Auto Soften Edges

The Auto Soften Edges command works in conjunction with the Bevel Preferences dialog.  Open the Bevel Preferences dialog to control the behavior of the Auto Soften Edges feature.

This feature will soften the selected edges in the active context based on the current settings in the Preferences dialog.  It operates similarly to the native Soften Edges feature but the implementation in the Bevel extension allows for quicker and more convenient operation especially if you assign a short-cut key to this command.

An additional setting is provided to control smoothing of bevel borders which can be useful for eliminating shading artefacts.

Operation

1. (Optional) Preselect edges to soften.  You can also select faces and the face-edges will be processed.  If nothing is selected, all edges in the active context will be processed for softening.
2. Click the toolbar icon or select Auto Soften Edges from the Extensions->Bevel menu.
3. The edges will be processed and softened depending on the current settings shown in Bevel Preferences.
   
   

Tips

• The Angle setting controls which edges will be softened based on the angle formed by the faces that are attached to the edge.  To soften all edges, use a large angle (180).  To un-soften all edges, set the angle to 0.
• This feature only works for edges in the active editing context.  It does not work across the boundaries of groups and components. You must first double-click the group or component before you can modify the edges with this feature.
• For faceted shading, disable the 'Smooth Soft Edges' switch.