I was just hired to an office and am teaching myself viz for modeling and rendering. I'm familiar with rhino and maya, and am having trouble finding commonalities between the viz commands with other software.
To viz users, can you give me a quick run-down of how to best model orthogonal buildings? Would you use the AEC-extended objects (walls, doors, windows), or is it best to work with surfaces, planes, etc., in the way that rhino and maya operate?
never used aec objects - those are parametric objects from desktop or revit?
Im not the expert on 3d programs I just fight with them until something comes out but I was told years ago do all your extruding or modeling commands in viz/max from plines done in acad. It creates mapping cordinates properly. And sometimes when you import solids from cad you get extra junk.
for an orthagonal buiilding solids are just fine. The real fight is in the material editor - good luck.
disregard the previous comment from evil for your own sanity. that person is correct, but there are many, many exceptions to that rule. also, do not be afraid of the material editor. it can be tamed.
there are 2 common ways to model in viz [max]: spline-based and poly-based.
SPLINE-BASED MODELLING
-involves drawing a line and then extruding it. the main principles are the following:
1. if u build a whole surface [i.e. all four edges of a wall], the spline must be CLOSED. a closed spline is one that has all edges that are connected by welded vertices. a common problem when drawing a surface is that it looks exactly like the wall you need but when extruded, the surface disappears. if that happens, make sure all vertices are welded @ each joint.
2. u can draw a straight line and simply extrude it up to make a flat surface. then you would utilize poly-based modelling [explained below].
3. to achieve holes in a surface, you can draw the whole wall and then draw the openings inside of it. if you attach the splines to each other and then extrude, the result is a solid with an opening.
-to go back to evil's comment, they are absolutely correct...you can use the lines from a CAD drawing and extrude them up to make your surfaces. the biggest problem you are going to run into with that is the splines not being perfectly closed [see number 1]. as tedious as it may seem, i never reuse any lines directly from my CAD files. they are simply the basis for what i redraw.
-when you draw lines in VIZ, you cannot use the center scroll button to pan around. this is the reason that 95% of people do not use lines in VIZ. it is definitely one of the hardest habits to break, but you can get around it. when drawing your splines, u can still zoom in and out and hit 'i' to recenter the screen on your mouse. use snaps, 3d and 2.5d.
POLY-BASED MODELLING
-an editable poly is the same as an editable mesh, but is simply more functional and can be manipulated more freely. do not use meshes...they are one of those features of the program that have been around for so long but are truly out-dated.
-poly's are manipulated based on their vertices, edges, borders, polygon [faces], or element [whole entity]. you can inset, extrude, bevel, slice, outline, flip, and many more...all from the modify features inherent in the object.
-google for some tutorials on poly-based modelling. that can get you going quickly.
MATERIAL EDITOR
-VIZ automatically uses 'real-world scale' do not use this. always uncheck that box and make sure that the material is tiled only ONCE in both the U and V directions [X and Y, respectively]. what this means is that when you apply a material with a bitmap as the diffuse channel, it will be tiled only ONCE across the surface. when you add a UVW MAP modifier to an object, you can control exactly how the material gets mapped, including its exact size, orientation, etc.
practice. be patient. and congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this email.
but if theyre unfamiliar with program couldnt they just bring in simple solids for orthanganal building ( i assume very simple) and then just map gizmo each solid to get it right?
you can import simple solids into VIZ...sometimes the geometry gets screwed up in the transition, but more often than not it works just fine.
my personal preference when bringing in any imported model is to convert it to an editable poly...even if it already is one. sometimes when using older 3ds files, the materials imbedded in those files can cause for the newer version's file to be corrupt.
and about the mapping coordinates, those don't matter all that much since you can apply the UVW modifier to the object, which overrides any inherent mapping characteristics in an object.
also, a gizmo is the control point for most modifiers.
viztastic?
I was just hired to an office and am teaching myself viz for modeling and rendering. I'm familiar with rhino and maya, and am having trouble finding commonalities between the viz commands with other software.
