Studio and Graph › Sculpt Tools
Symmetry
Mirroring strokes across an axis, and why the symmetry plane keeps tracking the mesh after you move it.
The Symmetry pill in the viewport toolbar mirrors your strokes across an axis, so a stroke on one side of the mesh is applied to both at once.
Its label changes with the state: plain Symmetry when it is off, then Symmetry: X, Symmetry: Y or Symmetry: Z once it is on and an axis is set, or Symmetry: ON if it is on with no axis. Its tooltip is "Symmetry settings - toggle ({0}), cycle axis ({1})" with your current key bindings filled in.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Symmetry | off | "Mirror brush strokes across the symmetry axis." |
| Symmetry Axis | X | "World axis the stroke is reflected across (X = left/right)." Shown only when symmetry is on. |
| Symmetry Origin | (0, 0, 0) | "World-space origin of the symmetry plane - the plane no longer has to pass through the world origin." Shown only when symmetry is on. |
Keys
| Command | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle Symmetry | X |
Turns symmetry on or off. If the axis was still None, it also sets it to X. |
| Cycle Symmetry Axis | Shift+X |
Steps X then Y then Z then back to X, and force-enables symmetry if it was off. |
Both keys, like the rest of the sculpting shortcuts, only do anything while a brush tool is active.
The origin follows the mesh
Symmetry Origin is an offset, not a fixed world point. The symmetry plane's actual position is recomputed as the live mesh's bounding-box centre plus Symmetry Origin, every time you activate the tool, toggle or cycle symmetry, commit a stroke, or undo/redo. That is what keeps the mirror lined up after the Transform tool moves the mesh - if the origin were a fixed world-space point, moving the mesh would throw symmetry off-centre.
The symmetry plane overlay
While symmetry is on, a translucent rectangle with a 4x4 inner grid is drawn on the symmetry plane, sized to the mesh's bounds plus 10%, and the brush indicator gets a second ring at the mirrored position. This overlay has its own switch, independent of symmetry itself, in Settings > Theme > 3D Viewport, and its own colour (default RGBA 0.25, 0.80, 1.0, 0.50 - a translucent light blue). Turning the overlay off does not turn symmetry off - it only stops drawing the plane.