[3DS Max] Modeling a Low-Poly Flash Hider

Zyth

So I'm working on a project and I've come to the point where I have to model the flash hider low-poly.

How should I go about this?  I’d like to model it “full volume”, without using tricks like a transparency mask on double-sided polys.  It seems to me like you’d be able to get away with this in modern PC games (like the new Doom for example).

What would be the best way to approach this modeling task?  For the high-poly I used Pro Boolean and lots of time consuming mesh cleanup so that the topology was good for subdivision.  With the low-poly it’s my understanding that you have to worry less about topology (tris are fine).  Is there a good way to model this relatively quickly?  I was experimenting with Pro Boolean -> triangulating the mesh -> Optimize but the results weren’t that great.

Dan Powell

- Model it on a flat plane
- Add control edges
- Turbosmooth x1
- Bend 360 degrees
- Weld the open vertices
- Turbosmooth more 

And as Perna's pointed out, don't waste your time modeling every single hole individually. You could model one of those holes, duplicate it 5 times vertically down the length of the cylinder, then copy it 7 times around it.

musashidan

Here's a very old tutorial of mine showing the exact method that Perna and Dan described above.(start at 2 min for the steps) If you used this method from the start you wouldn't need the boolean step. right tool for the job and all that....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhVFg1idUU

Zyth

Hey guys, thanks for all the help!  Just what I was looking for.  

Zyth

Hey guys, back for a little more help.  I've followed your advice and it's really sped things up however I'm having an issue.  Specifically, the shape of the flash hider isn't a cylinder it's conical so when I apply the bend modifier the holes in the hider get more and more deformed the closer to the smaller end they get.  I've been trying to experiment to solve this problem but have been unable to come up with anything.  The only thing I can think of is going back to what I was doing initially using ProBoolean.  Any suggestions?

gfelton

FFD 2x2x2 ?

Zyth

Using an FFD modifier to form the cylinder into a tapered shape or do you mean fixing the deformation from the bend?  Obviously I'm left guessing since your reply was very brief but fixing it with an FFD afterwards seems incredibly difficult given it's shape.

Scruples

I don't have access to any 3d programs right now so I can't demo or test it, but should work, (honestly booleans will be easier).

spacefrog

That's pretty easy to create ( without booleans ) out of a cylinder, and a clever combination of vertex/edge selection, and some other modifiers. Fun part is that as long as you don't change the cylinders segment values you still can tweak it's radius and height and keep everything intact.  Crease strength, shell thickness are adjustable too of course. For perfect quad mesh output, some additional support edges would be required after the chamfer modifier i think... Max 2016 scene is attached

musashidan

@spacefrog I think the issue was more in the skewing of circular detail due to the taper mod at the end.

Sorry, couldn't resist doing this in Zbrush....in 90 seconds(timed)

musashidan

@perna haha! I actually planned for such a request the second I posted this, when I suddenly remembered......"Shite! Didn't perna contribute to this thread?" 

I'll get right on it after work tomorrow, mate. Now is valuable sleeping time lost at the weekend.....

Zyth

Yes please!  What perna said .  90 seconds would be quite the time saver.

Zyth

@perna I was actually planning on doing just that.  It seems like the best solution to getting help.

gfelton

Sorry about that really vague response earlier, that also wasn't a viable solution. I was very tired so at the time it made sense but I just tried it out and thought the results were grody so FFD 2x2x2 is a no go. 

Zyth

gfelton said:

Sorry about that really vague response earlier, that also wasn't a viable solution. I was very tired so at the time it made sense but I just tried it out and thought the results were grody so FFD 2x2x2 is a no go. 

Don't worry about it gfelton.  Any help is appreciated.

spacefrog

musashidan said:

@spacefrog I think the issue was more in the skewing of circular detail due to the taper mod at the end.

This just involves putting a taper modifier right above the cylinder base object ( strange enough this changes some topology so you have to fix some edge/vertex selections on the stack above). To counter the shell modifier extruding the outer shell along the tapered normals then, i simply checked "select outer faces" in the Shell modifier and placed an "Xform" modifier right above. This "Xform" i used to shift the outer shell back again to be aligned with the inner shell - Done.  Took about the same time as writing this post

Cool sideeffect: using the "Curve" tweak option in the taper allows for some  bulged Flash hider
Attached the updated scene

musashidan

@spacefrog Great use of the stack.

musashidan

@perna I can't believe I underestimated Zbrush. I was way off in my estimation....it only took me 71.16 seconds. And I even had time for a mis-click at the end.....

Oh, ye of little faith.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig2WROzB_ho

musashidan

@perna cheers mate. You were my inspiration.

Yes, you can do a 'polygroups all' as opposed to a 'polygroup island'. I forgot to do it when recording but all I needed to do was tap Alt when creating the inside circles which would have changed the polygroup colour. Otherwise if the circles on both sides are the same polygroup colour and I do a 'polygroup all', the Qmesh tool isn't able to collapse the same polygroups to eachother beacause of the normal directions around this curved surface. Flat surface normals, no problem. So yes, simply tapping Alt would have allowed me to achieve it in one click.

musashidan

@perna very nicely done, my man. MCGS in full effect.

Pedro Amorim

Okay fellas, I want a clean fight, no low blows, watch your heads and when I say "break" stop fighting. Understood?

Eric Williams

Ha, you guys crack me up :P Got it down to 75 seconds in Modo on one pass still pretending to type numbers into the numeric fields which are the same from doing it several times.

Justo

N-not that I care or anything, but is that perscript somewhere up, for scientific purposes? 

Justo

The first thing I saw upon clicking that link was SKINORDIE and I had to think twice whether I was currently being trolled by mr. Abrahamsen. Thanks Per, I'll have a look at these scripts. 

monster

@Justo  It's built into Max now. Ribbon > Selection > By Numeric. Well its by edge count, but same type of function.

Also, I'm going to call SpaceFrog the winner because I like his bulge.

Justo

@monster Oh I knew that, but whenever I can avoid the hassle of loading up the ribbon in max, I'll do it. I rarely use it nowadays. I had an Ngon checker script too, but with this I'm replacing it and adding a couple functionalities too. 

edit: also sure, it may not select specific faces with 7 or above vertices unless I make a button for them too, but c'mon, it's so pwetty

Cirno

Here is my attempt. 30 secs


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS43UlY81H8

Eric Williams

Yeah, we could easily get it under ten or even under five if we create a macro for this shape :P