Poly Modeling 'Outset'?

#1

I am pretty sure there is a way to do this but I can’t seem to find it. (I also have Polyboost and Orionflame so if there’s a method using those please tell me).

When you have some selected edges that form a corner on an object (see attached image) and you simply want to add another loop of edges around them (sort of like the way a chamfer would work on the edges… only without destroying the original edge) is there an easy way to do this in MAX or PB or Orionflame? Sort of like doing an ‘outset’ rather than a ‘inset’?

(Back in the day on Symbolics, there was a tool where you could select edges and choose to coplanar them where a dialog would let you type in a value for how far the new edges are from the original edges).

Thanks for any ideas!

#2

You can extrude the edge with extrusion height set to 0 or insert a new loop with connect or cut.

#3

Piflik,

Thanks for the ideas. I was just about to post that I had found the extrude method but it doesn’t work as desired.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. When I say ‘easy’ I mean a method where the new edges come in and are nicely an equal distance from the original edges all the way around. With the extrude method, the new edges towards the inside (into the doorway) are perfectly even but the outer edges are wacked and have to be cleaned up by hand… which is what I’m trying to avoid. Not sure exactly how the ‘connect’ works but the ‘cut’ method results in more hand editing.

I found a post about a plugin ‘EdgeChex’ that looks like it might do what I want so I’m about to test it.

Thanks again.

#4

Well… EdgeChex does sort of do what I want. But I didn’t realize that it’s a modifier which I don’t want. I want to do this editing without having to re-collapse to an editable poly all the time.

Hmmm. I bet that Polyboost or Orionflame might have a way.

Thanks!

#5

Hi,

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=98&t=710165

#6

Thanks for the very helpful picture.

Per your green lines, you can’t get equal distance from the window and have vertices on the diagonals and I think most solutions would try to create vertices on those diagonals and only four of them. La, solution fails.

What did work for me was as follows (and I worry that it’s not automatic enough for you):

  • Rectangle, vertex snaps, autogrid. Place rectangle across existing window.
  • Conver to editable spline.
  • Sub-object Spline. Outline. Just the correct amount.
  • Select wall.
  • Cut.
  • Vertext snaps on. Trace around rectangle being careful not to lean on the diagonals, just let the snaps do the work. 1, 2, 3, 4.
  • sub Vertex. Target Weld to put the extra vertices on the diagonals onto the corners of your nice new outset rectangle.

And here’s another one that’s a little quicker and works.

  • In edge selection, select and backspace all but one of the diagonals (I’d tell you to do all of 'em, but Max insists). If you don’t do this, the chamfer (yes, chamfer) is uneven.
  • Select the edges of the window.
  • Chamfer. Yeah, chamfer. Just the right amount.
  • Select the inside edges of the window.
  • Lock selection for ease of use.
  • 3d snaps. Vertex.
  • Magnet. Locked to whichever axis is “out” perpendicular to the wall face.
  • Grab the inner loop by a corner and snap it to the outer loop.

This last move should bring the inside (back) edge of the chamfer flush to the front wall in the location of the original edge of the window.

#7

Thanks for the ideas!

Zbuffer… thanks for the link to that thread! Lot’s of great info in there. Looking into it.

Peter… thanks for defining those steps. It’s always great to see how others approach things. I understand about the diagonals and I really don’t care about them and trying to preserve them. In fact, most of the diagonals weren’t there originally… I only added them when I was trying to make ‘Chamfer’ happy and do an even chamfer on the selected edges (they did make chamfer happy but chamfer didn’t give me the desired modeling result, so I moved on but left the diagonals). I was hoping there was a tool that would simply build in an ‘Outset’ from the selected edges and move the diagonals wherever necessary to get that even outset.

Thanks again to all.

#8

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