---
title: Veil & Unveil
order: 5
---

Quickly hide every object that isn't part of the rendered SDF. Useful when a scene gets cluttered with helper meshes, lattices, or boolean operands.

![Veil & Unveil](../assets/veil-unveil.webp)

## Hotkeys

| Hotkey | Action |
|---|---|
| `V` | **Veil**: hide every unselected object with `render_sdf = False` |
| `Alt + V` | **Unveil**: re-show hidden objects related to the current selection (parents, targets) |
| `Shift + Alt + V` | **Unveil + swap selection**: unveil related objects and switch the active selection to them |

## How it works

The `render_sdf` toggle is a per-object property in *Object Properties → SDF*. Helpers and operand-only objects typically have it off; final shapes have it on.

- **Veil** walks every object in the scene and hides those with `render_sdf = False`, except the objects you currently have selected, which are left visible so you can keep working on them.
- **Unveil** un-hides only the helpers related to your current selection (parents in the boolean chain, target objects of modifiers, etc.), so you don't dump every hidden helper in the scene back into the viewport at once.
- **Unveil + swap** does the same plus swaps the active selection to the unveiled helpers, so you can immediately edit them.

> Veil does not hide the objects you currently have selected: if you've actively picked a cutter, it stays put while you edit it.

A veiled cutter keeps its modifier dot by default, so it stays one click away. Turn off **Hidden Objects** in *Render Properties → Gizmos → Dots* if you would rather hidden targets drew no dot, see [Render Engine: Gizmos](../render-engine/gizmos.md#dots).

## See also

- [Modifiers: Boolean](../modifiers/boolean.md): boolean operands typically have `render_sdf = False`
- [Render Engine: Display](../render-engine/display.md): outline mode for non-rendered objects
- [Clean](clean.md): flatten a boolean operand into an independent shape