CompuServe Messages

<patches showing edges … more documentation> Hartmut, I have experienced many cases where the edges of patches rise up or cut in below another, ruining the smooth surface. I work around that by adding more and more splines and creating smaller patches in the problem area. I have tried using Gama and Magnet with mixed results. Sometimes you can fix a bump by using Peak on the control point. But it often does more damage than it fixes. I suggest you always make at least two or three constantly updated copies of every segment you build. I save two copies after almost every operation. My hand is always poised above CNTL-S. If you have to back up, and have to delete a spline, you usually have ruined your model and it takes a lot of work to get the shortened spline unstuck from the wrong control point. Finally, try modeling the same area with different patterns of splines. There is always another way to build a segment. The smoothest models are generated by the lathe tool. If you hand-build, it is a nightmare to get everything smooth. Another trick I use is to build separate parts that are lathed and distorted, then join them together in a place where the inevitable seam will not show. This works good on faces and hands. I am writing a book on modeling in A.M. and it will be available at the time release 3.0 is shipped. Good luck. Sanford