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    In this topic

    • Extrude
    • Bevel
    • Select components
    • Select a loop
    • Extrude a vertex
    • Extrude an edge
    • Inset a region
    • Inset individual faces
    • Bevel a vertex
    • Loop cut
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    • Connect vertices
    • Subdivide a mesh
    • Triangulate
    • Triangles to quads
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Modeling tools
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  4. Triangulate

Triangulate

Convert selected polygon faces to triangles. Inspect the chosen diagonals on non-flat faces.

Before you start

Use Face Select in mesh edit mode and select the polygons to split. Triangulation fixes how a polygon is represented by triangles without deliberately changing its boundary vertices.

Use the operation

Make the triangle structure explicit for further editing or export.

  1. Select the faces and inspect whether any are twisted or strongly concave.
  2. Choose Triangulate Faces from the face context menu.
  3. Inspect the new diagonals and compare the surface shading from several angles.
  4. Undo or revise the face layout if the diagonal direction is unsuitable for the next edit.

Controls and choices

ControlsWhat changes
Face selectionOnly selected polygons are triangulated; existing triangles need no further split.
Polygon shapeNon-planar polygons can show a different apparent surface when their triangulation becomes explicit.

Try it in your scene

Triangulate a quad and inspect the diagonal. Undo, change the face shape, and compare the triangulation.

Check the result

Expect more faces and internal diagonals, with the original boundary retained. Triangulation does not repair self-intersections or guarantee a clean deformation mesh. Tris to Quads can combine suitable pairs later, but it is not an exact reversal of every triangulation.

Related operations

Triangles to quadsConnect verticesRecalculate normals

Practice in Show3D

Open the editor and follow the steps with your own scene.
Open Show3DBrowse documentation

On this page

Before you startUse the operationControls and choicesTry it in your sceneCheck the resultRelated operations