Shade 10 Auto Smooth
From ShadeCamp
Contents |
Auto Smooth Overview
The Auto smooth plug-in, available only in Shade 9 professional, is a feature that automatically rounds the corners in the lines of a line object or curved surface. Round corners can be further adjusted by moving tangent handles.
The level of corner roundness can be specified by a numeric value. The Auto smooth plug-in has a link feature, allowing you to link multiple line objects or curved surfaces to which corner rounding is applied.
Using Auto Smooth
1. Select a line object or curved surface to which you wish to apply this feature and select the Auto smooth option from the Modify tool in the Toolbox.
The Auto smooth feature can be applied to a partial segment of a line in a line object or curved surface. To do so, select the Next Control Point option from the Modify tool in the Toolbox to enter the Modify mode. Then select the control points that cover the segment to be modified. Make sure to select three or more contiguous control points.
Note: The Auto smooth feature is only available when three or more control points are selected. If you select a line object with two control points, select only one or two control points, or select non-contiguous control points, this plug-in will not work.
2. The Auto Smooth (NURBS) dialog appears.
Select the Apply check box and specify options for the operation. Refer to the Reference section below for more information on the options.
3. After completing the settings, click the OK button. Automatic smoothing is applied and the mode is automatically switched to Modify.
Top: Applied to all corners. Bottom: Applied to a segment.
The affected control points (small rectangles) are displayed in the same size as large points and in the same color as other control points of the wire frame being edited.
Top: control points in a normal Bezier curve. Bottom: control points after automatic smoothing is applied.
4. Move a control point to which automatic smoothing has been applied.
As the control point is moved, the curve is automatically adjusted relative to the positions of the adjacent control points.
When you have applied the Automatic smooth feature to a curved surface part, select it to enter the Modify mode and move controls points to make adjustments. If you select a line object inside the curved surface, automatic smoothing will not work for its control points. Instead, the selected line object is treated as a normal Bezier curve.
In the front view, the curved surface part on the left is completely selected and its control point is moved. With the one on the right, a line object inside it is selected and its control point is moved.
Note: Even after you have selected a line object inside a curved surface part and moved a control point in the object, automatic smoothing can be applied to the curved surface part by selecting the part.
5. To cancel the Automatic smoothing, click the finish button in the Toolbox to exit the Modify mode, then select Auto smooth from the Modify tool. Finally, deselect the Apply check box in the Auto smooth (NURBS) dialog that appears.
To cancel the Automatic smooth effects applied to a segment, select the control points associated with the segment in Modify mode, then deselect the Apply check box in the Auto smooth (NURBS) dialog.
Automatic Smooth Reference
Auto Smooth (NURBS) Dialog
Apply Check Box
If this check box is selected, Automatic smoothing is applied, depending on the current selection.
Apply Level (1<10) Text Box
Use this text box to specify the level of corner roundness, in the range of 1 to 10.
At the left is the original object. The smoothing levels of the other objects, from left to right, are 1, 5 and 10.
Linkage Check Box
This check box is useful for applying the Automatic smoothing effect to multiple contiguous line objects or curved surfaces.
If this check box is on, the Automatic smoothing will be applied to the multiple contiguous line objects or curved surfaces that are currently selected. When you move an affected control point, automatic smoothing is performed.
Note: Multiple contiguous line objects or curved surfaces must be connected through the control points at their ends. The linkage option is not available for objects that are separate from each other.
The dialog above shows the configuration when you apply the Automatic smoothing to two contiguous curved surfaces by turning on the linkage option.
When you move a control point in one of the curved surfaces, the Automatic smoothing will be applied to both of them.
Even when the linkage option is selected, moving a control point on the edges of line objects or curved surfaces will not have a linking effect on the adjacent line objects or curved surfaces.
In the example above, the link action is not available by moving any control point on the dotted line.
Applying the Linkage Option to Multiple Curved Surfaces
When the linkage option is selected, arrows indicating the direction of the linkage of multiple contiguous curved surfaces are displayed on their edges. Be sure that these arrows point to the other curved surface. Otherwise, the linkage option will not be available.
Arrows indicating the direction of connected curved surfaces. Top: matched. Bottom: not matched.
The direction of arrows can be changed using the Switch option in the Modify tool of the Toolbox.
The linkage option also works when a curved surface is surrounded by two or three other curved surfaces. In this case also, the two arrows on the edges of the curved surface enclosed by other curved surfaces are positioned along one direction. However, the curved surfaces whose direction does not match the key curved surface can be linked by connecting those surfaces to both sides of the key surface and applying the linkage option.
In the example above, the curved surface in the middle (in Modify mode) is positioned in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, the direction of the curved surfaces above and below it is vertical. However, because the linkage option has been applied to these curved surfaces, they can be linked to the curved surface in the middle.
Notes on Auto Smooth
Unsmoothing
Once the Auto smooth feature has been applied, it is always effective in Modify mode. This means that when going into Modify mode, “unsmoothing” is automatically disabled.
Auto Smooth and the Selection Method
The effects of the Auto smooth feature previously applied to a line object or curved surface will be invoked when you select an object using the same method as you did to apply the Automatic smoothing (see Step 1 in the section “Using the Auto smooth plug-in”).
Applying the Linkage Option
The linkage option is available for objects that are connected. However, you cannot modify the line or curve to which the Auto smooth has been applied by moving a control point on the edges of the objects.
When applying the linkage option to two or more contiguous curved surfaces, the line with arrows on each end that appears on each of the curved surfaces must be positioned in the same direction. The direction of the arrow line can be changed using the Switch option in the Modify tool of the Toolbox (see the section “Applying the linkage option to multiple curved surfaces” under “Auto smooth reference”). |
