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Convert a NURBS or polygonal surface to a subdivision surface
Subdivision surface conversion
Convert a subdivision surface to a NURBS surface
Convert a subdivision surface to polygons
Although
you can use subdivision surfaces up to the completion of your project,
you may need to convert them to polygons after you have finished
modeling. For example, if you’re creating characters for a game,
the game engine often requires the models to be polygons.
Maya offers two ways to convert subdivision
surfaces to polygons:
- Tessellating
creates a polygon surface that matches the contours of the subdivision
surface.
- Extracting
vertices creates a simpler, less dense polygon that matches the
control vertices, not the contours, of the subdivision surface.
To
convert to a close approximation of your subdivision surface
- Select
the subdivision surface and choose
Modify > Convert > Subdiv to Polygons > .
- Make
sure Vertices is not on.
- Click Convert.
If the subdivision surface you tessellate has
creases, the polygon edges that result at the creases are not automatically
made hard.
You can create a polygon mesh that can be converted
to another subdivision surface with the same shape as the original.
Convert
to a rough approximation of the subdivision surface by matching
vertices
- Select
the subdivision surface and choose
Modify > Convert > Subdiv to Polygons > .
- Click Vertices and
choose which level you want to use the vertices from.
- Click Convert.
Notes
- The Subdiv
to Polygons conversion only converts the UVs at Level
0 of the subdivision surface to the converted polygon surface.