Polygon edges usually appear sharp or creased. To get around this we can use smooth shading. This tutorial explores smooth shading and shows how vertex normals affect the gradient of a polygons face. We also look at how to quickly smooth shade objects with a wide variety of angles by setting angle tolerances.
Andrew Silke is an award winning filmaker and has worked on projects such as Scooby Doo, Happy Feet and Avatar
CONCEPT IN A SOFTWARE PROGRAM
XSI (coming)
Maya (coming)
GLOSSARY
Smooth Shading: shading that gets rid of creases in between Polygons. Can be also called - Gouraud shading (actually pronounced french "goo-roh") - Smooth Groups (3ds Max, Blender) - Phong Shading
Smooth Edge: And edge that's been smoothed so it isn't creased. Other names - Soft Edge - Gouraud shaded
Creased Edge: An edge that doesn't have smooth shading. Can also be called - Hard Edge - Faceted Edge - Flat Shaded
Vertex Normal: A normal (or direction in space) that comes out of a vertex. Depending on its angle it can change the gradient over a polygon, this direction is relative to the light that comes from that angle.
NOW PLAYING: SMOOTH SHADING
ABOUT THIS VIDEO
REQUIRED CONCEPTS
PRESENTER
CONCEPT IN A SOFTWARE PROGRAM
GLOSSARY
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.