9

Tessellate Modifier 865
two remaining axes, or their combination. If the
primaryaxisisX,theeffectaxiscanbeY,Z,orYZ.
Default=XY.
Symmetr y—Produces a symmetrical taper around
theprimaryaxis.Ataperisalwayssymmetrical
around the effect a xis. Default=off.
Changing the effect a xis changes the effects of the modifier.
Limits group
The t aper offset is applied between the upper and
lower limits. The surrounding geometry, while
unaffected by the taper itself, is mov ed to keep the
object intact.
Limit Effect—Enables upper and lower limits for
the taper effect.
Upper Limit—Sets the upper limit boundar ies in
world units from the taper center point, beyond
whichthetapernolongeraffectsthegeometry.
Lower Limit—Sets the lower limit boundaries in
world units from the taper center point, beyond
whichthetapernolongeraffectsthegeometry.
Left: Limiting the effect of the taper.
Right: Using symmetry.
Tessellate Modifier
Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List >
Object-Space M o difiers > Tessellate
Make a selection. > M odifiers menu > Me sh Editing >
Tessellate
The Tessellate modifier subdivides faces in the
current selection. It’s particularly useful for
smoothing curved surfaces for rendering, and
creating additional mesh resolution for other
modifiers to act on. If no sub-object selection has
been passed up the stack, then the entire object
is tessellated. This modifier lets you tessellate
polygonal faces; the tessellation available in an
editable mesh (page 1–1009) does not (it works on
faces, even at the Polygon select ion level).
Top: Original mesh object
Lower left: Tessellation applied to polygonal f acets
Lower right: Tessellation applied to triangular faces
Wa rn in g : Tessellating an object retains any UVW
mapping that exi sts in the stack before the Tessellate
modifier. However, in some cases, the mapping might
be altered, depending on the type of mapping and the
tessellation settings. Typically, this happens when the
applied mapping uses extreme compound angles.