🔹 Editable Poly – Polygon Selection Deep Dive 🔹

Now that we've covered vertices and edges, it's time to explore polygons in Edit Poly mode. Polygons (also called faces) are the fundamental surfaces of 3D models, and knowing how to manipulate them efficiently will help in creating clean and optimized geometry.

1️⃣ Polygon Selection Tools

In Edit Poly, select the Polygon sub-object mode (shortcut: 4). Here are some key tools:

✅ Backface Cull

• Prevents selecting polygons on the opposite side of the model.
• Useful for working on one side without affecting hidden faces.

✅ Grow & Shrink

• Grow  → Expands selection outward to connected polygons.
• Shrink  → Contracts the selection inward.

✅ Angle-Based Selection

• If enabled, this allows selecting all polygons within a given angle threshold.
• Useful for selecting smoothly connected faces (e.g., curved surfaces).

2️⃣ Polygon Editing Operations

• Delete (Delete Key)→ Removes both the polygon and its edges, creating an open hole.

🔸 Extrude 

• Pulls a polygon outward, creating new side faces.
• Use the Extrude Settings (Box on right of button) for precise height control.

🔸 Inset

• Creates an interior line of the selected polygon(s).
• Useful for adding details and controlling topology flow.

🔸 Bevel

• Extrudes and scales the polygon in one operation.
• Adjust height (extrude amount) and outline (scale inward/outward).

🔸 Bridge

• Creates a tunnel between the selected polygons.

🔸 Flip

• Reverses the normal direction of a polygon.
• Fixes shading issues when faces appear inside-out.

3️⃣ Advanced Polygon Operations

🔹 Slice Plane

• Creates a temporary cutting plane to slice through polygons.
• Move the yellow plane, then hit Slice to apply the cut.

🔹 Cut (Alt + C)

• Manually draw new edges across polygons.
• Right-click twice to exit the tool.

⚡ Quick Polygon Modeling Tips

✅ Flip normals if shading appears incorrect.