modo join two edges with bridge tool

be in edges mode
select the two edges to join
select tools menu -> edge side menu -> bridge. This joins the two edges with a polygon.
bridge properties menu -> segments option allows you to specify how many polygons should come between the two selected edges.

modo thicken tool

be in polygon mode

1. Turn on Polygons mode button
2. select the polygons you want to thicken
3. select  tools menu -> polygon side menu -> thicken. Click on the selected polygon. This displays offset arrow pointer exactly perpendicular to the selected polygon.
4. I had to align work plane with thickening surface, otherwise the blue handle which has to thicken also scaling while thickening. Without aligning work plane, you can thicken the surface by changing action center to local or element or automatic. automatic option working unreliably for multi polygon scenario. local option is working well for multi polygon, but if the polygons connected angle is more than some degrees, then scaling grows those polygons disjointly creating gap between them. Element option worked well, even those disjointly grown polygons got connected with new polygons to keep them jointly. sometimes element behaving like local option. This might a bug in the software.
5. i had used action center -> selection option
6. adjust the offset values or drag the pointer. this thickens the polygon.

when modo's thicken tool used, the object file size has become very big around 130mb. When I used geomagic wrap to thicken the object, it occupied just 17mb.

I am using action center -> Automatic option. Didn't do any work  plane alignments. My purpose of thickening the item is to subtract another item from this item using boolean operation. Boolean operation is working well only when this item has huge thickness than the subtracted item. Otherwise boolean operation getting terminated in the middle.

modo: subtract operation

the items to be used with Boolean operation should be in different Meshes.

1. create a box in mesh1
2. create a sphere in mesh2 (n key creates new mesh. ctrl+left-click on sphere icon in basic tab of tools menu creates sphere)
3. being in Items mode, left-click on the box and shift+left-click on the sphere to select both items.
4. select Tools menu -> mesh edit -> commands panel -> Boolean, this displays a boolean dialog box. In the dialog box, select Operation as Subtract and Drive mesh as Last Selected. click the ok button.
5. As the box is the first selected and sphere is the last selected, sphere gets subtracted from other selected items, leaving a hole in the box.

Modo subtract operation works only when mesh1 and mesh2 items are closed surfaces.If either of them is not closed then subtract operation fails with a dialog mentioning the mesh name which is not closed. In such case to find the holes select ctrl + boundary (polygon mode button), which displays all the holes on the mesh. If a mesh is closed it would be continuous, it won't have any boundaries. If a mesh has boundary then it's open. Open mesh can't get printed on 3d printers.

The subtract operation results in new meshes. When a subtract operation divides an item into two, the divided parts might be open. If the subtract operation results in open parts, subtract operation ends with a message informing the new parts are open.

When a subtract operation divides an item into two, the split parts still get selected as a single item in item mode. To individually select either part of the divided item, change to polygon mode and double click on the part you want to select then copy and paste it into a new mesh.

I tried to do the same operation using Mesh Fusion, but fusion subtraction is working using subdivision algorithms, where a new subd shape of the box is created and sphere got subtracted from the newly created subd shape. Because of this I didn't like Mesh Fusion. In fusion the item being subtracted is attached to the top brown circle. The source item is attached to the lower gray circle. in fusion i used the option "subtract others from first selected".

Modo is hanging while doing subtract operation in items mode. Replace step 3 with the below steps:

