Chamfering in Max the Maya way

[sforsyth]

And this is what I get in Max if I do the exact same thing.

[newellteapot]

I think it could be that the value is too high, in fact I can see the edges overlapping each other. You're basiclaly Chamfering too much :)

[sforsyth]

Hi Monika, this isn't it I'm afraid. Try it yourself, create a simple box such as the one drawn, and bring up the Chamfer dialog, as soon as you set it to 2 iterations, it messes it up regardless of the values used.

[newellteapot]

mumble... can I ask you what version of max you're using?
Anyway, try this:
chamfer once with value 1
select all the edges, including the new ones
chamfer once again with value 1
let me know how it goes. send me the mesh if you like

Monica

[sforsyth]

I'm using Max 9, with the productivity booster. Tried exactly what you said, it was even worse than before. Have you tried to recreate the images I posted?

[nmcelmury]

Hey sforsyth,
I posted an image of what I think you are trying to get accomplished here, the poly tools from max to maya can sometimes be kind of a bitch. Here is my result after a couple minutes. Sorry if this image is a bit small...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b118/nmcelmury/cgtalk.jpg

Select all the edges, chamfer them and hit apply.
Then select all the edges again, including the newly chamfered ones and chamfer again.

This should get rid of most of the nastiness. The area I circled is the only real problem area, but that should be fixable with a poly cut or two.
Hope that helped!

[sforsyth]

Hey nmcelmury, thanks for that. The problem is, you're not left with an all quad mesh, and the problem isn't just the area you highlighted. The corners now have triangles on them. If you look at the final image of the maya equivalent, it's a perfectly formed all quad mesh. This is what I was hoping to get to.

[musashidan]

mumble... can I ask you what version of max you're using?

Monica

Irrelevent.Whether Max 4 or 2008,the Chamfer tool has always needed manual cleanup:sad:
the technique used to achieve the result in the original image Sean posted(all quad Maya)is,i'm afraid,sadly missing from Max.

I've searched high and low for a script to achieve all quad chamfering,but alas,am unable to find one.

hopefully,i'm sorely mistaken.

[MrJonathan]

If you're just wanting smoothed edges, and don't mind having a little extra geometry in thet scene, and are short on time, drop an Edit Poly modifier on the object, hit T a few times, and run a turbo smooth. :) Quick way to turn an unchamfered object into a smooth one, whether for a normal map, or whatever else.

Of course, this uses a lot more geometry than if you control edge edge, but it's a quick way. :)

[sforsyth]

If you're just wanting smoothed edges, and don't mind having a little extra geometry in thet scene, and are short on time, drop an Edit Poly modifier on the object, hit T a few times, and run a turbo smooth. :) Quick way to turn an unchamfered object into a smooth one, whether for a normal map, or whatever else.

Of course, this uses a lot more geometry than if you control edge edge, but it's a quick way. :)

Unfortunately, it's not just a question of a quick and dirty solution, I can easily make the mesh the way I like it, the problem is not having a quick and easy solution I can use on any given surface.

musashidan: yeah, it seems to be the case that this just isn't possible in Max. Wonder if there are any limitations stopping a scripter from writing this?

[musashidan]

musashidan: yeah, it seems to be the case that this just isn't possible in Max. Wonder if there are any limitations stopping a scripter from writing this?

well with the wealth of talented Maxscripters out there,i'm quite frankly surprised this has never been resolved...........Soulburn,bobo,pen,eek,wahooney.......the list goes on.

[Psixos]

Chamfer Edges>Meshmooth 1 iteration>untick isoline display. A couple more loops than the maya example but I think it's the best you're going to get in max quickly.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4512/step1ed7.th.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=step1ed7.jpg)

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3719/step2mr5.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=step2mr5.jpg)

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/8567/step3ce1.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=step3ce1.jpg)

[CK]

Does Max have an offset edge tool? I usually use this instead of bevel in Maya when possible- Bevel sometimes makes tris at the ends whereas offset just repeats the selected edge on either side- plus this avoids the bevel effect or the angular offset but that setting can be tweaked in bevel menu-

[vagitis]

Hey Psixos, your way is great, ok so you can't do it using 1 tool but it takes only seconds to collapse the stack, it's much better than the ugly mess you get now when only using the chamfer twice. Tbh I'm also very surpirised this hasn't been addressed in new versions of Max yet, infact there's a number of things that seem obvious to me to update, but I'm not going to start ranting.... I'll be here all night :P

I'm going to use this method in the future, thanks :)

[sforsyth]

Thanks Psixos, that works great. Now it's just a matter of cleaning up all those extra loops. Great though, a lot better than before!

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