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I have imported a wireframe SVG into Blender, duplicated it and dragged a few points around to make a vector graphics spaceship design similar to the old Elite 8-bit game if anyone remembers it.

I'm trying to create an edge between two vertices, but Blender gives an error when I use F to create a new edge. I also tried J for joining, but that didn't do anything.

The SVG was imported, separated (I tried making it uncyclical because I read in another post that can cause issues) and have been in Edit Mode when trying to do this. Anyone have any ideas on why it's not working ?

I'm trying to create the edge between the middle vertex of the two highlighted areas.

Error cannot make segment

Overview of the object

Lutzi
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Habadera
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    An imported SVG is a curve object. Control points of curves cannot branch, a curve control point can only have one or two connections. The only times it has only one connection is when it is a start or end point of a curve. Otherwise it has two connections, one to the previous point and one to the following point. If you want to branch anywhere, you have to convert the curve to a mesh. – Gordon Brinkmann Mar 08 '24 at 18:13

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Your object is a Curve, not a Mesh. Curves can't have points with more than 2 connected edges. The only points you can extrude from, are the starting and ending of curve (assuming it is non cyclic).

You can convert your curve to a mesh. It will be the same geometry as currently (assuming your curve type is indeed Vector) :

  • Go to Object Mode (press Tab if you're in Edit mode)
  • Right-click > Convert To > Mesh
  • Repeat for each Curve object involved (in your case 3 objects)
  • Select all these new Mesh objects
  • Join objects with Ctrl+J

Then you'll be able to use F and similar tools of Edit Mode.

Lutzi
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  • Thank you Lutzi for your quick response. I converted to mesh and was surprised to find that many of the corners I thought would become vertices don't seem selectable any more. I can't seem to add an image to a comment, so I've posted an image here https://imgur.com/a/CjnqZaS showing the two "vertices" I'm trying to join and how they no longer seem to be selectable vertices now I've done the conversion. Thanks for any help advice you can give. – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 18:20
  • Did you go into Edit Mode before trying to edit your mesh ? – Lutzi Mar 08 '24 at 18:22
  • Yes, I did. I did TAB and the corner says "edit mode". I've added another image here: https://imgur.com/a/CjnqZaS to show the scene collection expanded. There seem to be meshes under the curves. I tried selecting the meshes directly in the hierarchy but it doesn't seem to do anything more. – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 18:29
  • Please upload your file in your initial question. I have no idea just by looking at your screenshots. – Lutzi Mar 08 '24 at 18:32
  • Ahh, I think I have it. You have to select them first and then go into edit mode. It appears you can't be in edit mode and then select stuff - it doesn't do what I want that way. I can now select them it seems, but F still does nothing. – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 18:32
  • No. You have multiple objects probably overlapping. Select the object you want to edit in Object Mode, then Tab to edit this object. – Lutzi Mar 08 '24 at 18:34
  • I can't work out how to upload a file, and I don't want to keep you waiting so here's a dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xhx45mjdryewjout5vvrf/Ship-Test.blend?rlkey=b5w6som128swyanhozuq2sqyh&dl=0 – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 18:37
  • I've updated my answer. – Lutzi Mar 08 '24 at 18:44
  • Two of the curves are converted to meshes already, the middle one (curve004) doesn't behave the same way and won't convert no matter how many times I try it. All it does is pop up a little box in the bottom left which says "Convert to" and then has mesh selected in the drop down. There are 2 checkboxes "Keep original" and "Merve UVs" - neither does anything, or changes anything. :( But in the hierarchy on the right it's still a curve. – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 20:58
  • Not in the blend file you shared. Only 3 objects that are Mesh, and Ctrl+J works fine. I think you aren't using Object Mode and Edit Mode correctly. Else I have no idea what's wrong, and you should probably give more informations about where you're stuck (screenshots & blend file), update your main post. – Lutzi Mar 08 '24 at 21:36
  • You're probably correct and I'm doing something wrong. I made a video in which I open the file I shared, make sure I'm in object mode, select the curve I want to convert (as far as I can tell the other two are already converted in the shared file) and try to use the right click menu, but nothing happens. Maybe I'm missing a step, or failing to complete it somehow. I apologize for taking a lot of your time. I'm grateful for your patience and help. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/t4joi9ow52g8mxmzypz7s/Screen-Recording-2024-03-08-at-23.47.54.mov?rlkey=yrl4cdev7wsfz0em47zyymkgx&dl=0 – Habadera Mar 08 '24 at 23:54
  • It's alright, learning Blender can be hard at the very beginning. In your video, you already have 3 meshes. Select them, then join them. That's it. The triangle logo on the right panel (you shown with your mouse) indicate these are Mesh and not Curve. – Lutzi Mar 09 '24 at 00:03
  • OMG! So the names in the hierarchy are just labels. Thank you so much, it's working now. – Habadera Mar 09 '24 at 00:32