Vertex Tools

MANIPULATOR GIZMO

The Gizmo allows for quick manipulations without switching out of selection mode. All its actions can be adjusted by the VCB for final precision adjustments.

EXTRUDE EDGES

Use the Gizmo to quickly extrude edges from your selected geometry. It even takes into account the soft-selection.

SOFT SELECTION

Soft Selection is set by typing in a Length in the VCB while a selection tool is active. Vertices within this distance from the selected vertices are also affected by tools that modify the geometry. The further away from the selection, the less they are affected. This is illustrated by colour-coding the vertices from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue – where Red is 100% and Blue is 0%. There are two types of fall-off for the soft-selction radius:

Read more about the tools in Vertex Tools

LOCK UV MAPPING

Preserve UV mapping when you manipulate the model’s geometry.

AUTO-SMOOTH

When a face is deformed in such a way that its vertices are no longer coplanar, Sketchup Autofolds the face by adding new edges. These edges are normally not soft or smooth which as a result produce a faceted surface.

When Auto-Smooth is enabled these new edges will be softened and smoothed ensuring a continuous surface.

PROXY FUNCTIONS

Some of Vertex Tools’ menus have double functions. Using Tools » Vertex Tools » Move as an example:

• When vertex mode is active this trigger Vertex Tools’ Move tool.
• When not editing vertices this trigger SketchUp’s native Move tool.

This allows user to have their shortcuts functioning inside and outside vertex mode because the menus act as proxies that knows which tool to activate.