Smooth surfaces

[perfectcircle]

Hello Folks,

This is my first post here and i am totally new to Blender. I did a little bit of sketchup but then came across Blender and got totally interested in it.

I have created an object using “extrude and scale face” method which is shown in alot of video tutorials that i saw for modeling.
The first image shows the faces that i had to create. The second one shows how it looks in Object mode as a solid. As soon as i do a “set smooth” on it, it displays an ugly discontinuity(third image).

I have already removed doubles and recalculated normals. There are no triangles as you can see in the image showing the faces. Is there a way to make it more smoother and blended with the rest of the faces? Am i doing something wrong here?

I would really appreciate any input on this.

Thanks

Attachments

[MrTumor (Thunderbolt)]

Maybe you could use CRL-N or support it with a cutting line through the middle.

[msteele]

That doesn’t look too ugly… I’m not sure I understand the shape of your model though. Could I have a blend to look at?
Thx

[perfectcircle]

Thanks for your reply MrTumor.

I have already used CTRL-N for recalculating normals outisde. I am attaching how the normals look like in this part.

On the second part , what do you mean by cutting it through middle? I tried cutting these middle faces with knife but that results in all sorts of triangles. If i am not wrong i am supposed to stay away from triangles. Can you please elabortae alittle more?

Thanks

Attachments

[perfectcircle]

@msteele

That doesn’t look too ugly… I’m not sure I understand the shape of your model though. Could I have a blend to look at?
Thx

msteele,

I am attaching the actual blend file. Let me know if you have trouble opening it.thanks in advance.

Attachments

ALCM.blend (140 KB)

[organic]

As a quick fix you could try adding an Edge Split Modifier, but it really depends how sharp you want the other edges to be.

[perfectcircle]

@organic

As a quick fix you could try adding an Edge Split Modifier, but it really depends how sharp you want the other edges to be.

Organic,

I don’t want the edges to look sharp at all infact i would like the middle part in red circle to be blended and smooth just like what is on the right and left side of red circle.

Attachments

[organic]

@perfectcircle

Organic,

I don’t want the edges to look sharp at all infact i would like the middle part in red circle to be blended and smooth just like what is on the right and left side of red circle.

That part would be smooth, but the outside edges would be sharp - the ‘box’ corners.

Adding more latitudinal edge loops is another option - you could use subsurf modifier later if you need it.

[MrTumor (Thunderbolt)]

Hi,

This is my answer.

You should not leave internal faces in it, also you should not use smooth on square faces, there also where some sides not attached to each other. Last make some edges to it with K loop cut and turn on sub surface.

Attachments

ALCM.blend (154 KB)

[perfectcircle]

@organic

That part would be smooth, but the outside edges would be sharp - the ‘box’ corners.
[ATTACH]59192[/ATTACH]

Adding more latitudinal edge loops is another option - you could use subsurf modifier later if you need it.

Organic,

Thanks for the pointer. But i do want the box corners to be ‘soft’ as opposed to sharp.

EDIT: I saw your comment about turning on subsurf and adding edge loops. I think it’s the same as what MrTumor did. That helps alot. One thing i noticed is that the nose cone is not looking faceted. That must be due to Subsurf i guess?

[perfectcircle]

@MrTumor

Hi,

This is my answer.

You should not leave internal faces in it, also you should not use smooth on square faces, there also where some sides not attached to each other. Last make some edges to it with K loop cut and turn on sub surface.

MrTumor,

You have made it look so much better. I am gonna look at the changes you have made.

1)I did notice internal faces which resulted from extrude. I would keep that in mind and remove those in future. However i did remove the internal faces in the mid region which did not have any difference on the outcome. Are there anyother benefits of removing internal faces other than increased file size due to extra geometric information?

2. I wanted the outer outline to look softer and beveled and thats why i used “setsmooth”. I tried subsurf and it resulted into something looking like a star wars space ship

3)How did you find out the sides which were not attached to eachother? Is there a way to check that?And if there are unconnected sides how do you connect them?

4)i am guessing you did a loop cut and created edges. I will look at it and see what you did.

5)One last thing, i noticed that the nose cone does not look faceted like in my version. Is it due to the subsurf option or you used some other option for that?

Sorry for alot of questions but i am a total green horn in this :). Do appreciate your help.

[MrTumor (Thunderbolt)]

@perfectcircle

MrTumor,

You have made it look so much better. I am gonna look at the changes you have made.

1)I did notice internal faces which resulted from extrude. I would keep that in mind and remove those in future. However i did remove the internal faces in the mid region which did not have any difference on the outcome. Are there anyother benefits of removing internal faces other than increased file size due to extra geometric information?

2. I wanted the outer outline to look softer and beveled and thats why i used “setsmooth”. I tried subsurf and it resulted into something looking like a star wars space ship

3)How did you find out the sides which were not attached to eachother? Is there a way to check that?And if there are unconnected sides how do you connect them?

4)i am guessing you did a loop cut and created edges. I will look at it and see what you did.

5)One last thing, i noticed that the nose cone does not look faceted like in my version. Is it due to the subsurf option or you used some other option for that?

Sorry for alot of questions but i am a total green horn in this :). Do appreciate your help.

1. I guess it is only volumetric. I should use extrude region, allthough it does not come up when you have select faces.

2. That is why I used loop cut and no faces inside.

3. When you see these color changes, you can move the vertices and check if they
   are double, or unconnected.

4. Yes.

5. My pointer has a face too.

[perfectcircle]

Thank you very much MrTumor.