Reduces the number of polygons in a selected region of a polygon mesh, optionally taking into account UVs and vertex colors as it chooses which areas to reduce.
Reduce is useful when you need to lower the number of polygons in a particular region of a polygon mesh. The polygon reduction is controlled via a polyReduce node that gets created. This lets you experiment with the amount of blend reduction and can be removed altogether should you wish to return the polygon mesh to its original pre-reduced state.
You can also preserve the original vertex positions to minimize the overall shape change that occurs on the mesh as a result of the reduction.
You can optionally paint the amount of polygon reduction using the Mesh > Paint Reduce Weights Tool.
Controls the degree to which Maya sacrifices mesh shape accuracy to produce better triangles, as a value from 0 to 1.
A value of 0 specifies to reproduce the original mesh shape as accurately as possible while reducing, no matter what kind of triangles are produced. A value of 1 specifies to sacrifice accuracy as much as possible to produce regular equilateral triangles.
Values closer to 0 can produce long skinny triangles that can be hard to work with. Values closer to 1 can produce reduced meshes that do not match the shape of the original.
The original mesh is preserved for the purposes of using the paint weights features. See Mesh > Paint Reduce Weights Tool.
These options take extra information (beside shape) into account when reducing the mesh.
Reduces polygons so that color per vertex data (such as prelighting/baking and painting) is preserved as much as possible. Turning this option on will devote more polygons in the reduced mesh to areas with color changes, and fewer polygons to areas with flat color to preserve the look of the original.
Maya attempts to preserve the shape of UV borders as it reduces.
Turning this on can give unpredictable results if you have a lot of UV borders. Try sewing as many UV pieces together as possible before reducing.
If you don’t mind losing your UV seams, turn off UV Borders to successfully reduce your polygonal surface.
Maya attempts to preserve the shape of edges marked “hard” as it reduces.
You can set edges on a mesh to be hard or soft using Normals > Soften Edge or Normals > Harden Edge. Marking edges as “hard” can result in more shape retention than painting reduction weights.
