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Subdivision Surfaces

A subdivision surface is a polygon mesh that has been divided into more faces while retaining the object's general shape. You perform subdivision to add detail to an object, or to smooth it out.

OpenSubdiv modifier with Iterations = 0, 1, 2, 3 (left to right), with creasing applied along the centerline

3ds Max supports three kinds of subdivision surfaces:

  • The OpenSubdiv modifier works together with the CreaseSet and Crease modifiers to provide subdivision and smoothing with optional creasing.
  • The HSDS modifier provides hierarchical subdivision surfaces, which you can use to add fine detail to an object.
  • The MeshSmooth modifier and TurboSmooth modifier provide smoothing.

    Related closely to these are the Subdivision Surface rollout controls for editable poly objects, with which you can subdivide a surface without the need for a modifier.

    Note: These controls are not available with the Edit Poly modifier.

The latter type works best as a finishing tool for models.

Topics in this section
  • About OpenSubdiv
    The OpenSubdiv feature set lets modelers use controlled subdivision to create shapes with smooth and creased surfaces based on polygonal objects. You can specify the overall curvature of the surface, and base variable creasing on vertices and edges in the polygon mesh.
  • To Work with OpenSubdiv
    This topic starts by showing how to use the OpenSubdiv modifier to smooth an object, and how to introduce creasing of edges and vertices at the base-object level. It then goes on to show how the CreaseSet modifier works in conjunction with OpenSubdiv to greatly ease the task of managing differing crease values of sub-objects in the model.
  • OpenSubdiv Modifier
    The OpenSubdiv modifier performs subdivision and smoothing of mesh objects. It also reads Crease values from underlying stack entries and applies them to the modified object.
  • Crease Modifier
    Use the Crease modifier to select object edges and vertices procedurally and apply Crease values to them. The output from the Crease modifier is a crease set that can be utilized by the Crease Set and OpenSubdiv modifiers and appears in the Crease Explorer.
  • CreaseSet Modifier
    The CreaseSet modifier provides comprehensive tools for managing creasing in conjunction with the OpenSubdiv modifier.
  • Crease Explorer
    Crease Explorer provides a spreadsheet-like interface for managing crease sets within the CreaseSet and Crease modifiers.
Parent topic: Surface Modeling

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