CompuServe Thread

You might want to think about doing the modeling with a metaball modeler (OrganiX from Digimation or Metareyes from 4DVision) these programs result in very smooth, organic objects. A routine called Smooth comes with Digimation's Bones Pro package that will smooth out sharp edges. Lee

<<No matter what you end up with some sharp edges and worse, faces / lines that are not oriented optimally for the final shape.>> This can happen if the shapes you used have some vertices that are "linear" as apposed to "curved". Also the lines could be the result of the shape bending back on itself as it follows along your path. A simple way of smoothing the lofted shape is: 1) Use Surface/Smoothing/Clear All on the shape 2) Use Surface/Smoothing/Assign on the shape This effectively assigns a single smoothing group to the entire object so all joins will now be smooth if rendered in either Phong or Metal mode. <<If I could just have a geodesic sphere morphed into the space of my spacially correct sinus blobs, they would look better.>> You might want to try a blob modeller or the SMOOTH routine that comes with Bones Pro. DaviD "Achoooo" GouID

>>how can I reorient faces and edges… Peter, It is relatively easy to adjust a mesh an put edges and vertices exactly where you want them. It requires some manual editing but is often necessary for a smooth mesh. Of course, you need to properly apply smoothing groups to a mesh, but as you have noticed, the mesh itself often needs adjusted. So, in case you haven't done much low-level mesh editing… The commands I use the most for this work are Modify/Edge/Turn Modify/Edge/Divide Modify/Vertex/Move Modify/Vertex/Weld If an edge is oriented across a pair of faces such that it makes a sharp edge, you can reorient it with MODIFY/EDGE/TURN. I use Turn a LOT to make efficient meshes and to solve smoothing and rendering problems, especially after boolean operations. The goal is usually to turn edges such that long narrow faces are turned into less narrow faces. Use caution and the HOLD button however, since it is easy in some circumstances to fold a face so it is hard to recover. To add more faces to a critical part of the mesh, I often use MODIFY/EDGE/DIVIDE to split a face into two. This gives me more control than the tesselate command. Unfortunately, there is no EDGE/REFINE command similar to the Shaper's SEGMENT/REFINE to place the new vertex exactly where you want it. However, by aligning a user-view to the face, the new vertex can be moved easily to the desired position. I often use EDGE/DIVIDE and EDGE/TURN together to quickly adjust a mesh. Most complex surface meshes need some vertex editing. After aligning a user-view to a face, vertices can be moved without pulling the mesh significantly out of shape. To move a vertex perpendicular to a user-view, use the cursor keypad to quickly create a view oriented 90-deg to the current view. When moving even a single vertex around in 3D, it is usually a lot easier to select it first in one view and then move it "Selected" in a different view. (Note: I do so much vertex editing, I rely on the assignable function keys with Ctl-F7 as SELECT/VERTEX/QUAD and Ctl-F8 as MODIFY/VERTEX/MOVE. This saves me a lot of time.) To collapse a face, use MODIFY/VERTEX/WELD and drag a vertex and drop it on another vertex. I generally do this in a user-view after first hiding all the faces on the back side of the mesh. One other thing I rely on when editing a complex surface is the real-time wireframe mesh viewer built into the Yost Displace and Optimize routines. Until someone comes up with a good stereo mesh viewer, I find it useful to use one of these viewers to swing the surface back and forth, allowing me to get a "feel" for the true shape of the 3D surface. This has proved to be invaluable to help solve the occasional rogue vertex or face problem. Another thing I've found helpful is to render the object with FLAT shading from different angles. This renders very quickly and elimiates the rendered smoothing effects to help me to see how the faces are oriented, which edges need to be turned or subdivided, and which vertices need attention. I realize this may sound like a lot of tedious work, but it will result in a mesh exactly the way you want it. From your message, it sounds like you're not afraid of a little edge editing. <g> Note also that other techniques may apply depending on the mesh, like the 3rd party SMOOTH IPAS mentioned by others here, more effective lofting techniques, and the proper use of smoothing groups. Also, your specific problem of correctly placed but unorganic-looking sinus blobs might be solved with a boolean Union. I might try placing a sphere in the same position as the existing sinus blob, manually flaring both meshes in the attachment area to approximate a smooth junction, collapsing the original blob until it fits entirely within the sphere, then unioning them together. JKJ, Oak Ridge, TN