"Face Builder" is used to create individual polygons, add polygons to existing objects, and to create connections between different objects. It provides ultimate low-level control to the user.
If "Face Builder" is invoked on an existing selected object, and if that object is a Potter or Spline object, the object is first polygonized into triangles. If you invoke "Face Builder" on more than one object, you can fuse them into a single mesh of faces, and then start stitching faces between the two groups of faces to create smooth shading effects. The newly fused object will take the properties (color, material, textures) of the first selected object. (If you just want to fuse the objects and don't need to edit the result, just use "Model - Merge".)
Object Name
You can give a meaningful name to the object using the "Object Name" text field, and pressing "Ok".
Mode
In "Edit" mode, the face builder tool is active and does not allow any other activity in the scene. In "Idle" mode, you will be able to select and move objects in the scene.
Creating New Faces
You can create new faces or add new faces connected to existing ones by keeping <Ctrl> pressed while clicking the left mouse button. As you click one point after the other, you get a green rubber-band outline of the face that is being created. When you have entered the required number of points (say, 3 for a triangle, or 15 for a complicated face), either double-click or release the <Ctrl> key. That will immediately create triangles to make the polygonal outline that you just entered. While defining the vertices of the polygon, you can use the vertex of another connecting face by moving the cursor over the vertex until a green box appears, and then click on it. That vertex is now shared by the old face(s), and the new face that you are creating. While building a face, you can press <Backspace> or <Delete> to delete the most recent point entered.
Moving Faces
The "Face Builder" allows you to move the vertices around once you have created faces. To move a vertex, move the cursor over it until a green box appears, then press down on the left mouse button. You get a yellow highlight. Move the vertex while keeping the mouse button pressed. You can also move a group of vertices by first dragging a rectangular box around the vertices using the left mouse button. This brings up a 3D manipulator around the box. You can now move the box by keeping the left mouse button pressed. You can also scale or rotate the box by pressing on the corner and side "handles" of the manipulator. (See "Options - Selection Highlight").
Box-selecting vertices also selects the faces involved. You can select additional faces by box-selecting with <Shift> pressed. You can also select a face for manipulation by either directly clicking the left mouse on it. If you keep <Shift> pressed, you can select more than one face.
Edges
This turns the display of triangle edges on or off. If you have the viewer draw style "as is", the edges helps you visualize the triangle editing.
Sel Box (Selection Box)
When you box-select one or more faces with the left mouse, it brings up a 3D manipulator. To turn the manipulator off, but still keep the faces selected, you can turn "Sel Box" off.
You can perform the following operations on the selected faces:
Delete: This will delete the selected faces. You can also press <d> or <Backspace> or <Delete> when you are inside the viewer.
Detach: This will detach the selected faces into a separate object. The "Face Builder" tool will now operate on this new object.
Hint: "Detach" can be used when you want to apply different textures on different parts of the same geometry.
Hint: Use "Detach" to create explosion effects where certain faces of the objects fly off.
Flip
This will flip the selected faces inside-out. If the display style of the object is "Both Sides" (see "Attribute - Display Style"), then it will not make a visual difference. But if the object has a display style of "Outside" or "Inside" only, then the faces will get flipped.
Finer
(not available in Ez3d Junior, Ez3d VR Builder)
This will cause each selected face to be split into 3 equal triangles. This is a good way of increasing the detail of portions of the object. The newly created center vertex can now be moved for finer adjustment. You can also press <f> while inside the viewer.
Reduce
(not available in Ez3d Junior, Ez3d VR Builder)
This powerful tool is used to reduce the triangle density on any arbitrary object. This tool is especially useful in VR applications to create levels of detail. It is also useful for reducing the complexity and redundancy in 3D scanned data.
You can use the slider or type in the desired number of triangles. For example, you may want to reduce from 2000 triangles to 500.
You can reduce one of the following:
Delete Selected: This will delete all the selected faces, and replace them with minimal "healing" triangles.
Reduce Selected: This will try to iteratively reduce only the selected portion of the object
Reduce Unselected: This will try to reduce everything but the selected portion of the object. This is useful when you want to preserve certain critical features in the shape.
Reduce All: The reduction system tries its hand on the entire object.
Preserve Creases:
This toggle tells the system to preserve all triangle boundaries that are shaded sharply. For example the top and bottom circles of a cylinder are sharp edges, but the sides are smooth. The sharpness of the edges can be modified using "Attribute - Display Style - Crease Angle".
When you press "Start", the system repeatedly processes all vertices to see which ones can be eliminated. The system tries to do just enough so that your desired goal is achieved. This is a process of trial and error, and may take more than a minute sometimes. If you change your mind or if it is taking too long, you can press "Stop". If the final results are not what you expected, use "Undo" and start again.
Crease Angle:
This brings up the "Attribute - Display Style" interface, which has a slider to set the crease angle (or smoothness) of the object. When reducing triangles of the object, you may reach a point where no more faces can be reduced, because the system may have to preserve creases. In this case, you can increase the crease angle, thus making the object smoother, and then reduce further.
New
This is used when you want to work on a new "Face Builder" object. If you select another object and choose "New", that object is now loaded into "Face Builder" (if the other object is already of type "Faces", you don't have to say "New"). If no object is selected, you can start with an empty "Faces" object.
