how to keep Smooth mode from making ripples?

Question

The smooth shading mode is nice, but often times it seems to leave ugly marks where edges are. it doesn't do that between every face, but it does for some faces. I tried flipping normals but all that does is make it lighter or darker, but doesn't actually smooth it out. I tried making all the faces merged, but that didn't help.

enter image description here

Have you tried recalculating the normals? (Tab > Edit mode > A > Select all > Ctrl+N > recalculate normals) — gandalf3, Apr 04 '14 at 00:57
that only addresses whether the outer edges are rounded or not. on the model I was referring to the texturing on the side — ZCoder, Apr 04 '14 at 01:35
I know, but it's affected by the subserf modifier which I suspect you have on your mesh. If add supporting geometry it will also help with the shading. — gandalf3, Apr 04 '14 at 01:36
I don't want sharp edges I want the faces to appear smooth. I can see how it would be a common problem to be concerned about the edges being blurred but that was not what was asked. — ZCoder, Apr 05 '14 at 04:36

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 10 '20 at 12:57

2

You need to add an edge split modifier to make the mesh look right.

Method 1 - modifier

Select Mesh
Add Edge Split modifier

Method 2 - specify shading

Another method you can use it a bit more manual and not a one click solution but it will work just as well in this case.

Select the mesh and go into edit mode.
Select the top polygons that make up the flat surface
Set their shading to flat in the tool panel on the left (t)

enter image description here

edited Jun 10 '20 at 12:57

Community

1

answered Apr 04 '14 at 01:21

Vader

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you can also do this by adding edge loops this will help a bit – Vader Apr 04 '14 at 01:25

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '14 at 01:44

The reason this is shaded oddly is because you have connected faces with very different normals. The reason it looks "wavy" is because (I suspect) you have a subserf modifier on the mesh.

You have two options to fix this while keeping smooth shading on all faces:

Disconnect the faces (edge split).
Add more faces in between to make the normals more consistent (supporting geometry).

From left to right: Normal cylinder, subsurfed cylinder, subserfed cylinder with supporting geometry.

enter image description here

how to keep Smooth mode from making ripples?

2 Answers2

Method 1 - modifier

Method 2 - specify shading