---
title: Display
order: 4
---

How non-SDF and hidden Blender objects render alongside the SDF scene, plus the proxy-mesh bake that makes Chisel objects work in EEVEE / Cycles / Solid view.

For the in-viewport gizmo toggles (axis arcs, click-drag dots), see [Gizmos](gizmos.md).

![Display settings](../assets/rendersettings-display.webp)

## Parameters

These are scene-level defaults applied to **new** boolean targets and cutters as they're created — they don't retroactively change objects already in the scene.

- **Outline** — `None / Wire / Bounds`, default *None*. The display type given to new targets/cutters:
  - **None** — leave the display type unchanged.
  - **Wire** — show new targets as wire outlines.
  - **Bounds** — show new targets as bounding boxes (shape-matched to the primitive type).
- **Show Bounds** — default *off*. When on, new boolean targets/cutters get Blender's native bounding-box display so non-rendered helpers stay visible as a box.
- **Draw Mesh Objects** — default *off*. Render regular Blender meshes alongside the SDF, shaded with the same matcap.
- **Region Clip** — `10–100%`, default `100%`. Render only a centered fraction of the viewport to reduce GPU load.

## Render flag vs. viewport display

Each Chisel object has a **Render** toggle (`render_sdf`, default *on*) in the *Object Properties → SDF* panel. It decides only whether the SDF engine renders that object — it's fully decoupled from how the object looks in the viewport. Helper objects, boolean operands, and reference geometry typically have *Render* off.

Because render visibility and viewport display are independent, you can **hide a shape from the render without hiding it in the viewport**: turn *Render* off and the object still shows as its proxy mesh, wire, or bounds. Flipping *Render* back on renders it again regardless of its display type. The *Outline* and *Show Bounds* defaults above just set how freshly created cutters first appear.

## Draw Mesh Objects

When *Draw Mesh Objects* is on, regular Blender mesh objects (those not converted to Chisel) render alongside the SDF using the same matcap shading. Useful when:

- Building a scene that combines SDF carving with regular polygonal props
- Importing reference geometry for layout or scale

When off, regular meshes don't render — only Chisel objects do.

## Proxy mesh

Chisel can bake a low-resolution mesh proxy from each SDF object so it renders correctly in *EEVEE*, *Cycles*, and *Solid* shading — and so snapping, selection, and raycasting work on the SDF surface.

### Parameters

- **Proxy Mode**
  - **None** — no proxy. The base mesh stays as-is.
  - **armesher** — bake a low-res proxy on each settle. Accurate; only runs once you stop moving so it doesn't slow you down.
- **Voxel Size** — `0.001–10.0` scene units, default `0.05`. Voxel edge length for the proxy bake.
  - When *Adaptive* is **off**, this is the world-space voxel size for every object.
  - When *Adaptive* is **on**, this is the voxel size for a 2 m reference object — smaller objects get proportionally smaller voxels, larger objects get larger voxels.
- **Voxel Adaptive** — default *on*. Scales voxel size with object dimensions so every Chisel object ends up with roughly the same cell count.

### When to use proxy mode

| Need | Proxy Mode |
|---|---|
| Pure Chisel renders, no EEVEE/Cycles needed | None |
| Snap / raycast / select on SDF surfaces | armesher |
| EEVEE / Cycles renders alongside Chisel | armesher |
| Solid shading mode shows the correct silhouette | armesher |

### Voxel-size guidance

- **Default `0.05`** with adaptive on works for most scenes.
- **Tighter `0.01–0.02`** for fine details (engraved text, sharp seams).
- **Coarser `0.1–0.2`** for large architectural shapes where the proxy doesn't need to resolve detail.
- **Adaptive off** if your scene mixes very different object sizes and you want a uniform voxel size scene-wide.

If you ever see a *version mismatch* warning on the proxy library, click **Update Native Libraries** in [Preferences](../preferences.md) and restart Blender.

## See also

- [Gizmos](gizmos.md) — viewport gizmo overlay toggles
- [Matcap](matcap.md) — viewport shading
- [Performance](performance.md) — adaptive quality during navigation
- [Operations: Convert](../operations/convert.md) — full mesh conversion (separate from the proxy)
- [Operations: Veil](../operations/veil.md) — quickly hide every non-rendered object