Pliers Mode command (Edit menu)

Use this command to select Pliers Mode, depicted by a cursor in the form of old-fashioned pincers or pliers.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the cursor is displayed.  Click again on this command (or the toolbar button) to return to Normal Mode.

Use Pliers Mode to extrude faces, or simultaneously move vertices of equal radius in a radial direction.  As well as being fun to use, particularly on group selections, these two functions have some very practical uses.

Depending on the scene’s orientation, extrusion or equi-radial movement may not always occur in the direction you appear to be dragging the mouse.  If this happens, just reverse the direction you are moving the mouse.

Extrude Face   To extrude a face select it with the left mouse button and drag it in the direction you want it to go (or sometimes the reverse direction) while holding down the mouse button.  Extrusion stops as soon as the button is released.  The extruded face moves in a direction normal to the original face.

If you want to extrude a face in a direction other than normal, select it without moving it.  Now use the arrow keys to extrude it in any direction you wish.  The multiply and divide keys can be used to move the extruded face (one 3D unit per keystroke) along the face’s normal.

Extrude All Faces   You can simultaneously extrude a group of faces, or, very spectacularly, all faces in an object.  For the latter, use Select All and then click and drag anywhere in the object with the pliers cursor.  Move the cursor towards X or Y to simultaneously extrude all faces outwards. The ‘*’ and ‘/’ keys can also be used for more precise movements along each face normal.  The ‘Esc’ and ‘Tab’ keys produce radial movements in which each vertex moves along its own radius.  This makes faces bigger as they move outwards.

Extrude Group of Faces   To extrude a group of faces you must first build the group selection in Normal Mode.   Switch to Pliers Mode, left click on the selection and drag the mouse in the X or Y directions to simultaneously and uniformly extrude all faces in the group.

Move Equi-radial Vertices   The other function of Pliers Mode involves the selection of a vertex and the radial movements of all vertices lying at the same distance from the origin --- ie, that are ‘equi-radial’.  A graphic example of this function is the simultaneous expansion or contraction of all points of a three-dimensional star.  Create a 3D star out of a standard dodecahedron by using the Star-Maker tool.  Display all of its vertex diamonds and use the Pincer cursor to select one of the points of the star.  Now simultaneously drag all points of the star radially outwards or inwards with the left mouse button held down.  The ‘Esc’ and ‘Tab’, or ‘*’ and ‘/’ keys, can also be used for the same effect.

It is possible to turn some objects inside out with this function.  If you select a vertex of a soccer ball, for example, all vertices can be simultaneously moved towards and through the origin.  If you keep using the divide key, all vertices will eventually oscillate about the origin.  However, if you use ‘multiply’ after the vertices have passed through the origin the points will move away from the origin and all faces will now be dull side out.

Shortcuts

Select Toolbar:                

Keys:                Ctrl+Alt+P

Copyright © Ligno3D Systems, 2006