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How do I reset surface normals in 3ds Max?

polycounter lvl 9
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MeshMagnet polycounter lvl 9
I tried using the Edit Normals modifier, but I'm not sure if that is the correct way to reset the surface normals in 3ds Max. Is this correct way?

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  • monster
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    monster polycounter
    Add a Turn To Poly modifier and collapse.
    Since Turn To Poly can be used to modify face topology, it also strips off the edited normals.

    Source 3ds Max Help Doc: http://goo.gl/IDFQZ7
  • pablohotsauce
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    pablohotsauce polycounter lvl 7
    Hmm ... I tried the above Turn to Poly on top of an Editable Poly w/ mismatched face normals, but it didn't unify them, and actually made a mess when collapsing (duplicated the mesh on top of itself?).

    I'm assuming what you want is the Normal modifier's "Unify Normals" function, which makes all faces point the same way (inward or outward). In another part of the 3ds help doc, it says this function doesn't work on Editable Polys, and that you should add a Turn to Mesh modifier on top of the ePoly object, and then on top of that add a Normal modifier, check on "Unify Normals," and then check on "Flip Normals" if you need it.
    http://docs.autodesk.com/3DSMAX/16/ENU/3ds-Max-Help/index.html
  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    adding an edit normals modifier, then going into the normals-subobject mode, marquee-selecting all the (green-colored) normals of your model and pressing reset doesn't do it?
  • cptSwing
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    cptSwing polycounter lvl 11
    ^ Yup that should do the trick - all normals should be colored blue as a result.
  • Xoliul
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    Xoliul polycounter lvl 14
    It's hard to keep the normals custom in Max anyway, so this can't be too hard ;)
  • monster
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    monster polycounter
    pableaux wrote: »
    Hmm ... I tried the above Turn to Poly on top of an Editable Poly w/ mismatched face normals, but it didn't unify them, and actually made a mess when collapsing (duplicated the mesh on top of itself?).

    I'm assuming what you want is the Normal modifier's "Unify Normals" function, which makes all faces point the same way (inward or outward). In another part of the 3ds help doc, it says this function doesn't work on Editable Polys, and that you should add a Turn to Mesh modifier on top of the ePoly object, and then on top of that add a Normal modifier, check on "Unify Normals," and then check on "Flip Normals" if you need it.
    http://docs.autodesk.com/3DSMAX/16/ENU/3ds-Max-Help/index.html

    TurnToPoly won't unify normals or duplicate geometry. It just resets the normals while respecting smoothing groups, and whatever other options you pick. If you had mismatched normals you probably had the double faces as well. Try using Xview to identify problems with your mesh.

    I've been resetting normals with TurnToPoly for years. It works.
  • pablohotsauce
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    pablohotsauce polycounter lvl 7
    @monster: My bad, I misunderstood the OP's question. For whatever reason I assumed he was talking about mismatched face orientations.

    And I didn't realize until just now that all a surface/face normal really is is just an averaged representation of that face's vertex normals, as opposed to being its own independent thing. Never really thought about it before.

    And yeah, the Turn to Poly ends up working perfectly, and yeah, it only made double faces when I had mismatched face orientations to start with.

    I should really stop derailing threads. *backs away slowly*
  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    Xoliul wrote: »
    It's hard to keep the normals custom in Max anyway, so this can't be too hard ;)

    agreed, the hard part is to keep your edited normals despite max doing it's best to destroy your efforts. however, a strategically placed edit normals modifier in the stack proves helpful even then. ;)
  • Eric Chadwick
    fwiw, I put some of the limitations of Max's edited normals here.
    http://wiki.polycount.net/VertexNormal#Editing_Normals_in_3ds_Max

    Just applied those tips again yesterday in fact, to duplicate some assets without killing my custom normals. Why max why?
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