Smoothing CAD polygons

[Brian Jones]

hard to say without seeing it (the file). Perhaps the file could have been output differently but some things you can’t do much with. You might be able to join the pieces inside your object in C4D then optimize a bit before trying to smooth but that’s hard to tell without seeing the file. It doesn’t look hopeless just by the image but that’s not enough info.
What was the original format (before you opened it in the open source)?

[James Mcnelly]

Hey, it was an .stp file which I managed to open in ‘FREECAD’. I was then able to export it to an .stl file.

I found this thread, but it still didn’t really help 🙁

https://www.cheetah3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59

Thanks!

[Phil Leide]

I am having similar problems with some OBJ files I am importing to render. Same idea – originally from CAD, converted to OBJ.

The workflow that I’ve found that works best for me right now is this:
1) Import OBJ
2) Reverse Normals
3) Optimize, with the tolerance set to 0
4) Apply textures
5) Set Phong to 5 degrees
6) Test render

This fixes most of the issues major banding issues, but sometimes it causes weird marks on flat surfaces elsewhere in the model. If it does that, sometimes playing with the Phong settings helps.

I’ve yet to find something that works 100% of the time. If you find anything else that helps, feel free to share.

[James Mcnelly]

When I import the .obj into C4D I only have 3 options, should ‘reverse normals’ be in there too?
Would you mind pointing me in the direction of ‘optimize’ too please?

Thanks!

[Phil Leide]

They are both in the “Mesh” menu after the object is imported.

Mesh -> Normals -> Reverse Normals
Mesh -> Commands -> Optimize

When you use Optimize, there is a small box to the right of the menu. Click on it to bring up the options and change tolerance to 0.

[James Mcnelly]

ah cool, thanks so much!