Aligning Vertices

You can reorganize the vertices of a mesh, by projecting them onto a plane, an axis, orthogonally, or along a direction. You can also define the projection support.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin:
  • Create a 3D shape containing a subdivision surface.
  • Define the Robot position Robot to Definition .
  • The various options used for this scenario are available in the Tools Palette.
See Also
About Aligning Vertices
Associating Elements

Project Vertices on a Plane

You can project vertices onto the plane of the Robot.

  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Modification .
  2. Select the surface.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click Alignment .
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Q.
  4. Click On Plane .
    Tip: In case you have clicked On Plane,you can also pick a line to project onto the plane.
  5. Select the elements to be projected.

    The handle arrows are displayed on each axis. The handle is active when you are in the picking zone. You can click anywhere in the picking zone to perform a modification. As you are in the active handle zone, the projection plane is viewed. This plane size is defined to include all the projected points. The interactive arrows direction indicates the direction of projection and is normal to the plane.

  6. Click the interactive arrow depending on the direction where you want to align the vertex.


    The selected elements are projected onto the plane of the Robot.

Project Vertices on an Axis

You can project vertices onto the axis of the Robot.

  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Shape Sculpt .
  2. Select the surface.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click Alignment .
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Q.
  4. Click On Axis .

    You can also pick a plane to project onto the axis.

  5. Select the elements to be projected.
    Handle arrows are displayed on each axis. The handle is active when you are in the picking zone. You can click anywhere in the picking zone to perform a modification.

    As you are in the picking area of the handle, the projection axis is viewed. This axis size is defined to include all the projected points. The interactive arrows direction indicates the direction of projection and is normal to the plane.

  6. Click the handle arrow depending on the direction where you want to align the vertex.


    The selected elements are projected onto the normal line of the Robot.

Project Vertices on a Circle

You can project vertices onto a circle.

  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Modification .
  2. Select the surface.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click Alignment .
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Q.
  4. Click On Circle .
  5. Select the elements to be projected.
  6. Select the support element.
    The handle is displayed in the center of gravity of the selected elements.
    Tip: The value of the radius is displayed providing that the Show Coord icon is selected. It is updated when you move the handle.
  7. Move the handle to modify the circle radius.
    The elements are projected onto the circle.

  8. Click Uniform Arc to project the elements equally onto the circle.


  9. Click Robot Definition to modify the position of the Robot.
  10. Go back to the On Circle option and pick the handle.
  11. Move the handle to modify the radius.
  12. Click in the 3D area to apply the alignment.


Project Vertices on a Support Element

You can project vertices orthogonally or along a defined direction onto a support element.

  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Modification .
  2. Select the surface.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click Alignment .
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Q.
  4. Click Robot Definition to define the Robot position and click the icon again when done.
  5. Click On Body .
  6. Select the elements to be projected.
  7. Select the support element.
    The handle is displayed with a sphere in its middle.
  8. Move the pointer over one of the following elements:
    • The center of the handle to display arrows on each axis. Click anywhere in the picking zone to perform an orthogonal projection.

      Projection traces are previewed.

    • The interactive arrow corresponding to the direction where you want to align the vertices to perform a projection along a direction. As you can see below, it is not mandatory that the target be in the same plane as the vertices to project.

      The direction of the interactive arrows indicates the direction of projection. Projection traces are previewed. The distance between the projection traces and the projection support is computed.

      Note: You can click an arrow and move the pointer toward the geometry to perform an exact alignment:

    The selected elements are projected onto the support element, as shown below:

    Orthogonal projection

    Projection along a direction

    Tip: By default, the Pick icon is selected. You can click Drawing to directly draw the target curve instead of selecting an existing curve.

    The curve disappears as soon as the alignment is applied.

Position Points on a Circle

You can position the points to be aligned on a circle. This capability is available with the On Circle and On Axis capabilities. Note that only the Uniform Arc and Not Uniform modes are available when projecting onto an axis.

  1. From the Tools Palette, click On Circle .
    The Uniform Circle command appears in the Tools Palette.
    Tip: You can also access this command by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+U.
  2. Select one of the following modes:
    • Not Uniform : The distribution of the points is not uniform.

    • Uniform Circle : The distribution of the points is uniform. All the points are positioned at an angular distance equal from each other on the whole circle.

    • Uniform Arc : The distribution of the points is uniform. All the points are positioned at an angular distance equal from each other on an arc of circle defined by a start and an end point.

Project Using a Mesh Line

You can project vertices using a mesh line.

  1. From the Tools Palette, select any of the projection commands.
  2. Press Alt and move the pointer over either of the following elements:
    • The handle arrow displayed on each axis.
    • The center of the handle to perform an orthogonal projection.
    Without Alt pressed

    With Alt pressed

Associate Aligned Vertices

You can associate aligned vertices of a subdivision surface to a selected feature.

  1. Select the subdivision surface and click Shape Sculpt from the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar.
  2. Select the vertices of the subdivision surface.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click Alignment .
  4. Select the curve on which the vertices are projected.


  5. Click Link .
    The association is created between the subdivision surface and the curve. A symbol is displayed on the subdivision surface icon in the tree.