Use the options to set what happens when you select
Mesh > Reduce.
Settings
-
Keep original
-
The original mesh is preserved for the purpose of using the paint weights features. See
Mesh Tools > Paint Reduce Weights Tool.
Reduction Method
- Reduction method
- Lets you reduce the number of polygons by specific values. Select from the following options:
Note: The
Reduce feature attempts to reach the specified number entered in the
Vertex limit or
Triangle limit field; however, if
Preserve quads or other
Feature Preservation options are enabled, the number of vertices or triangles in the reduced mesh may differ from the specified count.
- Percentage
- Lets you reduce the number of polygons by a percentage of the original polygon count using the
Percentage slider.
- Vertex limit
- Lets you set the number of vertices in the output mesh using the
Vetex limit field.
- Triangle limit
- Lets you set the number of triangles in the output mesh using the
Triangle limit field.
Shape
- Preserve quads
- Attempts to maintain any existing quad topology on the mesh as it reduces. The slider range is between 0 and 1. The higher the value, the more quads in the final result. A value of 0 is equivalent to turning this option off. Reduce the slider value if the reduction results in an undesirable shape change.
- Sharpness
- Controls the balance between preserving small, sharp details versus larger shapes. At low values, details that are small and relative to the general shape of the object are more likely to be collapsed. At high values, they are more likely to be kept.
- Symmetry type
-
Lets you select from the following options:
Note: Preserve quads must be set to < 1.0 to use the
Symmetry type options.
- None
- Turns symmetric reduction off. This is the default setting.
- Automatic
- Adds a symmetry plane to your output mesh so reduction is symmetric about the plane
Maya selects. With this option selected,
Maya decides which plane (XZ, XY, or YZ) is most symmetric. It also tries symmetry about the center of mass, which works well for regular shapes that aren't aligned to the X, Y, or Z axes.
- Plane
- Adds a symmetry plane to your output mesh so reduction is symmetric about the specified plane.
- Symmetry tolerance
- Controls the degree to which
Maya looks to see if two points are symmetric across the symmetry plane, as a value of 0 to 1.
- Symmetry plane
- Specifies the axes for the symmetry plane. Select
XZ,
XY, or
YZ when
Symmetry type is set to
Planar.
Feature Preservation
The
Feature Preservation options help to preserve specific features during the reduction process. Use the sliders to control the priority given to preserving different edges and borders.
- Mesh borders
-
Attempts to preserve the shape of polygon borders (edges that are not shared by other polygons) as it reduces.
Tip: Set
Mesh borders to 1 to preserve the boundary of your original selection.
- UV borders
-
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.
Note: If a polygonal surface has numerous UV seams on it and if the
Mesh > Reduce operation is performed with
UV borders turned on, there is a good chance the object will not reduce at all, since the reduction algorithm is attempting to maintain the UV borders (seams) that are on the object.
If you don’t mind losing your UV seams, turn off
UV borders to successfully reduce your polygonal surface.
- Color borders
- Attempts to preserve the shape of color borders as it reduces.
- Material borders
- Attempts to preserve the shape of material borders as it reduces.
- Hard edges
-
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
Mesh Display > Soften Edge or
Mesh Display > Harden Edge. Marking edges as “hard” can result in more shape retention than painting reduction weights.
- Crease edges
- Attempts to preserve the shape of edges that have crease values set as it reduces.
You can crease edges on a mesh using the
Crease Tool. See
Crease polygonal edges and vertices.
Advanced options
- Vertex index map
- Lets you export a vertex index map. To make relationships between vertices of your original mesh and output mesh, enter a name in the field to create a new color set. With the color set applied, you can look at a vertex in your output mesh and determine the index in the original mesh based on color. See
Polygon color sets.