Geometry Display Options

To change the overall shading model, select View > [shading model]:

Viewer Behavior

Example

Points - this displays the current 3D scene with each vertex (or control point for a NURBS patch) as a point.

Wireframe - this displays the current 3D scene with each edge (or surface curve for a NURBS patch) as a line.

Solid - this displays the current 3D scene with a very simple shader, ignoring scene lights and shadows.

Flat Shaded - this displays the faceted mesh. Each poly is shaded the same for its normal, whereas Solid averages out the values between neighboring polygons to draw a smooth transition.