9

Edit Nor mals Modifier 637
Inter face
The Edit Normals modifier is useful mainly at the
sub-object level, Normal, so this level is active by
defaultassoonasyouapplythemodifiertoan
object. At this point, you can see the normals as
lines emanating from the mesh vertices, select and
transform them, copy and paste them, and change
their settings on the Modif y panel.
You can transform normals only by moving and
rotating them, not by scaling them. H owever,
moving a nor mal effectively rotates it, so in most
cases you’ll have better control by using the Rotate
tool.
The following command reference includes
keyboard shortcuts, which are available when the
Ke yboard Shortcut Override Toggle (page 3–872)
(on the toolbar) is on. In addition, you can use
Ctrl +0 (zero) to access the object level of the
modifier.
Select By group—Lets you specify how to select
normals in the viewport:
• Normal (
Ctrl +1): Click a normal to select it.
• Ve r t e x (
Ct rl +2): Click a mesh vertex to select
all of its normals.
• Edg e (
Ct rl +3): Click a mesh edge to select
the normals associated with the neighboring
polygons.
• Fa ce (
Ct rl +4): Click a mesh face (or polygon)
to selec t the associated normals.
Of course, with al l of these methods, you can also
use region selection to select multiple normals at
once.
Ignore Ba ckfaci ng—When on, selection of
sub-objects affects only those facing you. When
off (the default), you can select any sub-object(s)
under t he mouse cursor, regardless of their
visibility or facing. If there are more than one
sub-object under the cursor, repeated clicking
cyclesthroughthem. Likewise,withIgnore
Backfacing off, region selection includes all
sub-objects, regardless of the direction they face.
Show Handles—Enables the display of handles,
which are small squares at the end of each normal.
Turn this on to make it easier to select normals.
Display Length—Specifies the length of each
normal. Thisisfordisplaypurposesonly;the
length has no effect on the normal’s functionality.
Unif y (U)—Combines all selected normals at
each vertex into a single specified normal.By
default, with Unify/Break To Average off, Unify
sets the direction for each unified normal to be
perpendicular to the averaged surface at that point.
With Unify/Break To Average on, Unify sets the
directionbetheaverageofthecombinednormals
at each location.