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Creating holes and insets in a mesh

Hi i need to know how to cut a hole or inset into a mesh without using booleans. I was told not to use booleans coz it gives an un-needed poly rise, and also stuffs up textures.

I found this out first hand, when yesterday, i applied a stone texture to a wall with an arch cut into it using booleans. The texture was skewed and stretched along the wall. A quick check in wireframe mode confirmed this as there were edges along the middle of the wall joined onto the arch.

Any help is appreciated ;)
Thanks,
biggest kid

Replies

  • OBlastradiusO
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    OBlastradiusO polycounter lvl 11
  • biggest_kid
    Hmm i only really have basic knowledge of connecting edges or whatever they were talking about lol so i didnt really follow it that well. A tutorial might help me better ...

    Anyway tahnks for the link, anyone else plz?
  • NoisyMonk
    That link and the tutorial within is probably the most basic tutorial you'll find. We understand that you may not be familliar with the tools required to do some of those steps, but if you'd like help with that we need to atleast know what software you're using.

    I assume its Max, since you mentioned booleans (although I'm sure other apps have this function aswell (anyone know if other apps do boolean better than max btw?)). Is there a particular step that you're stuck on?
  • biggest_kid
    Yeah im using max. Ok im not really following a tutorial or anything, im just having trouble cutting holes in a mesh without booleans and that arnt circular. Like for example, i wanted to make an arch in a wall as a sort of closed window, but didnt know how to do this except for booleans.
  • Seaseme
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    Seaseme polycounter lvl 8
    Uh.. simply define the shape you want to make with edges and points, then extrude them in or delete them. It's really simple. I recommend you give the whole connecting edges thing a shot. It's pretty important.
  • sprunghunt
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    sprunghunt polycounter
    I use a combination of quickslice and bridge. (3dsmax) In that order.

    Although it gets more complicated if the shape you want to put a hole into doesn't have a flat area on it.
  • cman2k
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    cman2k polycounter lvl 17
    There's really no magic buttons here to do it easy for you.

    Either you learn how to push/pull/connect the edges and faces the manual way, OR you use the boolean and clean it up.

    Either way, learning both of those things is pretty important and useful. So I suggest trying one or the other and learning how to use the tools in the process.

    Just look around the tools in edit poly. If you see something you don't know how to use but it looks like it might be useful, maybe look it up in the help file (which has lots of useful mini-tutorials for each tool). You'll get it.
  • biggest_kid
    OK i know how to use the connect edges tool, it adds another edge inbetween the two you have selected right? But how can that help me?

    Say i have a large square block for a wall, how is connecting edges going to help me inset an arch into that wall? Also, does connecting edges contribute to the poly count?
  • danr
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    danr interpolator
    connecting edges adds verts where there weren't verts before (so yes, it adds to the poly count). You need verts where there weren't verts before to be able to move the new verts around to create shapes.

    Also see : "insert vertex" which drops a single vert in along an edge if you're in edge sub-object selection, or inside a poly if you're in poly selection (less useful, you often have to go turning the resulting edges to where you actually want them, which is more of a faff in Edit Poly than it should be). Various snaps will help you add the vert in non-arbitraty locations. Insert vertex is often missed by people that love to connect edges to add the one vert they need, forgetting to remove the second vert they don't need
  • Minos
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    Minos polycounter lvl 16
    Here's my version of bitmap's technique (using max). It's in portuguese but you can figure the technique out just by looking at the pic:

    tutorial_comofazerarcoslimpos_thiagoklafke.jpg

    Now if you want something square do as other people said and use quickslice - delete the "hole" faces and then bridge the edges to close the gap.
  • biggest_kid
    Ok i just tried for about an hour, even used an online translator which actually helped a bit. I really wanna get this sorted out too coz this looks helpful. I can understand what is being done in step 3, can anyone help me out?
  • Mark Dygert
    It looks like he's probably selecting the polys holding ctrl and clicking the vert icon in edit poly to transfer the selection, then welding, then on the single remaining vert runs chamfer to get the circle.

