Cut

Cut is a general-purpose, interactive cutting tool. Its functionality is similar to my old Quicksaw script. See the link at the bottom of the index page to see how Quicksaw works.

The tool cuts from edge to edge. Unfortunately, Lightwave does not offer the ability to select edges directly. Therefore, you can select edges using the point selection system described in the divide tool link. A quicker yet less flexible method of selecting edges is to select a sequential set of polys. The edges in between the polys and the opposing edge of each end poly will be selected. The best way to see how this works is to simply experiment and practice.

Unlike Quicksaw, Cut and its non-interactive variants (Quicksaw and Quickcut) are not limited to cutting through 4-point polygons only. They are capable of cutting through polygons with any number of points. The ability to terminate cuts and form corner-quads is still restricted, however, to 4-point polygons only. However, you can safely select n-point polygons even with those features turned on.

Here we have made a simple z-shaped selection. Without connect divisions toggled, the cut plugin simply divides edges without making any connected edges between the divisions.

Here is the result of the cut using the above settings. Notice that without select outer edges checked, only the edges between the polys get selected.

Here is a preview of the same cut with connect divisions enabled.

Here is a preview of the same cut but with select outer edges enabled. Notice how the two outer edges in the selection get selected as well. This is more intuitive, in my opinion, for non-terminated cuts.

Here's the cut with maintain quads in corners. Notice how the corner polygon is made into a quad rather than a triangle by connecting an edge down the center of each new polygon.

Here's how the cut looks with square corner quads enabled. Now the corner polygon is not only a quad, but is also shaped more like a proper square/rectangle.

Now we've enabled terminate cuts. The termination algorithm currently looks best when the cuts are uniform, as in the picture. Notice that, with select outer edges on, the terminated polys extend outside the original selection.

Here's terminate cuts with select outer edges turned off. This is the more intuitive method, in my opinion, for terminated cuts. However, terminating with outer edges selected can be useful when you have two cuts side-by-side that you want to terminate without connecting the two cuts, as shown in the next picture.

Here's an example of when terminating with select outer edges on can be useful. We want to make terminated connections between the two sets of polys without make a continuous connection throughout. See the next picture for the result.

The result.

Here's just a sample terminated cut with more divisions added.

Here's a final one with subpatches turned on with a looping selection (one where the first and last poly in the selection connect together).