smooth shift?

[tachy0n]

Select your poly(s), then Ctrl+D(extrude/duplicate single) which will create a smooth-shifted poly. Then use the transform tools to move/scale/rotate into place

[CAClark]

I found using the Ctrl+D seemed to give me a number of surplus edges? Is there a way to avoid them or merge all points and then dissolve the duplicate dges/polys.... a bit like Unify in Lightwave (sorry to do that, but I am a Lightwaver recently needing to learn XSI).

Cheers

[tachy0n]

I'm not sure what the problem might be... Ctrl+d doesn't produce surplus edges.

Anyway, you could just select the edges and delete them.

[Werner]

hmmm, that is not a "smooth shift"

Smooth Shift duplicates selected polys, then extrude them out on poly normals, while scaling them...like and offset, if you will

look at my animated gif...I make my selection, then use smooth shift to create a nice new offset of polys.
In Lightwave you get another tool called "smooth scale". It works the same as "smooth shift", but it does nt create new polys. It scales the selected polys out on their normals. It's a very usefull tool (both of them)

[raffael3d]

werner it's really ctrl+d and then scale it using x and move it with v keys, just make sure you play around with global /local mode.

you could also make a little script and then make a shortcut for it.

[ThE_JacO]

smooth shift isn't exactly the same of just duplicating and moving.
anyway in XSI you can do what SS does in one go with extrude along axis, or if you want to stick to the duplicate approach use ctrl+d and then push.
smoothscale instead is either replaced by a push or by selcting tags and moving them no their Y locally with "transform components locally" active.

[Werner]

the push function distorts the new shape. It does not work the way we want it too. :shrug: neither does extrude along Axis.

ctrl+d, then translate along local, followed by shift+scale will have to do for now.

thanks

[Werner]

http://www.xsibase.com/forum/attached/ss2.gif

[ThE_JacO]

when extruding along axis have a look in the second tab, the transform one.
from there you can scale.
usally linking X and Z (or using the same value on both) will do the trck for most shapes.

[Werner]

Originally posted by ThE_JacO
when extruding along axis have a look in the second tab, the transform one.
from there you can scale.
usally linking X and Z (or using the same value on both) will do the trck for most shapes.


oops, missed the second tab. Thanks.

It would be nice, to be able to link the scale and extrusion like in Lightwave. Like I said, this is one function I can't work without.

As you can see from my first post, in Lightwave we select the polys, then use shortcut key to activate smooth shift...no tabs or extra pop-ups. We just click and drag mouse from left to right, to scale in and out, to get the effect

[ThE_JacO]

to if you need tweaking on the fly of the scale parameters in the transform tab try this:

apply operator
set the lenght to the desired value
go into the transform panel
click and hold down on the scaleX green divot
drag it onto the other divot you will use.

XSI will automagically create an = expression for you.

tweak the Xvalue only and the other will update accordingly.

<senselessbabbling>

while I agree that smoothshift is a nice one click tool I found that in 99% of my sessions it didn't give me a fraction of the control I desired, where extrudes (try extrude along curve as well, it rocks) with the subdivision and transform options + the choice between propagation and merge toggle will often do what would require a row of SSs in a row.

try it a little bit and see how it fits your workflow.
If you think a smoothshift is much needed tell me accordingly to what parameters (lenght/scale proportions etc.) you would like a XSI SS to behave and I can drop you a script doing it in a matter of minutes.

XSI, when compared to LW, focuses on less tools but with a much wider scope of applications.
Whatever this is a workflow killer or booster is up to the user to evaluate.

My personal preference is very few tools that you can bend in whatever way you prefer and then eventually script into behaving accordingly to your one-click needs.

</senselessbabbling>

[Werner]

wow, thanks for the cool reply.

I will most definitely put something together to show what we need. It shouldn’t be to hard to mimic what smooth shift does in XSI, because it is a very simple, but effective tool.

It's sometimes easier to model a single row of polys...think of something like a bandage wrapped around an arm...once you've done this, smooth shift can easily give the object thickness, in one quick click and drag. this is a simple example, but I'm sure you can visualize it :)

Thanks again...I will come back to ya asap on this matter...a script will really help us.
:beer: :buttrock:

[allawy]

Werner, what you are asking for is in XSI since the birth of it...

