Expert: Andre Hickman - 3/14/2007

Question
oh, sorry! I'm using 3ds max 9. I've tried making a few dummy models to see if I could figure out what's wrong with the arms, but I couldn't get any of them to smooth correctly (or the legs, for that matter). I really can't think what might be wrong with them- I extrude a couple faces, subdivide, and move the verts around manually. I don't use torsion or bend, just rotate, so all of the curves should be fairly regular...
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
ok... so having a bit of a problem. I started making a human model, finishing the torso and arms. I was going to smooth it out to see how it'll look, but only the torso smoothed. I checked the arms and couldn't find and tris or n-polys, so I'm kind of at a loss for why it refuses to smooth. I can send you pictures or the actual file, whichever you want. Thanks alot!
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Hey Ben, I am a 3D max man.  I am on 3D Max version 4.  Pictures are not going to help me, but I do know what you are referring to.  If it is 3D max or some file that is compatible, you can send me the file itself to andre@andrehickman.com and I'll take a look at it.  Make sure that it is a compatible file type and version for me to open.  If it is not 3D Max, or Autodesk Viz, or compatible, then I'm sorry, but I can't help at this time.

At any rate, let me know what software it is, and I will do my best to work out a solution for you.

Answer
I bet you started with a cylinder or some other primitive that already had curvature.  What happens is the rest of it maintains it's built in smoothness, but the extruded parts don't know what shape to take on, so they extrude to straight lines. The "smoothing" groups still don't make the greatest sense to me now, but I have to admit that I really haven't studied them all that much.

Instead of subdividing, using the regular smooth modifier and all that, try to use the "meshsmooth" modifier.  There you can change the number of iterations that the mesh is subdivided and smoothed.   That should do the trick!  If that is what you were already doing, (uh ohhhh!) let me know, and I'll figure another work around.

Cheers.
Andre