The Fine approximation method is a curvature-dependent approximation based on subdivisions by length. It uses a subset of the other approximation types’ parameters. Rather than using the minimum possible number of triangles to achieve the desired quality of approximation, Fine approximation can use a large number of triangles to create extremely detailed approximation, without consuming excessive amounts of memory.
It does so by splitting approximated objects in to smaller “sets” that are tessellated individually, and thus do not have the same memory requirements as the entire object.
You can control fine approximation using a Length setting, which is similar to the Length setting for LDA approximation. Triangles are subdivided until they are smaller than the Length value.
• If View Dependent is on, Length is calculated in raster space, and edges that exceed the Length value, as a fraction of a pixel diagonal, are subdivided until all edges are shorter than the Length value, or until the Max subdivision level (specified in the Subdivision Limit parameters) is reached.
• If View Dependent is off, Length is calculated in object space, and edges that exceed the Length value in Softimage units are subdivided until all edges are shorter than the Length value, or until the Max subdivision level (specified in the Subdivision Limit parameters) is reached.
The Sharpness% option controls whether triangles generated by fine approximation use interpolated or geometric normals.
• When the Sharpness% value is set to 0, triangles generated by fine approximation use interpolated normals, producing a smooth, rounded look.
• When the Sharpness% value is set to 100, triangles generated by fine approximation use geometric normals, producing a crisp, faceted look.
• Setting Sharpness% to values between 0 and 100 interpolates between the completely smooth look that you get when Sharpness% is set to 0 and the completely faceted look you get when it’s set to 100. For example, a value of 50 results in a half-smooth/half-faceted look.
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5