{{LEFT}}
Face Normals
Face Normals should point outward to avoid an backface culling errors at render time
How to Check & Change Direction of Face Normals
There are two methods in Maya to check for backfaces
- Turn on Display > Polygons > Backface Culling
- Turn on Display > Polygons > Face Normals
Changing a face’s normal direction is a one step process
- In the Polygons menu set, go to Normals –> Reverse
Video Tutorial
{{RIGHT}
Edge Normals
Edge normals define the softness or crispness of geometry as it transitions from one face to another in the same mesh.
- Here’s an example showing problematic edge normals and corrected edge normals
- Here’s an example when a hard edge has soft normals and must be fixed
How to Correct Incorrect Edge Normals
- Making edges hard that should be soft
>Select required edges and select Normals–>Harden Edge
- Making edges soft that should be hard
>Select required edges and select Normals–>Soften Edge