Mesh menu

Combine

Booleans: Boolean operations let you combine polygon meshes to create a new shape. Operations rely on the intersection, the shared volume of the two meshes, to determine the boolean result. For more information, see Boolean operations.

Union: Select your meshes, then this command to fuse them into a single new object. The surface of each object that is inside another object is deleted, and the remaining exterior surfaces are fused together.
Difference (A - B): Select your meshes, then this command to subtract the second selected object (B) from the first selected object (A).

Note: You can extract multiple meshes from your first selected mesh in one Difference operation.
Difference (B - A): Select your meshes, then this command to subtract the first selected object (A) from the second selected object (B).
Intersection: Select your meshes, then this command to produce a new object. Any surface that is not inside another input object is deleted, and the remaining interior surfaces are fused together.
Slice: Select your meshes, then this command to make a slice in the first selected object. Any faces that are located along the intersection of the two input objects are divided into separate shells.
Hole Punch: Select your meshes, then this command to punch a hole in the first selected object. Any surface of the first selected object that is inside any of the other input objects is deleted, leaving an open mesh.
Cut Out: Select your meshes, then this command to cut geometry out of the first selected object. Any surface of the first selected object that is outside any of the other input objects is deleted, leaving an open mesh.
Split Edges: Select your meshes, then this command to create new topology. New edges are inserted on the first selected mesh along the intersection of the input objects.

Combine

Combines the selected meshes into a single polygon mesh. Many polygon editing operations can only be performed between two separate mesh shells once they have been combined into the same mesh.

If there are Component Tags on any of the combined meshes that you want available in the merged mesh's Component Tag table, select the polyUnite node in the Node Editor to open the polyUnite tab in the Attribute Editor. There, you can click Add New Item to enter the name of the componet tag you want to include in the combined mesh's Component Tag table.

Note: For polyUnite, and all other commands, consult the commands list in the Maya Technical Documentation.

Select Mesh > Combine > to set the Combine Options.

Note: Use Mesh > Combine with the Construction History turned off so you can clear the history of multiple skinned items into a single cleanly-skinned mesh. (You can still use Mesh > Combine with Construction History turned on.)

Separate

Separates disconnected shells in a mesh into separate meshes. You can separate all of the shells at once, or you can specify the shells you want separated by first selecting some faces on the shells you want separated before choosing Mesh > Separate.

Remesh

Conform

Wraps the vertices of one object onto the surface of another object. See Conform vertices to a surface.

Select Mesh > Conform > to set the Conform Options.

Fill Hole

The Fill Hole feature lets you fill in a region of a polygon mesh where polygons do not exist provided the region is bounded by three or more polygon edges. Fill Hole creates a polygon with three or more sides to fill in the selected region.

Reduce

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 Tools > Paint Reduce Weights Tool.

Select Mesh > Reduce > to set the Reduce Options.

Smooth

Smooths the selected polygon mesh by adding divisions to the polygons on the mesh.

Select Mesh > Smooth > to set the Smooth Options.

Unsmooth

Unsubdivides any Catmull-Clark smoothed, high resolution mesh. You can set the number of subdivision levels to recreate in the Unsmooth Options (Mesh > Smooth > ) or polyUnsmooth node. See also Unsmooth a mesh.

Triangulate

Converts the existing polygon selection to triangles.

Quadrangulate

Converts the existing polygon selection to quadrangles.

Select Mesh > Quadrangulate > to set the Quadrangulate Options.

Remesh

Redefines the topology of a mesh or selected components by splitting non-triangular faces into triangles. Use Remesh to create a uniformly tessellated triangular mesh or add detail to specific regions of the surface.

Select Mesh > Remesh > to set the Remesh Options.

Retopologize

Generates clean, new topology that preserves the surface features of a selected mesh while ensuring all the faces are quads. To cancel the operation, hold the Esc key before it finishes.

Note: For the best results, try running Remesh on your geometry before performing a Retopologize. Also, if your scene file includes a polyRetopo node prior to Maya 2020, you should delete history on your mesh before performing another Retopologize.

Select Mesh > Retopologize > to set the Retopologize Options.

