Lightwave Community at SimplyLightwave - View Single Post - Non-planar??

KrisYoung1980 · 13-07-2007, 07:19 AM

Okie dokie....

1. Surfaces go dark when you create non-planar polygons. A non-planar polygon is a polygon whose points do not sit on a flat plane within 3D space, in other words, it has a bend in it - this isn't good. You either want to move one or more of the points so it's in alignment (annoying) or split the polygon so it creates 2 planar polygons.

2. in polygon mode the statistic "X Vertices" is telling you how many points each of your polygons has, even if it doesnt look like it your polygon many have more points than you think. (4 point triangles anyone?)
In points mode however, the statistic "X polygons" is telling you how many polygons the points belong to, for example, for a box, every point will belong to 3 polygons, whereas for a standard ball (24 sides) every point belongs to 4 polygons except for the poles which belong to 24.
The two statistics aren't linked.

If anyone can put it better than that or can correct me on what i'm saying, feel free...

Cheers :beer:

13-07-2007, 07:19 AM	#2
KrisYoung1980 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Scotland Posts: 294	Okie dokie.... 1. Surfaces go dark when you create non-planar polygons. A non-planar polygon is a polygon whose points do not sit on a flat plane within 3D space, in other words, it has a bend in it - this isn't good. You either want to move one or more of the points so it's in alignment (annoying) or split the polygon so it creates 2 planar polygons. 2. in polygon mode the statistic "X Vertices" is telling you how many points each of your polygons has, even if it doesnt look like it your polygon many have more points than you think. (4 point triangles anyone?) In points mode however, the statistic "X polygons" is telling you how many polygons the points belong to, for example, for a box, every point will belong to 3 polygons, whereas for a standard ball (24 sides) every point belongs to 4 polygons except for the poles which belong to 24. The two statistics aren't linked. If anyone can put it better than that or can correct me on what i'm saying, feel free... Cheers :beer: Last edited by KrisYoung1980; 13-07-2007 at 07:21 AM.