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How do I snap an edge loop to the center or symmetry plane?


3DNut
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 I find myself having a heck of a time getting symmetry to work for me. If I turn off Virtual Mirror mode and have 3D-Coat actually create the mirrored geometry for me, I eventually get a non-symmetrical mess on the mirrored side. I don't know how it gets so out of sync, but when I use the "Make symmetrical copy of the layer" button in the Retopo Objects to fix the issue, I then get junk polygons all collapsed in the center line.

 

When I turn on Virtual Mirror mode I have an issue where the vertices don't clip or snap to the symmetry plane. To cleanup the model I had to go through my entire mesh, pulling the center verts away from the center and then deleting all the exposed extraneous polygons. Now I have an edge loop that I want to snap back to the symmetry plane. I could do this is less than a second in Blender by selecting the loop and scaling the selection to 0 on the x axis, but I am trying to force myself to get proficient in 3D-Coat. How do I snap an edge loop to the center or symmetry plane on the X axis? In other words, how do I scale a selected edge loop to 0 on the global X axis?

 

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Bryson

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make sure you've got the underlying voxel turned on..seems like 3d coat often uses that as a reference surface.  also...ive found that symmetry tends to work from left to right...or right to left maybe too.  my main point being that once the direction of mirroring is established it seems to want to go in that direction.  i dunno how that works but i often find that symmetry from left to right is great but right to left deletes both...of course i usually delete one of my voxels sides before going to retopo so that may have a bearing on the retopo success

 

would be good if the help was more detailed in this area

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You need to adjust your Mirror Snapping value (there is a parameter slider in the toolbar). I usually set mine to 30-40 and it will weld verts within that range. Additionally, you could set up a (vertical) Workplane from the VIEW menu > snap to 3D grid, and that should give you perfect snapping/placement along the Symmetry line.

 

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The problem you are describing with Virtual Mirror Mode is alleviated by the "mirror snapping" control above the viewport. Please take note however that the actual location of your polygon edges will be occluded by the virtual polygons. Therefore you might think you have snapped edges to the symmetry plane when in reality your polygonal edge was placed slightly beyond the symmetry plane. Because of this "illusion" it is possible that you might accidentally create polygons which are hidden by the virtual polygons. If you periodically turn off the virtual polygons you will see the actual state of your mesh. The important thing to do is to place your polygon edges slightly beyond the symmetry plane, and then when you "apply symmetry to the current layer" (with Virtual Mirror Mode on) it will draw an edge exactly and perfectly along the symmetry line, and from that edge the mirror will be created on the opposite side.

Therefore, you can use this knowledge to solve your current problem:

Delete half of your mesh.

Then grab your center edge loop (which is not yet exactly along the symmetry plane) and then move it slightly beyond the symmetry plane (select only the loop, then use the Transform Tool to move it, and then Snap it to the mesh). Then activate Virtual Mirror Mode to see where it will draw the center edge loop, make adjustments as needed, then finally "apply symmetry to the current layer". Then turn off the virtual polygons and look at your now perfectly symmetrical mesh.

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The problem you are describing with Virtual Mirror Mode is alleviated by the "mirror snapping" control above the viewport. Please take note however that the actual location of your polygon edges will be occluded by the virtual polygons. Therefore you might think you have snapped edges to the symmetry plane when in reality your polygonal edge was placed slightly beyond the symmetry plane. Because of this "illusion" it is possible that you might accidentally create polygons which are hidden by the virtual polygons. If you periodically turn off the virtual polygons you will see the actual state of your mesh. The important thing to do is to place your polygon edges slightly beyond the symmetry plane, and then when you "apply symmetry to the current layer" (with Virtual Mirror Mode on) it will draw a virtual edge exactly and perfectly along the symmetry line, and from that edge the virtual mirror will be created on the opposite side.

Therefore, you can use this knowledge to solve your current problem:

Delete half of your mesh.

Then grab your center edge loop (which is not yet exactly along the symmetry plane) and then move it slightly beyond the symmetry plane (select only the loop, then use the Transform Tool to move it, and then Snap it to the mesh). Then activate Virtual Mirror Mode to see where it will draw the center edge loop, make adjustments as needed, then finally "apply symmetry to the current layer". Then turn off the virtual polygons and look at your now perfectly symmetrical mesh.

I usually just turn Virtual Mirror mode off, when I work. It's more of a hindrance to me than an aid.

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I usually just turn Virtual Mirror mode off, when I work. It's more of a hindrance to me than an aid.

I personally prefer to use it. The reason I like it is because I will sometimes turn off symmetry and forget to turn it on again. Then I accidentally create stuff on opposite sides of the mesh and things start to get crazy when I turn symmetry on again (or off again). The Virtual Mirror Mode insures that nothing has actually been created until I commit to it, a sort of safeguard.

On the other hand, I can see how many people (probably most people) don't like it, so I'm glad that Andrew gave us the option to turn it off or on as we like. Andrew is pretty considerate by thinking of all of his diverse users' needs and preferences.

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