Making Dormers on a Wall Object

[Cookiepus]

Howdy

Could someone tell me how to make doemers on my wall object?

I got the gables ok using the wall edit options but i need 3 dormers on the front. if i convert my wall to a polymesh i loose the ability to edit the wall later on (and the geometry goes beserk!).

ive been tring segment-detach, profile-insert but it's just getting messier and messier.

Thanks guys

Cookiepus

[Koper]

have you tried the 'edit poly' modifier, this way you keep the original wall object and can edit it.

 

Then, use the 'slice plane' function in the polygon sub object level, slice 3 times, at the two corners and in the middel of them, then just adjust the height of the middel line that was created through the slice.

 

hope it helps

[Cookiepus]

Thanks for the reply Koper

I tried out your suggestion - edit poly instead of edit mesh.

I think it could work.

but as you can see the wall wireframe after 20 odd windows and six doors has polys all over the place so its hard to edit them.

I guess i should have made the dormers BEFORE i added doors and windows.

live and learn.

[Koper]

Wow, thats messy, if you don't mind me saying that.

Well, then you can always model them seperately as object on their own. Just use the spline profile you have got there. when finnished modeling, check the x or y coordinates of the fall face and move the new dormer objects to aling with them. that should work

 

good luck

[Cookiepus]

thats a workaround i managed to get some results with.

Making new wall objects - little triangles for the dormers and attaching them to the main wall.

its a bit of a pain though.

If i make the basic wall then -edit poly- add dormers, when i start adding windows the wall goes beserk!

Thanks again Koper

[Koper]

this is how i'll do it if i had to create an extra object.

 

take the profile of the dormer and the window, all as one spline object, and extrude. that gives you a clean object, then just align it were you want it, really easy

[Cookiepus]

Ok thanks Koper

But if i do the above i'll have two diffent objects.

what i did was to use the wall edit commands - adding vertexs along the top off the wall, then moving them up to make the dormers.

Then add the windows.

this way its all one wall object

Thanks for your help

[Brian Smith]

I think the best advice any one could give you is to never use the Max's Wall feature. It is a complete waste of time and about the worst way to create walls.

[Koper]

yes i agree, personally i have never even clicked on that feature

[Cookiepus]

But Koper - How can you say it's rubbish if you've never even tried it?

Do you and Brian make the walls of buildings out of ordinary geometry and then Boolean till tea time to make all the windows and doors?

I used to do that in XSi.

I think the Max wall feature is great.

What are the downsides to using it?

Regards

Cookie

[Koper]

I feel I have much more control using the way I have discribed my process in this thread - http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/17336-modeling-max.html?highlight=boolean

 

 

I try to avoid to boolean because I don't realy have control of what happens to the polys in as sense of where extra faces are added and how they are added (it creates a messy model), as you can see in your own model (again, if i may say so), instead i create windows and doors by bridging faces, as discribed in the other thread.

 

 

There is no right or wrong way and I think the most important thing is that one have to find one's own methods and workflows that you feel comfortable in.

 

I think Brian will have more thoughts on the wall feature and why he says it should not be used, he is probably one of the best guys you can ask!

 

cheers

[alikashan]

if you happen to use max 9 you can happily use pro boolean in the compound objects dialouge box. its way better than traditional boolean.

[C.Vestal]

You have to watch the wall feature if you are rendering in v-ray. Wall will create overlapping polys. We still use the wall feature to get rolling quick with simple designs, but we always end up picking apart with edit mesh.