Make a poly, choose the faced you want to do the smooth shift, and then right click (you can choose to show normals from the view opetions if you want), choose Extrude along axis, you will see that is even give more options on how you want this to work, you can merg the polys scale them rotate them and do it all!

[zen]

Wow guys, talk about overkill.
This isnt that big a problem. While extrude faces along axis works, it doesnt extrude multiple faces along their *individual* local coordinates. Which is what i think Werner is looking for.

Werner: It really is as simple as ctrl-d and translate. Make sure you are in local mode, and heres what your looking for: On your right click on the "Transform" menu. Make sure to check on "Transfrom Local Components Independently".

Then just select your faces, ctrl-d, trans local y and voila. They will extrude along their individual local normals.

thats it.

[d8ed]

yeah zen that works. you can also just extrude along axis and choose "component" as the frame option instead of "object"

that's pretty much the same thing you described without having to turn on the Transfrom Local Components Independently toggle. using extrude along axis maintains the shape of the extruded polygons and doesnt distort them.

i prefer xsi's extrude on axis since it maintains the size of the selected polygons while giving you the option to change it by individual axis. lw's smooth shift just scales the whole thing without any control.

http://www.d8ed.com/Images/extrude.jpg

[ThE_JacO]

Originally posted by zen
Wow guys, talk about overkill.
This isnt that big a problem. While extrude faces along axis works, it doesnt extrude multiple faces along their *individual* local coordinates. Which is what i think Werner is looking for.

Werner: It really is as simple as ctrl-d and translate. Make sure you are in local mode, and heres what your looking for: On your right click on the "Transform" menu. Make sure to check on "Transfrom Local Components Independently".

Then just select your faces, ctrl-d, trans local y and voila. They will extrude along their individual local normals.

thats it.

it won't be exactly the same if you simply use transform local with polys, because that will move the bonduaries the way you want but the internal polys of the selection will get additive transformations.

to get smooth shift with independent local transforms you have to duplicate, select/adjacent/points and translate those.
try and you'll see the difference.

[Werner]

Originally posted by d8ed


i prefer xsi's extrude on axis since it maintains the size of the selected polygons while giving you the option to change it by individual axis. lw's smooth shift just scales the whole thing without any control.

http://www.d8ed.com/Images/extrude.jpg

not true...you still have the ability to use the numeric panel in Lightwave (pick smooth shift then hit "n" on your keyboard to bring up additional settings) where you can change it the way you want it.

Like I said, Smooth Shift in Lightwave is more like an offset tool than a scale tool.
Have a look at this...this is where it's power lies.
http://www.xsibase.com/forum/attached/ss3.gif

[d8ed]

definitely. when i model in lw i use the hell out of it ;) i'd say bandsaw/smooth shift/drag are my top 3 favorites. now if i could figure out how to turn on guides for points while in subd mode in xsi.. i dont like working with the cage showing so i tend to go back and forth from subd to poly to select points. gets tiring.

[ThE_JacO]

Lame-non-interactive-commandbased-SS


Option Explicit

Dim oSelection

set oSelection = getvalue("selectionlist")
DuplicateMeshComponent oSelection, siPersistentOperation
set oSelection = getvalue("selectionlist")
SelectAdjacent oSelection, "Point", False
Translate, 0, 0.5, 0, siRelative, siLocal, siObj, siXYZ, , , , True


this will do what smoothshift does.
it's just a bunch of commands but it gives you an idea of how to operate.
when you have run it just make sure you have Selection(from the selection panel in the MCP)>transform local components independently on and translate the already selected tags on local Y

as soon as I'll have a min I'll come up with a proper OB one possibly with a slider or with something compiled, meanwhile having this in a toolbar and eventually linked to a hotkey will save you some time.

P.S.
it has no error checking, so be sure to have the polys you want to SS selected before running it

[Werner]

Originally posted by ThE_JacO
Lame-non-interactive-commandbased-SS



this will do what smoothshift does.
it's just a bunch of commands but it gives you an idea of how to operate.
when you have run it just make sure you have Selection(from the selection panel in the MCP)>transform local components independently on and translate the already selected tags on local Y

as soon as I'll have a min I'll come up with a proper OB one possibly with a slider or with something compiled, meanwhile having this in a toolbar and eventually linked to a hotkey will save you some time.

P.S.
it has no error checking, so be sure to have the polys you want to SS selected before running it

Cool, I tried it, and it works! How about that hotkey with sliders?
:thumbsup: :bounce: :beer:

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