How to add more detail curves on spline extrude. 3ds Max

Stu2Prof

Hi guys
I am used to adding more curve points on splines in Maya before extruding to help focus the poly count towards certain corners and areas. I would like to the same in 3ds max however after using the normalise spline modifier, collapsing the stack and fusing unwanted vertexes together the end extruded wasn't pretty. Is there a better way of doing this or should I just extrude at a high poly count and delete polys afterwards?

Joost

Try a loft compound object or a sweep modifier. Or change the spline interpolation settings.

Stu2Prof

Thanks Joost that has helped a lot. I notice however that on certain angles I am getting some messy areas due to possibly the ratio of the size of my shape to the angle of the curve.

How should I best avoid this in the future? I notice in the roadway example given on the loft compound object page there is a significant bend in the object but the polygons and textures remain undistorted and even. Would love to try out a project like this in the near future. http://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/3DSMax/images/GUID-A7002EE4-309B-4AD6-B4AD-FD2BE02BACFA.png

Joost

check the optimize option under interpolation to prevent the spline from creating more geometry than necessary. I'm not sure how to fix that unfortunately, I think it might be a problem with max itself. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

Stu2Prof

Thanks for your help so far Joost!

Stu2Prof

As an additional I have noticed a difference in my polygon results with the loft tool when I switch between the Mesh and Patch Output methods. Would you happen to know what this means and if there is a preferred format to choose? I ask because the patch option significantly improves the look of the mesh

pixaeiro

The Patch option creates a Patch Mesh type of object: Editable Patch.
A Patch Mesh is a concept similar to Bezier Splines for surfaces.