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I've just started learning Blender and I have a situation where I have 2 non-vertical faces (not parallel to any axis) with a common edge which is currently not coplanar to other 2 vertical edges.

I am trying to move this edge along the Y-axis until both faces become coplanar but I don't know how to go about it. It's probably really simple but I've been using MicroStation for 20 years and how I would do it in that is likely different to how it should be done in Blender.

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  • $\begingroup$ so you want all the faces on the end to be flat and straight? $\endgroup$ – David♦ Jul 4 '17 at 10:57
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, the 2 select faces should in a line with each other $\endgroup$ – SmartSolid Jul 4 '17 at 11:13
  • $\begingroup$ in this simple case the simplest thing imho is delete the shared edge and rebuild faces (I know, far from optimal and cool). $\endgroup$ – m.ardito Jul 4 '17 at 12:10
  • $\begingroup$ If I do that then I also need to delete the top faces, recreate the top and the vertical face. I found I couldnt then add end edge loop on the new face for some reason so had to use the knife tool to and the edges in again. Seems a lot of work instead of a simple edge transformation. $\endgroup$ – SmartSolid Jul 4 '17 at 12:37
  • $\begingroup$ what about deleting the Edge-Loop in the mid and create a new one? $\endgroup$ – Dan Aug 4 '17 at 13:32
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Apart rebuilding faces, as I said in comments above, here you find a possible way or sort of inspiration for a more "elegant" method, involving the "magic" Knife tool:

here is a similar setup to your situation:

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we're going to use the knife tool to add a "guide" vertex to which we'll snap later, making the two selected faces planar again.

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after activating the knife tool, it will show a green square when it "snaps" to a starting vertex: click here.

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then, drag until it snaps the end vertex: click here too, then "confirm" pressing enter

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note: the knife tool will "cut through" your mesh and create an intermediate vertex just where you need it (you see a preview before "confirming")

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now you simply need to activate snap on vertixes, and drag your shared edge (locking Z in this case) until it snaps perfectly to the vertex just created by the knife tool

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and now you just need to use "remove doubles" to remove the "guide vertex" we added before, and you're done!

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Hth.

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  • $\begingroup$ Just getting back to this... Thanks for the example. I can see it works though I'm keen to find out if using transform orientations can give me the same result. Another example: imgur.com/DoBKw9R . I have created an edge between 2 vertices and I want the edge/vertices where the slope meets the lower horizontal faces to move up in the Z direction to the intersection with the edge. $\endgroup$ – SmartSolid Jul 7 '17 at 9:08
  • $\begingroup$ btw, I know it's not that elegant but at least this allows you precise positioning without rebuilding all. Maybe you could describe what (an how) you would like it work (as in microstation, eg) submitting a feature request... $\endgroup$ – m.ardito Jul 7 '17 at 9:13
  • $\begingroup$ I've seen examples which advise to make a custom transform orientation using the edge, set 'Cursor to Selection', Set Pivot to 3D cursor, snapping to edge, border select the vertices to move and double tap Z to constrain the the transform. The problem with this is that it doesn't move the vertices along the Global Z axis and is not the result I am looking for. $\endgroup$ – SmartSolid Jul 7 '17 at 9:16
  • $\begingroup$ In MicroStation I dont work with quads or meshes so its kinda different. One thing I may to is draw a line from the source vertices, lock its direction to only the Z axis and have it terminate at the intersection with the sloping edge. That way I have a vertex to snap to when moving the edges or vertices. SketchUp has the tape-measure tool which lets the user draw construction guides in the same manner, 1 for the slope, another for the Z axis from the line of source vertices. I would like to think Blender has its own workflow for this but my lack of experience leaves me unsure. $\endgroup$ – SmartSolid Jul 7 '17 at 9:44
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A little late to the game, but the simplest way I know to do this generically is to double tap G, slide the edge to one slide, and LeftClick to apply. Then repeat the process and drag it to where you want it.

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