Double smooth

poopinmymouth

Saw a reference to this in the awesome firefall art dump thread (here - http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115361)

I know a lot of people use this method, but realized I had never seen a video focusing only on the technique, so whipped one up real quick to demonstrate. This has really sped up my modeling of hard surface stuff. I still use a lot of control loops, but when speed is really of the essence, this can oftentimes make a big difference in time, without too much difference in end results.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87I8FpXn3Yc"]Double Smooth in 3DS Max - YouTube[/ame]

Malcolm posted a way to do this in Maya, though I have not tested it myself.

malcolm wrote: »

File menu> Proxy Subdiv Proxy> Select smoothed mesh> channel box set keep hard edges on> hit 3 on keyboard to smooth again> now move points on the subdiv proxy cage and harden/soften edges as needed.

mLichy

Yeah, I've been using that double smooth method for 2-3 years now, a very nice trick.

Although your poly counts explode. But with today's PCs, it's not a huge issue.
Sometimes I do still use the regular methods, since double smoothing pinches or does weird things/doesn't work as well as default methods.

poopinmymouth

Yeah I normally have about two thirds of my objects with the double, and several with the more traditional method. It is all about having the best arsenal of tricks. :-)

WarrenM

That's neat, thanks for making a video! I wish Modo supported this ... grr ...

Eric Chadwick

Awesome! Adding this to the wiki.
http://wiki.polycount.com/SubdivisionSurfaceModeling#Hard_Surfaces

Computron

Wouldn't creasing (as in modo with PSubs) create this same effect but at a much lower subdivision level?

Kbrom12

why have I not heard of this earlier...thank you ben

igi

Thanks for the tutorial.I have to take more attention to that method when modeling.

For modo users,it's possible to get first iteration of double smoothing method by using p-sub and cranking up edge weight value.And then you can smooth it again and you simply have identical results.But I find smoothing groups determinant more user-friendly than edge determinant method.

Joshua Stubbles

Nice flow, chompers. Thanks!

maximumsproductions

Neato, glad you posted a video explaining the technique

WarrenM

Sorry, I know Modo can do it via edge weights but I can't give those meshes to anyone not using Modo so it's not useful for our production pipeline. For hobby stuff at home, sure...

Obscura

Awesome! Cant wait to try this. Thank you for sharing the video.

EarthQuake

WarrenM wrote: »

Sorry, I know Modo can do it via edge weights but I can't give those meshes to anyone not using Modo so it's not useful for our production pipeline. For hobby stuff at home, sure...

Yeah, as a Modo user I really avoid edge weights, my models generally get sent off to max/maya at some point so I tend to stick to traditional sub-d methods.

poopinmymouth

EarthQuake wrote: »

Yeah, as a Modo user I really avoid edge weights, my models generally get sent off to max/maya at some point so I tend to stick to traditional sub-d methods.

Really? Seeing how edge weights work in Modo vids is one of the number one reasons I have been tempted to try it. If they are not so useful as at first glance, that is depressing.

WarrenM

Ben - No, the problem is that they ARE so damned useful and awesome. The trouble is they are non-transferable to other modeling programs. If your pipeline is 100% Modo, I would recommend using them all the way, no question.