Max to Lightwave

[AnimaLMotheR]

First get EdgeTools, http://www.dstorm.co.jp/dslib/ .

[Pickman]

Hi and thx, is that the same functions as meshtools, bridge, edge and loop tools ??? or will I have to work with other plugs for box modeling ??

[AnimaLMotheR]

Well its similar. Edge Tools lets u Add, Remove and Reduce Edges.

U might also want to get 3DD PointRailSelector. It lets u select points along an edgeloop... http://www.3d-drawing.com/plugins/plugins.html

Bridge, if that means taking a, say, cube and then selecting two sides and making a hole where they were, then u might need PolySew V3. http://www.m2estudios.com/plugins.html

[Meshbuilder]

Hi Pickman.. Please explain what the tools do and show us some picture maybe we can help you..

[CIM]

Most of the tools in Max are cloned from other software. I'm sure you can easily find similar tools in LW. Some scripts/plugins are available which improve certain tools, though.

Try Flay.com.

[Pickman]

Hi ! I simply want to cut, divide loop or ring around my edges.
In max things look like that:
Editable poly
>subobject mode
vertex
edge
polygons
I guess that it is pretty much the same in Lightwave...

[AnimaLMotheR]

To cut down an edgeloop, use Bandsaw or Bandsaw Pro..

To remove the cut, use Bandglue.

BTW, Bandsaw Pro and Bandglue come with LW 7.5. U can find them under Additional in the Construct tab.

If u dont have 7.5, u can download Bandglue from flay.com.. There is no Bandsaw Pro for older ver. but Bandsaw does the job a-ok.

[AnimaLMotheR]

BTW, u can only select polygons and points in LW. No edge selecting here baby. ;)

[Pickman]

AnimaLMotheR, yo rock, that's exactly the kind of answers I was looking for, I'll have to ask the client but I bet they're using 7.0, I'll grab the onlinedocs for specifications on functionalities but so far you gave me all the info I required to get a quick start.
So why is it called Edgetool if you can't select edges in LW ????
Seems funny !

[CIM]

So why is it called Edgetool if you can't select edges in LW ????

It fakes edges.

[AnimaLMotheR]

Well it was made to emulate the kind of work u can do with those polytools in Max. And it does make edges. :) Ya can have edges in LW. U just cant select them hehe.

Your welcome. :wavey:

[Pickman]

It seems different and still interesting, I don't even manage to zoom in and turn around a pivot point at the moment, I'll have a lot to practice before having fun !!! :airguitar
Ok I stop bothering you with my questions, I gonna make a big cup of coffee and read carefully the onlinedocs to see where I'm going in ...
I might have a few more questions in the future. Support does look very good in LW community, I won't stray very long.
I had a look at the tut list on the sticker but if you have specific ones on box modeling you're welcome :wavey:

[AnimaLMotheR]

Hehe. Good luck and have fun. :)

I would give u links to box modeling tutorials but i cant come up with any at the moment. Which is funny since i cant do anything except tutorials.. :shrug:

[Miyazaki]

Some Meshtools:
1.Multiple Iteration Bevel(this doesn`t work for me, but I think it`s like Magic Bevel in LW) -> Magic Bevel

2. Grow Selection -> Expand

3. Shrink Selection -> Contract

4. Inset Selected Polygons -> with Smooth Shift -> Scale, with Bevel -> Inset

5. For selection stuff use bandsaw, bandsaw pro, 3DD PointRailSelector etc. as AnimaLMotheR mentioned.
For me, the LW tools are much more useful(bandsaw pro :love:, edgetools) than the equivalents in Max.
:wavey:

[Pickman]

At first sight, rotating around points in LW seems a bit tedious doesn't it ?? Even while changing modes it doesn't affect the rotation view.....grrrr....

[anieves]

Originally posted by Pickman
At first sight, rotating around points in LW seems a bit tedious doesn't it ?? Even while changing modes it doesn't affect the rotation view.....grrrr....

he, he I think the same thing about Max. I'm learning it now cause it is required where I'm working but prefer LW. To me you have to do too many clicks in order to do anything in Max, not so in LW. BTW, am I the only one that thinks that the Material editor in Max is the most un-intuitive tool in max? confusing as hell.

[New]

Extender tool let you to extrude a chain of points like extruding edges in max. Edges are no really necesary in Lightwave ;D

[Pickman]

Hi anieves, lol I do agree max material editor is probably to most unpleasant thing to get in, after rotating objects in lW, of course, seriously, how do get proper rotations around a point in LW, i mean when i select a point, how can I rotate around it ????

