Subdivision Surface Tools

The Subdivision Surface tools offer a modeling alternative to NURBS. In many cases, this approach lends itself to easier to manipulation and exploration of smooth, organic designs. The subdivision surface is a curved limit surface represented by a coarser polygonal control cage. You can begin modeling with a basic shape having a subdivision surface. After creating the basic shape, you can use the various tools in the SubD tab to further subdivide the surfaces and add detail to form more complicated shapes.

You can also convert an existing faceted or solid model to a subdivision surface or a hybrid model containing both subdivision surfaces and analytic faces such as planes or cylinders. You can then perform editing operations to add in details as needed.

You can:

• Use the tools in the Create group to create the basic shape or convert bodies to and from Subdivision surfaces.
• Export results from a topology optimization as a hybrid model. The hybrid model contains both subdivision surfaces for regions of the model where you want to allow for flexible and freeform editing and traditional surfaces such as planes or cylinders for regions requiring precise topology.
• Use the tools in the Edit and Modify groups to make changes to the design.
• Use the options in the View group to view the Limit Surface, the Control Cage, or both. You can also use the Show dropdown to customize the model appearance while using the subdivision surface tools.