Relax a surface mesh

To relax surface meshes with the Sculpt Geometry brush

1. Select the surface, mesh(es), or control vertices you want to sculpt.
2. Open the Sculpt Geometry Tool settings by doing one of the following:
   • From the Polygons menu set, select Mesh > Sculpt Geometry Tool > .
   • From the Surfaces menu set, select Edit NURBS > Sculpt Geometry Tool > .

   The Sculpt Geometry Tool options appear and the Maya cursor changes to a brush icon to indicate it is now in sculpting mode.

3. In the Sculpt Parameters section, under Operation, click Relax.
4. Use the options under Sculpt Parameters to control how brushing relaxes the surface mesh.
   • Use Max displacement to alter the depth that a surface is relaxed in one stroke.
   • Use the Seam/Pole tolerance to alter the area of the relax (in combination with the brush size)
   • Use the flood button to relax the entire surface.
5. Do any of the following:
   • Brush across the mesh to push or pull vertices.
   • Hold b and drag left or right to change the brush radius.
   • Hold m and drag left or right to change how much the tool moves the mesh as it smooths.
     Note

     When the Operation is set to Push, Pull, Smooth or Relax, the Max Displacement option is respected. That is, the smoothing will be limited by the Max Displacement value.

To apply a relax action to the entire mesh at once

1. In the Sculpt Geometry Tool option panel, set the options you want to apply to the entire mesh.
2. Under Sculpt Parameters, click the Flood button.

   The Flood operation applies the specified settings over the entire surface or mesh.

   Tip

   To progressively smooth a model without losing size, volume or detail, use the Flood button with Relax as the selected operation, and set the opacity low.

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