Houdini 20.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

PolyBevel geometry node

Bevels points and edges.

In the simplest case of zero repetition, this node replaces points and edges with faces. With more repetition, it replaces those faces with more faces, leading to smoother bevels.

This is useful for rounding off sharp edges on polygonal geometry. You can also use it to increase detail in facial features by beveling edge loops around eyes and mouths.

  1. To bevel corners, select the corner points. To bevel edges, select the edges.

  2. Choose Poly Bevel.

Note

Relative inset is calculated as a percentage of the primitive’s size. If the original object changes size/shape, the size of the bevel will change. If you want the bevel to always be the same size, use the Absolute parameter instead.

Warning

If you modify the original (upstream) geometry after creating the bevel node, the bevel may break.

In this case, use the Fuse operator to re-fuse the points and re-apply the bevel. See repairing polygons for information.

Parameters

Group

The edges or points to bevel.

Bevel Type

At zero repetition, all four bevel types result in identical outputs (that is, single surfaces are formed in place of selected points and edges). The difference between the bevel types is characterized by the way each adds detail to the resulting beveled faces with increasing repetition values. There are four bevel types:

Flat

The bevel surfaces remain flat, but are divided into symmetric sets of new geometry.

Low Density Round

Edges are rounded with additional geometry added in place of flat bevel surfaces with curvatures that approximate the original edges. Faces that replaced corners in edge and point beveling are substituted by minimal additional geometry to maintain a sense of curvature around the original corner. The low density round is often a better option than the high density round in the cases of beveling irregular geometry and large sets of geometry because it is unlikely to produce unexpected or overlapping geometry in the corner areas.

High Density Round

Edges in the high density round bevel are treated in the same way as in the low density round bevel. However, faces that replaced corners in edge and point beveling are substituted by multiple quad patches between adjacent boundary edges. It is important to note that there is not necessarily continuity between patches that share a common boundary edge and that this lack of continuity becomes more apparent at higher repetitions. It is recommended that the subdivide sop be used for further smoothness. In the case of point beveling, the high density round may not be the best choice for obtaining a rounded corner. One alternative is to corner bevel the point and smooth the resulting geometry from the corner bevel using the divide sop.

Corner

This bevel type maintains the shape of the original geometry while additional geometry are introduced.

Default Entity

With no group selection made, the default entity parameter determines if the operation bevels all points or edges of the geometry. This parameter has no effect if a group is specified.

Relative Inset

Inset is interpreted as a ratio of the distance from a primitive’s vertices to its center. This type of inset is bounded. It is the best choice when bevellng large sets of geometry, facial features, and in cases where very different sizes of primitives are involved.

Absolute Inset

Inset is interpreted as an absolute length from either a vertex along an corresponding edge or from an edge along its perpendicular. This type of inset is generally not bounded. It is useful when beveling symmetrical geometry, small sets of geometry consisting of primitives with similar sizes, and in cases where the desired inset is explicitly known.

Repetitions

Repetitions is a measure of the quantity of additional geometry introduced. It correlates to twice the number of geometry added in place of an edge and to twice the number of segments each edge of the new face created in place of a point is divided into.

Recompute Point Normals

Re-evaluates point normals if they exist. If this is not set, the point normals will be interpolated in the same manner as the points.

See also

Geometry nodes