[policarpo]

Originally posted by Pickman
Hi anieves, lol I do agree max material editor is probably to most unpleasant thing to get in, after rotating objects in lW, of course, seriously, how do get proper rotations around a point in LW, i mean when i select a point, how can I rotate around it ????

why do you need to rotate around a single point?

also...are you using the ALT+LMB to rotate?

for what it is worth, i came from using 3dsmax 3.1 and 4.26 for over 2.5 years about a year ago and haven't looked back.

[Pickman]

why ??? just because I lke to go where I want to go, don't want the software to just give one type of rotation, it simply is better while modeling organic stuff. (my two cents) :-)) If you have been through Max you know exacttly what I mean. I've been using LW for 16 hours now, making bevel, select rail of points ans so on, but holy s....it's like I'm left-handed, rotating around my object !

BTW, how do you deselect stuff (points or polys) in one click ???

[policarpo]

Hahaha....i hear ya....

I guess i don't really think about it...modeling is like sketching to me now...my only gripe about modeling in LightWave is the lack of nGon SubD support....but i can live with it...it forces me to be efficient with my meshes. :)

[LyonHaert]

either click in a blank area of the menu (or the menubar each viewport has), or use the / key when no tool is active

[Pickman]

Thx all for that quick and active support, I've been playing with the modeler for quite a few hours now and have started to understand LW workflow, really quite nice.
Especially making polygons out of points, fast and terribly accurate ! I've been through multiply and create to play with LW functions and learn its semantics but i'm actually having a hard time making objects with edgetool, sometimes it will let add edges and sometimes it won't ! why ?? It doesn't seem to be the number of points (3 or 4 works) Does someone know a cool link showing its workflow... ???
ps: how do you constraint move or rotate on one axis ???

[Roger Eberhart]

Originally posted by Pickman
ps: how do you constraint move or rotate on one axis ???

Hold down CTRL

[Miyazaki]

Or use the MMB.

[mix]

Pickman, unless you are doing this already,
press the 'n' key and leave the numeric panel open when using tools in LW modeler, this gives you more options for that perticular tool and will open up a new level of usability.:buttrock:

[Pickman]

Hi there, and thx for the 'n' tips that helps a lot, ok could someone explain to me how to connect those two points ???

[wgreenlee1]

Go into poly mode select that poly between those points...
Go into points mode select those two points you have selected in the picture...
Construc>SubDivide>Split

[Pickman]

Hi wgreenlee1 and thx a lot for the tip, is that a proper way to model in LW cause I keep doing things like that in Max !
Last question, where is the meshsmooth in the modeler ??? I guess there isn't a stack in LW so do you have to add it at a particular moment could you still work on your polys once you've added it ??

[mix]

Pressing the Tab key will toggle SubD's, only 3 and 4 point polygons can be smoothed.

[Pickman]

Ok, why won' those two split up in different polys ??? it worked fine for the other three ???:annoyed :

I experienced problems working with the knife tool as well, it's nice to place it where you want but how do you validate the cut of the polys ??

[Miyazaki]

Take a look at your statistics panel(w-key) and make sure you`ve no unwanted polygons or pointa in your model. A great thing to keep your model clean.

[Pickman]

Ok, I previously did something wrong, how dou you get smoothing groups in LW, cause backwards corners look nice whereas front ones don't ???

[Miyazaki]

If you want different groups for subpatch weighting, group your selections(under display->grouping, polygons as parts, point selections as point selection sets). To assign differnt subpatch weightings to your selections, activate the subpatch weight-mode(and weight shade to see the influences) and use the weight-tool or set vertex map value-> vertex map-> subpatch weight to weight your selection set. But there are a lot of other ways to save your selections in LW.

[Kid-Mesh]

Is there a plugin in LW that does what the Lattice modifer in MAX does?

[AnimaLMotheR]

Originally posted by Pickman
Hi there, and thx for the 'n' tips that helps a lot, ok could someone explain to me how to connect those two points ???

U could use the method wgreenlee1 posted or use the edge tools to Add Edges on that poly. Then just weld those points together and u will have the "edge" between those two points.

[AnimaLMotheR]

The reason why u get that error is the side polys have more then 4 points (they have 5). Check the pic i put in this post. To make that "edge" u can use bandsaw, just make sure u flip the 4 front polys so they dont get bandsawed.

Edit: I see someone already told u about it. :D :blush:

[terryford]

I know you're new to LW so you probably already realise this; you've taken a slightly complicated route to get to that shape. Fastest would probably be;

Drag out box, hit "n" to define 4 seqments on each side (or use the arrow up/down left/right keys with the mouse over each viewport to interactivly increase/decrease segments).

