Soften Edges

[miro42]

I'm remodeling the Powered Light Battle Armor (PMBFS) and the problem I'm having is that the kneepads have hardened edges. I'm trying to make them cloth covered knees rather than metal covered but I don't know how to soften those edges and it just looks weird. In Maya there's a Soften/Harden Edges tool, but I can't seem to find anything like that in 3dsMax. The only things I have found smoothes out everything, I just want to smooth a couple edges. Any help or ideas would be awesome.

[Mono_Giganto]

The only things I have found smoothes out everything, I just want to smooth a couple edges. Any help or ideas would be awesome.

 

Not to mention that MeshSmooth seriously jacks up your polies.

 

The two easiest methods that come to mind would be to either move the vertices on the knee pad around so that the edges are less prominent, or select the edges you want to round out, and maybe try chamfering them. Between the two, simply moving the vertices will probably be easier to get back into game without a hitch, though it shouldn't be terribly difficult either way.

[miro42]

The two easiest methods that come to mind would be to either move the vertices on the knee pad around so that the edges are less prominent

 

 

The problem with this is that, despite the rounding out, the edges themselves are still quite sharp which makes the kneecaps very distinct from the thighs.

 

or select the edges you want to round out, and maybe try chamfering them.

 

I'm not sure what that is but I'll try it.

 

I suppose I could try rebuilding those polys...

 

EDIT: Alright, I rock so hard! The problem was that the kneepads, in order to form hard lines, were created with multiple edges. So I just merged the verticies and voila! Problem solved. At least as far as looks go. Now I have to go in and see if it deforms properly in game.

[Scatter]

have you tried putting the polys on a different smoothing group?

 

i don't think that will achieve what you specifically want, it will more give a defined difference between the two different types of material.

 

if you have tried this, i'll walk you through other options - though i'm not 100% sure how effective they'll be when exported to mdl as i've never actually bothered to model anything for the game.

[Mono_Giganto]

EDIT: Alright, I rock so hard! The problem was that the kneepads, in order to form hard lines, were created with multiple edges. So I just merged the verticies and voila! Problem solved. At least as far as looks go. Now I have to go in and see if it deforms properly in game.

 

Good luck. I figured the edges were separate but wasn't sure if merging them was "export-friendly".