I'm having a bit of trouble with something in blender and was hoping someone can help me. On the above image you'll see the shading (gray to black) on the object towards the middle of the display. What causes this shading, and how do I get rid of it? All help appreciated.
Looks like inverted normals maybe? If it is then : In edit mode select all > Ctrl-n > recalculate normals outside should fix it.
The way Blender shades polygons for the 3D effect can sometimes be a bit strange, I think, so it may be nothing to do with the model. It often seems to over-emphasize very slight changes in angle between faces.
Thanks guys. It's not the normals. I've tired those. Part of the problem is it's making parts of my model hard to see and work with within blender.
Try adding extra edge loops close to points where there is a sharp angle. This works best if you do it on both sides of the sharp edge. e.g. add an edge loop on the round parts of the cylinder very close to the end, and on the end face of the cylinder close to the outside. You'll probably find you need to do this on both ends and on the hole in the end as well. You could also try using the edge split modifier if you don't want to add extra geometry. Regards, Ian.
Or, it looks like you have used 'set smooth' on those parts and not the others, try changing it to 'set solid'