8

Subdivide Modifier 829
Limiting the effec t of Stretch
Click Sub-Object and move the modifier’s center
to change the location of the limited stretch areas.
The Upper and Lower Limit boundaries move with
the modifier center to maintain their specified
distances.
Effects of movin g the Stretch center
Note: Youcanalsolimitthestretcheffectbyusing
an Edit or Select modifier, defining a sub-objec t
selection, and then applying Stretch. If the
modifier’s Sub-Object button is active, only the
selected sub-objects will b e stretched.
Subdivide M odifier
Make a selection. > Modify panel > Modifier List >
Subdivide
Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > R adiosity Modifiers
> S ubdivide
The Subdivide modifier provides an algorithm for
creat ing meshes used for
radiosity (page 3–50)
processing. Processing radiosity requires meshes
that have elements shaped as close as possible to
equilateral t riangles. The density of the mesh
also needs to b e considered in determining the
resolution of the lighting details that need to be
captured. The denser the mesh is, the finer the
lighting detail and accuracy wi ll b e. The trade-off
is a larger memory requirement and slower
rendering times. The Subdivide modifier works
on a whole object and does not work on selected
facesinamesh.
Subdivide modifier breaks flat surfaces into meshes.
Although it is primarily developed for increasing
the quality of radiosity solutions, the Subdivide
modifier can also be used by any application
that requires well-formed meshes. For example,
irregu lar mesh elements generated for
Ter r ai n
(page 1–342)
compound objects can be improv ed.
The modifier has world space and object space
variants. In the world space modifier the size limit
is on the mesh after it is transformed into world