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828 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Smooth Modifier
Select an object. > Modify panel > Modifier List >
Object-Space Modifiers > Smooth
Select an object. > Modifiers menu > Mesh Editing >
Smooth
The Smooth modifier provides auto-smoothing
based on the angle of adjacent faces. You can apply
new smoothing groups to objects.
Smoothingeliminatesthefacetsongeometryby
grouping faces into smoothing groups. At render
time, faces in the same smoothing group appear as
asmoothsurface.
Curved surfaces gradually smoothed:
Left: No smoothing
Center: Smoothing but some edges on the corners
Right: Full smoothing
Pat ches
As of 3ds Max 4, patch objects coming up the
modifier stack are not converted to a mesh by this
modifier. A patch object input to the Material
modifier retai ns its patch definition. Files that
contain patch objects with the Material modifier
from previous versions of the software wil l be
converted to meshes to maintain backward
compatibility.
Procedures
To smooth a n object:
1.
Select the object to be smoothed.
2. On the Modifiers menu, choose Mesh
Editing > Smooth.
3. Tu r n on Auto Smo oth a nd adjus t the T hreshold
for the desired smoothing effect.
To a pply s moothing groups ma nual ly:
1.
Select an object.
2. Use a Mesh Select modifier (page 1–719)
to select the faces to be smoothed.
3. Click a numbered button to apply the
corresponding smoothing group to the selected
faces.
Interfa ce
Parameters rollout
Auto S mooth—If A uto Smooth is selected, the
object is aut o-smoothed using the (animatable)
threshold specified by the Threshold setting below
it. Auto Smooth sets the smoothing groups based
on the angle between faces. Any two adjacent faces
areputinthesamesmoothinggroupiftheangle