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Synopsis

polySplitVertex([caching=boolean], [constructionHistory=boolean], [name=string], [nodeState=int], [worldSpace=boolean])

Note: Strings representing object names and arguments must be separated by commas. This is not depicted in the synopsis.

polySplitVertex is undoable, queryable, and editable.

Use this command to split one or more vertices.

A mesh is made up of one or more faces. The faces are defined by edges which connect vertices together. Typically a face will share vertices and edges with adjacent faces in the same mesh. Sharing vertices and edges helps reduce the amount of memory used by a mesh. It also ensures that when a face is moved, all the connected faces move together.
Sometimes you may want to separate a face from its connected faces so that it may be moved in isolation. There are three ways to accomplish this depending upon which parts of the face you want to extract:
polySplitVertex split one or more vertices so that each face that shared the vertex acquires its own copy of the vertex
polySplitEdge split one or more edges so that each face that shared the vertex acquires its own copy of the edge
polyChipOff completely extract the face so that it has its own vertices and edges

Notice that the area of affect of each operation is different. polySplitVertex will affect all the edges and faces that shared the vertex. This is the broadest effect. polySplitEdge will only affect the faces which shared the edge and polyChipOff will affect a specific face. If we just count vertices to measure the effect of each command when splitting all components of a face, starting from a 3x3 plane which has 16 vertices and we were to split the middle face:
polySplitVertex applied to the four vertices would end up creating 12 new vertices
polySplitEdge applied to the four edges would end up creating 4 new vertices
polyChipOff applied to the middle face would end up creating 4 new vertices

Note that polySplitVertex may create non-manifold geometry as a part of this operation. You can use Polygons->Cleanup afterwards to to clean up any non-manifold geometry.

Return value

stringThe polySplitVert node name.

In query mode, return type is based on queried flag.

Related

polyAppend, polyAppendVertex, polyBevel, polyChipOff, polyCreateFacet, polyExtrudeEdge, polyExtrudeFacet, polySmooth, polySplit, polySubdivideEdge, polySubdivideFacet, polyTriangulate

Flags

caching, constructionHistory, name, nodeState, worldSpace
Long name (short name) Argument types Properties
worldSpace(ws) boolean
Not used by this command
Common flags
name(n) string create
Give a name to the resulting node.
constructionHistory(ch) boolean createquery
Turn the construction history on or off (where applicable). If construction history is on then the corresponding node will be inserted into the history chain for the mesh. If construction history is off then the operation will be performed directly on the object.
Note: If the object already has construction history then this flag is ignored and the node will always be inserted into the history chain.
caching(cch) boolean createedit
Toggle caching for all attributes so that no recomputation is needed
nodeState(nds) int createqueryedit
Defines how to evaluate the node.
  • 0: Normal
  • 1: PassThrough
  • 2: Blocking
  • 3: Internally disabled. Will return to Normal state when enabled
  • 4: Internally disabled. Will return to PassThrough state when enabled
  • 5: Internally disabled. Will return to Blocking state when enabled

Flag can appear in Create mode of command Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command Flag can have multiple arguments, passed either as a tuple or a list.

Python examples

import maya.cmds as cmds

# Objective: split the four middle vertices of a 3x3 plane so
# that the middle face can be moved seperately
# Create a 3x3 plane
#
cmds.polyPlane( sx=3, sy=3, name='polyPlane' )
# Result: polyPlane polyPlane1
# Count the number of vertices we start out with
#
cmds.polyEvaluate( 'polyPlane', vertex=True )
# Result: 16
# Split the four middle vertices
#
cmds.polySplitVertex( 'polyPlane.vtx[5]', 'polyPlane.vtx[6]', 'polyPlane.vtx[9]', 'polyPlane.vtx[10]' )
# Result: polySplitVert1
# Count the number of vertices we have now
#
cmds.polyEvaluate( 'polyPlane', vertex=True )
# Result: 28
# Note that because we split the 4 middle vertices, the 8
# surrounding faces have become non-manifold