
	Networks Introduction

Some of the main features of the Networks tool are:

Shape Points. The building block. Place, then move them over the polymesh in real time.

Boundary Curves. Simply connect shape points to create boundary curves.

NURBS/SUBD Patches. Fill any bounded region with a patch. Fits to polymesh.

Always Tangent. But can be toggled off/on for individual boundaries.

Active Networks. Move a shape point, boundary curves update, affected patches are refitted.

Multi-resolution. Quickly define simple networks, then output detailed surfaces.

Mirroring. Build a network on half an object, then mirror it to complete the surface.

Templates. Copy networks between similar shaped objects. Clean morph targets.

Stitching. Join smaller patches together. Make single patch heads.

Texture Maps. Extract color, displacement and normal UV maps. Light-weight surfaces, detailed renders.

Shader Definitions. Automatic generation of shader definitions for each patch. Hassle free mapping.

Import Patches. Texture map tools work just as well with patches imported from other applications.

Multi-Platform. Intel Windows NT/2K/XP, SGI IRIX, Linux.

Optimized. Interactive, even with very detailed polymeshes.

Efficient. Low RAM impact. Run your modeling/animation applications at the same time.

To activate the Networks tool, click on the white right arrow after the Networks label in the main CySlice window.

Hide, Show or Edit

Whenever the Networks tool is open, it can be in one of three different states: Hide, Show or Edit (see Figure 48).

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Figure 48. General Controls

When in Hide, none of the Network objects will be displayed. This can be handy if you just want to look at the polymesh, or the fitted patches.

When in Show, all the selected Network objects (see Display section below) will be displayed, but you won't be able to move points, or delete objects, or change the network in any way.

And finally, when in Edit, the network editing keyboard and mouse controls are enabled. What exactly these are will vary depend on what action you are performing, for example creating a patch or joining curves. But, whatever they are, they will always be displayed towards the bottom of the CySlice Graphics window.

You will do most of your work with the Networks tool in the Edit state. To change the view while in this mode hold down the <Alt> key, then click and drag the mouse. Release the <Alt> key and you'll be returned to the normal Edit mouse actions.

Delete, Undelete and Reset

Also in the General Controls panel are some additional delete controls. If you click on Del, then all visible Network objects will be deleted.

If you click on Undel, then the previous delete action will be undone. And you can click on it again and again to get all previous deletes back.

Finally, click on Reset to permanently delete all Network objects; there is no undo from this operation.

Display

Underneath the General Controls is the Display panel (see Figure 49). By default, the panel is collapsed; simply click on the Display button to open up the rest of the panel (this same system is used for all the panels in the Networks window).

In the top section of the Display panel you control the visibility of the various Network objects:

Points	-	shape points.
D	-	division points.
F	-	fit points.
Curves	-	boundary curves.
Seeds	-	patch seed points.

Only visible objects can be deleted. For example, if you wanted to delete all patches, toggle Points, D, F and Curves off, toggle Seeds on, then hit the Del button; all seed points will be deleted.

In the lower section of the Display panel, you control how the fitted patches are displayed. The toggles in this section change according to the surface mode that you are currently in. The different surface modes are describe further in the Patches chapter.

Object Visibility - NURB

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Figure 49. Object Visibility - NURB

Edge	-	show a thick line around the boundary.
Cross	-	show two thick lines connecting opposite corners.
Knots	-	show knot-lines/iso-params.
Hull	-	show control hull/grid.
Shade	-	show smooth shaded surface. Use slider to set opacity.
Norms	-	show surface normals.
U Dir	-	show map U direction.
Name	-	show patch names.

Object Visibility - SUBD

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Figure 50. Object Visibility - SUBD

Grid	-	show underlying patch grids.
Solid	-	enable hidden line display.
Base	-	show subd surface topology.
Hull	-	show control hull/cage.
Shade	-	show smooth shaded surface.

Object Visibility - Poly

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Figure 51. Object Visibility - Poly

Base	-	show wireframe surface.
Shade	-	show shaded surface.

Surface Shading

When the Shade toggle in enabled, a slider bar appears; this can be used to set the NURB, SUBD or Poly surface opacity.

By default the surface is unshaded whenever the view is being changed. If the you want the surface always shaded, hold down <Ctrl> and left mouse button click on the Shade toggle. The toggle select will turn red to indicate that the "always on" shading is enabled. <Ctrl> left mouse button click again to disable this continuous shading.