Flipping Normals, Indeed

[IC]

Can anyone help me with a simple task?

I've imported a model to Max and the normals are all over the place.

I'm not very experienced in Max and I've tried applying a Normal Modifier but there seems to be few options and it doesn't work very well.

In LightWave, you select the faces in question and press 'f' to flip them or run the Align tool which tries to, well, align them.

Is there something similar in Max?

Thanks,

Iain

[STRAT]

smoothing problems from acad eh?

 

sub select all the faces, then scroll down to the bottom where the normals tab is, where you can unify or flip them.

[IC]

Smoothing problems? That's just the start of it. Not really enjoying working in Max!

 

Thanks for the quick reply Strat.

[Craig Ramsay]

Max is great, you just get problems when the moddel has been done in another package like rhino or autocad

[IC]

I know how good a program it is, I'm just in that familiarisation mode where I'm trying to do things that actually only apply to other packages.

It's like driving an automatic car when you're used to a manual-not better or worse, just different.

I don't want to start a software debate, as the only thing that I think is wrong with Max is that it's not as user friendly as it could be but that's because it has so many functions.

[Ken Walton]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: People who are experienced in modeling in Lightwave swear by it. I've never been able to myself (didn't try very hard and I was used to Max) but the people that I know who do can really make that program smoke! I do agree that if the model was started in max it's a breeze.

[Fran]

Hi Iain,

 

Are you importing a DWG file? If so, see if it makes a difference if Weld is disabled. For smooth solids, set ACIS surface deviation to 0.01 instead of the default 0.1.

 

[IC]

Thanks, Fran. It was a 3ds file but I'll note that tip for working with dwgs(which I will be doing).

Iain

[Fran]

Hi Iain,

 

To flip normals of individual faces on a mesh object, you need to go into sub-object mode. The 3ds objects should import as Editable Meshes and when you select one, it has a little tree in the modifier stack for vertices, edges, faces, etc. There is a section near the bottom of the rollout for flipping normals. I think you have to be on the positive side of the face to select it, so it helps to be able to manuever around easily. I have the viewport set to Edged Faces or Wireframe to better see the boundary of the face(s) I've selected, and User view so that I can window zoom and rotate more easily. Zooming to the extents of the selected object will put the object at the center of rotation when you use Orbit Camera mode to move around.

 

Apologies in advance if you already knew of all this.

[IC]

Hi Fran,

I did work (most of) that out through trial and error but it's good to know there isn't a better way to do it (i.e. I'm not doing everything wrong)

Thanks-all help greatly appreciated as I know these are basics to experienced users.

Iain