Once subdivide command is executed, there is no way to go back to lower the number of cuts?
For example, say I initially subdivided a plane with 5 cuts and then decided maybe 3 cuts would be better. There’s no way to get the subdivide dialog back and change the number of cuts?
dissolve edges is the option you are looking for
There’s ‘unsubdivide’ available, but it will not always result in original mesh.
In general Blender modeling is destructive rather than having a construction history or a procedural system like Houdini where you could go back and change a prior operation like that while retaining subsequent changes. This may change in the future.
You may be able to undo your way back and preform the operation differently, but you have to undo the intervening operations to get back to that point.
You can do non-destructive things via the modifier stack, for example with cascaded boolean operations as done in popular add-ons like Box Cutter. But for just basic polygon manipulation in modeling this is probably overkill.
I’m not a programmer, but I’m a pretty good backseat programmer. It seems to be a fairly easy add-on to code. All it needs is to remember each iterations for each number of cuts and recall the specific iteration when it’s called, right?
That’s why I thought for sure there is a modifier for this. It has been ages since I used 3Ds Max, which has this feature (if my memory serves me right).
Well, if you subdivide a plane and then choose some faces and extrude them, and maybe do some other operations, and now you want to change the number of subdivisions you picked in step 1, what do you do with all the subsequent operations that no longer make sense with the new geometry?
You can use Edit->Undo History… to look at the operation history and move back and forth, but it doesn’t support multiple versions / branching history etc. at this point.
The “everything nodes” project may give us more procedural modeling capabilities, and there are some add-ons that do similar things.
To keep it simple, I think the operation would have to apply to entire mesh only and any subsequent operations would bake in current subdivision and clear the cached iterations, like apply command in the modifier.
Anyways, I’m just throwing ideas out there for any coders haha. Everything nodes project looks very interesting. I hope none destructive subdivide function will come Blender soon.
Well Blender already has a subdivision surface modifier and a multi-resolution modifier, both of which can allow you to non-destructively change the number of subdivisions. What are you specifically trying to do, that neither of these modifiers can do?
I’ve tried subdivision surface modifier, it won’t let you edit subdivided mesh until modifiers have been applied. But it’s good enough for what I need. Ideally I’d like to see a subdivide tool that let you edit mesh while still can increase and decrease subdivision.
You would love Houdini then 
My main modeler is Solidworks, but it’s for industrial design. I learned 3Ds Max for VR in 2010 when Blender was…very unique 
. Now 2.8 UI is much more like the mainstream 3D software, it will replace 3Ds Max in my tools kit. My brain has no more room for new 3D modeling software haha. Houdini looks cool tho.
Isn’t that what multiresolution modifier does?
I’m not familiar with multisolustion modifier. You can’t adjust subdivided mesh until the modifier has been applied. I’m looking for a subdivision tool that you can increase and decrease subdivision level on a mesh while still able to adjust subdivided mesh, given no new mesh is added or deleted from target mesh.