I like how you can now just press the Shift key while sculpting to activate smoothing but I noticed that, with the new smoothing brushes that smoothing doesn’t work in the higher sub-D levels and that you have to switch to sub-D level 1 before you really notice any smoothing at all. Smoothing brush in 3.1 always worked well in the highest sub-D. Is this a flaw in 3.5 or am I doing something wrong?
You might try changing your focal shift a bit (say -100) and see if that feels better.
-K
Actually, it is much more like the Old-Old smoothing brush. People complained about the change to the brush in 3.x, as it was overkill for any but the most dense meshes, and the first thing people had to do when opening the program was dial down the intensity.
For how to make the brush more powerful, see the first post in the 3.5 sticky thread at the top of the page.
Even so, yes, super dense meshes are by design, resistant to smoothing, and only fine details will be smoothed. To smooth the largest details, you will have to do this at a lower sub d level.
Ideally, there should probably be two smooth functions accesbile by different key context, a “power smooth” like from 3.1, and the fine smooth from other versions.
Thanks for the advice guys. Turning focal shift down to -100 does help a bit, but it’s not like it was in 3.1 that’s for sure, but that 's not a bad thing. As you had mentioned Scott, I found that I was always turning down Z Intensity all the time anyway with the old Smooth brush. Just slight change in workflow, that’s all. I will get used to it very quickly. Workflow change is expected with app upgrades anyway, and IMO 3.5 is a really nice upgrade. Thanks again.
As mentioned in the first post of the 3.5 sticky thread at the top of the page, you can significantly boost the strength of the smooth brush by adjusting it’s curve.
On the brush pallet, there is a category, “Smooth Brush Modifiers”. The “Stronger” button doubles the smooth effect, which is a bit more ZB3.1-ish.
-K
Good find on the “Stronger” button Kerwin. Definately helps…Thanks!