Hi moi people!

I find that even when I want the clean chamfer look on an object, the sharpness seems unnatural when rendered(even on small elements like screws) and I fillet the edges that result after chamfer as well. In general, I end up filleting every edge I can to have a more real life organic look to it. Do you think this is overkill? Is filleting everything the best option or could it sink a more complex project?

Like in reality, fillet only that only that is really filleting! ;)

Fillet more can just play in really close up images!

Fillets and bevels are nice but they can get heavy I tend to use them a lot but on smaller edge profiles were I can I use the shader to add rounded edges. I use Modo and V-Ray but rounded edge shading is available in other renders.

Pilou and Mark,

Thanks for the input! :D I use Octane standalone these days which also has shader option for rounded edges. I am just slowly building my Object library (using Max Smirnov's amazing UI) and I find myself filleting thumbscrew heads and small scale. And suddenly I got curious if this could add up to a very heavy model if I kitbash a lot...

Hi,

i think it depends on the job. I for example do a lot
of 3D printing for clients at work and often do not
need to much filleting, because the 3D printer does
not produce such sharp edges on the printed models.

For a kit bash library it might be o.k. However once
you export as mesh it may become a bit heavy if
you fillet all details and later don't see it in renderings,
because of lack of close-up's.

And like already mentioned, there are also rounding
edges shaders available for certain DCC apps.

Regards
Stefan

Hi nameless, well definitely having a whole lot of little teeny tiny fillets adds significant data size. One thing that can help with that for mesh exports is to use the "Avoid smaller than" setting during the export. If you put in a distance value there any patches smaller than that size will get meshed with a rougher angle and so be sparser than normal. So try putting in the width of your little fillets and that would help your downstream if things are getting unwieldy.

- Michael

That makes perfect sense Stefan. Thank you for giving me your insights and my sanity :))

Michael:

Thank you for this! It feels good to have the option to reconfigure the exported geometry depending on what you are going for.

And since you came to the rescue once again, I have to say that every time I need a script or added functionality working with MoI, I am a search away from one of your messages with a script or another community resource adding options. I understand that I am just brushing on the surface of the program (although I am quite fast already with many shortcut keys in my muscle memory) and my needs are limited for now. However, it is still amazing how possible it is to configure this gem of a software to be close to one's preferences and add options and functionality at will. It is evident that there is much thought put into it and some choices -although they might seem less conventional at first- prove to make sense and add speed and fluidity to the design process. The name of the software rings so true in this light :)

Hey friends!

I will ask my question here, so that I do not create multiple fillet threads or super necro a dusty thread :))

Sometimes, MoI will not be able to create a fillet, but will produce curves that when used with boolean commands on the original object, can give the fillet that was intended (at least in my noob eyes). Does anyone else do that?

Is there a specific reason why MoI would not go for that operation instead as the best available option to an ideal fillet? Am I committing a geometry crime, just booleaning these weird objects after a fillet fails? :))

Hi nameless yes if the fillet handler was able to build fillet surfaces, but wasn't able to figure out how to trim away pieces of the original object to make space for the fillets, it will generate those surfaces. They're not curves, they're surfaces but they are sunk down into the object so all you see of them are the edges.

And yes it does that so you can have a chance at using them to still finish the model.

Sometimes a boolean may work with them but also sometimes you might need to do some manually trimming.

- Michael

If you have fillets always very rebellious you can try this free one! ;)

(Export files from Moi as Step format, import to Moi as Sat Format as shown following posts )

https://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=6186.51

Michael:

Gotcha. It makes sense :) Thanks for the explanation!

Pilou:

I have this prog available after you posted about it. It's nice to have a back up plan if you hit a dead end. I also found 123D useful, but 1. I am allergic to Autodesk (even if it's free) and 2. EVERYTHING else after using MoI for a while is like swimming in bubble gum. MoI's speed and the design flow you can get is so empowering.

<< bubble gum

or marshmallow! ;)