Loop Cuts

In this section, we will learn about adding Loop Cuts to divide faces into smaller/bigger areas. Another aspect of using loop cuts is sliding them along the surface.

Loop Cuts

Open a new Blender File and enter  Edit Mode on the default cube in the scene. By using Ctrl + R and moving the cursor along different areas, we get a preview of where the Loop Cut will be placed. Sliding edges usually affect the topology of the mesh instead of the appearance, but some functions allow for displacing the model more.

By using the Wheel or Numpad +/- we can increase/decrease the amount of loop cuts.

Using LMB to confirm the area you want to place the loop cut. We now have the ability to slide the edge loop on the surface. Use LMB again to finally confirm, or use RMB to cancel the sliding and snap the edge loop to the center of the faces.

Edge Sliding

Select an edge loop first and use G + G (rapidly) to enable Edge Sliding.

We can select the corner edges by also using Alt + RMB and sliding it. Clamping is enabled by default so that the sliding loop doesn't intersect with another edge loop.

By disabling Clamping C, we can slide the selection beyond the original range. Every vertex will have a yellow line that points in the direction the selection will slide to.

Another setting that we can enable is using the Even E (while sliding an edge loop) function that uses the adjacent edges (indicated by a red dot), which in our case will make the edge loop straighter (cleaner).

Lastly, the same tools can be found in the Toolbar but are not discussed here.

That was the end of the lesson. We have learned:

• How we can add loop cuts Ctrl + R and slide G + G them along the surface.