modeling complex shape in 3dsmax

davidmajdi

hi my friends. i want model this shape in 3dsmax. i try to make it with some modyfires like bend/ taper and twist.
i also use some cylinders and from the segment make spline shape but all my tries become useless. i realy confused.
can somebody help me / thank you

danr

Draw it out with a single spline (use bezier corners to get the acute angles) and add the Sweep modifier, using the Bar cross section 

davidmajdi

its about an hour i try but still dont work

danr

Well you’ll need to,post screenshots of what you’re doing and the result, for us to help you out. Theoretically this isn’t complex at all, it should be very simple 

Alex_J

I'm not a max user, but if I was going to model that in Maya and didn't have a clue where to start, I'd try to think of some common thing that might be made by a similar process. Like a rope. So I google "how to model rope 3dsmax", and sure enough there's a dozen tutorials covering various ways to do such. 

I don't know the max lingo that danr initially explained, but I think the theory is the same as I would do in maya -- draw a curve, and then extrude geometry along that curve. Very fast and easy.

throttlekitty

Model the right half of the top left section, then mirror it to the other sides.

musashidan

davidmajdi said:

its about an hour i try but still dont work

well just keep trying for as many hours as it takes to work.

This isn't complex if you break it down and really study the repeating shapes. 

You could even model this from a plane using edge extrude modeling, symmetry, shell, chamfer, turbosmooth.

poopipe

A loft will work better than a sweep on a spline for this. 
Loft offers control over twist that you don't get with sweep.

Thanez

M8, this is a very simple shape once you remove the radial patterns.
No modifiers, just dragged verts around on a polystrip to ensure I had the horizontal bit line up with an axis, and a ~30° twist on the centre.


It'll turn out I used too little geometry to ensure proper curves, but this gets the point across.

Duplicate and rotate 180 degrees, flip the faces and weld verts by 0,1:

Do it again but on z axis:

Shell modifier with equal inner and outer amount thickness so you don't get fucked up curves, add supportloops:

Select the top and bottom faces and detatch as clone:


Another thin shell on that, and a turbosmooth on both:



If you want those splits in the metalses, just split the edges on there before the shell modifier:

The lesson is to identify patterns, and reduce your model into the simplest parts. All this from just a little polystrip, patterns, shell and whatever method you want to control the edges.

musashidan

poopipe said:

A loft will work better than a sweep on a spline for this. 
Loft offers control over twist that you don't get with sweep.

Loft is an extremely powerful and underused feature in Max. Do you remember the 'model an entire screwdriver using loft' tutorials of the early 2000s.....

throttlekitty

musashidan said:

poopipe said:

A loft will work better than a sweep on a spline for this. 
Loft offers control over twist that you don't get with sweep.

Loft is an extremely powerful and underused feature in Max. Do you remember the 'model an entire screwdriver using loft' tutorials of the early 2000s.....

And you can texture it with the Brushed Metal tutorial!

davidmajdi

Thanez said:

M8, this is a very simple shape once you remove the radial patterns.
No modifiers, just dragged verts around on a polystrip to ensure I had the horizontal bit line up with an axis, and a ~30° twist on the centre.


It'll turn out I used too little geometry to ensure proper curves, but this gets the point across.

Duplicate and rotate 180 degrees, flip the faces and weld verts by 0,1:

Do it again but on z axis:

Shell modifier with equal inner and outer amount thickness so you don't get fucked up curves, add supportloops:

Select the top and bottom faces and detatch as clone:


Another thin shell on that, and a turbosmooth on both:



If you want those splits in the metalses, just split the edges on there before the shell modifier:

The lesson is to identify patterns, and reduce your model into the simplest parts. All this from just a little polystrip, patterns, shell and whatever method you want to control the edges.

tnx so much