1. being in Polygons mode, in Item list tab,  left-click on mesh1 and shift+left-click on mesh2.
2. in 3d view, double click on mesh1 to select all the mesh1 polygons and double click on mesh2 to select all the mesh2 polygons

modo drawing a curve with polygons

1. select Tools panel -> basic -> sketch
2. select from tools properties panel sketch -> type -> lines
3. holding the left click drag on the 3d view whichever arc shape you want and press q to quit the tool
4. Being in edges mode, select all the edges of the arc. select Tools panel -> edge -> extend and click on the already selected arc. It displays directional arrows. Drag the arrow in which direction you want to extend the arc. This provides polygons to the arc. for my case I need not change action center value as the desired drag direction matches with the direction of x, y and z axes of the workplane. If the drag direction is different from workplane, changing action center -> element and right clicking on any surface displays directional lines aligned to that surface. This helps to move the selected surface relative to the direction of another surface.
5. as the arc is drawn with lines, curve might not appear really curve. if somewhere curve is looking sharp, being in edges mode select that sharp edge, then select Tools panel -> edge -> bevel, holding the left button drag on the panel so that the sharp edge becomes smooth.

if any time you want to see the vertices use ctrl+1 -> toggle vertices. As this option highlights vertices, any complex object with too many vertices get displayed as a collection of black points, with reduced clear identification of its shape. If any time you notice an item being displayed in black color, then treat it as toggle vertices option being turned on

use m key to change the color of items in different meshes. when you are drawing a line along an item, colors help in clearly distinguishing one from other.

Tools panel -> edge -> extend creates a new set of edges along with the vertices. Move those newly created edges in whatever direction you want without disturbing the already existing structure.

Any polygon has only one face, which won't be visible from backside. If you want to see it from backside, being in Polygons mode tools menu -> polygon side tab ->  commands panel -> flip, flips front to the back


i found drawing using sketch tool along a shape is difficult as sketch tool adds a new vertex wherever left button is released. I felt less comfortable. rather than the sketch tool use the vertex tool.

1. put vertices along the shape, using the Tools panel -> basic tab -> vertex tool. To see the placed vertices turn on ctrl+1 -> toggle vertices.
2. select 2 verts, hit 'p', that'll create edge 
3. Being in edges mode, select all the edges of the arc. select Tools panel -> edge -> extend and click on the already selected arc. It displays directional arrows. Drag the arrow in which direction you want to extend the arc. This provides polygons to the arc. for my case I need not change action center value as the desired drag direction matches with the direction of x, y and z axes of the workplane. If the drag direction is different from workplane, changing action center -> element and right clicking on any surface displays directional lines aligned to that surface. This helps to move the selected surface relative to the direction of another surface.

modo sculpting

1. ctrl + tab allows you to change between views. Using it change to paint view. 
2. change to vertex mode. in other mode things are not working
3. first select the suitable brush. various brush types are displayed in the left side sculp tools panel. I like the smooth brush.
4. adjust brush size using right click + drag. ctrl + right click + drag to adjust bias. bias is shown by the red color displayed inside the brush circle. It indicate how sharp the curve will fall from the center to the border of the brush circle.
5. push is my favorite tool. select the push button in sculpt tools panel. then left click + drag either pulls or pushes the vertices. Be default it pulls up. Hold ctrl button to push down. change. when you select the push button in the sculpt tools panel, it displays a group of controls on lower part of the sculpt tools panel and a small floating offset control panel on the center lower part of the 3d view. in the displayed controls, normal mode and smooth mode drop downs are important.
6. push pull or push does in which direction depends on the normal mode drop down. if normal mode drop down has average as selected, then average of all the normals under the brush is taken and in the direction pushing or pulling happens.
7. use the floating offset slider to modify the how much impact one pull/push request will do.
8. after applying pull or push to smooth the surface hold shift key + left click + slide. You can also do this by explicitly selecting the smooth button in the sculpt tools panel and left click + slide on the area you want to smooth.

fusion 360: convert stp files to stl files

The “application bar -> new design from file” menu option only taking my .stp, .igs files. Files imported through this option are being displayed as a collection of faces, when I hover mouse over it faces get highlighted and I could select individual faces. This file can be converted to STL format by selecting in the browser “bodies -> right click on the mesh body to convert -> save as STL”. Then a dialog appears on the right hand side of the screen with some more options to confirm. In that dialog you can select medium or high detail and click on ok.