Slice is used to modify geometry by removing unwanted pieces to create new and unique shapes.
Slice Feature Properties
Visualizing this Feature
| Property | Options |
|---|---|
Name |
Name the feature. Unique names for each feature is not required, but suggested. |
Slice Plane Intersect |
This is the location of the center of the Slice plane relative to the world geometry. It is not bounded by the parent mesh: you can position the slice plane anywhere in the scene. |
Slice Plane Normal |
A vector that describes a “handle” perpendicular to the slice plane. Use this vector to rotate the slice plane. The direction that the slice will cut. To cut the opposite side of the geometry, simply flip the Normal in the opposite direction. |
Remove Geometry |
Whether or not to remove the geometry in the direction of the cut. |
Flip |
Flips the Normal to cut the other side of the geometry. |
Tips for this Slice Feature
When this feature is selected in the feature stack, a visualization appears in the scene to help you manage it. A yellow visualization appears: it shows the slice plane.
Did everything in the scene disappear? Don’t panic. Just flip the normal.
Sometimes, if the slice plane intersect is located outside the boundary of the mesh you’re slicing, and the slice plane normal faces towards the scene origin, the entire scene will be sliced. This means all items in the scene
disappear until the feature is readjusted or disabled.
Double-sided materials ensure your sliced meshes are visible from any angle.
The slice geometry feature removes all faces on one side of the slicing plane. This reveals the interior of the remaining mesh. If the mesh’s material is one-sided, the interior faces will be invisible when they face the camera.
Usually, if you slice a mesh, the mesh’s material should have the double-sided property turned on.
There’s more than one way to cut into a mesh.
Remember two techniques are available for showing the interior of a mesh: A slice plane, and a union/cut box. In the following water valve example, we cutaway the grey metal valve assembly to show the orange ball valve. The top
assembly is union/cut with a box mesh, the bottom assembly is cut with a slice plane. Notice the difference:
On top, the assembly with a union/cut feature looks like solid silver metal. Union/cut completes the cut edges of the parent mesh (it merges geometry of the box and assembly).
On the bottom, the assembly with a slice plane feature looks like a hollow model. The slice plane adds no geometry to the cut plane of the assembly.