Show in Contents
Add to Favorites
Home: Autodesk Maya Online Help
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.