spline alignment shell, path conform, constraints, whateva

Rhinokey

i use shell modifier a bit when doing sub d work, i also do path constraints and path deforms, and i cant figure out how to get the effect i want without a lot of tweaking, in case of shell now i'm made a spline to use as a bevel and it keeps beveling in reverse or inside out, but not the way i intend. whats the secret math that max uses to determin how something constrains to an edge? is it something to do with the axis of the target of the path or the spline, i'm goina take a while experimenting seeing if i can get it right but figured i'd ask here in case someone knows for sure what is going on. i also have similar issues with wsm path deform, i can make it do the shape i want, but it moves out at a location away from where i want an i manualy have to move it in. i can post some images later , but i figure ppl who know the answer i need prob know what i'm talking about.

thanks all

Mark Dygert

Ya lost me at "using a spline as a bevel" are you path deforming a custom piece of geo down the spline that mimics the bevel? Pretty cool idea to avoid beveling but a little labor intensive, depends on the object though.

If you're using pathdeform to place a shape along a spline, use Pathdeform(WSM) it allows you to set the look down axis. Personally I would sweep a custom shape down the spline which lets you flip normals and adjust the alignment.

I think the look down axis defaults to the local Z axis of the object.

Where you might be getting into trouble is if you create an object in the top viewport and then create one in the front viewport their local up axis will be different. You can adjust the local pivots alignment to the world in the Higherarchy tab > affect pivot only > Align to world. or the highly pretty destructive way, reset xform.

Rhinokey

using a spline as a bevel is the feature in the shell modifier where you can chose a spline to determine the bevel shape for the edges of the shell, i'll check into what you said about the lookdown and making them in the same vports. thanks

Mark Dygert

Oh wow I've totally glossed over that every time I've used it. I've always just adjusted the inner/outer amount and left it at that. I'll have to play with it, could save quite a bit of time. Thanks for the tip!

Ghostscape

can you go into the editable spline after the fact and rotate the spline 180 degrees to have it shell the edge properly?

Okt

Vig wrote: »

Where you might be getting into trouble is if you create an object in the top viewport and then create one in the front viewport their local up axis will be different. You can adjust the local pivots alignment to the world in the Higherarchy tab > affect pivot only > Align to world. or the highly pretty destructive way, reset xform.

This. Thanks Vig!

This seems to be where most of the problems with modifiers and splines come into play. There was a Master Class a long while ago where they explained how to properly use splines with the modifiers to get results closer to what you actually expected and not a jumbled mess abstract meshes. ( Unless that`s what you`re after! :P )