There needs to be more straigtforward, plain-spoken, clearly explained information like this out there on important CG concepts. Excellent video, Passive Agressor.
I know this video is 6-7 years old at this point but I wanted to say thank you for making and thank you for leaving it up. I was only here for the copy/paste bit (that's how I searched for the video) but I'll never say no to a concise review of the basics.
As someone who's transitioning from 3DS Max to Maya this was extremely useful. I haven't found such a concise explanation of how vertex normals work anywhere else online and that includes paid sites like Lynda and PluralSight. Thank you very much!
This excellent tutorial characterizes the exceptional distinction between the average novice video tutorial and someone who has actual "teaching ability". Succinct, bite size description made with concrete clarity. Well done and thank you for this tutorial.
Thank you so much for explaining and demonstrating the Vertex Normals. The Copy and Paste Vertex Normals is something I've been looking for and I'm glad I've came across this video! You're a legend!
This might be 5 years later, but this is a fantastic explanation. I had a really good idea what Vertex Normal did, but this video leaves me no unknowns left.
@@ThePassiveAggressor Lol, 1 year later after my last comment and this is first time I actually need to manually adjust some vertex normals. I needed a copy paste script and ended back here again through Google Search!
While I'm familiar with this subject, congrats on explaining it so well, progressively and clearly - I now know which support teaching video I'll suggest to my co-workers who're new to modeling. Thumbs up!
I just cant thank u enough .. mr. this video is the video of the year for me .. the video that benefitted me more than anytthing I have seen in 2016 god bless u
I came from 3ds max and used the Edit Normal modifier to perform this. But I never quite figured out how to do it in its most basic form in Maya - I've been relying on Transfer Attributes to grab normals from one mesh to another, or using migNormalTools. I finally discovered how to manually twizzle a single vertex normal in any random angle I please in Maya. I probably hardly ever will but still very interesting to know after so many years of just hacking it.
Thank you very much for this amazing tutorial!!! It is one of the best I have seen to explain the theory of the normals in depth. Although I have a question: After the 20:00 you are manually editing the normals in order to make the surface appear smooth. Is this manual editing really necessary or are you doing for educational purposes only? Because I never in my career did any manual of specific norrmals. The tools that I am usually using are: Set to Face, Soften and Harden Edge and Average. Looking forward to hearing from you... Thanx again!
Glad you liked it, thanks for the kind words :) Most of the time I'd use the standard options but occasionally you can get better results manually editing normals especially with very low poly stuff
Thank you for this. Much clearer explanation than Maya's documents. Would you know how to fix invalid geometry tangents. I am exporting to a WebAR platform and the exporter says my model has invalid tangents. I have not idea how fix them and how to read the tangents. I can enable in Maya but I don't know what the blue and red tangents mean and where they are supposed to face.
@@ThePassiveAggressor Thanks I have tried all that. Clean up tool does not do much either. I have worked out its linked to your UV's this purchased model I preparing had really bad UV's. I redid them and now the tangent error is gone except when I attach it to a single joint to create a grow from nothing type of animation.
Super helpful, thank you! This'll help me add that extra level of polish to the project I'm working on. Also, what's the music that was playing in the background? I dig it.
Fantastic tutorial !! Would you recommend locking normals after unlocking them e.g. before UVing/texturing and are there any side-effects from locking them back as I had read? Thank you!
That's strange, the only thing I can think of is it might be drawing them very small. Try the custom polygon display settings (under display->polygons) and increase normal size
Cool! But why autodesk never did a simple tool to constraint shared vertex normal to the average face one, by face selection. This would be so convenient. I see that they are using weighted vertex normal now, which is nice, but still... tjhis basic tool is missing (soften/hard edge doesn't do the same job BTW)
Is it possible to bake from high poly mesh, to a low poly mesh which has weighted normals or custom normals in general? In Blender you only have averaged normals obviously. You can modify the normals it self but it seems that the bake tool of blender recalculates normals in the averaged fashion no matter what the actual vertex normals are ... It is curious and actually i try to find out if it is a general problem with baked normals or just a missing feature in Blender ...
Its theoretically possible but I haven't seen a way to do it in Blender. This kind of vertex normal editing isn't in Blender but there is a plugin that does it called blend4web
I'm a little out of touch with Maya these days, you might be able to use Transfer Attributes. (see community.foundry.com/discuss/topic/74343/from-a-maya-user-transfer-vertex-normals-low-poly-foliage)
I did not understand the real usefulness of doing this. If it is in a simple object, even the to do, but if it is a big model, this becomes a tiring and difficult service!
There needs to be more straigtforward, plain-spoken, clearly explained information like this out there on important CG concepts.
Excellent video, Passive Agressor.
+MikeyDeformed Thanks for the kind words, glad it helped :)
I know this video is 6-7 years old at this point but I wanted to say thank you for making and thank you for leaving it up. I was only here for the copy/paste bit (that's how I searched for the video) but I'll never say no to a concise review of the basics.
