8

860 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Explicit Normals—
Lets the TurboSmooth mo difier
compute normals for its output, which is
faster than the standard method 3ds Max uses
to compute normals from the mesh object’s
smoothing groups. D efault=off.
Consequently, if the TurboSmooth result is used
directly for display or rendering, it will generally be
faster with this option turned on. A lso, the quality
of the normals will be slightly hi gher. However, if
you apply any topology-affecting modifiers, such
as Edit Mesh, above the TurboSmooth modifier,
these normals will be lost and new ones computed,
potentially affecting performance adversely. So
it’simportanttoremembertoturnonExplicit
Normals only if no modifiers change the object
topology after TurboSmooth takes effect.
Surface Parameters gro up
Lets you apply smoothing groups to the object and
restrict the smoothing effect by surface properties.
Smooth R es ult—Applies the same smoothing
group to all faces.
Sepa ra te by Ma ter ial s—Prevents the creation of
new faces for edges b etween faces that do not share
Material IDs.
Sepa ra te by S moothing G roups—Prevents the
creation of new faces at edges between faces that
don’tshareatleastonesmoothinggroup.
Update Options group
Setsmanualorrender-timeupdateoptions,for
situations where t he complexity of the smo othed
object is too high for automatic updates. Note that
you can also set a greater degree of smoothing to
be applied only at render t ime, in the Main group.
Always—Updates the object automatically
whenever you change any TurboSmooth settings.
When R ender ing—Updates the viewport display of
theobjectonlyatrendertime.
Manually—Turns on manual up dating . When
manual updating is selected, any settings you
changedon’ttakeeffectuntilyouclicktheUpdate
button.
Update—Updates the object in the viewport
to match the current TurboSmooth settings.
Works only when you choose When Rendering
or Manually.
Tu rn To Me sh Modifier
Make a selection. > Modify panel > Modifier list >
Object-Space Modifiers > Turn to Mesh
Make a selection. > M o difiers menu > Conversion > Turn
to Mesh
The Turn To Mesh modifier lets you apply object
conversions in the modifier stack. As another
example, you could use this modifier on a
sophisticated patch model to which you might
want to apply a tool that applies only to meshes,
or convert the object to a mesh. Also, when you
apply general-purpose modifiers such as Normal,
Material, or UVW Map, it can be helpful to
explicitly control the type of object beforehand.
Note: Con v erting from one object type to another
causes a complete caching in the modifier stack.
When you have large objects in your scene, this
can take up a lot of space. For example, an object
that starts as a mesh, converts to a patch, and then
back to a mesh takes three times as much space as
ameshthatjusthasordinarymodifierslikeBend
or UVW Map applied.
Tip: Turn To Mesh can be useful on meshes,
allowing you to invert a selection or change the
selection level in a modifier that doesn’t depend
on topology.