Managing Character Lines

You can create one or more character lines on a subdivision surface. A character line is defined by a set of edges and two fading edges (where the sharp edge becomes smooth). Each fading edge is defined by a start and an end point, both of which can be modified.

Create a 3D shape containing a subdivision surface.

From the Operations tool bar, click Character Line .

You can also access this command by pressing ALT+SHIFT+C.

Select the subdivision surface.

The Tools Palette appears:

Character Line Creation : Creates the character line.

You can also access this command by pressing Ctrl+Shift+J.

Character Line Remove : Resets the selected character line.

You can also access this command by pressing Ctrl+Shift+S.

Character Line Remove All : Resets all character lines.

You can also access this command by pressing Ctrl+Shift+O.

Mesh View : Hides or shows the base mesh.

You can also access this command by pressing Alt+Ctrl+X.

Select the edges on the subdivision surface by pressing Ctrl or select a start edge and press Shift to define the end edge.

A minimum of two edges is necessary to perform this operation.
The edges must be continuous. That is, there should be no free edges.
There can be only one character line feature per subdivision surface.
The two edges of the character line must lie on different faces.

Click Character Line Creation .

The character line is created. The start of each fading edge is defined by a double arrow and the end is defined by a dot. The zone between two fading edges is the sharp zone:

1 shows sharp zone.
2 and 3 show the direction from sharp to smooth.

The start of the two fading edges must lie on different edges.
Move the manipulators to precisely tune the start and end of the fading edges.
Click Mesh View to hide the mesh for easier manipulation.

A Subdivision Character Line.x feature is added to the specification tree under the subdivision surface node.