Stupid Question: What is a hard edge?

[brettdewar1]

Basic question I know....

But what exactly is a hard edge? any help much appreciated.

[Kent1Cooper]

Maybe you can get an idea over in the >Maya Modeling Forum<.  A >Search for "hard edge"< returns nothing in this Forum [except your question], but when opened up to all Forums, returns a lot of topics over there.

[Valentin_CAD]

@brettdewar1 ,

Take look at this link:

• Creasing and hardening edges on a mesh

"The dashed lines indicate edges that are set to display as soft shaded. The solid lines indicate edges that are set to display as hard shaded. The reason some of the edges are hard and some are soft relates to the particular settings for some polygon tools."

[brettdewar1]

thanks for that.

I suppose im asking what is it about an edge that makes it hard or soft?

[chillegass]

Not sure about this either, but I would assume a hard edge would be a defining edge. Maybe something like a defined elevation change or a defined corner.

Just for the record: "There is no such thing as a stupid question, just being stupid for not asking to find the answer." 

Strength IS NOT "knowing everything"; Strength IS "knowing when to ask the questions and where to find the answers"

[j.palmeL29YX]

Maybe we we are talking about edges of meshes, which are not (or only partially) affected by the smooth commands? That means they stay sharp after smoothing. >>Video<<