Implement a new Vertex Normal modifier (Weighted Normals, Merge, Transfer)

[markus]

Implement a modifier in 3dsmax similar to this Blender Addon! 

https://github.com/fedackb/yavne

3dsmax does not have built in support for weighted normals. There is a free max script, but you have to manually press calculate each time to get the result. Maya has this built in so I believe you can see the results in realtime while modeling (I've seen it somewhere, but I don't have first-hand experience with Maya).

One way to implement this could be a modifier so you could put it on top of your stack and see the result while you work by enabling show end result.

The Blender add-on above also has some other neat features, take a look.

[companioncube]

something like this would be great http://dev.wallworm.com/topic/68/normal_tools.html but some of the other things that OP mention. now that Max interactive is available the dev team need to bring normal editing tools and RtT up to date. 

[pokoy]

Max has a pretty poor way to calculate vertex normals for its smoothing groups, resulting in visible shading artifacts on faces. There are scripts out there that offer alternative normal calculation methods, such as the Weighted Normals script, see here for more info:

http://www.bytehazard.com/articles/vertnorm.html

https://github.com/ByteHazard/wnormals

Here'a good image showing why weighted normals are way better at representing the surface than the legacy way in Max:

https://github.com/ByteHazard/wnormals/blob/master/wnormals.png?raw=true

I guess all users will benefit from this, please consider adding this in Max as a native feature.

[Anonymous]

 This would be great, Maya does this by default and it's such a blessing, i will still use scripts to tweak the outcome here and there.
But i agree, Max is falling behind in the current angle and area weighted normals standards. 

[michael_spaw]

Agreed this is well overdue, and we've been talking about it on the dev team.

Thanks fro bringing it up.

[Anonymous]

The funny thing is that this already exists as an option in the Chamfer mod: Output options>smooth chamfers only>smooth to adjacent. This outputs perfect FWVN but, unfortunately, once you collapse to EP or export, the Normals break.

[Anonymous]

This is totally overdue. 3dsmax vertex normal editor really need an overhaul.

The Yavne tool mentioned above are good example of how a good vertex normal tool editor, also check Modo Normal Toolkit that thing was perfect.

Also the point Musashidan77 mention are a good one, not sure if it's a bug in edit poly/editable poly converter. but sometimes it doesn't conserve previous normal setting when converting.

[Anonymous]

can't find a way to edit my comment, so another request for edit normal modifier improvement

- Improve the normal selection. please make it behave the same way as poly select modifier when selecting the normal on face mode, also it would be great if that selection mode can work with other selection function (Grow, shrink, loop, Select Similar, Loop, Ring etc).

Or if there's a built it function to convert poly selection to normal selection.

[studioG433M]

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-forum/vertex-normal-toolkit/td-p/8538775

Requires some setup but results are good enough 🙂

[Kranos_Orphydian]

how is Max standing in comparison with Blender when comes to editing normals ? I see Blender have at least 3 modifiers for that stuff. It has also data transfer modifier where you can transfer  even the normals from one object to another. Very good for fixing the normals after booleans or to shrinkwrap seamlessly an object onto the surface of another object.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFz5gzvM9s&list=PLQNQhKSZqiJbyrxji1Rl4LMvFw9p_VgfJ&index=6&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMrstrCkNuY&list=PLQNQhKSZqiJbyrxji1Rl4LMvFw9p_VgfJ&index=3&t=241s

[shawnolson]

There is now a Weighted Normals Modifier in 3ds Max 2021.

[pokoy]

IMO only a part of the original request is implemented.

3ds max still lacks a powerful and convenient toolset for modifying and transferring or projecting normals. The Edit Normals modifier is decades old and far from being a sufficient solution.

The newly available Weighted Normals modifier does not reliably fix all the problems so if possible, please split the thread and fork out the part of the request that has not been implemented yet. Thank you!

[shawnolson]

Fair enough. I certainly see the value in the Merge function in that link.

[Kranos_Orphydian]

so can you keep this idea open ? or separate it in two while keeping the votes ?

[shawnolson]

I've changed this to future consideration as you are correct that this is not fully implemented. Apologies for the mistake.

[pokoy]

Thank you!

[markus]

@shawnolson @brentscannell Nice work on the new Weigted Normals Modifier. Congrats to the team! 3dsmax 2021 looks like a nice release overall!

[shawnolson]

@markus Thank you for the kind remarks. The real kudos go to the actual developers and the modeling team. I'll make sure they see this.

[studioG433M]

To fix any vertex normals issues and errors please consider this script:

https://gumroad.com/l/VertexNormalToolkit

Maybe it will sound not so humble ( sorry for that 🙂 ) , but I didn't find any mesh which was too complex or so strange to not to be able to get perfect or near perfect vertex normals alignment.