Soft Edge Hard Edge

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:49 pm

Can blender make an edge soft or hard?

I know I can mark sharp edge and then use edge split modifier, but I was looking for something that's more suited towards game model design. Another solution I found is to make a face smooth, but that makes all of it's edges soft.

But I was looking for a way to smooth an edge even if it's shared between faces. Is it possible?

Thanks in advance.

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 9:11 pm

Check out Mont's project:

http://mont29.wordpress.com/

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:23 am

CoDEmanX wrote:Check out Mont's project:

http://mont29.wordpress.com/

Thanks! Can't wait to get it on the next binary update.

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:18 pm

I built mont's branch on windows and it's pretty cool, although available for VBO on only. Waiting for normal edit tools now

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:23 pm

CoDEmanX wrote:I built mont's branch on windows and it's pretty cool, although available for VBO on only. Waiting for normal edit tools now

Awesome!

Can you upload the binary so I can make a short video to post at blendeartist?

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:10 pm

i hesistate to update my build, as it got several modifications applied, and some add features which don't fully work or even crash blender instantly. Need to check if i can strip off the unrelated stuff (something like git's stash for svn).

Would 64bit ms vc build be ok?

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:43 pm

CoDEmanX wrote:i hesistate to update my build, as it got several modifications applied, and some add features which don't fully work or even crash blender instantly. Need to check if i can strip off the unrelated stuff (something like git's stash for svn).

Would 64bit ms vc build be ok?

Well, I am on Windows 8 64bit. Sooo... :/

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:03 pm

iamcreasy wrote:
CoDEmanX wrote:i hesistate to update my build, as it got several modifications applied, and some add features which don't fully work or even crash blender instantly. Need to check if i can strip off the unrelated stuff (something like git's stash for svn).

Would 64bit ms vc build be ok?
Well, I am on Windows 8 64bit. Sooo... :/

doh! I miss read you last post. Yes, 64bit ms vc build if just fine.

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:29 am

Ok, i fixed my Select Pattern 2-Step and here's the entire build:

Blender 2.69 VGroup Modifier branch + Vertex Paint VertMask + Select Pattern 2-Step + Hide object origins

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:44 pm

CoDEmanX wrote:Ok, i fixed my Select Pattern 2-Step and here's the entire build:

Blender 2.69 VGroup Modifier branch + Vertex Paint VertMask + Select Pattern 2-Step + Hide object origins

Ok, now I am questioning the obvious. How do I smooth an edge?

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:20 am

you smooth faces (shade smooth), and make hard edges by marking them as "sharp". Note that you need VBO on to see mont's hard/soft edges stuff.

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 5:26 am

CoDEmanX wrote:you smooth faces (shade smooth), and make hard edges by marking them as "sharp". Note that you need VBO on to see mont's hard/soft edges stuff.

It's not working. I took four face and smoothed them. Then I selected their shared edge and mark them sharp. But, those edge are still soft. (I have VBO switched on)

I am attaching a picture of it,

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 6:48 pm

I forgot to say: you need to enable loop-normals in Properties sidebar (N), Item panel. Default value is fine. If you want hard edges for angles lower than 180° automatically, even if edges aren't marked sharp, decrease the value.

In editmode, N-panel > Mesh Display has an option to show loop normals (requires loop normals in Item panel to be enabled).

iamcreasy · Post by **iamcreasy** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 9:42 pm

CoDEmanX wrote:I forgot to say: you need to enable loop-normals in Properties sidebar (N), Item panel. Default value is fine. If you want hard edges for angles lower than 180° automatically, even if edges aren't marked sharp, decrease the value.

In editmode, N-panel > Mesh Display has an option to show loop normals (requires loop normals in Item panel to be enabled).

Made it!

One thing I don't understand is, what's an edge angle? How do you calculate it?

CoDEmanX · Post by **CoDEmanX** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:32 am

Tooltip says about the split_angle property:

Angle between faces' normals above which an edge is considered as sharp when computing loop normals

So it's not an edge angle, but angle between two faces. Two adjacent flat quads would enclose an angle of 180° i guess. If two faces form a peak, it's less (pretty steep e.g. 20°) - using the minimum angle (thus, max. angle between faces is 180°).