Week 9 Part 2-Applying a Mesh Smooth

The bulk of my modelling is now complete; meaning the last step before incorporating this with the rest of the model is to smooth the shapes which make up this object. I decided to use mesh smooth modifier to do this as it is the one I have most experience with and when used in the past it worked well.

To start I selected all the objects in one of the viewports before choosing mesh smooth from the modifier list. However, I found the model lost some of its realism when this was applied.

When I discussed this problem with another group member they informed me that they had found applying smoothing groups in editable polygon mode allows there to be more control over the way the surfaces are smoothed. This works by giving polygons which need a smooth join the same number whereas when a sharp edge is required between two polygons each will be allocated a different smoothing value. I had a go at setting smoothing groups to see if I could use this tool to my advantage.

I began by trialling this on the name plaque. For this I entered polygon mode in the editable poly menu before highlighting the polygons which I wanted to be in one smoothing group, starting with the segments on the front of the plaque. When selected I removed the preset smoothing values and set this area as smoothing group 1.

I then select all of the other polygons and set them to smoothing group 2.

I then changed the setting in the editable poly polygon rollout in the subdivision surface section setting it to “separate by smoothing groups” and then in the mesh smooth rollout in the parameter section I again ticked the “separate by smoothing group” box.

When I looked at this in the render window I was disappointed as there was very little difference to the shape with the use of smoothing groups. I went back to look at what could be causing this and found that it was probably due to all the segments around the edge of the plaque and the ones around the edge of the indented area all had the same smoothing group polygon number. To resolve this I reselected some of these polygons, this time only the vertical segments, and changed the smoothing group for this area from 2 to 3.

This was now the result I wanted and so will go on to another part.

Next I decided to work on the smoothing of the tall post. Currently the top was curved which was not wanted and the join between the upright pole and its base had a gentle curve between the parts which was also incorrect. To improve this I set the segments which made up the main post and the area which attached this shape to the main box of the machine to 1. I then set the polygons which sat on this shape horizontally to 2, these being cap segments on the top and bottom as well as the segments which link the post and area which adjoins to the machine. The last step for this object was to turn on “separate by smoothing groups” in both the editable poly and mesh smooth rollouts.

When I looked at this I was very happy that the form of the shape was very clear. I was especially happy with the smoothness of the bottom sections as originally the polygon which built this up was quite obvious.

I continued to make alterations to the preset smoothing groups where necessary to make the model as realistic in appearance as possible. As before I applied one smoothing group to adjoining polygons where I wanted to portray a continuous surface and different smoothing group values where I wanted a definitive edge. I was particularly pleased with the appearance of the main box once this adaptation had been made as the curved rim became rounded, something I was unable to achieve by editing the editable poly alone. Below is a screenshot of the engine after the smoothing groups were set.

I believe I have now made alterations to the smoothing group settings on all the objects which I felt did not look correct when mesh smooth was applied. I am happy with this section of the machine and will now go on and create the final part of the machine I was allocated to model, this being the sphere section.