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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain
@oddenough.art
3.2K followers 960 following 2.6K posts
Freelance Hard Surface 3D Artist | "Internet N-Gon Guy", "Weird Geo Whisperer". I love helping people, problem solving and learning. Autistic, Mentor, Audiophile | 🚫 AI | linktr.ee/odd_enough Topics: #ngons #scans #autism #photography #descent
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 7h
😁 it's ok we've all been there
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 7h
In low poly, absolutely. But in subdiv, as long as the other program is using catmul-clark subdiv (most do now), it'll subdivide the same way. But yeah the triangulation edge turn issue also affects non-planar quads:
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 7h
Yes, absolutely. It's all over the map and I just implore people to use their brains and problem solve. 🤷‍♂️
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 8h
All of the common things you hear about them in subdiv:
- Only on flat surfaces
- Doesn't work on curved surfaces
- Doesn't work on deforming surfaces
- Produces bad topology
- Produces bad shading

All completely false.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 8h
So here's the thing. Ngons shouldn't be in the final exported low poly. I can't really think of an instance where not triangulating them has any advantage.

HOWEVER, ngons in high poly gamedev models are 100% ok and even encouraged in most cases.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 10h
Mostly for awareness. It's like THE topic with the most misinformation associated with it in all of 3D.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
I imagine you could try to do a normal->height conversion, but maybe they'll add that in the future 🤷‍♂️
oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
I just went and tested because I hadn't tried that yet. Does not not appear to bake in height data.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
If you want to know more about the baking process and vector tools used for this asset, you can read up on it in my previous threads. No high poly models used in either post.

Baking: bsky.app/profile/odde...
Vectors: bsky.app/profile/odde...
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
Just like any project, it’s important to pre-plan where you intend to use the bevel shader and vectors. Knowing when to use separate meshes and materials will help save you time when you go to bake and texture. 5/5
Completion time: 6 days
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
The large gears use the bevel shader on a booleaned mesh, but since the small gears have shallow teeth, I decided to use my trusty radial vectors. I also tapered the ends slightly to show how you can emulate the valleys in the teeth. 4/5
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
The bolts use the same texture as the housing, but I used a different material to control their bevel widths with their own vertex mask (shown in the previous post). To make sure they don’t look fused to the housing surface, I enabled Bevel Same Surface Only. 3/5
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
Since the housing has varying edge widths, I used a vertex color mask to define those widths. I set the model to 100% red, then defined which edges should be smaller by using lower red values. Vertex masks grant you finer control while using only 1 material. 2/5
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 2d
For the latest thread in my Part Modeling series, I wanted to show off the combined effect of Low to Low baking with the bevel shader and vector layers in @marmoset3d.bsky.social Toolbag 5, this time on a more complex model. I really pushed the bevel shader on this one! 1/5
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Yeah I'm happy with it considering I didn't need to make a high poly. Saves me a ton of time!
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Haha yep. I mean I haven't used substance in years though either. Honestly just happy using marmoset for my texturing needs. Was a great step on my way to being Adobe-free.
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Reposted by Jordan Cain
joewilsoneq.bsky.social
Joe Wilson @joewilsoneq.bsky.social · 5d
Hello my name is Earl and I like to knurl. I'm also into burl.
oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Then moving onto the knurling! This is the really fun part. I used to hate modeling knurling, and static alphas were too limiting. Here, I used a simple line with a bevel and tapered ends, and set the radial count to control size. It’s both fun AND you have so much control.
5/10
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
That's it, you're sending me into a whirl.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
If you keep this up, I'm gonna hurl.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Ah, almost the same one. The button on mine is orange.
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Hah! Yup, the same exact one 😂
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
If you want to know more about the baking process used for this asset, you can read up on it in my previous thread: bsky.app/profile/odde...
Jordan Cain (@oddenough.art)
I thought I’d share how I’m using the new Low to Low baking mode and bevel shader in @marmoset3d.bsky.social Toolbag 5. The bevel shader does more than just smooth out edges, it also blends surfaces…
bsky.app
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
And here’s the final render animation. I hope this thread helped to shed some light on this workflow 😉

Total time to make this asset including modeling, unwrapping, bake, vector details, texture, and scene setup: 6 hours
10/10 Can recommend 😁
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
Vector layers respond to sync points, so they can be used in the texture process just like baked detail. Here, I’m using the curvature data from the sync point to drive the edge wear mask.
9/10
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oddenough.art
Jordan Cain @oddenough.art · 5d
For my last trick, I want to add some non-radial grippy detail to the button. I’ll need a grid-like pattern, so I’m going to use the Decal mode of the vector layer. I can draw simple lines snapped to the grid, change the bump, and increase width of the lines.

Boom, done. 8/10
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