Mask

This page details the mask related shortcut operators and menu operators in sculpt mode. Other related information to masks can also be found at the bottom of the page.

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask
Shortcut:: A

Masks can be edited across all visible faces. Using A opens a pie menu to choose the most common operations.

Invert Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Invert Mask
Shortcut:: A, Ctrl-I

Inverts the visible mask. This is often useful when the masked vertices are the surfaces you want to sculpt/paint. In that case create a mask and then invert it.

Fill Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Fill Mask

Fully masks the visible geometry. Alternatively it is common to clear and then invert a mask via A to achieve the same effect.

Clear Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Clear Mask
Shortcut:: A, Alt-M

Removes the mask on all visible vertices. To completely remove the mask data, see Clear Sculpt-Mask Data.

Box Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Box Mask
Shortcut:: B

Works like the the Box Mask tool, it creates a rectangular mask region. Hold Shift or press MMB to clear the mask of the selected region.

Lasso Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Lasso Mask
Shortcut:: Shift-Ctrl-LMB

Can be used to create a free-form mask, similar to the Lasso Mask tool. This is very commonly used.

Tip

To clear the mask of areas with the Lasso Mask, first invert the mask, use Lasso Mask, and then invert the mask back.

Mask Filters

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Smooth/Sharpen Mask, Grow/Shrink Mask, Increase/Decrease Contrast
Shortcut:: A

Similarly to other Filter Tools, mask filters are operations that are applied to the whole mask.

Type

Smooth/Sharpen Mask: Changes the sharpness of the mask edge. Using this can be faster and more consistent than smoothing the mask with the Mask brush.
Grow/Shrink Mask: Further grow or shrink the mask along the surface of the mesh.
Increase/Decrease Contrast: Changes the contrast of the mask.

In the Adjust Last Operation panel there are further options to add iterations for a stronger effect.

Iterations: The number of times the filter is applied.
Auto Iteration Count: Use an automatic number of iterations based on the number of vertices of the sculpt. Disable this option to set the Iterations manually.

Tip

An alternative to Iterations is to use Repeat Last via the shortcut Shift-R.

Expand Mask

Note

More info on Mask Expand along Topology at the Expand page.

Mask Extract

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Mask Extract

Creates a duplicate mesh object based on masked geometry. The extracted geometry is also further processed by default for a cleaner result.

Threshold: Minimum mask value to consider the vertex valid to extract a face from the original mesh.
Add Boundary Loop: Creates and extra boundary loop on the edges of the geometry, making it easier smooth the boundaries and apply additional modifiers.
Smooth Iterations: Smooth iterations applied to the extracted mesh.
Project to Sculpt: Project the extracted mesh on to the original sculpt object.
Extract as Solid: Adds a Solidify Modifier to the newly created mesh object.

Mask Slice

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Mask Slice

Removes the masked vertices from the mesh.

Threshold: Minimum mask value to consider the vertex valid to extract a face from the original mesh.
Fill Holes: Fills concave holes with geometry that might have resulted from the Mask Slice operation.

Tip

If nothing is masked, this operation can be used to just fill all holes. Especially when using Trim tools and the Voxel Remesher
Slice to New Object: Create a new object from the masked geometry.

Mask From Cavity

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Mask from Cavity

Generates a mask based on the cavity of the surface. The settings of the operation can be changed in the Adjust Last Operation panel.

Mode: Choose how the newly created mask is mixed with the existing one. By default it will replace the old mask via “Mix”.
Mix Factor: The factor of the mix effect. Choose how strong the new mask is applied on the existing one.
Automask Settings: The same settings as the Auto-Masking settings are applied.
Factor: Same as Auto-Masking.
Blur: Same as Auto-Masking.
Invert: Same as Auto-Masking.
Custom Curve: Same as Auto-Masking.

Random Mask

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Menu:: Mask ‣ Random Mask

Generates a mask with random values for the entire object based on different mesh data.

Per Vertex: Assigns a random mask value for each vertex.
Per Face Set: Assigns a random mask value for each Face Set.
Per Loose Mask: Assigns a random mask value for each disjoint part of the mesh.

Display Settings

Reference

Mode:: Sculpt Mode
Popover:: Viewport Overlays – Sculpt ‣ Mask

The mask display can be toggled as a viewport overlay. In the overlay popover, the opacity of the mask overlay can be adjusted to make it more or less visible on the mesh.

Clear Sculpt-Mask Data

Reference

Mode:: Object/Edit Mode
Menu:: Properties ‣ Object Data ‣ Geometry Data ‣ Clear Sculpt-Mask Data

Completely frees the mask data layer from the mesh. While not a huge benefit, this can speed-up sculpting if the mask is no longer being used.