Relax Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Parametric Modifiers > Relax

Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Relax

Relax moves the bowl away from its original contours

The Relax modifier changes the apparent surface tension in a mesh by moving vertices closer to, or away from, their neighbors. The typical result is that the object gets smoother and a little smaller as the vertices move towards an averaged center point. You can see the most pronounced effects on objects with sharp corners and edges.

When you apply Relax, each vertex is compared to the position of its neighboring vertices and moved toward or away from the average position of its neighbors. A neighboring vertex is one that shares a visible edge with the current vertex.

Patches

A patch object input to the Relax modifier retains its patch definition. Files that contain patch objects with the Relax modifier from previous versions of the software will be converted to meshes to maintain backward compatibility.

Original objects compared to relaxed objects

Setting the Relax Value

The Relax Value parameter controls how far a vertex moves for each iteration. The value specifies a percentage of the distance from the original location of a vertex to the average location of its neighbors:

Relax Values=1.0, 0.0, -1.0
Iterations=1 (default)

Setting Iterations

The Iterations parameter sets how many times to repeat the Relax process. For each iteration, average locations are recalculated and the Relax Value is reapplied to every vertex.

Iterations=0, 10, 50
Relax Value=0.5 (default)

Iterations=0,1, 5
Relax Value=-0.5

Keeping Boundary Points Fixed

The Keep Boundary Pts Fixed check box controls whether vertices at the edges of open meshes are moved.

When on: Boundary vertices do not move while the rest of the object is relaxed. This option is particularly useful when working with multiple objects, or multiple elements within a single object, that share open edges.

When off: Relaxes all vertices of the object.

Keep Boundary Pts Fixed=on
Iterations=0, 10, 50

Keep Boundary Pts Fixed=off
Iterations=0, 10, 50

Interface

Relax Value: Sets the distance a vertex moves as a percentage of the distance between a vertex and the average location of its neighbors. Range=-1.0 to 1.0. Default=0.5.

Iterations: Sets how many times Relax is repeated. Each iteration recalculates average vertex locations based on the result of the previous iteration. Default=1.

Keep Boundary Pts Fixed: Vertices at the edge of open meshes do not relax. Default=on.

Save Outer Corners: Preserves the original positions of vertices farthest away from the object center.