Better Surface Smoothing(Line Smoothing) feature request for surface mode

[renderdemon]

Hi, as working with surface mode(and liveclay) I found a really annoying problem,related to smoothing.how it works now for some kind of surfaces I think it could be improved.

It can happen that you need to smooth only in one direction,the direction of the stroke you are doing,for example if you are doing a vertical stroke you want that smoothing works only vertically,becoming even the depth of the surface along the stroke you are doing.

For example,you have a sphere,you do some liveclay complex strokes(for complex stroke I mean a series of brushes that at the end create a shape,something that can't be done with only one or few strokes,so you need at the end a way to become even the depth created with several strokes).

WIth the smooth(and also with Tsmooth)it seems not possible doing this kind of things,because the smooths,used with low radius,create a random effect,and with a really big radius they destroy the details made from the outside of the stroke region.

To make understand better,think about fur combing in some applications.

Sometimes is needed to smooth only the length of the fur,and not the direction,here is the same,I'm trying to use the smoothing to level the depth created along the complex shape made with a lot of strokes,to make it appears less bumpy and more technical.

Some of you may think that this work could be made with the flatten brush,but flatten levels off the surface on a plane(and also needs some dimension perpendicular to the stroke),smooth could do a more circular/curved even surface,increasing the depth where is lower and decreasing where is bigger,but there is the need to sample(and act) only to the direction of the stroke you are doing.

Basically is like smoothing an edge loop in a modelling application,the problem is that here we don't have an edge loop,but a voronoi/delaunay like surface that makes really hard controlling the strokes you are doing have the same depth(voxel mode works better for this kind of things as it's more uniform)

[digman]

I agreed the smoothing surface mode routine needs some adjustment and optimizing. Another problem is the tiny bumps that surface mode smoothing (Regular and TSmooth) create. They can be seen very easy using a metal shader. Smoothing edges will produce the tiny pole like bumps also and you can not smooth them out. Pinching the ridge will do it but that is a workaround.

It appears that the mesh is not relaxing completely as you smooth so tiny areas keep a small amount of tension though I'm guessing at the root cause.

Voxel smoothing is cleaner and I would think it might be harder to optimize the surface mode mesh as it is not uniform as voxels are. Andrew and Raul are very good at what they do, so I think we will get better surface mode smoothing.

[herve_bis]

+1.2

[AbnRanger]

I agreed the smoothing surface mode routine needs some adjustment and optimizing. Another problem is the tiny bumps that surface mode smoothing (Regular and TSmooth) create. They can be seen very easy using a metal shader. Smoothing edges will produce the tiny pole like bumps also and you can not smooth them out. Pinching the ridge will do it but that is a workaround.

It appears that the mesh is not relaxing completely as you smooth so tiny areas keep a small amount of tension though I'm guessing at the root cause.

Voxel smoothing is cleaner and I would think it might be harder to optimize the surface mode mesh as it is not uniform as voxels are. Andrew and Raul are very good at what they do, so I think we will get better surface mode smoothing.

This is why I hope Andrew and Raul don't just turn their focus to doing everything in Surface mode. I really hope Voxel Subcells wasn't just an idea. I think it is absolutely essential for the user to be able to work in both modes, and especially when using LiveClay. One needs to be able to return to Voxels to do what it does best. I sometimes like to use the Pinch tool in Voxels instead of Surface mode. Plus, voxels are more flexible, and forgiving.overall.

[The Candy-floss Kid]

Yep what AbRanger says

One needs to be able to return to Voxels to do what it does best.

I tend to think of surface mode as a speedier sculpting addition to standard voxel mode i.e giving you kinds of brush responses not available in standard voxel mode but after using I always press the enter key.

Surface mode in my experience tends to smooth better at low resolutions and I have found that smoothing a lower resolution mesh and eliminating potential problem areas such as poles/spikes/ bunching polys with the "w" key depressed before upping the resolution can help.

But yes

I think it could be improved

+1

[digman]

This is why I hope Andrew and Raul don't just turn their focus to doing everything in Surface mode. I really hope Voxel Subcells wasn't just and idea. I think it is absolutely essential for the user to be able to work in both modes, and especially when using LiveClay. One needs to be able to return to Voxels to do what it does best. I sometimes like to use the Pinch tool in Voxels instead of Surface mode. Plus, voxels are more flexible, and forgiving.overall.

I'm in agreement there AbrRanger but we all ask for things to be improved if we see a problem area. Renderdemon, had a problem, I was adding that the general smoothing routine could be part of the issue.

I hope my statements do not come across as a surface mode vs voxels mode war. That is not my intent, I'm simply addressing a problem. I have been enjoying surface mode but it does not mean that voxels take a back seat.

@ Candy-floss Kid

Yes, I do most of my smoothing at lower resolutions but even there you get some bumps and increasing as the resolution goes up. Raul, in response to another post, said he hope sometime in the near future he would find some time to work on this smoothing issue.

[Carlosan]

+1