Smoothing Groups

Waverunner · Post by **Waverunner** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:08 pm

What are smoothing groups?

Plus can anybody give me useful info that they wish they would have known when they started mapping. I use Gmax.

Thanks!

PS ANY help will be appreciated!

Sonictag · Post by **Sonictag** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:21 pm

Smoothing groups are a technique for managing the generation of vertex normals, from face normals. Faces which belong to the same Smoothing Group should share vertex normals, so that lighting smoothly changes between them. Faces which do not share a Smoothing Group have a sharp crease between them when lit (the polygon edge is clearly visibled due to the lighting change).

Useful info.. Well, I wish I had known about the displacement modifier, which if you get a plane or somthing, click on the modifier tab, scroll down the modifier list and go to displace, put in a bitmap, it can create a pretty good terrain just from a picture, like a bumpy terrain it can create, if you wanted a desert then the displace modifier is perfect, or else you can just put on soft selection and lift up hills..

Pie · Post by **Pie** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:38 pm

a smoothing group can do this:

WITHOUT SMOOTHING GROUP:

WITH SMOOTHING GROUP:

basically what the name says. Pictures are woryth a thousand words

Sonictag · Post by **Sonictag** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:59 pm

*claps pie* yeaap, that pretty much explained it better than me.

picklebro · Post by **picklebro** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:23 pm

Actually gents, and I'm as newb as anyone and love this kind of info - it really took your description, Sonictag and your picture, Pie to really set the info into my mind.

crimson4245 · Post by **crimson4245** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:42 pm

yeah, its not that hard to remember, once you have a L337 image
like that in your head, you wont forget it

and Smoothing Group, it kinda fits along

Sonictag · Post by **Sonictag** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:05 am

well, next question asked i will make a video about instead of pictures, muah.

Im glad you understand

machopenguin001 · Post by **machopenguin001** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:36 am

Yeah guys, but he wants to know how to find them and use them, they are under the polygon mode after you convert your object to editable mesh. It should say 'surface properties'. Just select the polygons you want to have smoothened (not even a word

) and click one of the numbered boxes under it. To remove smooothing groups, select the ones you want removed, and click 'clear all'.

picklebro · Post by **picklebro** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:55 am

See...someone should take this thread and turn it into a tutorial---I would, but not having modelled or used 3dsmax before I wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about..LOL

Sonictag · Post by **Sonictag** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:32 am

machopenguin001 wrote:Yeah guys, but he wants to know how to find them and use them, they are under the polygon mode after you convert your object to editable mesh. It should say 'surface properties'. Just select the polygons you want to have smoothened (not even a word ) and click one of the numbered boxes under it. To remove smooothing groups, select the ones you want removed, and click 'clear all'.

Or go into the modifier tab and find "smooth" click auto smooth usually, although you can do manual smooths. When you are doing a group smooth, try not to smooth over 27 even though it says 32.

picklebro · Post by **picklebro** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:51 pm

SonicTag..satisfy my curiosity, please...why should you not do over 27?

Sonictag · Post by **Sonictag** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:52 am

Cauz it skrews up over 27, and infact, you shouldnt go over 24 because if you wanna get it exported then you can only have 24 smoothing groups as max is like the only program which supports 32..