I have tried everything i know and can not solve this problem:
The part that is darker was added on via the "create polygon mesh" tool. I extended it with an extrude and then tried to normalize the vertex normals.
I have averaged the normals ( which is pretty much all i know how to do ) and that does not work. I have checked to make sure they are all welded ( at least that is how i thought to do it ) and everything seems fine. If you need a video let me know and I can provide one.
Replies
If the problem persists after that, try coming in close and switching to vertex face mode and make sure that there is no internal geometry on that border area. Make sure that you haven't generated any T-shapes when you were extruding. This can lead to shading similar to what you're seeing even if you have set all the normals to smooth.
This will break Maya's smoothed normals. Make sure that your fingers have no internal geometry going from one outside edge inward and bridging to another outside edge. Try switching to Vertex Face mode and see that there are no internal faces.
The only remedy is that, goto face mode--->select all faces---> right click menu--->Assign existing material---> choose your customised material (not the lambert one, its the default material Maya provides)
The T-shapes were another cause for pulling apart my hair at a time. 3DS Max does not have this material problem. Once a material is assigned, it will keep assigning this material to every new polygon you create in the same object. Neither does 3DS max provide the accidental making of T-shapes, which all seems very good to me.
I have not found a way to remove the phong material so I just changed it to a blinn... Any clue how to remove materials from an object?
Just assign a material in object mode, and it overrides any previously applied materials.