Flat v. smooth shading

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

A lot it actually IS a vertex by vertex procedure. You can select multiple vertices/normals though, copy/paste values and average values. It's not possible (at least not in 3ds max 2013) to select loops or rings. So it's far from perfect.

This is the modifier:

It often needs a bit of set up, since the copy paste function needs a reference of course. So for the object in question, I link a box to the object, with sharp edges so it has orthogonal normals. then I select one of the normals of the box, for example facing in the positive X direction, copy the value, select all faces on the object facing in the positive X direction and paste the value. So for this object it's 6 times copying a value, 6 times pasting, for the total of 42 vertices.

Rotating by hand is possible, but so counterintuitive I don't do it often.