Working with layers

A layer in Re:Form is a separate mesh — its own geometry you can sculpt, move and transform independently of everything else in the scene. A character is a body layer plus eye layers plus tooth layers; a prop is a handle plus a blade. Layers are how multi-part things stay manageable.

Click a layer in the list to make it active — brushes and transform tools work on the active layer only. Each layer has a visibility toggle, and double-clicking its name renames it.

The actions

• Add — a new layer, starting from the shape of your choice: Sphere, Cube, Cylinder or Plane, or the Head or Ear base mesh. The base meshes arrive centred at the same size as the primitives — place and scale them with Move and Scale.

• Duplicate — an exact, independent copy of the active layer.
• Mirror — flip the active layer across the active symmetry axes (X when none is on), in place. For the classic "second eye" move: Duplicate first, then Mirror — you get a mirrored copy on the other side.
• Delete — remove the active layer.
• Move ↑ / Move ↓ — reorder the list. This is list organisation only; it never changes the sculpt.
• Merge down — merge the active layer into the layer directly below it; the two become one mesh.
• Merge all — merge every visible layer into a single mesh. Do this before remeshing an assembly into one continuous solid — or before exporting for print.
• Split loose — the reverse of merging: split the active layer into its disconnected pieces, each becoming its own layer. Invaluable right after importing a model that arrives as one object but is really several parts.
• Split groups — every [mesh set](/docs/symmetry-and-masking#mesh sets) becomes its own layer, cut along the group borders and left open there; the largest piece (or the ungrouped rest) stays on the active layer. Group by angle or colour, then split, and a whole model comes apart into its parts in two clicks.
• Split masked — the masked area is cut away along the mask's half-strength contour and becomes its own layer, directly above this one; the rest stays on the active layer. Both are left open along the seam (Remesh with hole filling closes either). With [mesh sets](/docs/symmetry-and-masking#mesh sets), Mask group then Split masked separates a group in two clicks. One Undo brings the single layer back.

Focus and Fade

Two buttons in the options bar (also under View) help when layers crowd each other:

• Focus shows only the layer you are working on. Every other layer hides until you turn it off, so you can reach the part buried inside the rest.
• Fade fades the other layers to see-through, so the layer you are working on shows through whatever sits in front of it — handy for an eye inside a socket or a body under clothing.

Only one of the two is on at a time, and both are viewport aids: renders and turntables always show every visible layer, solid. They need at least two layers.

Working across layers

• Sculpting only ever touches the active layer — a brush stroke can't accidentally drag a neighbouring layer's surface, which is precisely why eyes go on their own layer.
• The transform gizmo poses layers independently, each around its own movable origin point.
• Subdivision is per-layer too: spend triangles on the face, not the teeth.