Unifying the Normal Direction

Flip or unify the directions of polygon normals.

Overview

Normals determine which side of the polygon is the front and which is the back. Use this tool to make sure all the normals in a polyset point in the correct direction (usually out from the center of the object).

How to Use

Select Flip from the Poly Shading palette, or click its icon.

The system displays normals for all polygons (see Flip Normal Options below) and prompts you to select a polygon, BTN1 flip, BTN2 all, BTN3 unify, and click shift to deselect.

• Click the left mouse button to reverse the normal of a polygon.

• Click the middle mouse button to reverse the normals of all the polygons in a polyset.

• Click the right mouse button to make all the normals in a polyset point in the same direction as the polygon under the mouse.

Flip Normal Options

To display the Flip Normal Options box, double-click the Flip icon in the Poly Shading palette, or select Flip - from the Poly Shading menu.

Auto display normals

Display normals for all polygons in the scene when using the Flip tool. Turn this option off to show normals for only the polygons you select.