3ds max: various problems
Hello Polycount! First time caller, long time listener. I was hoping my first thread wouldn't have to be a help request but I am pretty desperate!
I have some problems with aligning stuff, mostly. I've been searching all over for solutions to these, and perhaps I just lack the necessary vocabulary to know what I'm looking for.
Problem 1: Rotating an object into alignment along one axis?
Say I have an object on another object, for example. I normal-aligned this, or used a script to align it to an edge. So far so good, the object sits flat on the other's surface, its pivot is where I want it and pointing out from the surface's normal. But wait, it has an arbitrary rotation along the z axis, and now I want to rotate it, just along the z axis, to be in line with another object or an edge.
Is there a way to do this? You can't snap to vertex while rotating, can you? I want to make this object line up with the green line, by rotating it around its own z axis. It needs to be geometrically perfect, so I can't just eyeball it.
Problem 2: Moving vertexes along an axis and snapping them to an edge
I want to drag some vertexes along their axis until they meet another object. This raises two issues. First, is there something like the edge constraint for points that lets you move them past their starting position? Secondly, how can you stop a vertex flush with where it would intersect and edge. Putting an edge snap doesn't do this, instead it snaps to the edge where the _cursor_ is for some reason. Unhelpful.
How would you do such an operation normally?
Problem 3: Why does extruding faces do this?
Kind of a side thing, but it bothers me. I've since learned the shell tool can serve some of my purposes with it's 'straighten corners' option. Still, bothersome!
I hope it's clear what I'm getting at with these. Some help would be fantastic! In fact, if anyone knows a basic guide which would cover junk like this that I should probably already know I'd be happy to hear about it. The ones I've been finding don't tell me anything I don't already know.
Thanks in advance!
I have some problems with aligning stuff, mostly. I've been searching all over for solutions to these, and perhaps I just lack the necessary vocabulary to know what I'm looking for.
Problem 1: Rotating an object into alignment along one axis?
Say I have an object on another object, for example. I normal-aligned this, or used a script to align it to an edge. So far so good, the object sits flat on the other's surface, its pivot is where I want it and pointing out from the surface's normal. But wait, it has an arbitrary rotation along the z axis, and now I want to rotate it, just along the z axis, to be in line with another object or an edge.
Is there a way to do this? You can't snap to vertex while rotating, can you? I want to make this object line up with the green line, by rotating it around its own z axis. It needs to be geometrically perfect, so I can't just eyeball it.
Problem 2: Moving vertexes along an axis and snapping them to an edge
I want to drag some vertexes along their axis until they meet another object. This raises two issues. First, is there something like the edge constraint for points that lets you move them past their starting position? Secondly, how can you stop a vertex flush with where it would intersect and edge. Putting an edge snap doesn't do this, instead it snaps to the edge where the _cursor_ is for some reason. Unhelpful.
How would you do such an operation normally?
Problem 3: Why does extruding faces do this?
Kind of a side thing, but it bothers me. I've since learned the shell tool can serve some of my purposes with it's 'straighten corners' option. Still, bothersome!
I hope it's clear what I'm getting at with these. Some help would be fantastic! In fact, if anyone knows a basic guide which would cover junk like this that I should probably already know I'd be happy to hear about it. The ones I've been finding don't tell me anything I don't already know.
Thanks in advance!
Replies
2. I'm aware of the constraints, I'm asking if there's something equivalent that would let you, say, move a vertex further out than it's starting position along the axis suggested by an edge.
For the snap: I'm actually asking if there's a way to snap a vertex to where the point of contact would be along an edge, does that make more sense?
3. That makes a lot of sense, thank you. Is there an alternative tool or modifier for making the corners straight like I intend?
1. Are you either overshooting or undershooting it every time you try to rotate it to that specific point? I usually just zoom in and try and get it as close as I can, if I need a vert in an exact position I usually just type in the coordinates.
3. There's probably another way to do this but when I need to make them square I'll usually use Make Planar on whatever axis I want them to align on.
But maybe I should be more specific about my problem since it's not just getting something on a surface, it's obtaining a perfect axis and orientation for it.
I am working with something that assembles sections of road (but it could be pipes, wiggly hallways, whatever) in a random sequence. When it places a new pieces it places it at the end of the previous section. It has to place the start of the new piece perfectly flush with the end of the previous piece. To do this, I am putting a dummy object on the end of each piece, and the new piece is placed with it's origin and axes aligned with that dummy object. These pieces are meant to be wormy and off of a grid, so I don't want the ends to be straight, but on an arbitrary angle.
Getting the initial point is no problem, I just start them straight and then use splines to extrude them on all kinds of curves. But I would like the end to be able to be at an arbitrary angle, so somehow I have to place the dummy object perfectly on that end face.
I've used a 3-point aligning tool and another one that aligns to an edge, but both end up with the dummy being off on one of the axes, which is quite a problem!
Another strategy would be if I could just pick three axes and create a new dummy like that but I don't know of any way that's possible. Or I wish if I created a new object from the end faces, say, it chose a sensible new origin for them? Perhaps I'm over-thinking this. It doesn't seem like a complicated problem, but I can't think of any way to get those axes just how I need them!