Anyone with basic knowledge in Blender propably knows about the option to shade flat or smooth. The smooth shader gives the illusion of a much higher polygon model without any performance costs. However there is the visual cost, and I am wondering if this can be remedied somehow
Compare 1. and 2. from my image. Here 1 obviousely looks more realistic. 2 got this weird shadow going on that you would not see on a flat surface. 1 is flat 2 is smooth
But looking at the corners closeup, the smooth mesh corners looks much better, even high poly even thought this is just a 44 Triangles box, that is a 12 triangle box with 1 segment bevel applied to it
I am wondering, is there a way to get the both of both worlds? to get those nice corners but not the ugly light effect on the flat surface.
Hey Ted!
Ever given the “Auto Smooth” option a shot? If not, take a look at the attached images. In Blender Version 4.0.2, it automatically activates when you click ShadeSmooth.
Navigate to Object Data Properties , choose Normals , and toggle on “Auto Smooth.” You can play around with the Angle slider to achieve different outcomes
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If this still doesn’t help consider tweaking the mesh’s topology. While the mesh in the image appears pretty simple, adjusting the topology might still make a difference. Compare the lighting in the Viewport before and after using ShadeSmooth to see if there’s any noticeable difference.
Also, it’s a bit unclear whether you’re using the “Cement” Material from Studio. If not, consider trying SurfaceAppearance since it’s a mesh part. Upload the ColorMap, Metalness, Roughness, and other relevant textures.
To avoid importing the mesh multiple times, try this fantastic Blender addon for uploading: Roblox Blender Plugin. Hope this proves helpful! Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.
It looks like you might have a smoothing error. I have no knowledge in Blender, but the weird shadows might be because it’s trying to smooth one side of one face that isn’t in shadow, with the other side of another face that is in shadow.
Well, I did find a solution for this without changing the mesh, by setting custom vertex normals in blender, and it works exactly as i wanted, the box to the right is the one with custom vertex normals.
Playing around with the autosmooth or marking edges smooth/flat doesnt really work. the problem is always that doing it this way will create a unatural ugly edge were the shading changes from smooth to flat vice versa.
