Need help smoothing faceted models

[monson67]

I'm rather new to 3D modeling, so admittedly, there's a lot I don't understand about it. So please bear that in mind.

I purchased a model off of TurboSquid that showed smooth, high-quality renderings (see 1.jpg). So naturally, I assumed I would get the same result. When I brought the model into KeyShot though, it was not at all what I was expecting. The imported model is faceted and not-at-all acceptable for what I need (see 2.jpg).

The model's page on TurboSquid showed images of two different poly-count meshes (high-poly.jpg and low-poly.jpg). And at first, I thought the faceting was because the model provided was a low-poly version of what was shown (which it was). But I'm guessing I would still see facets (albeit smaller) even if the model provided was a higher poly count, right?

In trying to figure this out, I'm learning that modeling software can apply smoothing algorithms that KeyShot is able to interpret. Is this accurate? And is this the same thing as subdivision (or sub-d)? If any of this is correct, can someone guide me in how to accurately smooth this model in either KeyShot or Rhino 3D?

I'm running the latest version of KeyShot on macOS Sierra 10.12.3. I am also running Rhino 3D on Windows 7.

[monson67]

I'm attaching a closeup of the faceted model in case 2.jpg didn't show enough detail.

[mattjgerard]

I've seen this with models being kicked over from 3dstudio max and Cinema4D. In those apps, there is live Phong shading and texture trickery that hides and smoothes those faces together. I'm not sure how that works in KS, so I'll be following this thread closely to hear any solutions.

[richardfunnell]

It looks like the cause here is surface/edge normals , not necessarily bad or too low quality mesh.

If you have KeyShot Pro, you can try using the Geometry Editor to smooth the normals on your mesh.
-Right-click on the part you want to edit, then select "Edit Geometry" from the menu (second from the bottom).
-Hit continue when you get a warning about editing geometry, since you probably won't be updating this model.
- Select "Edit Normals" as your Editor Mode, then hit the "Calculate Vertex Normals" button. If it looks fine, hit "Done" and your model should be smooth.
- If it still doesn't look good , you may need to decrease the Minimum Edge angle. Try smaller values and re-calculate the surface normals until you're happy.

Your other option would be to smooth the model using a 3D modeling package like Modo or Blender, so I'm hoping this will help.

Additionally, you can always reach out to the support team at Turbosquid that can export different file types.

[monson67]

If you have KeyShot Pro, you can try using the Geometry Editor to smooth the normals on your mesh.

It looks like that's exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks Richard!

[richardfunnell]

Awesome, happy to help!