edge splitting problem when smoothing

[cg451]

when part (a) is smoothed (3 on keyboard) it fits perfectly with part (b)
but how do i then smooth part (b) without its edge moving?

image link:
http://img714.imageshack.us/f/edgesplit.png/

[hamidz90]

add an edge loop on your part b using the "insert edge loop" tool, the closer you add your loop to the end the less round the smooth mesh is going to be



idk if that was clear or not lol

[cg451]

i tried adding edge loop but it doesn't work

[ctbram]

well I looked at the images and I am not sure what you are trying to do. Part B is really dense and smoothing it is going to make it 16 times denser!

I will have to take a longer look at the shape and get back but I would say start by rethinking the topology of part B because quite frankly it it way to dense.

[cg451]

the model is just for trying out some techniques, I get the same problem with low density mesh, what i want is to extract a face from a model that is smoothed or unsmoothed and to create some sort of smoothed detail on the face like a rivet or something and then the face to slot back in with no gap at the edges

[BabyDuck]

the only way i can think of to keep it gap free (if you work in polygons) is to attach part a and part b together. if for some reason your model requires that part a and b are seperate, i would insert a edgeloop on part b as hamidz said, and then move the verts of edge in the same spot as the verts on part a. after that you select all faces of part b except the ones that connect to part a - and you smooth. it will add a smooth part b that still lines up perfect with part a no matter how close you get. you do end up with 5 sided faces though around the edge - which you can either leave as is, clean up manually, or apply another smooth to both part a and b - and maya will get rid of the 5 sides faces and create all quads again. that what you wanted? other ways would be to go nurbs fill the gap in, or go subd and go higher lvl on your rivet. if you go subd maya does internally basically the same as i mentioned above, only automatically w/o you ever needing to clean up afterwards.

[cg451]

i wanted to keep parts separate so i could have different levels of subdivision, and im using proxy smooth so i dont think i can move the edge verts, ideally you could select edges you didn't want smoothed, or crease them so they actually stay fixed

[cg451]

i've got an idea for a possible workaround for this, ill try it and maybe post the result if its any good

[BabyDuck]

Originally Posted by cg451 i wanted to keep parts separate so i could have different levels of subdivision, and im using proxy smooth so i dont think i can move the edge verts, ideally you could select edges you didn't want smoothed, or crease them so they actually stay fixed

even with a smooth proxy you can do that. you have to keep the "cage" low res polygon at the connecting parts the same amount of border edges. you can use the snap to verts to line em up between part a and part b. now as it gets smoothed the border edges of part a and part b behave exactly the same (if they have the same amount of subdivision setting in the smooth proxy). border edges don't move, they stay in place just get round. having it that way would be equivalent with a subd surface that has 2 different parts of faces that touch.

[cg451]

i created a 3rd unsmoothed part that bridges the other two parts, it works but not really what im after, ill give your way a try

[cg451]

heres the solution i found
in attribute editor > polySurfaceShape tab >
Smooth Mesh > Extra Controls > Preserve Geometry borders