Basic Operation

Basic instructions, and an overview of the interface.

To create a bevel:

  1. Select a polygon, or polygons in modeler.

  2. Select "VertiBevel" from the Additional menu.

  3. Draw the bevel you wish to create.

  4. Set any other settings you desire.

  5. Click OK.

  6. If you wish to undo, hit "u" twice.

(To get more information on any part of the interface, simply click on it in the image below)

(Click on any of the links in the following text to go to a page with in-depth descriptions)

Preset:

This section allows you to load and save commonly used settings.  (You must save a setting if you wish to bind it to a hot-key.)

To load a preset, simply pulldown the menu and select the preset you wish to load.  It will be loaded into the IBD for further editing if you wish.

Save

Create a curve in the interactive curve editor, then use the small pop-up menu next to the preset menu to select Save Preset.  You will be prompted to enter a name for the preset.  Click OK to save it.  It will now appear on your Preset menu, and can be accessed from hot-keys or LScripts.

Delete

Select Delete Preset... from the Action menu (the small pop-up menu next to the preset menu).  Select the preset you wish to remove, and click Delete to remove it from the list.  You may delete several Presets while on this panel, though due to limitations in LightWave Panels, you can only select and delete one at a time.

 

Inset:

This shows the amount of inset for the currently selected point in the curve editor. You may set it by either moving the point in the curve editor, or typing an exact value in the edit box.

+/-

This allows you to set the amount of variance in the inset. It applies to all points, not just the selected one.

 

Shift:

This shows the amount of shift for the currently selected point in the curve editor. You may set it by either moving the point in the curve editor, or typing an exact value in the edit box.

+/-

This allows you to set the amount of variance in the shift. It applies to all points, not just the selected one.

 

Edges:

This tells VertiBevel how to create the new bevels.

Inner

Will create a new face polygon.

Outer

Will create polygons around the "outside" of the polygon(s), without creating a new face poly.

 

Bevel (Group Beveling):

This is the main feature of VertiBevel.  It allows you to bevel a group of polygons as one instead of having to do complicated manipulations of other types.  A real time saver.  You may turn it off if you wish to have Modeler-type behavior.

Group:

Tells VertiBevel to bevel connected polygons as one. (default).

Solo:

Tells VertiBevel to bevel each selected polygon individually.

 

Select Polygons:

This tells VertiBevel which polygons to select when it is complete.  You may have it select faces, bevels, or both.  Modelers behavior can be replicated by choosing just faces.

 

Face Surface:

Which surface the face polygons will have when created.

 

Bevel Surface:

Which surface the bevel polygons will have when created.

 

Create >>

This allows you to type in a new name for a surface and have it created so that you can assign it to the face and/or bevel polygons.

 

Special

ESP (Exclude Selected Points)

ESP allows you to select points which are on the polygons you are selecting, and have VertiBevel ignore either the inset or shift (determined by whether they are on the edge or not) ignored.  Edge points will be shifted, but not inset.  Inner points will not be shifted or inset.  This can be very useful in certain situations.

 

Grid Size Display

This displays the current grid size.  This is very useful when trying to get a good feel for how big your bevel is.  It can be changed by zooming in or out.

 

Snap to Grid

Snap to Grid allows you to add or move points on the bevel designer and have them snap to the grid.  You can toggle this feature on or off.

 

Clear Curve

Removes all intermediate points, leaving the end point alone.  Useful for quickly resetting the curve from a previous complex one.

 

Zoom Tool

Allows you to zoom in and out on the bevel designer window.  It works just like the one in Modeler.  Click and drag on it to change the zoom amount.  You can also use the "," and "." keys (think < and >) to zoom in and out.  Holding down shift while hitting "," and "." will zoom in bigger steps.  You may also zoom by holding down the <CTRL>-<ALT> (pc) or <CTRL>-<OPTION> (mac) keys and clicking and dragging in the IBD.

Pan Tool

Allows for scrolling of the graphic designer window.  This allows you to move around larger bevels while zoomed in, for tighter control of point placement.  It works just like the one in Modeler.  You can also use the arrow keys, shift-arrow keys, and the "g" key to navigate as well.

Fit-All Tool

Click this to automatically pan and zoom the IBD to show the entire bevel profile.  You can also hit the "a" key to do this.

Panel Resizing

The + and - buttons allow you to resize the VB Panel.  Just click on the + to make it larger, or the - to make it smaller.  There are 4 preset sizes.  If you would like to change these sizes, you can do so by editing the appropriate entries in your VBPrefs.cfg file.

Drawing Bevels

Adding Points

Points can be added to the Bevel by clicking with the left mouse button (normal mouse button on Mac) where you would like the point created.  VertiBevel will attempt to place the point on the nearest line segment.

Deleting Points

Points can be removed from the Bevel by right-clicking directly on the point you wish to remove.  On the Mac this is accomplished by holding down the Command key while clicking.

Moving Points

Points can be moved by clicking on them and dragging them with the left mouse button.

Using Shift

Dragging a point while holding down the Shift key on the keyboard will stretch/compress the points on either side of the current point. Dragging the end point while holding down Shift will have the effect of scaling the entire Bevel.

Using Control

Dragging a point while holding down the Control key on the keyboard will move it and all following (toward the end [blue] point) points together in unison.

Using Shift and Control

Dragging a point while holding down the Shift and Control keys simultaneously will stretch/compress all points before the selected point, and will move all following points together in unison.

Note:  The drag modifier keys can be dynamically changed while dragging a point.  This allows for very quick and powerful editing capabilities.  It is recommended that you spend a few minutes playing with the modifier keys to get a feel for what they do.

OK

Hitting OK applies the bevel in the Interactive Bevel Designer window to the selected polygon(s).

Cancel

Hitting Cancel will return you to Modeler without applying any beveling operations.

Registration

This box will display your current registration information.  It will either display the number of days left on your temporary or trial key, or will show that you are permanently registered.  VertiBevel is keyed to your LightWave dongle, so a registered copy of VertiBevel can be moved with a dongle from machine to machine as long as it is running the same (Intel, Alpha, Mac) version of Lightwave.  It is illegal to run VertiBevel with "cracked" or modified versions of LightWave, and doing so is a breech of the VertiBevel license.  It is also illegal to "crack" or "hack" VertiBevel such that it will operate without a valid LightWave dongle, a valid trial key, or a valid permanent key.  It is also illegal to possess or use such a "cracked" version.

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Designed by Bryan Blevins.

VertiBevel Documentation - This page last updated 03/02/01