To viz users, can you give me a quick run-down of how to best model orthogonal buildings? Would you use the AEC-extended objects (walls, doors, windows), or is it best to work with surfaces, planes, etc., in the way that rhino and maya operate?
Tips are good.
never used aec objects - those are parametric objects from desktop or revit?
Im not the expert on 3d programs I just fight with them until something comes out but I was told years ago do all your extruding or modeling commands in viz/max from plines done in acad. It creates mapping cordinates properly. And sometimes when you import solids from cad you get extra junk.
for an orthagonal buiilding solids are just fine. The real fight is in the material editor - good luck.
disregard the previous comment from evil for your own sanity. that person is correct, but there are many, many exceptions to that rule. also, do not be afraid of the material editor. it can be tamed.
there are 2 common ways to model in viz [max]: spline-based and poly-based.
SPLINE-BASED MODELLING
-involves drawing a line and then extruding it. the main principles are the following:
1. if u build a whole surface [i.e. all four edges of a wall], the spline must be CLOSED. a closed spline is one that has all edges that are connected by welded vertices. a common problem when drawing a surface is that it looks exactly like the wall you need but when extruded, the surface disappears. if that happens, make sure all vertices are welded @ each joint.
2. u can draw a straight line and simply extrude it up to make a flat surface. then you would utilize poly-based modelling [explained below].
3. to achieve holes in a surface, you can draw the whole wall and then draw the openings inside of it. if you attach the splines to each other and then extrude, the result is a solid with an opening.
-to go back to evil's comment, they are absolutely correct...you can use the lines from a CAD drawing and extrude them up to make your surfaces. the biggest problem you are going to run into with that is the splines not being perfectly closed [see number 1]. as tedious as it may seem, i never reuse any lines directly from my CAD files. they are simply the basis for what i redraw.
-when you draw lines in VIZ, you cannot use the center scroll button to pan around. this is the reason that 95% of people do not use lines in VIZ. it is definitely one of the hardest habits to break, but you can get around it. when drawing your splines, u can still zoom in and out and hit 'i' to recenter the screen on your mouse. use snaps, 3d and 2.5d.
POLY-BASED MODELLING
-an editable poly is the same as an editable mesh, but is simply more functional and can be manipulated more freely. do not use meshes...they are one of those features of the program that have been around for so long but are truly out-dated.
-poly's are manipulated based on their vertices, edges, borders, polygon [faces], or element [whole entity]. you can inset, extrude, bevel, slice, outline, flip, and many more...all from the modify features inherent in the object.
-google for some tutorials on poly-based modelling. that can get you going quickly.
MATERIAL EDITOR
-VIZ automatically uses 'real-world scale' do not use this. always uncheck that box and make sure that the material is tiled only ONCE in both the U and V directions [X and Y, respectively]. what this means is that when you apply a material with a bitmap as the diffuse channel, it will be tiled only ONCE across the surface. when you add a UVW MAP modifier to an object, you can control exactly how the material gets mapped, including its exact size, orientation, etc.
practice. be patient. and congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this email.
and by email, i mean post.
but if theyre unfamiliar with program couldnt they just bring in simple solids for orthanganal building ( i assume very simple) and then just map gizmo each solid to get it right?
you can import simple solids into VIZ...sometimes the geometry gets screwed up in the transition, but more often than not it works just fine.
my personal preference when bringing in any imported model is to convert it to an editable poly...even if it already is one. sometimes when using older 3ds files, the materials imbedded in those files can cause for the newer version's file to be corrupt.
and about the mapping coordinates, those don't matter all that much since you can apply the UVW modifier to the object, which overrides any inherent mapping characteristics in an object.
also, a gizmo is the control point for most modifiers.
2 sided materials are a quick fix to many import problems (GI programs will use 2 sided mats anyway). It's on the mat ed, check box.
Be afraid of booleans. They stink in Max/Viz (although Power Booleans is now incorporated, I've yet to use it).
double sided will slow you down a drop when it comes time for rendering...pro boolean is the shit.
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