Merging Subdivision Surfaces

You can merge two subdivision surfaces at their open edges.

Before you begin: Create a 3D shape similar to the one below:
See Also
About Styling Surfaces
Accessing Transformation Commands
  1. From the Shape Sculpt section of the action bar, click Merge .

    You can also access this command by pressing ALT+SHIFT+W.

  2. Select the light purple surface.

    The first surface selected is the surface that is going to be modified.



    A slider appears at the right side of the screen to let you define the weight on the junction of the merge.
  3. From the Tools Palette, click one of the following:
    OptionDescription
    Merge Surface Selection Selects again the surfaces to be merged.


    Automatic Merge    		 Merges all possible edges at once.
    Merge Mode Merges the two surfaces to create the merged edge at the middle of the selected edges. The number of selected edges on both surfaces must be same.
    Join Mode Joins the two surfaces by one face. The number of selected edges on both the surfaces must be same.
    Extrude Mode Joins the two surfaces by faces. The number of selected edges on both surfaces must be same.
    Sharp Attraction Defines the attraction mode. This icon has two states: Sharp Attraction gives a sharp edge and Smooth Attraction (activated when clicking the icon) gives a smooth edge.
    Propagation Propagates edges.
    Apply (Enter) Validates the previewed result of the merge.
  4. Click Merge Surface Selection and select the light green surface.

    This surface is added to the first surface.

    By default a result is previewed where the free edges used to junction the two surfaces are selected. This automatic selection selects the nearest two free edges.

  5. Click Apply (Enter) .


    After validation, the selection of a new surface to be added is automatically activated.

  6. Click Merge Surface Selection and select the blue surface.
    This surface will be added to the second surface.

    Important:
    • You can select two subdivision surfaces with a different number of free edges to create a join. In this case, the and buttons appear in the Tools Palette. Click either Previous Result or Next Result to choose the required solution.
    • You can select open sets of edges to merge. To do so, deactivate the Propagation icon.