How to "clear" Hard Edges (Split, Seams...)

hi there,

pretty much, like the title says...

How can I remove the "split" / seam or hard-edge information on an edge?
I´ve found the "Split" tool for edges - when used, the edge is getting light-blue-ish (from white)

I´ve found no tool, sorry -  I think there is a way to do it, but how/where to go?!


And I am not 100% sure, what is what, here

Like there is a "Hard/Soften - selected option" in the visual tools -  what is this exactly?
Is it only the shading in viewport? Will this be exported in obj or dae?

Then, there is the "Split" tool - this one will "mark a seam", right?! Or is this just the
information, that the normals should have it´s own vectors each?

Sorry for beeing a little nooby, but I seem to get also confused by blender-terminology
In blender you can mark an edge "Sharp" or "seam" or "Edgs Split", which is three different things...


Basically, I just want to be able to control, where hard/sharp edges should occur
(and remove this information, also!) 

Cheers!

Hi Onkelpoe, welcome to the forum,

How can I remove the "split" / seam or hard-edge information on an edge?
I´ve found the "Split" tool for edges - when used, the edge is getting light-blue-ish (from white)

I´ve found no tool, sorry -  I think there is a way to do it, but how/where to go?!

There is a difference between "Split" edge and "Hard_edge"

With "Split" edge, that is actually a cut/separation of the edges. The light-blue-ish" color you see is showing "Open edges"(edges that are only on one polygon)). If you go to "Edit > Preference" and look at the "Colors" tab > "Edge colors" you will see the default colors for "Open_Edges" and "Hard_edges", they can be changed if required. To see "Hard_edge" color on the model, you will need to enable that with "View > Object shading > Show Hard edge color"
If you have "Split" edges on a model, you will need to weld them back together.

Like there is a "Hard/Soften - selected option" in the visual tools -  what is this exactly?
Is it only the shading in viewport? Will this be exported in obj or dae?

The "Harden/soften" selection information is exported in both .obj and .dae, however, if .obj is used and then imported into Blender, that information is lost, as Blender does not use the vertex normal information (hard_edge information is contained in the .obj vertex normals). Exporting (Hard_edge) as .dae should be OK if importing into Blender.

Then, there is the "Split" tool - this one will "mark a seam", right?! Or is this just the
information, that the normals should have it´s own vectors each?

As mentioned above, using "Split" on edges/polygons will cut/separate the selection.

Basically, I just want to be able to control, where hard/sharp edges should occur
(and remove this information, also!) 

Use "Harden/Soften selection" then export via .dae(if going to Blender).

If anything unclear, then please just ask.

Hello Steve,

thanks for the welcome, glad to be here

Ok, The Split/Hard edge question and "colorization" is clear now. it works just as I expected it, but was a bit confused at the start.

Now, what will be the fastest/easiest way to weld edges back together?

And 2nd, how to mark a selected edge for "UV seam"? Is this only possible in UV-Editor?

Cheers!

Hello Onkelpoe,

Now, what will be the fastest/easiest way to weld edges back together?

For that, I would say the quickest way would be to use the "Weld Tool" (easiest place to find that is in vertex selection mode > visual tools) select all the vertex you want to weld (or select all the vertex on the model), bring up the "Weld tool", set a "Threshold" (largest distance between vertex that will be welded) and select "Weld to Nearest" (please note: The weld tool will only weld vertex that belong to the same mesh)

And 2nd, how to mark a selected edge for "UV seam"? Is this only possible in UV-Editor?

Directly yes, although you can have "Smooth groups" set and use those to create the seams in the UV editor. There is more information in the help file "Help > Contents > Modeling > Polygon section > Texture UV Mapping" (please be warned/prepared that the UV editing tools can be unpredictable at times. It is an area IStonia(developer) said he would look at when he has time)

Ok, from what I know now, for UV-ing I will fall back to blender (and so for HD sculpting).
Besides Topogun and maybe 3DC it seems to be best, until maybe Nvil-UV will get some
Love 

This was helpful, thanks a lot!

Cheers!