Mesh Options
Export Quad Topology
Preserve original quad and n-gon face structure so it can be reconstructed when re-imported into Maya.
Default: Off
glTF stores all geometry as triangles. When this option is enabled, the original quad and n-gon face structure from Maya is stored as metadata alongside the triangulated mesh. When the file is later re-imported into Maya, the importer uses this metadata to rebuild the original polygon topology.
When to use it
- You are working in a Maya-to-Maya round-trip workflow — assets go out as glTF and come back for further editing
- You need to preserve your quad mesh for clean UV editing, subdivision surfaces, or further modeling
- The mesh contains n-gons that must survive the round trip intact
When to leave it OFF
- Exporting for web or runtime delivery — topology metadata adds file size with no benefit in a viewer
- Exporting for game engines — they work directly with the triangle mesh
- The mesh is already triangulated — there is nothing to preserve
Important limitation
This option records the topology that is already in your mesh. It does not convert triangles back into quads.
If your mesh has been triangulated before export, this option has no meaningful effect. The quad metadata must exist in the source mesh.
Tip
Use this together with the importer's geometry options to restore your original modeling topology cleanly after a round trip. See Round-Trip Workflow for the full workflow.