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cyan in the viewport and ignore any smoothing group information associated with the vertex. Explicit normals are green in the viewport, which denotes a normal that has deviated from its regular position. The Make Explicit button can be used to make normals explicit, thereby removing them from the normal computation task. The Reset button returns a normal to its regular type and position. At the bottom of the Parameters rollout is an information line that displays which normal is selected or how many normals are selected.

Normal modifier

The Normal modifier is the precursor to the Edit Normals modifier. It enables object normals to be flipped or unified. When some objects are imported, their normals can become erratic, producing holes in the geometry. By unifying and flipping the normals, you can restore an object's consistency. This modifier includes only two options: Unify Normals and Flip Normals.

STL Check modifier

The STL Check modifier checks a model in preparation for exporting it to the StereoLithography (STL) format. STL files require a closed surface: Geometry with holes or gaps can cause problems. Any problems are reported in the Status area of the Parameters rollout.

This modifier can check for several common errors, including Open Edge, Double Face, Spike, or Multiple Edge. Spikes are island faces with only one connected edge. You can select any or all of these options. If found, you can have the modifier select the problem Edges or Faces, or neither, or you can change the Material ID of the problem area.

Subdivision Surface Modifiers

The Modifiers menu also includes a submenu of modifiers for subdividing surfaces. These include the MeshSmooth and HSDS Modifiers. You can use these modifiers to smooth and subdivide the surface of an object. Subdividing a surface increases the resolution of the object, allowing for more detailed modeling.

MeshSmooth modifier

The MeshSmooth modifier smoothes the entire surface of an object by applying a chamfer function to both vertices and edges at the same time. This modifier has the greatest effect on sharp corners and edges. With this modifier, you can create a NURMS object. NURMS stands for Non-Uniform Rational MeshSmooth. NURMS can weight each control point. The Parameters rollout includes three MeshSmooth types: Classic, NURMS, and Quad Output. You can set it to operate on triangular or polygonal faces. Smoothing parameters include Strength and Relax values.

Settings for the number of Subdivision Iterations to run and controls for weighting selected control points are also available. Update Options can be set to Always, When Rendering, and Manually using the Update button. You can also select and work with either Vertex or Edge subobjects. These subobjects give you local control over the MeshSmooth object. Included within the Local Control rollout is a Crease value, which is available in Edge subobject mode. Selecting an Edge subobject and applying a 1.0 value causes a hard edge to be retained while the rest of the object is smoothed. The MeshSmooth modifier also makes the Soft Selection rollout available. The Reset rollout is included to quickly reset any crease and weight values.

TurboSmooth modifier

The TurboSmooth modifier works just like the MeshSmooth modifier, except that it is much faster and doesn't require as much memory.

Tutorial: Smoothing a birdbath

One effective way to model is to block out the details of a model using the Editable Poly features and then smooth the resulting model using the TurboSmooth modifier. This gives the model a polished look and increases the resolution.

To create a smoothed birdbath object, follow these steps:

1. Open the Birdbath.max file from the Chap 26 directory on the CD.

This file includes a simple birdbath created by selecting and scaling rows of cylinder vertices. The water is simply an inverted cone.

2. Select and clone the existing birdbath as an instance by pressing the Shift key and moving the birdbath.

3. Select the cloned birdbath, and apply the TurboSmooth modifier with