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Hi all, this is my 3rd tip for you guys. this tip will help fix distorted normals for objects, especially as a result of boolean modifiers, retopology, or subdivision.
Intro
Sometimes when modelling both hard surface and organic models, objects can have distorted shading effects despite the geometry being clean. This is a distorted normal.
To fix this, we are going to use the Weighted Normals modifier which is only available in 3ds Max 2022 and above. Older versions will have to manually re-touch their normals.
Example 1
In this example, we have a port hole created with Booleans and chamfered the edges slightly. Despite having decent edge flow and no overlapping vertices or edges, the model is still distorted at a shader level. This is not due to a UV Map, but rather the normals are not correct.
Add the "Weighted Normals" modifier to the modifier stack. Immediately, the normals will average out and will look very funky.
This can be fixed by ticking either one of the Hard Edge Detection modes. In my case, I will use "Use Smoothing groups".
And now the affected area is no longer distorted.
Example 2
The previous model was a hard-surfaced N-gon model. This example is now of an organic quad-topology model.
Once again, add the weighted normals modifier. Immediately, the weighting doesn't seem to help as there is still bad distortions along sections of the model.
This case is quite complicated as now we have an organic model with hard-surface sections (the area with the screw is supposed to be hard surfaced).
Instead, I will disable "Area" weighting and enable Edge Angle hard edge detection.
Now the model's normals are clean as well as a hard edge near the screw is visible.
Conclusion
This is quite an easy tip, but it is a life saver for speedy normal correction. If you have any questions, ask them below.
Intro
Sometimes when modelling both hard surface and organic models, objects can have distorted shading effects despite the geometry being clean. This is a distorted normal.
To fix this, we are going to use the Weighted Normals modifier which is only available in 3ds Max 2022 and above. Older versions will have to manually re-touch their normals.
Example 1
In this example, we have a port hole created with Booleans and chamfered the edges slightly. Despite having decent edge flow and no overlapping vertices or edges, the model is still distorted at a shader level. This is not due to a UV Map, but rather the normals are not correct.
Add the "Weighted Normals" modifier to the modifier stack. Immediately, the normals will average out and will look very funky.
This can be fixed by ticking either one of the Hard Edge Detection modes. In my case, I will use "Use Smoothing groups".
And now the affected area is no longer distorted.
Example 2
The previous model was a hard-surfaced N-gon model. This example is now of an organic quad-topology model.
Once again, add the weighted normals modifier. Immediately, the weighting doesn't seem to help as there is still bad distortions along sections of the model.
This case is quite complicated as now we have an organic model with hard-surface sections (the area with the screw is supposed to be hard surfaced).
Instead, I will disable "Area" weighting and enable Edge Angle hard edge detection.
Now the model's normals are clean as well as a hard edge near the screw is visible.
Conclusion
This is quite an easy tip, but it is a life saver for speedy normal correction. If you have any questions, ask them below.