Mirror

Mirror: Mirrors the selected object across an axis of symmetry. Select Mesh > Mirror > to set the Mirror Options.
Symmetrize: When topological symmetry is enabled, Symmetrize copies the selected mesh topology across the symmetry axis. See Symmetrize asymmetrical components.

Transfer

Clipboard Actions

Copy Attributes

Lets you copy UV, shader, and color per vertex attributes from one polygon mesh to another by copying the attributes to a temporary clipboard. You can set the copy feature to copy one attribute or all three simultaneously. The attribute options you can copy between polygon meshes are described below.

Select Mesh > Clipboard Actions > Copy Attributes > to set the Copy Attributes Options.

Paste Attributes

Lets you paste any UV, shader, and color per vertex attributes that you previously copied to the temporary clipboard from another polygon mesh. You can set the paste feature to paste one attribute or any of the three attributes that were copied as a result of the copy operation.

Clear Clipboard

Clear Clipboard empties the clipboard of any saved polygon attributes so that new attributes can be subsequently copied and pasted between polygon meshes.

Use the Clear Clipboard Options to specify which attributes (UV, Shader, and Color per vertex) to clear when you select this menu item.

Transfer Attributes

Transfer Attributes transfers UV, color per vertex (CPV), and vertex position information between meshes that have differing topologies (that is, the meshes have different shapes, and the vertices and edges are different).

Transfer Attributes transfers vertex data by sampling the vertex information on the source mesh and then transferring the information to the specified target mesh, based on a comparison that is spatially based. The target mesh gets modified as a result.

Select Mesh > Transfer Attributes > to set the Transfer Attributes Options.

Transfer Shading Sets

The Transfer Shading Sets tool allows you to transfer the shading assignment data between two objects that may be topologically different. For example, you can transfer shading assignment data from a cube to a sphere. Faces in similar locations are assigned the same shading data.

Select Mesh > Transfer Shading Sets > to set the Transfer Shading Sets Options.

Transfer Vertex Order

Transfers Vertex Order allows you to transfer the vertex ID order from one object to another. For more information, see Modify or transfer vertex orders.

Optimize

Cleanup

Performs various operations on the selection to identify and remove extraneous and invalid polygon geometry.

Select Mesh > Cleanup > to set the Cleanup Options.

Smooth Proxy

Subdiv Proxy: Subdiv Proxy smooths the selected polygon mesh by adding polygons, and keeps the original non-smoothed mesh as a proxy. A node connection is made between the proxy and smoothed version of the mesh so that changes to the proxy's shape or topology update the smoothed version of the mesh. Subdiv Proxy is useful for reshaping and/or animating a coarser version of a polygonal model (with fewer components to worry about) while seeing what the smoothed version will look like.
Select Mesh > Smooth Proxy > Subdiv Proxy > to set the Subdiv Proxy Options.
Remove Subdiv Proxy Mirror: Removes the smooth mesh created by Smooth Proxy > Subdiv Proxy (with Mirror Behavior set to Full ) and combines the two halves of the proxy mesh (the original mesh and the mirrored mesh) into a single mesh (similar to using Mesh > Mirror Geometry on the original mesh).Adjustments that you make to one half of the mesh will no longer be automatically mirrored onto the other half. After you have created a symmetrical model using Mesh > Smooth Proxy > Subdiv Proxy (with Mirror Behavior set to Full), use Subdiv Proxy Mirror to remove the smooth mesh. Then use Smooth Proxy > Subdiv Proxy (with Mirror Behavior set to None) to create a smooth mesh that you can animate non-symmetrically.
Select Mesh > Smooth Proxy > Remove Subdiv Proxy Mirror > to set the Remove Subdiv Proxy Mirror Options.
Crease Tool: The Crease Tool exists in two locations ( Mesh > Smooth Proxy > Crease Tool and Mesh Tools > Crease Tool). For more information see Crease polygonal edges and vertices.
Toggle Proxy Display: Toggles the display of the subdiv proxy object between normal polygon display and the smooth subdiv proxy version.Switching between the subdiv proxy and the normal polygon display modes is useful when you're modeling polygon surfaces and want to quickly switch between either mode to preview your work.You can also toggle this display mode using the Ctrl + ' hotkey.
Both Proxy and Subdiv Display: Displays both the proxy mesh and subdiv mesh simultaneously. You can also control this display mode using the ~ hotkey.