Loop Selection

Loop Selection

You can select loops in all three modes (point, edge and polygon) using this selection tool. What are loops? Loops are elements (points, edges or polygons) that are connected in the shape of a loop. Loops are commonly used when modeling 3D characters because they help to ensure perfect deformation when a character is animated or posed using joints. These loops frequently need to be edited. Loop Selection gives you a quick way to select the loops.

From left to right: Loop Selection in polygon, edge and point mode.

When in Edge mode you can double-click on an edge to make a loop selection with either the Move, Scale or Rotate tool. Incomplete loops will also be included because the algorithm stops at the poles (where 3 or more than 4 edges meet). If a point, polygon or edge is already selected in one of the modes, press Shift+Ctrl/Cmd to create a loop between this element and the next element on which you click.

Handling

To use Loop Selection, move the mouse pointer over part of the loop (or loops) that you want to select. When the loop changes color, click to select that loop. You can influence the length of the loop by dragging instead of clicking.

Stop At Boundary Edges enabled (left) and disabled (center); Select Boundary Loop enabled (right).