Autosmooth and UVmapping

[Mary]

Hi!

I'm having a problem with autosmooth not working. When I apply it, nothing changes, just the yellow outline thing shows up. I am trying to autosmooth a low poly mesh and export it. I don't want to use smooth, as it adds more polys. I have tried it in versions: 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 1.5.2 and 1.5.3.

I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong. I am making a hair mesh. I highlight all, then autosmooth, and it still looks blocky. When I click on the 'smooth block' icon, it looks good in Wings, but doesn't export (collada) as smooth.
I've watched videos and such, but it's hard to understand a video with no vocal walk through. (comprehension disability here! I'm a little slow! lol)

Also, say I have 30 boxes. All have the same texture on them. How can I make it that, when I export, I only get one material slot for all the boxes, and not 30 separate ones? (Is that understandable?)

In Wings, I am importing an .obj file from a mesh I made in Sketchup. Sketchup, as we all know (or don't) is useless for mapping textures properly.
When I click on the boxes, and choose UV Map, it will bring up all 30, individual boxes to be mapped. How can I manage them to just one map?
(did I say that right? lol)

Thanks for any help! If I confused anyone, just ask!

[Fonte Boa]

About auto-smooth question.

Auto-smooth command doest subdivide the model. It just create hard edges (the yellow ones) according the angle you specify.
This command apply hard edges globally to a model. You can perform this by selecting some edges and callin Edge|Hardness|Hard.

Create a cube, duplicate it, select one of them, apply auto-smooth and press SHIFT+TAB (quick smooth preview): you will see the difference between them. Note this attribut (hard edges) isnt exported to another softwares, ok?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNvli3x4JwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbzL95LNrWk

[Mary]

Ah, ok. I understand now. I thought the auto smooth was something like Sketchups "soften edges".
I was hoping Wings3D had an option like that, that could be applied without adding polys to the model, and then could be exported. I could have sworn I read it somewhere, that it did have it somehow, but I've been reading so much, I must have misunderstood or confused it with something else! My brains wheels keep spinning! lol

Thanks for the reply Fonte Boa, and I already watched those videos several times! Thanks for making them!

About auto-smooth question.

Auto-smooth command doest subdivide the model. It just create hard edges (the yellow ones) according the angle you specify.
This command apply hard edges globally to a model. You can perform this by selecting some edges and callin Edge|Hardness|Hard.

Create a cube, duplicate it, select one of them, apply auto-smooth and press SHIFT+TAB (quick smooth preview): you will see the difference between them. Note this attribut (hard edges) isnt exported to another softwares, ok?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNvli3x4JwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbzL95LNrWk

[Fonte Boa]

I was hoping Wings3D had an option like that, that could be applied without adding polys to the model, and then could be exported.

In fact, there is an option at the moment you export the model in 3ds and obj formats. Go to File|Export (or File|Export Selected) and click on the little rectangle at right side of 3ds or obj formats. At setup dialog, there is a "Subdivision Steps" field: the number you put there will increase the object number of polygons and the model will be exported "smoothed" but you will be able to keep the original model without subdivisions, as a low-poly object.

[Stem]

I thought the auto smooth was something like Sketchups "soften edges".
I was hoping Wings3D had an option like that, that could be applied without adding polys to the model, and then could be exported.

It is, and it does.

Sketchups "soften edges" is simply a visual effect that controls which edges are soft or Hard (smooth or sharp). The "Auto smooth" option in Wings does the same.

When exporting, make sure export option "Export normals/smoothing groups" is enabled. Hard edge info in within the vertex normals(split vertex). Hard edges that surround a polygon or group of polygons creates smooth group(face smooth groups).

[Justanother1]

Look into Tweak and Sculpt .... These can help you Smooth out rough spots. Wings3D is Primative looking, but honestly has better tools for modeling than Blender .. As far as Auto-smooth, this is a function most packages have. It allows for say an octagon-cylinder to represent a smooth cylinder, but with lower polycount. In Wings3D though, those hard edges will mark the cuts for UV-mapping. It's easier to do it this way (for me) in the main geometry window, rather than the UV Window, because I have hard and smooth edges on Shortcut.

[Mary]

Thank you all for your feedback! Sorry for the late reply!

I had, in the past exported an object using auto smooth and it took, so it must be the export settings I missed this time.
I also messed around with the tweak option. Unfortunately, I'm a bit slow so it will take me some more practice and playing to get that stuff understood.

I love sculpting, so I try to stay away from that since I can go overboard and end up with a high poly object! lol (It's addicting, and I end up playing rather than paying attention to what I should be! haha)

As far as Blender goes, no thanks. Too hard to learn FOR ME. I did try, and it seems to be a powerful program, but I can't get my head around in it. (3Ds Max is much easier to learn than Blender! lol)

I'll keep messing around with Wings as I can, but it seems to crash more and more lately. Every version, so I fear my PC is ready for a major upgrade! Like additional RAM and a new graphics card. Until I can afford that, I'm going to be meshing less. Hopefully I won't forget what I already learned!

Again, thank you all for your help! I appreciate it!

[Ravyn]

"In Wings, I am importing an .obj file from a mesh I made in Sketchup. Sketchup, as we all know (or don't) is useless for mapping textures properly.
When I click on the boxes, and choose UV Map, it will bring up all 30, individual boxes to be mapped. How can I manage them to just one map?
(did I say that right? lol)"

You could map just one of the boxes then duplicate & reposition it to wherever the other boxes are setting. Because I sometimes get confused when duplicating & replacing too many objects ..LOL ... I'd combine all the other boxes & rename them DELETE before I duplicated them. That way you don't have to worry about mixing anything up..