Fill Polygons
Table of contents:
Introduction
Fill Polygons
Let's talk about the Fill Polygons tool. In other applications, similar functionality is commonly referred to as Fill, Fill Hole, Cap, or Make Face. While the naming may vary, the function is the same: it creates new polygons to close open edges or gaps in a mesh, restoring surface continuity.
In SelfCAD, the Fill Polygons tool can be found in the Tools section of the main Toolbar. It allows you to patch holes in an object's topology by generating polygons across empty boundary edges. In practice, this enables users to repair damaged or imported meshes, close open surfaces before 3D printing, convert flat profiles into solid forms, and prepare models for further modifications such as extrusion or deformation.
Unlike Modify or Deform tools, the Tools category contains helper features designed to fix and improve models rather than reshape them directly. Fill Polygons plays an important role in mesh cleanup and model preparation. In this article, we'll explore how to use the Fill Polygons tool effectively and repair or complete your 3D models.
Select the object
The first step of using any modeling tool is selecting the object or a profile on which you want to use it. You can select them by either left-clicking on them in the workspace or by selecting them in the Object Management section, in the right-side panel. The second option has an in-built search engine, which is extremely useful when you are working with multiple objects.
In the case of the Fill Polygons tool, you can also specify the holes in the mesh you want to fill by selecting the Edges around them, which will localize the Fill only to those selected sections.
Fill Polygons
Once the object or its regions are selected, you can access the Fill Polygons tool by choosing it from the Tools drop-down list in the main Toolbar or use a shortcut by pressing the 'T+F' combination on your keyboard. This way, you will open a Tool Settings Panel on the left side of your screen, where you can customize how the software will fill the holes.
Basic
Basic is the default mode, and it simply closes the holes by adding new faces and connecting them to the existing geometry. It offers no customization options, but it's an easy solution that will work in most cases.
Grid Based
Grid Based is a more advanced mode for filling holes, which allows you to customize the size and shape of the faces that will fill the hole, giving you more options for a more custom fill. If you plan to further customize the filled area, you might want to create a more detailed fill.
Cut Neighbor Faces
It’s an option that, when enabled, adds additional cuts to the faces next to the hole, allowing for a more detailed and customized fill. It also makes the connection between the filled surface and the rest of the object a little more organic.
And that’s about it for the Fill Polygons. After reading this article, you should know the basics of this tool and how to use it, and know about its different applications. Of course, the graphics shown here were just examples, and using this tool on other shapes will give you slightly different effects, but its underlying principles will always stay the same.
That's all I have for you today. I wish you success in your future projects. See you, and stay tuned for more content to come