How to align normals in one axis?

[Dave Black]

Just download the freeware modeling script meshtools, available here:

www.scriptspot.com

You can then use the tools: Flatten selected X, Flatten selected Y, and Flatten selected Z.

Plus, meshtools is almost a must have toolset as well.

Also get CSPolytools. Another really great set of tools to extend max's core modeling set.

Hope that helped, and hope even more that I read your post correctly.

-3DZ

:D

[MoonMonkey]

Hi
Thanks for your reply but I'm afraid I don't think it answers my question or i'm just not using the tool properly.
I have the toolset but the "flatten selected" tool seems to only align selected verts along an axis, however I want to be able align or change the vertex normals themselves along an axis.

S

[TapioKa]

Yes, I know what you're talking about in Maya.

Unfortunately, the level of numeric control does not seem to be available in Max (that I can find) for vertex normals.

However, with the Edit Normals modifier, you can select the vertex normals go to the top view, and use tools Align to view.
Then your selected normals will be oriented z up.

Hope that helps somewhat.

[MoonMonkey]

Hi
Thanks for that. It certainly does what I was asking for. A little hit and miss if you have faces pointing in various directions. Guess I'll have to give up on this one for now.

I was attempting to flatten the lighting,or reduce the difference in shading in the light and dark on a group of intersecting planes, in a realtime engine. Don't know if that makes any sense. :hmm:

It was really an experiment to try and avoid using self-illumination on the objects. Ho well, was worth a try.

Thanks again

S

[pencil-head]

i'm not sure if this is what your looking for but the "make planar" button in the editable mesh/poly will flatten a selected surface based on the average position. or something like that. :shrug:

[EricChadwick]

I haven't played with Edit Normals, but I heard somewhere (CGTalk maybe?) that Max doesn't let you export the edited normals... apparently the modifier only works in the max renderer.

The modifier would have been very helpful for something like hiding the shading seams between two separate neighboring surfaces... too bad it doesn't seem to be exportable.

In my experience people use custom tools for their particular game that allow things like tweaking the normals.

[EricChadwick]

Ah, here's the thread I was thinking of.
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62780

It isn't that max doesn't let you export them, it's that max constantly re-creates the normals...

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