Locating open (disconnected) edges

When dealing with open solids, sometimes it is important to precisely locate the edges in which the solid is open. Let's see how to do that.

What you need to know:

• Open solids
• Non-manifold solids

You can locate these open edges using Check Manifold.

If you are creating a solid, and it is not manifold, the "Not a closed object" warning menu lets you highlight disconnected edges.

However, there are some tips that help in locating exactly where those edges are, especially when models are complex:

• Use the right combination of active color and background to highlight properly open edges (Colors and Materials).
• Use thick line to better highlight where problems are.
• Moreover, there's a useful add-on found on the think3 download site that creates boundary curves on all open edges of the selected open or non-manifold solid. Once downloaded and installed, you have to turn on the Open Edges toolbar to use the command.

This is the result. Thick red curves have been inserted to disconnected edges (gaps) and edges that make the solid non-manifold.
Note that not only the disconnected edges are accounted for. This is useful in tracking all the possible problem in a solid.

Related Topics

• Open vs non-manifold
• How to work with non-manifold solids