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Synopsis

polySphere([axis=[linear, linear, linear]], [caching=boolean], [constructionHistory=boolean], [createUVs=int], [name=string], [nodeState=int], [object=boolean], [radius=linear], [subdivisionsAxis=int], [subdivisionsHeight=int], [subdivisionsX=int], [subdivisionsY=int], [texture=int])

Note: Strings representing object names and arguments must be separated by commas. This is not depicted in the synopsis.

polySphere is undoable, queryable, and editable.

The sphere command creates a new polygonal sphere.

Return value

string[]Object name and node name.

In query mode, return type is based on queried flag.

Related

polyCone, polyCube, polyCube, polyCylinder, polyPlane, polyTorus

Flags

axis, caching, constructionHistory, createUVs, name, nodeState, object, radius, subdivisionsAxis, subdivisionsHeight, subdivisionsX, subdivisionsY, texture
Long name (short name) Argument types Properties
Common poly creation operation flags
caching(cch) boolean createqueryedit
Toggle caching for all attributes so that no recomputation is needed
constructionHistory(ch) boolean createquery
Turn the construction history on or off (where applicable). If construction history is on then the corresponding node will be inserted into the history chain for the mesh. If construction history is off then the operation will be performed directly on the object.
Note: If the object already has construction history then this flag is ignored and the node will always be inserted into the history chain.
name(n) string create
Sets the name of the newly-created node. If it contains namespace path, the new node will be created under the specified namespace; if the namespace does not exist, it will be created.
nodeState(nds) int createqueryedit

Maya dependency nodes have 6 possible states. The Normal (0), HasNoEffect (1), and Blocking (2) states can be used to alter how the graph is evaluated.

The Waiting-Normal (3), Waiting-HasNoEffect (4), Waiting-Blocking (5) are for internal use only. They temporarily shut off parts of the graph during interaction (e.g., manipulation). The understanding is that once the operation is done, the state will be reset appropriately, e.g. Waiting-Blocking will reset back to Blocking.

The Normal and Blocking cases apply to all nodes, while HasNoEffect is node specific; many nodes do not support this option. Plug-ins store state in the MPxNode::state attribute. Anyone can set it or check this attribute. Additional details about each of these 3 states follow.

State Description
Normal The normal node state. This is the default.
HasNoEffect

The HasNoEffect option (a.k.a. pass-through), is used in cases where there is an operation on an input producing an output of the same data type. Nearly all deformers support this state, as do a few other nodes. As stated earlier, it is not supported by all nodes.

It’s typical to implement support for the HasNoEffect state in the node’s compute method and to perform appropriate operations. Plug-ins can also support HasNoEffect.

The usual implementation of this state is to copy the input directly to the matching output without applying the algorithm in the node. For deformers, applying this state leaves the input geometry undeformed on the output.

Blocking

This is implemented in the depend node base class and applies to all nodes. Blocking is applied during the evaluation phase to connections. An evaluation request to a blocked connection will return as failures, causing the destination plug to retain its current value. Dirty propagation is indirectly affected by this state since blocked connections are never cleaned.

When a node is set to Blocking the behavior is supposed to be the same as if all outgoing connections were broken. As long as nobody requests evaluation of the blocked node directly it won’t evaluate after that. Note that a blocked node will still respond to getAttr requests but a getAttr on a downstream node will not reevaluate the blocked node.

Setting the root transform of a hierarchy to Blocking won’t automatically influence child transforms in the hierarchy. To do this, you’d need to explicitly set all child nodes to the Blocking state.

For example, to set all child transforms to Blocking, you could use the following script. 


import maya.cmds as cmds
def blockTree(root):
nodesToBlock = []
for node in {child:1 for child in cmds.listRelatives( root, path=True, allDescendents=True )}.keys():
nodesToBlock += cmds.listConnections(node, source=True, destination=True )
for node in {source:1 for source in nodesToBlock}.keys():
cmds.setAttr( '%s.nodeState' % node, 2 )

Applying this script would continue to draw objects but things would not be animated.


Default: kdnNormal
object(o) boolean create
Create the result, or just the dependency node (where applicable).
Flags from nodes
axis(ax) [linear, linear, linear] createqueryedit
This flag specifies the primitive axis used to build the sphere.
Q: When queried, this flag returns a float[3].
createUVs(cuv) int create
This flag alows a specific UV mechanism to be selected, while creating the sphere.
The valid values are 0, 1, or 2.
0 implies that no UVs will be generated (No texture to be applied).

1 implies UVs are created with pinched at poles

2 implies UVs are created with sawtooth at poles

For better understanding of these options, you may have to open the
texture view window

C: Default is 2
radius(r) linear createqueryedit
This flag specifies the radius of the sphere.
C: Default is 0.5.
Q: When queried, this flag returns a float.
subdivisionsAxis(sa) int createqueryedit
Subdivisions around the axis.
subdivisionsHeight(sh) int createqueryedit
Subdivisions along the height of the sphere.
subdivisionsX(sx) int createqueryedit
This specifies the number of subdivisions in the X direction for the sphere.
C: Default is 20.
Q: When queried, this flag returns an int.
subdivisionsY(sy) int createqueryedit
This flag specifies the number of subdivisions in the Y direction for the sphere.
C: Default is 20.
Q: When queried, this flag returns an int.
texture(tx) int create
This flag is obsolete and will be removed in the next release. The -cuv/createUVs flag should be used instead.
Flag can appear in Create mode of command Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command Flag can have multiple arguments, passed either as a tuple or a list.

Python examples

import maya.cmds as cmds

# Create a sphere, with 10 subdivisions in the X direction,
# and 15 subdivisions in the Y direction,
# the radius of the sphere is 20.
cmds.polySphere(sx=10, sy=15, r=20)

# Create a sphere, called "mySphere", on each direction there are 5 subdivisions.
cmds.polySphere( n='mySphere', sx=5, sy=5)

# Query the radius of the new sphere
r = cmds.polySphere( 'mySphere', q=True, sx=True )