Multiresolution Modifier

The Multiresolution modifier (often shortened to “Multires”) gives you the ability to subdivide a mesh similarly to the Subdivision Surface modifier, but also allows you to edit the new subdivision levels in Sculpt Mode.

Note

Multiresolution is the only modifier that cannot be repositioned in the stack after any modifier that will change geometry or other object data (i.e. all Generate, some Modify and some Simulate modifiers cannot come before the Multiresolution one).

Options

The Multiresolution modifier.

Type

Sets the type of subdivision.

Simple

Maintains the current shape, and simply subdivides edges.

Catmull-Clark

Creates a smooth surface, usually smaller than the original, using the standard Catmull-Clark subdivision surface algorithm.

Levels

The left column of settings control the general quality generated by the modifier in various contexts.

Preview

Set the level of subdivisions to show in Object Mode.

Sculpt

Set the level of subdivisions to use in Sculpt Mode.

Render

Set the level of subdivisions to show when rendering.

Quality

How precisely the vertices are positioned (relatively to their theoretical position), can be lowered to get a better performance when working on heavy meshes.

Operations

The right column gathers several operators necessary to manage multiresolution workflow.

Subdivide

Adds another level of subdivision.

Delete Higher

Deletes all subdivision levels that are higher than the current one.

Reshape

Copies vertex coordinates from another mesh.

To use it, first select a different mesh object with matching topology and vertex indices, then Shift select the object you wish to copy vertex coordinates to, and click Reshape.

Apply Base

Modifies the original unsubdivided mesh to match the form of the subdivided mesh.

Further Options

UV Smooth

How to handle UVs during subdivision.

Smooth, keep corners

UV islands are smoothed, but their boundary remain sharp.

Sharp

UV remain unchanged.

Subdivide UVs

When enabled, the UV maps will also be subdivided. (I.e. Blender will add “virtual” coordinates for all sub-faces created by this modifier.)

Optimal Display

When rendering the wireframe of this object, the wires of the new subdivided edges will be skipped (only displays the edges of the original geometry).

Save External

Saves displacements to an external .btx file.