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Surface Editor Dialog

The Surface Editor is used for entering and editing 3-D surfaces. When the Surface tool is selected from the toolbar, the editor starts in Vertex mode so the vertices of a new surface can be entered.

Note: In HVE-2D, the Roll and Pitch angle fields are displayed read-only.

This dialog contains the following items:

Coords (ft) — X, Y, Z

The coordinates of the current vertex (or of the surface object, in Object mode), in feet.

Angle (deg) — Roll, Pitch, Yaw

The orientation of the current selection, in degrees. The angle fields are active only when an object (rather than an individual face or vertex) is being edited.

Global/Local

A combo box selecting the coordinate reference used for the entered values: Global (earth-fixed) or Local (relative to the surface object). Global is the default.

Mode

Radio buttons selecting the current pick/edit mode. Only the modes valid for the current selection are enabled:

  • Object — pick and move/rotate the entire surface object. Enables the Add button so additional polygons can be added.
  • Face — pick individual polygons of the surface. Enables the Rev Nrml button.
  • Vertex — pick and edit individual vertices. This is the initial mode when creating a new surface.
  • Subdivide — scissors mode used to split (subdivide) the surface; the split is performed when Apply is clicked. This mode is new and was not documented in earlier help.

The "Bind To Object/Face/Vertex" radio buttons documented in earlier versions are no longer part of this dialog (they remain in the Cone/Cylinder editors).

Add

Begins adding a new polygon to the active surface. Enabled while in Object edit mode.

End

Closes (ends) the polygon currently being entered. The button is disabled as soon as it is clicked; Add is re-enabled if the editor is in Object edit mode.

Rev Nrml

Reverses the surface normal of the picked face. Enabled only in Face mode.

Dec/Tes

Displays the Decimate/Tessellate dialog, used to reduce (decimate) or refine (tessellate) the surface mesh. This button is new and was not documented in earlier help.

Apply

Selecting Apply causes the entered parameters to be accepted, and the first vertex will appear in the views at the specified X, Y and Z coordinate. A small, bright marker is displayed at the location of the first vertex. In Subdivide mode, Apply performs the surface split. Surface Editor actions applied this way are registered with the Undo/Redo manager.

Source topic: SurfEdDlg.htm — updated from source code (HVEINV-64, Physics) 2026-07-05.

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