Your very welcome. I'm glad you found it useful :)
As someone who's transitioning from 3DS Max to Maya this was extremely useful. I haven't found such a concise explanation of how vertex normals work anywhere else online and that includes paid sites like Lynda and PluralSight. Thank you very much!
Your very welcome, glad it was helpful :)
This excellent tutorial characterizes the exceptional distinction between the average novice video tutorial and someone who has actual "teaching ability". Succinct, bite size description made with concrete clarity. Well done and thank you for this tutorial.
Thanks very much, Comments like these let me know its worth me doing more.
Thank you so much for explaining and demonstrating the Vertex Normals.
The Copy and Paste Vertex Normals is something I've been looking for and I'm glad I've came across this video!
You're a legend!
Thank you for the nice comment, I'm very glad you found it helpful :)
This is an excellent overview for coming over from 3ds max where they use smoothing groups.
This might be 5 years later, but this is a fantastic explanation. I had a really good idea what Vertex Normal did, but this video leaves me no unknowns left.
great! so glad you found it helpful :)
@@ThePassiveAggressor Lol, 1 year later after my last comment and this is first time I actually need to manually adjust some vertex normals. I needed a copy paste script and ended back here again through Google Search!
@@Cakemagic1 Great to know the code is still up :) ta
While I'm familiar with this subject, congrats on explaining it so well, progressively and clearly - I now know which support teaching video I'll suggest to my co-workers who're new to modeling. Thumbs up!
+Frederic Dubanel Thanks very much Frederic, I appreciate the feedback, hope it help your co-workers :)
Still totally relevant! Excellent explanation, too.
Thank you, glad you liked it :)
I just cant thank u enough ..
mr.
this video is the video of the year for me .. the video that benefitted me more than anytthing I have seen in 2016
god bless u
+Osama Elhadidi You're very welcome, I'm so glad it helped :)
I came from 3ds max and used the Edit Normal modifier to perform this. But I never quite figured out how to do it in its most basic form in Maya - I've been relying on Transfer Attributes to grab normals from one mesh to another, or using migNormalTools.
I finally discovered how to manually twizzle a single vertex normal in any random angle I please in Maya. I probably hardly ever will but still very interesting to know after so many years of just hacking it.
I'm glad these theories have been put into practice in Bifrost
Bifrost? what's that?
It helped a LOT. You deserve a medal sir! Very straightforward explanation. Good job!
Thank you, I'm really glad it helped :)
i have been searching such stuff for months! man, it's just an incredible tutorial!
Thanks for the great feedback, its great to know its been useful.
This is one the best explanation video ive seen on yt. Great job man.
Thanks :)
This video gives me a very strong understanding of this things (vertex/face normal). Now I know what it is. Thanks so much.
That's great to here, glad it helped :)
Best lesson about normals ever seen!!!
Thank you :) very glad you liked it
Thank you very much for this amazing tutorial!!! It is one of the best I have seen to explain the theory of the normals in depth. Although I have a question: After the 20:00 you are manually editing the normals in order to make the surface appear smooth. Is this manual editing really necessary or are you doing for educational purposes only? Because I never in my career did any manual of specific norrmals. The tools that I am usually using are: Set to Face, Soften and Harden Edge and Average. Looking forward to hearing from you... Thanx again!
Glad you liked it, thanks for the kind words :) Most of the time I'd use the standard options but occasionally you can get better results manually editing normals especially with very low poly stuff
Thank You ssssssSOOOOO Much! This was perfect! Perfect explanation! You deserve a medal of Honor for this video!
Thank you!, its comments like this that make me do these tutorials :)
Thank you for this. Much clearer explanation than Maya's documents. Would you know how to fix invalid geometry tangents. I am exporting to a WebAR platform and the exporter says my model has invalid tangents. I have not idea how fix them and how to read the tangents. I can enable in Maya but I don't know what the blue and red tangents mean and where they are supposed to face.
I don't know much about invalid tangents, Check that you don't have invalid geometry. also try the cleanup tool
@@ThePassiveAggressor Thanks I have tried all that. Clean up tool does not do much either. I have worked out its linked to your UV's this purchased model I preparing had really bad UV's. I redid them and now the tangent error is gone except when I attach it to a single joint to create a grow from nothing type of animation.
The best vertex normal tutorial! Thank you.
Thanks very much, I'm glad it helped
Thanks for the video, very informative on how to manually work with vertex normals aside from the automatic tools.
Glad you liked it, thanks :)
Hi. The changes I make to the normals in the simple mesh don't reflect in the smooth mesh preview. Plz help.
It's been a while since I've used Maya but if memory serves this might be because your normals are locked, try "unlock normals"
So many good tips, thank you.I love the mel buttons.
Your most welcome, glad you liked it :)
finally nice explanation about vertex and face normal . ty
Thanks, glad you liked it :)
This is a great explanation! A video I never knew I was looking for :P
Thanks for the kind words, I glad you liked it :)
Super helpful, thank you! This'll help me add that extra level of polish to the project I'm working on. Also, what's the music that was playing in the background? I dig it.
