Average Normals - Normal Weight

[robcat2075]

Surface Properties have two rarely noticed options:

 

Average Normals, which when ON enables...
Normal Weight 0% -100%

 

This seems to control how the surface normal is interpolated from one spline to the next across a patch which affects shading and reflection results.

 

Notice the difference in reflections and specular highlights in these three images.

 

From left to right... Normal Weight 0%, 50 %, 100%

OFF and 0% is the A:M default but ON and 50% is the result most like the intended spline shape and will give you smoothest results for most models.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

If I'm not mistaken,the long ago "Porcelain" material (so named by Hash since it reduced creases in face models thus supposedly giving them the look of porcelain dolls) set normal weights at 100%?

[robcat2075]

The porcelain had a parameter but i don't think the numbers corresponded exactly with this one.

 

50% gets the smoothest patches in this scheme.

 

This is an overhead view of a 4-spline dome...

 

[strato]

Porcelain works really good in Version 12 and allows a smooth render for 3 point and 5 point patches at 100%. It changed in V 13 with the model format change. From V13 on 50% of Porcelain, like the Average Normals option at 50%, produces the smoothest surface in my experience, but not as good as V12.