Preserving hard edges in certain areas only on a low poly mesh

daft667

so i have a low poly mesh that has both soft and hard edges (skin and armor plating). once i import my mesh into mudbox, is there a way to keep the hard edges on selected areas hard while the rest remains smoothed?

i know you can turn off smoothing when you divide, but then i have hard edges where i dont need them.

oglu

you need the latest mud version 2012.5 or 2013 and export your mesh as fbx...

cptSwing

either split them into separate objects, or add edge loops to your base mesh to hold the shapes

passerby

just get it how you want in max/maya with the right hard and soft edges, and pre-tessellate the fuck out of it. that way it is already subdivided a few levels coming into mud while retaining the creases or smoothing groups you got setup.

just means in mud you dont got to subdivide as much to get enough geo to sculpt.

daft667

thanks for the answers, i'll try them out and see which works best.