Spacebar to drop the box tool and make the box.

To round off the area you'll be indenting select the points in the four corners.

Change "Mode" (bottom of interface, next to symmetry) to Action Center: Selection

Select stretch tool ("h")

In a viewport facing the polys that will be indented hold down CTRL (to constrain the scaling) and left-drag the mouse diagonally to scale those corners.

Select the 4 polys you want indented.

Smooth Shift ("F") left drag to slide the selectied polys inwards.

Without deselecting the 4 polys you just Smooth Shifted repeat the constrained scaling that you did on the corner points but this time on those four (still selected) polys.

That's it...

If you're going to be doing a lot of subdiv work get yourself the Jigsaw and Wrinkle plugins from Fujio Ichikawa here;
http://www.infoseek.livedoor.com/~f_ichikawa/


Regards,
Terry

[policarpo]

Originally posted by Pickman
Hi anieves, lol I do agree max material editor is probably to most unpleasant thing to get in, after rotating objects in lW, of course, seriously, how do get proper rotations around a point in LW, i mean when i select a point, how can I rotate around it ????

try messing around with your MODES when doing your rotating as well...it's the drop down @ the bottom of the interface, next to the SYMMETRY button...this may help you during the transition. :thumbsup:

[Pickman]

Hi terryford, and thank you very much for your precise example. Yes, this is a bit twisted, but I was just playing with the split, bandsaw and add edges of the package, just to see how it would behave ;-)) However I tried what you said, in order to see a different workflow. I got the jigsaw plug, but couldn't find the wrinkle one, in all that japanese stuff :-))
And thx all for your help, really appreciate it, I'll post my first work soon.

[Pickman]

Hi thre, ok I've got three more questions: How would you just divide twose three polygons vertically, I've tried bandsaw and bandsaw pro but they select other polys as well.

Second question is about welding, I experienced poly vaporization while welding two points, why ??
ps: is that me or subpatch weighting is a pain in the a...when you come from a max background ??

Last one is about extrude, when I select a poly and extrude it I keep having flipped faces ??? for instance if I select the top poly of the image I attached I automatically have flipped polys ?

Other than that it's a really great package to learn..:bounce:

[Miyazaki]

Originally posted by Pickman
How would you just divide twose three polygons vertically, I've tried bandsaw and bandsaw pro but they select other polys as well.
Use the knife tool with the selection activated so that your cut is limited to your selection. Or use AddEdges instead.



Last one is about extrude, when I select a poly and extrude it I keep having flipped faces ??? for instance if I select the top poly of the image I attached I automatically have flipped polys ?


Use SmoothShift to keep polygons together while extruding or bevel to extrude them seperately.
Extrude in LW is not the same as in other apps. Use extrude if you want to keep the surface you extruded from and flp the normal of it before extruding.

[AnimaLMotheR]

Originally posted by Pickman
Hi thre, ok I've got three more questions: How would you just divide twose three polygons vertically, I've tried bandsaw and bandsaw pro but they select other polys as well.

Select the top and bottom polys. Flip them, then select the three (or two) of the side polys and bandsaw. The flipped polys will stop the bandsaw tool from doing its thing all the way around your object. :)

BTW, i didnt get what u ment with your second question...

Are u talking about the poly "disappearing"? It could just be an OpenGL error in the perspective view.

[Miyazaki]

Originally posted by AnimaLMotheR
Select the top and bottom polys. Flip them, then select the three (or two) of the side polys and bandsaw. The flipped polys will stop the bandsaw tool from doing its thing all the way around your object. :)

BTW, i didnt get what u ment with your second question...

Are u talking about the poly "disappearing"? It could just be an OpenGL error in the perspective view.
Yep it`s cooler with bandsaw:thumbsup: . Gives you better control.

@Pickman
Instead of flipping the top and bottom polygons you can alternatively select your three polygons, 'Hide Unselected' , use bandsaw and 'unhide'.
Keep in mind that if you use bandsaw or knife tool several times in a row, the cutpoints of correspondent polygons of each cut/bandsaw are not welded.

[Pickman]

You guys are great, I'm learning a lot from this forum section, I'll be quite ready to produce some funny stuff before summer, I had a look at this thread as well, answering a great deal to my question about weight map:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57894
orginally posted by perambulator.
Solid drill looks cool and Policarpo's video using knife tool rocks:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:
Miyazaki: thx for the hide/unhide tip ! :-))

[AnimaLMotheR]

Yea we r0x0rz the b0x0rz. :D:D

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