Uploading the model into sketchfab doesn't seem to work as-is. None of the smoothing settings are being applied, even after enabling the normal map option and uploading the texture. Searching around people are saying that for smoothing to work with Blender models, we'll need to add and apply the Edge Split modifier. Is this the case? I tried using it on 1 section of my model and it does seem to help.
I don't remember Edge Split being mentioned at all in this series (though there was a quiz question related to this) and I don't remember seeing it in the modifier stack in any of the videos. Is this really necessary when exporting to sketchfab?
Hey Jesse, I haven't had to use the edge split modifier at all. Could I look at your file and export settings? You can upload it here: http://pasteall.org/blend/
Thanks for getting back to me. Your mention of "export" got me trying some other things. Loading .blend files directly to sketchfab or using the sketchfab blender exporter doesn’t seem to respect the smoothing. Using .fbx or .obj does however, and that allowed me to get a decent first result: https://sketchfab.com/models/37f40c259af442ce96d264da9aebc5c6
In case you still want to look: http://pasteall.org/blend/index.php?id=48552