    Personally for an arch like that, I start off with a half circle, extrude the edges once, flatten them with "Make Planar XYZ" and then remove the extra verts.
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
    Here's a translated version.
    Arch_Tutorial_Translated.jpg

    Step three is the "collapse" button under the Edit Geometry rollout of the edit poly stuff.
  • Minos
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    Minos polycounter lvl 16
    Vailias wrote: »
    Here's a translated version.
    Arch_Tutorial_Translated.jpg

    Step three is the "collapse" button under the Edit Geometry rollout of the edit poly stuff.

    Thanks for the translation, I didn't mind doing it myself because I thought the images were pretty clear but apparently they were not =)
  • Racer445
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    Racer445 polycounter lvl 12
    No, it was very clear. I never thought about doing it that way. Good method and subdivides well.
  • biggest_kid
    Lol they were clear to most pple just not me sorry lol
  • Muzzoid
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    Muzzoid polycounter lvl 10
    Dude if your having trouble with that i suggest to go back and practice really low poly modelling, its the best way to start and to teach your self efficient modelling. Go check out the under 500 tris thread in the pimpin and previews.
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
    Minotaur0: Yeah I think they were clear.. I don't actually read or speak Portuguese, but I only had to use google translate to double check a few phrases to make sure I got the gist right.

    Biggest_kid: I think what you're running into is simply not knowing your toolset well enough.

    Play with max. click buttons, make random wobbly gooey objects or whatnot just finding out how to mess with the geometry. Once you know how the tools affect what you're working on, you can start to understand how multiple operations can be combined to get the result you want.
  • biggest_kid
    Lol i got it to work thanks so much. Now ive got a new problem.

    Evertime i try to attach these objects together it always blacks out the right eagle as you can see in the image below. I need to know what is causing this and how i can fix it. (As you can see i got the arches to work lol :thumbup:)

    clickerror.th.jpg
    (Click on image to enlarge)
  • NAIMA
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    NAIMA polycounter lvl 14
    flipped normals?
  • Mark Dygert
    Yep I agree with Naima. It looks like you used the mirror tool to flip the bird (heh). Just need to select the dark polys and flip them.

    The mirror tool, works by negatively scaling your mesh, which inverts the polys. Most of the time you won't see it until you reset xform or export to a game engine. It's probably a good idea to stay away from the mirror tool and use the symmetry modifier instead. It welds the seam for you also.

    You can also work in edit poly with symmetry on top of your modifier stack and it will update the copied side in real time as you work, pretty awesome.
  • Mark Dygert
    Vailias wrote: »
    Biggest_kid: I think what you're running into is simply not knowing your toolset well enough.

    Play with max. click buttons, make random wobbly gooey objects or whatnot just finding out how to mess with the geometry. Once you know how the tools affect what you're working on, you can start to understand how multiple operations can be combined to get the result you want.
    I agree, experiment with max but also do it with F1 open and look up tools and buttons if their operation isn't immediately apparent. Some tools are pretty specific and require certain actions to be taken prior to using them so its good to read through the help file when you're stumped. They also often have a mini tutorial on how to use them and tips on when to use it.

    When you run into questions, I would say hit F1 first, then hit the web, then post here.
  • boyluya
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    boyluya polycounter lvl 10
    I have no max, so I did this one in maya. The thing is, I can't get the same result. Is there any other way to possibly do this in maya? Here's an image of what I mean. Thanks.

    problem.jpg
  • dyf
    i believe this is an easier way to do it (done in Blender):

    inset.png
  • biggest_kid
    OK thanks for your help guys, yeah i did use the mirror tool which must of been causing that, thanks anyways.
  • JohnnySix
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    JohnnySix polycounter lvl 16
    Great thread! Had a play with making the arch, then had a go at making a set of dice.

    Really struggling to keep things clean though, trying to assemble the cube faces from the inside outwards has left a lot of tris, which makes this a terrible thing to try turbosmooth on.


    Dice_by_JohnnySix.jpg
  • BradMyers82
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    BradMyers82 interpolator
    Hey man, for your dice example I find this to be the easiest way.
    HoleTutorial.jpg
    It's a lot like the mentioned way eariler, but a slightly different approach.
    Your main problems is, your making too many un-needed sides, and its hard to manage.

    Let me know if this helps.
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