In 3ds Max, how can I make a border around a curved object?
polycounter lvl 7
Not completely sure how to word it, but this is what I mean...
A long time ago I decided to give modelling a go again and started by trying to do a Mark I tank from WWI. I started with one side and that was fine until I came to a bit of detail on the edge of the side next to the track...
I was only messing around trying to get a hold of the basics so I could've ignored it and just kept going but these things are good learning experiences and I didn't want to drop it but I couldn't possibly figure out how to do exactly what I wanted to do, even though it seemed like it had to be a really really common occurrence that must have a simple, standard way (or several) of doing it.
Here's a reference photo:
http://someinterestingfacts.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mark-1-Tank-Facts.jpg
What I'm referring to, is that curved border of steel running along the front of the tank and going down towards the rear with bolts all along it. You could obviously do a quick botch job and just guess, but then the new edges aren't going to all be exactly the same distance away from the outer edge of the model as they follow the curve.
What I want is a way of cutting an edge into the model that uses the outer edge as a guide and keeps the inner edge at a certain distance away from the outside, almost as though a compass was set to a certain length with the point run along the outside as the pencil draws the new edge on. I tried various things but nothing was what I was looking for.
Also this is what the edge of the model looks like now:
http://oi39.tinypic.com/2drchtu.jpg
I just want to make other edges that follow that perfectly that are any specified distance away from it that I want.
Must be easy once you know how, I assume.
A long time ago I decided to give modelling a go again and started by trying to do a Mark I tank from WWI. I started with one side and that was fine until I came to a bit of detail on the edge of the side next to the track...
I was only messing around trying to get a hold of the basics so I could've ignored it and just kept going but these things are good learning experiences and I didn't want to drop it but I couldn't possibly figure out how to do exactly what I wanted to do, even though it seemed like it had to be a really really common occurrence that must have a simple, standard way (or several) of doing it.
Here's a reference photo:
http://someinterestingfacts.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mark-1-Tank-Facts.jpg
What I'm referring to, is that curved border of steel running along the front of the tank and going down towards the rear with bolts all along it. You could obviously do a quick botch job and just guess, but then the new edges aren't going to all be exactly the same distance away from the outer edge of the model as they follow the curve.
What I want is a way of cutting an edge into the model that uses the outer edge as a guide and keeps the inner edge at a certain distance away from the outside, almost as though a compass was set to a certain length with the point run along the outside as the pencil draws the new edge on. I tried various things but nothing was what I was looking for.
Also this is what the edge of the model looks like now:
http://oi39.tinypic.com/2drchtu.jpg
I just want to make other edges that follow that perfectly that are any specified distance away from it that I want.
Must be easy once you know how, I assume.
Replies
Select the edge and click "create shape" this will generate a spline. With the spline you can do a lot of things like turn on rendering, sweep another shape over it like a box or custom shape, or use it as a path to "pathDeform(WSM)" another piece of long flat geometry to the shape of the spline.
Lots of ways you can tackle that.
Sounds like you want the inset tool to me. But Mark probably understood better than me.
http://oi40.tinypic.com/8wgzu9.jpg
As you can see, it's a warped mess at the left side where it curves. I've searched around a little but I haven't found very much that helped. This guy seems to have had the same problem:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116664
But his was only a simple box and I'm not sure if the same concept applies here because I have an Editable Poly that I messed around with and not a scaled primitive but I dunno.
Wouldn't mind starting it again either if it was easier that way for some reason.
K...
Exported as .obj with default settings...
Can't seem to upload .obj here... so here it is:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=02317076087762468233
Hmmm... that's interesting...
I'll have another look...
I changed it to Flat + Edged Faces but it seems to have the same effect:
http://oi42.tinypic.com/1z5hxsm.jpg
Still looks much thinner towards the left at the bend.
Ok, I just discovered something major. I wondered why it worked for you when you used the .obj, so I imported the .obj myself, converted it to an Editable Poly and used inset, with the following result:
http://oi44.tinypic.com/33d8le1.jpg
All working exactly as it should
I'm guessing the reason for it not working then is the XForm needs to be reset?
I did actually try to follow the instructions in the thread, but it went all weird and I didn't have a clue what I was doing.
I used Reset XForm in the Utilities menu and it flipped the model on its side and scaled it lengthwise. I also selected the Editable Poly, went into Hierarchy like the final poster says, and pressed Reset-> Scale and Transform, but that doesn't seem to help.
Though I notice now that if I use Inset after applying Reset XForm, the Inset seems to work as desired. Cool.
So it looks like it's all solved just the problem of undoing the mess that Reset XForm does. I've looked around and can't see any obvious way of doing that.
Is there some technique of good practice that would make it unnecessary to use Reset XForm for something like this?
What exactly does Reset XForm do? It sounds/looks like it would undo rotation and scaling done since the primitive was created but I don't remember rotating the primitive like that and I don't know why I would but maybe I did because it was a long time ago..
So basically the most straightforward solution to this now and in future is to just avoid scaling an entire object always. Great, I'll just start over soon and get more practice in.
Should everything else not affect things like Inset, i.e. pulling around vertices, cutting etc?