Well, I guess 3-line bevels are a good compromise; not very expensive and they do look much better without a normal map. So noted.chuck_starchaser wrote: I was afraid this is what you meant. A solid bevel is only three lines, versus two for a dumb bevel; not a huge expense. I only use quad-line bevels (manual, 3-line solid bevel, plus, then, standard beveling applied to the center line) for bevels that are very exposed and need to look perfect.
I had thought you meant the unusual planar multi line bevels you describe on the VS wiki.
When you say too much stress are you referring to only the resolution limitation of the normal map or something else as well? Just curious.What you are doing, I gather, is using a standard (dumb) two-line bevel, and relying on normalmap correction to make it look good. IMO, that's putting too much stress on the corrective normalmap, and it's not warranted, in addition to the problem that...
Just select certain faces and W > Subdivide. Admittedly this is a bit of a hack, the more numerous and prominent curvy areas are on a mesh, the more compromises you'd have to make.And how would you apply simple subdivision in one place but not another?
Anyways, didn't mean to derail this thread.