Bevel using 'Smoothing Groups' in Maya?

oBoogiemanx

Hi everyone,

In 3dsmax for some reason the Bevel operation is called Chamfer. Now, in 3dsmax the Chamfer and Quad Chamfer modifiers can be used in conjunction with smoothing groups to make the task of selecting edges to bevel/chamfer a lot less time consuming, unlike Maya. Do you guys know of a similar functionality in Maya, an automated way to detect edges to put chamfers/bevels? Thanks in advance.

Edit: I'm aware there is no such thing in Maya as 'smoothing groups' but a similar concept must exist and, maybe, a similar functionality to facilitate the tedius task of selecting edges to bevel.

huffer

Maya is not really built around modifier operations like max. The quickest way is to assign hard edges, then use selection constraints to select them and bevel those. You could maybe use crease sets to store some edge selections.

oBoogiemanx

huffer said:

Maya is not really built around modifier operations like max. The quickest way is to assign hard edges, then use selection constraints to select them and bevel those. You could maybe use crease sets to store some edge selections.

Yes, I'm aware. I was hoping there was a similar method. Thanks!

throttlekitty

Have you looked at ADN or Crease+?

oBoogiemanx

throttlekitty said:

Have you looked at ADN or Crease+?

Wow i have not and they look really good! thanks man, have you tried any one of them? which one do you recommend?

Fansub

The closest thing to bevel by smoothing groups would probably be the Non-Destructive-Modifiers tool from Baidhir, which has a nice non-destructive bevel that updates based on hard edges (the concept of smoothing groups but in Maya).

You can always ask a question or two into that thread, @Waywo is very active in the forum

throttlekitty

oBoogiemanx said:

throttlekitty said:

Have you looked at ADN or Crease+?

Wow i have not and they look really good! thanks man, have you tried any one of them? which one do you recommend?

I use both, but I tend to use Crease+ more often.

WaYWO

@oBoogiemanx There is an update, It's safe now , get a look here(top post) : http://polycount.com/discussion/183042/maya-ndm-phoenix-non-destructive-modifiers-and-tools-for-maya#latest

MichaelF

ShellMod 2 might also work. haven't tried it yet, but it looks very interesting. right now i don't know if i should go for shellmod or NDM Phoenix

oBoogiemanx

Thanks guys! I'll definately check it out @WaYWO and everyone else for the help.

WaYWO

@MichaelF ShellMod have more features and is more focused, NDM Phoenix is more general if it can help you in your choice