Masking & Face Groups

Masking & Face Groups

Masking and Face Groups give you precise control over which parts of your mesh can be modified, transformed, or displayed, protecting delicate details while you work on adjacent areas.

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Masking System

Masking assigns an attenuation value between 0.0 (completely unmasked, full brush influence) and 1.0 (fully masked, 100% immune to brushes and gizmo transforms) to each vertex. Masked regions appear as a semi-transparent dark charcoal overlay on the viewport.

Masking Shortcuts & Gestures

Action	Shortcut	Description
Paint Mask	Hold Ctrl + Left-drag	Paints mask directly on surface vertices under the cursor.
Erase Mask	Hold Ctrl + Alt + Left-drag	Erases mask back to unmasked white.
Box Mask	Hold Ctrl + drag from empty space	Drags an orthogonal screen-space rectangle to mask through the entire mesh.
Lasso Mask	Hold Ctrl + Shift + drag from empty space	Draws a freehand lasso contour to select complex silhouettes.
Invert Mask	Ctrl + A (or Ctrl + click empty space)	Flips masked and unmasked regions.
Clear Mask	Ctrl + Shift + A (or Ctrl + drag small empty stroke)	Removes all masking completely.
Blur Mask	Ctrl + click on masked surface	Softens the mask border for gentle gradient transitions.
Sharpen Mask	Ctrl + Alt + click on masked surface	Increases mask contrast, snapping blurry borders to crisp edges.

Procedural Masking: Cavity & Peak Masks

In the Masking panel:

• Mask from Cavity: Automatically calculates curvature and masks only deep crevices, wrinkles, and valleys.
• Mask from Peaks: Masks high apexes and crests, leaving depressions unmasked.
• Use Case: Mask from Cavity, invert the mask, and use the Smooth or Polish brush to smooth high plateaus without erasing fine engraved wrinkles.

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Face Groups (PolyGroups)

Face Groups partition a mesh into color-coded topological regions. They allow you to rapidly mask, isolate, hide, or transform distinct anatomical components (such as fingers, ears, lips, horns, or clothing straps) without having to separate them into disconnected mesh objects.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Face Group: Head] (Teal)                                    |
| [Face Group: Left Ear] (Orange)  --> Click to isolate & sculpt|
| [Face Group: Right Ear] (Yellow)                             |
| [Face Group: Neck & Torso] (Purple)                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Creating Face Groups

• Convert Mask to Face Group (Ctrl + W): Paint any mask on your mesh, then press Ctrl + W. The masked area is assigned a distinct new color group and the mask is cleared!
• Group by Normal Angle: Automatically clusters coplanar faces into distinct face groups based on an angle threshold (ideal for mechanical and hard-surface models).
• Group by UV Islands: Generates a unique face group for each UV unwrapped island.
• Face Group Brush: Directly paint color group IDs across vertices.

Isolating & Hiding Geometry

• Isolate Face Group: Press Ctrl + Shift + Click on any face group to hide the rest of the model, leaving only that group visible for high-performance unobstructed sculpting.
• Invert Visibility: Press Ctrl + Shift + Click on empty space to invert the hidden state.
• Unhide All (Alt + H): Restores the entire mesh to full visibility.

Face Group Masking

• Mask Group: Hold Ctrl and double-click any face group to instantaneously mask that entire group.
• Mask Boundary Smooth: Automatically blurs mask borders along face group seams to prevent harsh stepping during transforms.