ow if you dont mind adding extra polygons i would add another edge loop. To create an edge, thats what i do.

hey JrWho

Try inserting 2 edgeloops round the corner edges (like if you performed a bevel but doing it manually helps to stop some of the little bugs that in my useage of bevels can happen), you can then use the slide edge tool to move the edges and control the fall off of the edge.

I would also create a smooth proxy as well as switching between the smooth preview, as sometimes when you using the smooth preview it can be a bit misleading as to where the geo that your moving actually is. Where as using the standard low poly and a proxy you can see if you need to add geo to areas when the edges get too close/overlap which is hard to see in the smooth preview. Also keep the low poly nice and clean.

What?

Do you mean insert some edges around the area, and not have them run through the rest of the mesh? Like these blue lines in this pic?

gster refined what i was talking about :)

Creating extra edges like your image will create a hard edge. dont forget to weld the corner vertices to create quads instead of 6 sided poly`s

I knew that the closer the edges, the crisper the smooth will be, but I always thought it was better to have the mesh flow throughout the model. Maybe I'm just imagining things. ;)

well if you make edges go all the way you create alot of polygons.

I sometimes just change 90 degrees to avoid going all the way to the other side :)

But for hard surfaces it dose not matter.

If you go soft surfaces (organic)then you have to consider this very carefully as you will need to animate all the edges you have created. :)

yeah - aikoworld is right - having an even mesh isn't that important (as far as i know) when it comes to hard surface. if your object doesn't have to deform than as long as it looks good it should be fine.

Yeah having an even mesh isnt that important, I like to try to keep it clean and even as I find it easier to lay out when UV mapping, and I always have the niggeling feeling that a concentration/lack of geo might make a bit of a strange highlight at rendertime, dunno why just do!

Jr Who, on the pic you posted if you take the corner of the new square made by the new loop and then add an edge from that to the corner of the other you'll carry on the quad structure which is what I would do

Gah, I've tried a bunch of different ways, but I can't get it right. The part I'm trying to fix is what's in the pic.

Anyway, I did some work today, but nothing worthy of a pic.

JR. I feel your pain. As an exercise I spent a little time last night trying to put a square hole into a curved surface and could not do it without pinching in the corners or creasing down the enitre model.

I just created a couple of curves and lofted them. Converted to polygon and then tried to put a rectangular opening in the surface while maintaining a smooth surface.

What a nightmare! If you try to put all the proper edge loops in the corners (3) they carry through the entire length of the surface giving you nice sharp visible creases. If you try to spread them out you still get pinching in the corners and lots of extra ugly geometry throughout your model that all has to be adjusted (very time consumming and the results are still bad).

I tried smoothing the surface and setting the divisions really high then using the sculpt tool to smooth out the edges and pinched corners and then set the divisions back to 0. All I can say to this excercise is that I still have not found a use for the sculpt tool (lol). It just made a real mess of the model.

I tried cutting up the geometry and making panels this worked the best but creates 4 panels around the square opening which is kind of a pain. Although if you plan them correctly it kind of looks natural.

I'll keep fiddling with it in my spare time and if I hit on anything I'll post it for you.

Keep plugin at it. I look forward to the final product. I wont be able to do any serious modeling until winter break. I need to finish rigging and animating my mech. I think I have to leg piston thingy worked out. Just don't have time to focus onit right now.

Here is what I mean by spliting up the geometry in a way that a hard surface object might actually be manufactured in panels. It solves the problem of carrying unwnated geometry through your entire model and creates realistic panel lines.

1/4

2/4

3/4

4/4 - add some rivets or better yet cowl fasteners and it would look very natural...

Hope this helps.

-Rick M

Rick, thanks a lot. Now that you mention it, one of my refs looks kinda like that. Hopefully it'll work out.

Good luck on that mech.
:beer: