Snap

Tip:A general description of the Snap functions can also be found under Snapping.

Enable Snap

Enable Snapping

Enables or disables Snapping.

Tool Specific Snap

Tool Specific

If disabled, the global Snap settings will be modified for the options below.

If enabled, the tool-specific Snap settings (which will also be saved with the Project file) will be modified for the options below.

If this option is disabled for a given tool while simultaneously pressing the Shift key, the current settings will be used globally.

Type

Cinema 4D offers 2 Snap methods (Auto Snapping is a combination of 2D Snapping and 3D Snapping):

Snap Radius[0.10..100.00]

Enter the radius around the cursor within which the elements to be selected and the target element should be recognized and displayed with name. If multiple elements lie within this radius, the element nearest the cursor will be displayed. Click to make your selection.

This setting can also be added to Palettes as a GUI element. The

Snap Radius Slider

can also be found in the Customize Command Palette and can be dragged from there onto a Palette and used as a normal icon anywhere in the GUI.

Guide Angle[0..180°]

If the Dynamic Guides option is enabled, the Guide Angle setting can be used to define the rotation angles at which dynamic guides will automatically be displayed based on special points. A good median value to use is 90°.

This setting can also be added to Palettes as a GUI element. This setting can also be found in the Customize Command Palette and can be dragged from there onto a Palette and used as a normal icon anywhere in the GUI.

Snap Elements

Using the following settings you can define which elements should be snapped to.

Vertex Snap

Point

If enabled, the selected element can be snapped to any object vertex (incl. those on the reverse side). For Splines, the intermediate points will be used.

Edge Snap

Edge

If enabled, the selected element can be snapped to any object edge (incl. those on the reverse side).

Polygon Snap

Polygon

If enabled, the selected element can be snapped to any object’s surface (incl. those generated). This setting should always be used with the Type setting’s 3D Snap option active.

Spline Snap

Spline

If enabled, the selected element can be snapped to Splines (incl. Spline primitives). They will be snapped to the Spline itself and not to its intermediate points.

Axis Snap

Axis

If enabled, the selected element will be snapped to an object’s origin.

Intersection Snap

Intersections

If enabled, the selected element will snap to the intersections of:

- In the orthographic views, visual orientation can be used; in the Perspective view, objects must actually intersect.

When snapping to Guide intersections, note that Guides snapping must also be enabled. A crosshair will appear within the cursor radius (4x Snap Radius) to signal locations at which an element can be snapped.

Mid Point Snap

Mid Point

If enabled, the selected element will snap to the center of polygon edges or Spline regions between vertices.

Grid/Workplane Snap

Grid/Workplane

Enable this option if you want to snap elements to the work plane. Note that you should also enable The Type setting’s 3D Snap option.

Grid Point Snap

Grid Point

If enabled, the selected element will snap to global grid points or grid points on the work plane.

Grid Line Snap

Grid Line

If enabled, the selected element will snap to global grid lines or grid lines on the work plane.

Guide Snap

Guides

Enable this option if you want to snap to Guide Objects. Also activate the Intersection Snap if you also want to snap to intersecting Guides.

Dynamic Guide

Dynamic Guides

Enable this option if you want to snap to Dynamic Guides. Also activate the Intersection Snap if you also want to snap to intersecting Guides.

Perpendicular

Perpendicular Snap

Use Perpendicular snapping to snap to lines that run perpendicular along a line (Guides or polygon edges). This is one of the most important Snapping settings. This option is a little more difficult to comprehend but it can be very useful. If used properly you can even do without the orthographic view when modeling. Take a look at the following examples. This should shed some light on the topic.

Example 1

You want to add a cut to the marked line that runs perpendicular to the white line:

This can be done very easily:

Example 2

This linear, open Spline needs to be closed and the start and end sections meet at the same intersection point. Proceed as follows (the mouse button must be pressed and held during the entire process):

Example 3

A cube and a cone are placed freely in space. We want to drag the 4 top cube vertices parallel to the same height as the tip of the cone.

Example 4

A different type of example: Two cubes are placed freely in space. We want to position the selected cube along the right cube without modifying its X coordinates.

Pixel Snap

Pixel

This option is designed for use with the Texture UV Editor.

If a texture is loaded in the editor, this option can be enabled to snap UV elements to the pixel corners or centers. This makes it possible to precisely position UV coordinates down to the pixel.

Have a look at the image below:

In the image above, a texture in the background is projected onto a cube via the UV mesh shown below. If you want to position one side of the cube’s texture precisely over the three yellow pixels, this can be easily done using Pixel Snap. For larger textures you should zoom in accordingly so the pixels are visible. The makes it easier to snap.

Pixel Position

Here you can define the snap position in regards to the individual pixel: