8

714 Chapter 8: Modifiers
M eshSmoot h Modi fi er
Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List >
Object-Space Modifiers > MeshSmooth
Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Subdivision
Surfaces > MeshSmooth
The MeshSmooth modifier smoothes geometry
in your scene by means of several different
methods. It lets you subdivide the geometr y while
interpolating the angles of new faces at corners
and edges, and apply a single smoothing group to
all faces in the object. The effect of MeshSmooth
is to round over corners and edges as if they had
beenfiledorplanedsmooth.UseMeshSmooth
parameters to control the size and number of new
faces, and how they affect the surface of the object.
Angular model (shown on the right) changed to a smooth
model with M eshSmooth
Yo u c a n u s e M e s h S m o o t h t o p r o d u c e a
Non-Uniform Rational MeshSmooth object
(NURMS for short). A NURMS object is similar
to a NURBS object in that you can set different
weights for each control vertex. You can further
control the object’s shape by changing edge
weights.
MeshSmooth’s effect is most dramatic on shar p
corners and least visible on rounded surfaces.
Use MeshSmooth on boxes and geometry with
crisp ang les. Avoid using it on spheres and similar
objects.
Tip: To better understand MeshSmooth, create a
sphere and a cub e and apply MeshSmooth to both.
The cube’s sharp corners become rounded, w hi le
the sphere’s geometry becomes more complex
without changing shape significantly.
Note: Having an animated deformer placed before
ameshsmoothedobjectthathashadcontrol
leveleditingcanresultinthemeshsmoothed
object b ecoming distorted. It’s recommended
that deforming modifiers be placed after the
MeshSmooth modifier in the stack if you’re using
the deformers for animation.
Procedures
To apply M eshSmooth to a n object:
1.
Select an angular object.
2. Apply the MeshSmooth modifier.
3. Set MeshSmooth parameters.
To a pply Mes hSmooth to s ub-objects:
1.
Select an object.
2. Apply a Mesh Select modifier .
3. Select a g roup of vertices or faces.
4. Apply MeshSmooth.
5. In the Subdivision Method rollout, tur n off
Apply To Whole Mesh.
This lets MeshSmooth work only on the
sub-object selection.
6. Set MeshSmooth parameters.