Modelling operations¶

A reference for the Create and Modify & Pattern panels. For the ideas behind them, see How it works.

Every operation below adds an entry to the Feature Tree, and every entry can be re-selected and re-edited later.

Create¶

Solids¶

Button	Shape
Box	Rectangular block
Cyl	Cylinder
Sph	Sphere
Cone	Cone (a second radius makes it a truncated cone)
Torus	Torus

Curves and profiles¶

Button	Shape
Curv	Bézier curve
Plin	Polyline. Individual corners can be flagged for filleting
Arc	Arc
Surf	Surface
Slot	Slot
Poly	Regular polygon
Gear	Parametric gear
Helix	Helix
Rev	Revolve — sweeps a profile around an axis

When a Curv, Plin or Surf entry is the active one, the Feature Tree expands it in place to show each control point as an editable P0, P1, … coordinate, with buttons to insert or remove points. For a Plin, each point also carries a fillet toggle.

Using Rev¶

Rev on its own produces nothing. It needs something to revolve.

Create the profile first. A finished sketch (Sketch Surface), a Poly or a Surf all work.
Add Rev, then point Target UUID under Pattern/Link Setup at that profile. Use the eyedropper to click it in the viewport, or the list button beside it to pick it by name.
Rotation Axis sets the axis (X / Y / Z) and Total Angle the sweep.
The axis passes through the Rev feature's own Location, not the profile's.

The axis has to lie in the plane of the profile. Revolving a sketch drawn on the XY plane around Z gives no volume, because the axis is perpendicular to that plane — pick X or Y instead, or draw the sketch on the XZ plane. It is the same idea as drawing a lathe cross-section.

To revolve a particular face of an existing solid, use Face Rev rather than Rev.

Swept shapes¶

Button	Shape
Sweep	Sweeps a profile along a path
Loft	Blends between two or more profiles

Grouping¶

Group ( and Group ) insert a matching pair of markers into the Feature Tree. Entries between them are treated as one unit, and the tree indents them so the nesting is visible. Use this when a sequence of operations should combine with the rest of the model as a single result rather than one at a time.

Group Selection, at the top of the Feature Tree panel, wraps the rows you have ticked in a new group.

Sketching¶

Button	Action
Start Sketch	Opens sketch mode on a plane
on Face	Picks an existing face to sketch on first

See Sketching.

Dynamic Box Hole creates a box-shaped hole driven by a loft, for cases where a plain boolean is not enough.

Modify & Pattern¶

Modification¶

These operate on faces or edges you have selected in Selection Mode, and their parameter appears in the Active Property Editor.

Button	Parameter	Notes
Fillet	Fillet Radius	Rounds selected edges. Supports a different radius per edge — see below
Chamf	Chamfer Distance	Flat cut instead of a round
Offset	Offset Distance	Moves selected faces along their normal
Inset	Inset Distance, Depth (Push/Pull)	Insets a face and optionally pushes or pulls it
Draft	Draft Angle	Tapers faces. Needs both a Neutral Plane and the Faces to Taper
Shell	Thickness	Hollows the solid. The faces you select under Faces to Remove become the opening
Face Loft	—	Lofts between selected faces
Face Rev	—	Revolves a selected face

Variable fillet. Once a Fillet has targets, the Property Editor lists each edge separately with a Use Default / Custom toggle. Switch an edge to Custom to give it its own radius while the others follow the main value.

The eyedropper icon next to Offset and Inset starts an interactive pick, so you can set the distance by dragging in the viewport instead of typing it.

Draft requires two different selections and will tell you so ("Select base face and draft face") until both are set. The neutral plane is the reference that stays put; the target faces are the ones that tilt.

Topology¶

Cleanup (Unify) merges coplanar faces, simplifying the topology.

It is deliberately manual. Merging faces destroys the face identities that Fillet, Offset and Shell refer to, so applying it in the middle of a live history can break operations below it. It is most useful as a final step before export. See How it works for the reasoning.

The refresh icon beside it forces a full recompute. Use it if a result looks stale after an edit.

Layout & Patterns¶

Button	Operation
Mirror	Mirrors the accumulated result
Array	Linear array
Circ	Circular array
Link	Linked instance

For these four, the Property Editor offers an Independent toggle. It controls whether the pattern's own transform is applied on top of the source geometry's transform or independently of it.

Placement & Snap¶

Control	What it does
Surface Snapping	Snaps newly placed shapes onto existing surfaces
Interactive Placement	Place a shape by clicking in the viewport
Visual Snap Move	Move an existing shape with snapping assistance

Newly created shapes appear at the 3D cursor. The status message tells you which rule was applied — including "Placed at Cursor (Snapping is OFF)", so you can tell the difference between snapping that failed and snapping that was never on.

Transform¶

For most entry types the Property Editor shows two separate transforms:

Global — the shape's position in the scene
Local Offset — an additional offset applied in the shape's own frame

Keeping them apart lets you nudge a shape relative to its own orientation without disturbing the placement it inherited.