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Smoothing polygon meshes
Smoothing polygon meshes
Work with polygon meshes using Subdiv Proxy
Preview a smoothed polygonal mesh
Smooth
Mesh Preview lets you quickly and easily see how your
polygonal mesh will appear when smoothed.
By default, polygonal meshes display with the
Smooth Mesh Preview setting turned off. You can turn on the Smooth
Mesh Preview setting for any polygon mesh so it displays
either the original mesh (as a wireframe outline referred to as
cage mode) and a preview of the smoothed version simultaneously
or only the smoothed preview version by itself. The cage term is
used because it allows the smoothed version to appear
You can modify components on the mesh in either
of the preview display modes. Any modifications occur on the original
mesh and subsequently appear on the smooth preview as well.
NoteSmooth Mesh Preview only
changes the display of a mesh to allow you to visualize how it will
appear when smoothed. The original mesh is not modified or smoothed.
When the Smooth Mesh Preview version
of the mesh is rendered, the original version will be rendered.
If you want the Smooth Mesh Preview version to
be rendered you can convert it to a fully smoothed mesh using
Modify > Convert > Smooth Mesh Preview to Polygons or
create a subdiv proxy from the smooth mesh preview settings using
Proxy > Subdiv Proxy.
To preview
a polygonal mesh using Smooth Mesh Preview
- Select
the polygonal mesh(es) you want to preview in smooth mode.
- Do
either of the following:
This turns on the Smooth Mesh Preview feature
and sets the display mode to Cage + Smooth Mesh,
a display mode which displays both the original mesh as a wireframe
(cage) and the smooth mesh preview version in shaded mode simultaneously.
You can select components on either the wireframe cage or the shaded
smoothed preview and view the resulting effect.
This turns on the Smooth Mesh Preview feature
and sets the display mode so that only the Smooth
Mesh is displayed. You select and edit components directly
on the smoothed preview and the changes are reflected back onto
the original mesh.
- In
the Attribute Editor, select the polyShape node
for your mesh, open the Smooth Mesh Preview section,
turn on Smooth Mesh Preview, and then select
the desired Display setting: Cage
+ Smooth Mesh, or Smooth Mesh.
- Press
the Page Up and Page Down keys to change the amount of smoothing/subdivision
that occurs on the smoothed preview version of the mesh.
- In
the Smooth Mesh Preview settings
section of the Attribute Editor you can also
set what components can be edited while working in Cage
+ Smooth Mesh mode: Cage, Smooth
Mesh, or Both.
NoteWhen modifying the components on the smoothed
preview the transform manipulator (move, rotate, scale) always appears
in the location of the component as it appears on the original version
of the base mesh.
- Press
the 1 key to turn off the Smooth Mesh Preview feature
so that the mesh displays in its default display mode.
To
edit a polygonal mesh when Smooth Mesh Preview is
turned on
- Ensure
that Smooth Mesh Preview is turned
on for the polygonal mesh you want to edit.
Turn on Smooth Mesh Preview to
either Cage + Smooth Mesh mode (Hotkey:
2) or Smooth Mesh mode (Hotkey: 3).
NoteWhen working in
Cage + Smooth Mesh mode
you can set the
Edit options to select components
on the
Cage,
Smooth
Mesh, or
Both by selecting the desired
option in the
Smooth Mesh Preview section
of the polyShape node within the
Attribute Editor.
For more information on the
Smooth Mesh Preview settings
see
Smooth Mesh.
- Select
and edit the desired components on the mesh.
NoteWhen the
Edit option
for
Cage + Smooth is set to
Both you
may want to change the active and inactive display colors for the
Smooth
Mesh Preview to more easily differentiate between the
cage and the smoothed versions of the mesh.
Select
Window > Settings/Preferences > Color Settings and
then select the Active and Inactive tabs
to set the active and inactive color settings found within the Smooth
Mesh Preview section of Colors preferences
window.
To
display the subdivisions on a polygonal mesh when using Smooth
Mesh Preview
- Select
the polygonal mesh that is currently displayed in Smooth
Mesh Preview mode whose subdivisions you want displayed.
- In
the Attribute Editor, select the polyShape node
for the selected mesh and open the Smooth Mesh Preview section.
- Click
the Display Subdivisions option
so a check mark appears.
The subdivisions are displayed for that level
of smoothing on the mesh.
Converting the Smooth Mesh Preview
to polygons converts the preview version to a smoothed
version of the mesh by copying the Smooth Mesh Preview attributes
to a polySmooth node.
To
convert the Smooth Mesh Preview to polygons
- Select
the polygonal mesh(es) that you want to convert and ensure that the Smooth
Mesh Preview setting is on. (Press either the 2 or 3
keys on your keyboard to turn on Smooth Mesh Preview.
- Select
Modify > Convert > Smooth Mesh Preview to Polygons.
The original version of the polygon mesh (Cage)
is smoothed using the Smooth Mesh Preview settings.
NoteThe
Smooth Mesh Preview options
are set in the
Smooth Mesh Preview section
of the
polyShape node in the
Attribute
Editor. For more information on the
Smooth
Mesh Preview settings see
Smooth Mesh.