Subdivide

Mode

Edit Mode

Mesh ‣ Edges ‣ Subdivide

Subdividing splits selected edges and faces by cutting them in half or more, adding new vertices, and subdividing accordingly the faces involved. It adds resolution to the mesh by divide faces or edges into smaller units.

This process follows a few rules, depending on the settings:

When only one edge of a face is selected (Triangle mode), triangles are subdivided into two triangles, and quads, into three triangles.
When two edges of a face are selected:
- If the face is a triangle, a new edge is created between the two new vertices, subdividing the triangle in a triangle and a quad.
- If the face is a quad, and the edges are opposite, the quad is just subdivided in two quads by the edge linking the two new vertices.
When three edges of a face are selected:
- If the face is a triangle, this means the whole face is selected and it is then subdivided in four smaller triangles.
- If the face is a quad, first the two opposite edges are subdivided as described above. Then, the “middle” edge is subdivided, affecting its new “sub-quad” as described above for only one edge.
When a face of a is selected, the face is subdivided into four smaller quads.
When a face of an n-gon is selected, the individual edges will be subdivided but the face will stay unsubdivided.

These options are available in the Tool panel after running the tool:

Number of Cuts

Specifies the number of cuts per edge to make. By default this is 1, cutting edges in half. A value of 2 will cut it into thirds, and so on.

Smoothness

Displaces subdivisions to maintain approximate curvature. The effect is similar to the way the Subdivision Surface Modifier might deform the mesh.

Quad/Tri Mode

Forces subdivide to create triangles or quads instead of n-gons (see examples below). This mode doesn’t allow the use of Straight Cut on quad corners.

Corner Cut Type

This select menu controls the way quads with only two adjacent selected edges are subdivided.

Fan cut type.

../../../../_images/modeling_meshes_editing_edge_subdivide_two-edges-quad-innervert.png

Inner vertices cut type.

Path cut type.

Fractal

Displaces the vertices in random directions after the mesh is subdivided.

$../../../../_images/modeling_meshes_editing_edge_subdivide_fractal-before.png$

Plane before subdivision.

Regular subdivision.

$../../../../_images/modeling_meshes_editing_edge_subdivide_fractal-after1.png$

Same mesh with fractal added.

Along Normal

Along normal set to 1.

Random Seed

Changes the random seed of the Fractal noise function, producing a different result for each seed value.

$../../../../_images/modeling_meshes_editing_edge_subdivide_fractal-after2.png$

Same mesh with a different seed value.

Examples

Below are several examples illustrating the various possibilities of the Subdivide and Subdivide Multi tools. Note the selection after subdivision.

The sample mesh.