3ds max cut tool - is it safe?

Archanex

I've had some bad experiences with the cut tool in previous versions of max producing bad geometry (2 verts in the same spot for example).I was wondering how many of you are using the cut tool with a current version of max and if you've had any problems?

Joao Sapiro

whenever i need to cut i cut eeh , its a matter of you cleaning the mesh after *shrugs*

SuperOstrich

I don't have any problems if I'm working with an editable poly object. I do get problems with the cut tool and editable mesh.

Emil Mujanovic

I find the cut tool works best in user mode rather than perspective. In perspective it does some really weird shit where you almost lose control of where you're doing the cut.

-caseyjones

obson

I also find it helps to use the snapping menu to snap to verts or midpoints.

hyrumark

I can hardly ever get a cut to go where I want if it spans more than 2 or 3 faces in one pass. I always end up having to do several small cuts, deactivating and reactivating the cut tool each time. Otherwise it gets a mind of its own.

Kind of a pain actually.

SyaPed

If I'm working with a mirrored mesh the cut tool will go crazy if I try to use it on the instanced side.

CrazyButcher

"clean-cut" script worked rather well, but doesnt seem to like max9

hyrumark

[ QUOTE ]
hyrumark: Use the cut tool in user mode, not perspective, and it'll work every time.


[/ QUOTE ]

Oh man, that is sweet! Thanks for the tip, this is going to save me from lots of headaches. Just tried it and it works just like you said.

Asherr

i use the cut tool a lot when i model. only real problem i had was on my WoW contest model when i clicked to open photoshop, went back to Max and was trying to do a cut when photoshop finally opened and took focus away from Max. when i clicked back on Max the cut tool stayed on and i couldn't do anything with it. a couple minutes later Max crashed and corrupted my file. (yay for autoback ups!)

so in conclusion don't be cutting when something grabs focus away from Max.

Brian Miller

Short answer: YES!

I find the main reason why I'll sometimes get extra verts while cutting is because the tool will try to snap to verts behind what your cutting. For example if your cutting something on the front of the model, the cut tool will still attempt to snap to the verts that are on the back of the model that in perspective look close to what your trying to connect to. Just watch out for that, I find that turning on snapping helps make it clearer what vert its connecting to.

I use the cut tool all the time, even though its quirks can really be aggravating. I REALLY wished it worked in PERSPECTIVE all the time. More complex scenes give it a problem where it cuts the opposite direction you told it to. Usually if I move my camera around it'll come to its senses. A lot of times when its acting strange I'll turn on snapping for verts and mid points, then it usually works ok.

Mark Dygert

Cutting tends to mess with my edge loops so I hardly do it unless I know I will be making a clean cut. When I do use it I hardly have problems. I do only use edit poly not edit mesh. It seems to be most stable and do what I want in Edge Mode instead of poly or vertex.

Normally when you get double verts from a cut you didn't snap to the edge but went a tiny amount under or over. Check your snap settings and pay attention to the cursor it will let you know if you're on an edge or slightly off. Also pay attention to how your nonvisible edges are facing as they will effect how the cut tool preforms.

You might want to do a weld with the settings really low. Sometimes you have edges that look connected but aren't. Espeically if you jump between edit poly/mesh it tends to unweld verts.

Also check out the slice tools its not as precise as drawing your cut but it can get the job done when cut fails to do what you need. You can slice only your selection if you wish, you don't have to carve the whole thing all the way around.

Penzer

I mainly work in Maya, but I do still have a Max class. I found at first it was giving me floating vertices every now and then, but not anymore.