Thanks for the nice comment, glad it was helpful. Sorry cant remember what the music is, it was just some royalty free stuff I found online.
Fantastic tutorial !! Would you recommend locking normals after unlocking them e.g. before UVing/texturing and are there any side-effects from locking them back as I had read? Thank you!
wow!! didnt expect it to be this good
one question what is the use of face normals if all the editing we do is in vertex normal?
When you just want flat shading on a model, it uses the face normals. (where as for smooth shading it uses vertex normals)
got it thanks man
Extremely well explained....Congratulations, superb work ;)
Thank you for the kind comment :)
@@ThePassiveAggressor My pleaure ;)
this is fantastic. thank youuu :D
JermaineATL Your very welcome :)
thanks for the tools, great, efficient, yet thorough, tutorial
Your very welcome :) Its great to know people find it useful.
i use blender and 3ds max this still told me a lot about 3d rendering.
so glad it was helpful :)
I wish you had been one of my professors. I still don't think they have a handle on how this works.
Thanks for the kind words, I think its a topic that often isn't fully explained.
hello so the first script works but the second one i get an // Error: Line 6.1: Syntax error but its the exact same how i typed it
Oh that's very strange... I guess I'd say try copy the RAW paste data and paste it in rather than typing it
sorry for the late responds but i forgot to do a { hahaha i have one more question does this help when u need to bake a high to lowpoly mesh thanks :)
No worries, its easily done. Yes good vertex normal are important for baking normal maps.
Thank you, perfectly explained!
when i click on those buttons i dont see those normal vertex
That's strange, the only thing I can think of is it might be drawing them very small.
Try the custom polygon display settings (under display->polygons) and increase normal size
Very well explained! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Your very welcome, glad you liked it :)
can you update the scripts for maya 2022 or greater please :((
Sadly I can no longer afford the Maya license. but if you post the error I may be able to help.
Thank you
+WishfulSinful1969 Your welcome, I'm very glad people are finding it useful :)
Quite useful indeed.
Cool! But why autodesk never did a simple tool to constraint shared vertex normal to the average face one, by face selection. This would be so convenient. I see that they are using weighted vertex normal now, which is nice, but still... tjhis basic tool is missing (soften/hard edge doesn't do the same job BTW)
Ok actually someone made it:
www.mapcore.org/topic/16292-vertex-normal-script-for-maya/
Thanks Pomperi :3
Very interesting, thanks for the info
Excellent! Very well explained
Your welcome! thanks for the nice comment :)
Oohhh god its so important and so helpful! Thanks dude!!!
your very welcome :)
This was very informative, thank you for uploading it :)
Your very welcome, Its great to know people are finding it helpful :)
Thanks for sharing, it was absolutely useful
Your very welcome :)
This is great! Thanks!
Glad you like it :)
Thank you very much, saved my life
Your very welcome, I'm glad it helped :)
brilliantly explained!!!
why Thank You :)
Great tutorial. Thank You.
Your very welcome, glad it helped :)
Thanks for the video man! God bless you
Cheers :)
Thank you so much ? very usful tutorial woth great explanation!!
Glad you liked it, thanks :)
Fantastic Video, thanks!
Thanks for the kind comment, its good to know its been useful :)
You have a gift! Please make more videos :D
Thanks Varthorn, its great to hear that people find it useful. I shall definitely make more :)
Amazing explanation :)
Thank you, glad you liked it :)
Is it possible to bake from high poly mesh, to a low poly mesh which has weighted normals or custom normals in general? In Blender you only have averaged normals obviously. You can modify the normals it self but it seems that the bake tool of blender recalculates normals in the averaged fashion no matter what the actual vertex normals are ... It is curious and actually i try to find out if it is a general problem with baked normals or just a missing feature in Blender ...
Its theoretically possible but I haven't seen a way to do it in Blender. This kind of vertex normal editing isn't in Blender but there is a plugin that does it called blend4web
@@ThePassiveAggressor So you mean, it is not possible in Blender but for example in Maya?
I'm a little out of touch with Maya these days, you might be able to use Transfer Attributes. (see community.foundry.com/discuss/topic/74343/from-a-maya-user-transfer-vertex-normals-low-poly-foliage)
So useful, thank you :)
+Eoin O'Broin Your very welcome, I'm glad its proven helpful :)
Thank you soooo much!
+rorschachphoenix Your very welcome :)
I did not understand the real usefulness of doing this. If it is in a simple object, even the to do, but if it is a big model, this becomes a tiring and difficult service!
thx :)
your very welcome :)
@@ThePassiveAggressor I like how detailed you explain topics 😍 even I can follow 😉☺️
@@curlyt8198 Thanks Curly, It's great to get good feedback :-)
thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! >0
your very welcome :)
Thank you so much for explaining this is in such a thorough way. I think this may cure my headache.❤🩹
Your very welcome! I'm glad you liked it :)
Fantastic video! Thank you!
Thank you so much !