newbie modelling question

[Ian Jones]

ok, well from one newb to another I'm grasping at straws when I say....investigate displacement mapping. It is probably a bogus solution though. :rolleyes:

[ToddD]

Here is what I would suggest. First, if this is giving you difficulty, you should do some tutorials. I would suggest looking into box modeling, and also poly modeling. To get the crispness to the transition area, you will need to either, chamfer the edge that defines the oval shape, or read about smoothing groups in the help files included with max. This is a pretty basic shape, I've said it before, get a grasp on the basic techniques before trying anything too complex. This is a great first object to model, just do some reading first! :beer:

[doddy]

Hi,

Thanks for the info.

I have modelled a couple of basic shapes before, I felt that this was the next step for me to take (ie using some more advanced features). I was thinking of using the the 'fall off' method for the oval bit but everytime I tried to use it it went down a few layers, I could not get it to act on only the top layers of the model.

I will investigate the chamfer and displacement.

Cheers
Doddy

[heavyness]

1] create a spline over the object in the shape of the "oval" area.
2] now use Shape Merge. this will project the spline area onto the mesh.
3] make sure the newly formed area has alot of verts, becuase that small oval is very smooth. use a FFD modifier and you'll be able to get that shape.

since your still new to Max, look up Shape Merge and FFD in the help file and it will explain it all.

hope this helps.

[ToddD]

I don't think you will be able to achieve a clean meshsmooth using the shapemerge method. You are going to have way too many polys, not to mention odd sided polys when you merge the shapes. Less polys will give a cleaner line IMO.:beer:
EDIT

I just did a little test with smoothing groups, I made the basic face(without cutouts) of this thing in about 5 minutes with minimal polys. Of course if you are going to add those cut outs you will need to add more polys, but it is easy to get the basic shape. I'll post a few shots to show you what I did. :)

[ToddD]

Ok, here's a quick mini tutorial. step 1 make a plane with amount of length and width segments seen, convert to editable poly, move verts so you have picture 1. Select the polys that create the arc shape extrude them up a little.(actually picture 1 shows them after being extruded and scaled a little) Picture 2 shows the amount of the extrude. Now I selected all the polys and assigned them a smoothing group number of 1. Next, I selected the polys seen in red in picture 3, and gave them a smoothing group number of 2. You will need to untick the number 1 box in the smoothing groups box or you will have assigned both 1 and 2 to these polys(read the help files on smoothing groups to see why we did that). Now apply a meshsmooth with an iteration of 2, and scroll down and click, smooth by smoothing groups, and you should have the result seen in picture 4 viewport capture. That's it!!! Took about 10 minutes, and is pretty efficient.

http://uploader.axsstudios.com/images/smoothingtest1.jpg

:beer: Hey I just made my first tutorial!!!!

[doddy]

Hi,

Thanks Tbong816 for the tutorial unfortunately it doesn't exactly match what I am trying to ceate. The picture I posted doesn't show it very clear, so my apologies.

The shape is actually higher at the centre point than it is at the edges (the edges are hardly raised at all). That is why I suggested some how being able to use the 'fall off' but only for the top verts and not underneath (no backfacing?)

Thanks negteen, I will try giving the shapemerge a go for now.

But if anyone can think of other ways then please let me know.

Cheers
Doddy

[gaggle]

At a glance it sounds to me like you can use Tbonz816's tutorial and just not raise the edge-verticies up as much, plus raising the middle vert up a bit? ..er.. I hope that makes sense :)

Pretty nifty little tut there Tbonz816, neato :bounce:

[doddy]

Ok I will give it a try, thanks for all the help.

Doddy

[ToddD]

The idea was to show the proper approach, I didn't really look at you reference photo. The tut was just a general overview, meant to be adapted for your specific model. No offense to negteen, but that shape merge technique probably isn't going to produce clean results. I can only give advice, it's up to you to find the best way.... best of luck.:shrug:
Thanks Gaggle, my first time doing a tut!:beer: :) :thumbsup:

[doddy]

Thanks Tbonz816,

I took your advice and managed to get something that I am pretty happy about (being a beginner). It was the smoothing groups you mentioned that really helped.

I have attached a pic to show the result so far.

Once again thanks.

Doddy

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