Operations


Add Vertices

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold V + Left Click]

While Operation is Active:

  • [Tap F / Up & Down Arrows]: Change vertex draw spacing

    Note

    When using the Tool Shortcut, keep holding V to keep the operation active.

    Create Vertices

    Plan ahead by placing vertices onto a target surface ready to fill with quads.

    By clicking and dragging you can also draw multiple vertices at once.


Fill Quads

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold F + Left Click + Drag]

    Fill Quads Fill Quads

    Fills in quads between points, edges, and holes in the geometry.

    Tip

    Also fills trianglular holes.

    Fill Quads

Extend Borders

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold E and Left Click + Drag]

While Operation is Active:

  • [Tap Spacebar]: Change Extend Mode (Single, Loop, Ring)

    Note

    When using the Tool Shortcut, keep holding E to keep the operation active.

    Extend Borders

    Extrude border edges or create new faces from border points.


Extend Modes

Tip

Change modes by pressing the spacebar or in the Tool Settings to select different types of edge selections:

Extrude Edge Options

  • Single Mode - Extrude a single edge.

    Extrude Single Edge

  • Edge Loop Mode - Extrude a loop of edges.

    Extrude Edge Loop

  • Edge Ring Mode - Extrude a ring of edges.

    Extrude Edge Ring Extrude Edge Ring

  • Create Faces - Click near a vertex to create a face.

    Create Faces

Quick Loop Cut and Slide

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold R + Left Click]

    Loop Cut and Slide

    Just by holding R and clicking the mouse over the edges.


Draw Quad Strips

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold D and Left Click + Drag]

While Operation is Active:

  • [Tap F / Up & Down Arrows]: Change strip size

    Note

    When using the Tool Shortcut, keep holding D to keep the operation active.

    Draw Quad Strips

    Click and move the mouse across the mesh to create a strip of quads. Use the mouse wheel to adjust the size of the strip.


Smooth Vertices

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold S and Left Click + Drag]

While Operation is Active:

  • [Tap F / Up & Down Arrows]: Change brush size

  • [Shift + Tap F / Tap G / Left & Right Arrows]: Change brush strength

  • [Tap Spacebar]: Change vertex relax mode (All, Border, Interior, Automatic)

    Note

    When using the Tool Shortcut, keep holding S to keep the operation active.

    Smooth Elements

    Smooth vertices whilst maintaining their projection onto the target surface.

Smooth Modes

  • All Vertices: Smooth all vertices.

  • Border Edges: Smooth only border edge vertices.

  • Interior Vertices: Smooth only interior vertices.

  • Automatic: Automatically smooth vertices based on the initial selection. If the initial selection is an interior vertex, only interior vertices will be relaxed. If the initial selection is a border vertex, only border vertices will be relaxed.


Delete Mode

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Hold X and Left Click + Drag]

    Delete Faces, Edge Loops, and lone Vertices. Quickly click and drag over a mesh to delete elements by holding X:


  • Delete Faces - Click and drag over faces to delete them.

    Delete Faces

  • Dissolve/Delete Edge Loops - Click and drag over edge loops to dissolve them. Boundary edge loops will be deleted.

    Dissolve Edge Loops

  • Delete Lone Vertices - Click and drag over vertices that have no edges to delete them.

    Delete Lone Vertices

Tweak Elements

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Left Click + Drag]

    Tweak Elements

    Move vertices, edges, and faces along the mesh. Hold Alt + Left Click + Drag * to select and move edge loops.

    Note

    * When Emulate 3 Button Mouse is selected in preferences, Hold Shift + Left Click + Drag to select and move edge loops instead.


Pie Menu

Tool Shortcut:

  • [Press Q]

A Pie Menu is available either via the right-click Quad Maker edit mode menu or by pressing the Q key when using the main tool. This menu gives you quick access to the Quad Maker operations and settings:

Pie Menu

Important

Remember when you have finished with each operation, right-click again or press the escape key to exit.

Tip

You can bind the pie menu to a short cut by right-clicking the Pie Menu option in the Quad Maker right-click menu and selecting Assign Shortcut or clicking on Add to Quick Favorites to quickly access it as a Favorite by pressing Q. Please note that not all hotkeys work depending on what you are doing in Blender.