Creating a smooth surface form many connected units
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I am a journeyman in SketchUp, i can build things that are recognizable, but what i need to do is smooth a surface so that when i render it it doesnt show up as different triangles shaded, but as a continuous curve
case in point:
I am a Trek fan, so i have designed my own ship, i have built it, now i need to texture it, before i a get there i want to smooth the surface so that i can get something like this
(This is not mine, but comes from BorgMan of SCN - http://www.subspace-comms.net/index.php?topic=2007.25)
instead of this
(this is one of my old ones)
also, any recommendations on how to build the detail objects?
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Hi Ozzymandeus and welcome.
As an exmple image from SU, images with lines are better to show because than we can see more details of the model itself.
Anyway, you probably know that selecting the geometry you want to smooth > right clicking > Soften edges will pop up the smooth/Soften dialogue where you can slide the softness of the surface. Make sure not to "hide" them but soften them.Another way is with the Ctrl+Eraser tool to soften individual edges. (Shift+Eraer will only hide them)
However an edge that is shared by more than 2 face(t)s cannot be softened and this might be the case with your second image as far as I can see. There seem to be other faces connecting to the surface from underneath. Unless you delete them, you cannot get a smooth surface.
Also, you can always turn on hidden geometry to be able to work with hidden/softened geometry.
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If what gai mentioned doesnt yield satisfactory results your only option is to redo the model but with more triangles, although thats usually really tedious so only do it if you really need to.
If youve got a bit of cash to spare it might also be worth checking out the subd and smooth plugin, i reckon itd be pretty useful for the sort of things youve shown already, and its very good at getting smooth surfaces.
subd and smooth: http://www.smustard.com/script/SubdivideAndSmooth
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