Bridge faces in Alias

00:03

The Subdivision Bridge tool builds faces between opposite edges

00:10

and you can have a different number of edges on each side,

00:13

and I can use space bar for Build,

00:16

but you'll end up with a multi-

00:18

sided face, and that means your limit surfaces will be overly complex.

00:23

So I'll undo that.

00:25

And what you typically do with Bridge is think about the topology first.

00:29

So if I want to create this feature here,

00:32

I can move and scale these vertices to line them up

00:36

and that gives me two edges here.

00:40

And then over at the rear,

00:41

I can start to think about how the wheel

00:43

arch is gotta stretch up to this shoulder line.

00:48

And I'm keeping the topology really simple at this stage.

00:55

And this time, I'll double click on Bridge to open the option window

00:59

and I'll pick two edges here

01:01

and then two on this side

01:03

and space bar for Build.

01:06

And that builds a straight line connection.

01:09

Because I've got the window open, I can choose how many divisions I want in between.

01:15

And then I can just move these vertices inwards a bit

01:18

to shape that side panel.

01:21

And I'll just turn off the sketch.

01:24

And so you can see that the new faces are welded and blended

01:27

into the edges I've built from.

01:31

Here at the back,

01:32

I've already arranged the vertices to have three edges here and three here.

01:37

And I'm also going to just delete these faces so that I can rethink the topology.

01:43

So I could do just a normal flat bridge across here.

01:47

But there's also the option of creating a path curve to influence the shape.

01:52

So I'll use an edit point curve

01:54

and I'll just give that a little bit of shape.

01:58

And like before we can use Shift-select with the Add mouse button,

02:03

but I can also drag-select because you can't bridge to an internal edge,

02:07

so they don't even get selected.

02:10

So pick the curve

02:12

and then do the build.

02:13

And you can see that instead of a straight line,

02:16

the bridge is roughly following the curve shape.

02:21

In practice though, it's often just as easy to pick and move the vertices instead.

02:28

And then to finish off, I could just bridge across here.

02:31

But if I end up creating non-matching topology,

02:34

then this side edge doesn't get welded.

02:40

So I can undo that, and this time get the topology matching,

02:44

and then you can see that it's welded on the side as well as the two ends.

02:53

And finally, I've got a section of wheel here

02:55

and I've just revolved a front and a back SubD

02:60

and I'll just make the box shading a bit transparent here

03:02

so I can see all of the faces.

03:06

And so bridging across edges is our typical workflow,

03:10

but you can also use faces.

03:13

So I'll drag-select all these faces on both sides.

03:17

And when a closed loop is selected,

03:18

these arrows appear to correct any twisting that might happen.

03:23

And then when I build, all those faces are deleted

03:26

and new bridge faces are created across the resulting edges.

03:31

So it's not a common workflow, but it can occasionally be useful.

Video transcript

00:03

The Subdivision Bridge tool builds faces between opposite edges

00:10

and you can have a different number of edges on each side,

00:13

and I can use space bar for Build,

00:16

but you'll end up with a multi-

00:18

sided face, and that means your limit surfaces will be overly complex.

00:23

So I'll undo that.

00:25

And what you typically do with Bridge is think about the topology first.

00:29

So if I want to create this feature here,

00:32

I can move and scale these vertices to line them up

00:36

and that gives me two edges here.

00:40

And then over at the rear,

00:41

I can start to think about how the wheel

00:43

arch is gotta stretch up to this shoulder line.

00:48

And I'm keeping the topology really simple at this stage.

00:55

And this time, I'll double click on Bridge to open the option window

00:59

and I'll pick two edges here

01:01

and then two on this side

01:03

and space bar for Build.

01:06

And that builds a straight line connection.

01:09

Because I've got the window open, I can choose how many divisions I want in between.

01:15

And then I can just move these vertices inwards a bit

01:18

to shape that side panel.

01:21

And I'll just turn off the sketch.

01:24

And so you can see that the new faces are welded and blended

01:27

into the edges I've built from.

01:31

Here at the back,

01:32

I've already arranged the vertices to have three edges here and three here.

01:37

And I'm also going to just delete these faces so that I can rethink the topology.

01:43

So I could do just a normal flat bridge across here.

01:47

But there's also the option of creating a path curve to influence the shape.

01:52

So I'll use an edit point curve

01:54

and I'll just give that a little bit of shape.

01:58

And like before we can use Shift-select with the Add mouse button,

02:03

but I can also drag-select because you can't bridge to an internal edge,

02:07

so they don't even get selected.

02:10

So pick the curve

02:12

and then do the build.

02:13

And you can see that instead of a straight line,

02:16

the bridge is roughly following the curve shape.

02:21

In practice though, it's often just as easy to pick and move the vertices instead.

02:28

And then to finish off, I could just bridge across here.

02:31

But if I end up creating non-matching topology,

02:34

then this side edge doesn't get welded.

02:40

So I can undo that, and this time get the topology matching,

02:44

and then you can see that it's welded on the side as well as the two ends.

02:53

And finally, I've got a section of wheel here

02:55

and I've just revolved a front and a back SubD

02:60

and I'll just make the box shading a bit transparent here

03:02

so I can see all of the faces.

03:06

And so bridging across edges is our typical workflow,

03:10

but you can also use faces.

03:13

So I'll drag-select all these faces on both sides.

03:17

And when a closed loop is selected,

03:18

these arrows appear to correct any twisting that might happen.

03:23

And then when I build, all those faces are deleted

03:26

and new bridge faces are created across the resulting edges.

03:31

So it's not a common workflow, but it can occasionally be useful.

Video quiz

Required for course completion

Before using the Bridge tool to build faces across opposite edges or faces, it is best practice to first consider the __________?

(Select one)
Select an answer

1/1 questions left unanswered

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