertex in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area you want to select, and then click the element.

    The selected mesh element is highlighted using the current color for selected vertices.

Selecting an Object’s Face

  1. Choose Select Mesh Polygon in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area you want to select, and then click the element.

    The selected mesh element is highlighted using the current color for selected faces with the edges highlighted in the current color for borders of selected faces

Selecting an Object’s Surface

  1. Choose Select Surface in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area you want to select, and then click the element.

    The selected mesh element is highlighted using the current color for selected faces with the edges highlighted in the current color for borders of selected faces

Selecting an Object’s Surface Patch Using Part ID

  1. Choose Select Separate Mesh Element in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area you want to select, and then click the element.

    The selected mesh element is highlighted using the current color for selected faces with the edges highlighted in the current color for borders of selected faces.

Selecting an Object's Polyline

  1. Choose Select Polyline in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area you want to select, and then click the element.

    The selected mesh element is highlighted using the current color for selected polylines.

Selecting or Deselecting an Object’s Faces with the Same Material

  1. Choose one of the Select Mesh Polygon, Select Surface, or Select Separate Mesh Element tools in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the area with the desired material you want to select or deselect.

  3. Right-click the object, and choose Select Faces with Same Material or Deselect Faces with Same Material.

    Faces of the object with the hit material are selected or deselected while the rest of the current selection remains.

Deleting Selected Faces of an Object

  1. Choose one of the Select Mesh Polygon, Select Surface, or Select Separate Mesh Element tools in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Select the required object or objects.

  3. Right-click anywhere in the viewport and choose Delete Selected Faces.

    The selected faces are removed from the mesh of the object.

Selecting All Mesh Elements on an Object

  1. Choose any one of the tools in the Mesh Select toolbar.

  2. Place the cursor over the object you want to select, right-click, and choose Select All on Object .

    The current type of mesh selection is applied to the entire mesh of the hit object.

Clearing A Current Mesh Element Selection

  1. When any tool in the Mesh Select toolbar is active, right-click anywhere in the viewport and choose Select None.

All current mesh element selection is cleared on every object in the scene with existing selection.

Inverting Any Current Mesh Element Selection

  1. When any tool in the Mesh Select toolbar is active, right-click anywhere in the viewport and choose Invert Selection.

The current mesh element selection is inverted on every object in the scene with existing selection.