Subdivision surface

In the field of <a href="/facts/3D_computer_graphics/zlWW6eaF">3D computer graphics</a>, a subdivision surface (commonly shortened to SubD surface or Subsurf) is a curved <a href="/facts/Computer_representation_of_surfaces/AGAtWagA">surface</a> represented by the specification of a coarser <a href="/facts/Polygon_mesh/6WLD80ER">polygon mesh</a> and produced by a <a href="/facts/Recursive/CxSKxJoW">recursive</a> algorithmic method. The curved surface, the underlying inner mesh, can be calculated from the coarse mesh, known as the control cage or outer mesh, as the functional <a href="/facts/Limit_(mathematics)/j8JBhj4e">limit</a> of an iterative process of subdividing each <a href="/facts/Polygonal/yAq7RjPz">polygonal</a> <a href="/facts/Face_(geometry)/T2E6BTU4">face</a> into smaller faces that better approximate the final underlying curved surface. Less commonly, a simple algorithm is used to add geometry to a mesh by subdividing the faces into smaller ones without changing the overall shape or volume.
The opposite is reducing polygons or un-subdividing.

Subdivision surface open-in-new

Subdivision surface