Guest Tomass Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Hi, Could someone point the way to a tutorial showing how to model roads for hilly, twisting terrain. Also the addition of pavement, sloping walls etc. Is it possible to do this in max? or will I need a plugin. Please quiz me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camby1298 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Hi, Could someone point the way to a tutorial showing how to model roads for hilly, twisting terrain. Also the addition of pavement, sloping walls etc. Is it possible to do this in max? or will I need a plugin. Please quiz me! fairly easy actually, try and look here to start u on the right track: http://www.cgarchitect.com//upclose/VI/default.asp check out parts I, II, and III; specially 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Please quiz me! How hilly...got a site plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomass Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Sadly my clients forbid attaching things to non-clients. Were talking steep, dropping 6meters over 20meters. I'll check the 3DAS info, all though I haven't been greatly impressed with the depth of there tutorials. The only method I use currently is by manually moving vertices up on the z axis. I am looking for a pro's way of creating sweeping highways that meet at junctions etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I am looking for a pro's way of creating sweeping highways that meet at junctions etc. Fortunate for you, you are talking to one. However, accurate terrain modeling can take some time to master. You might be better off contracting out the work if you don't have the time to learn how to do it right. PM me if you are interested... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomass Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Hi, Yeah I took that decision today. I would be most grateful for any advice into making complexed terrain, in particular roads. Kind Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milfora Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hi Thomas, The loft object can come in handy - but I find that if you really need to go beyond simple roadways on a surface (ie. a roadway with complex cut/fill batter slopes), the you really need to create the interface strings through a civil design package (something like MX, 12D, Civil 3d etc) and import them into Max. AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juani53 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Hi, why don't you use a shape merge?? On the mesh of your terrain selected, apply a compound object "shape merge", in "pick shape" just pick the geometry of your road (a planar top-viewed closed spline works good), then you could see how this geometry adapts to the curves of the terrain. An other really helpful option is "output sub mesh selection", here select face. Then when you will convert this object to a mesh, going on face edit, just the road will be selected and you will be able to extrude down the geometry, or apply a specific ID map channel...check this image ! I hope I help, really sorry for my poor english Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juani53 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 sorry here the image... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 why don't you use a shape merge? ShapeMerge is a HACK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomass Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Any chance your going to enlighten us Claudio into how to make these roads, and terrians. Would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juani53 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 your answer is so relevant claudio ! btw, great job on your roads, how do you do that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Any chance your going to enlighten us Claudio into how to make these roads, and terrians. I will make an attempt... First off, the roadwork and its surrounding terrain are the primary focus of alot of my projects. I start off with a file that has 3D contours (2-10') and the corresponding hi-res aerial (1 pixel = 1 sq ft). The file will also include 2d alignment plans of the proposed roads and a 3D centerline which represents the true elevation of the roadway through it's surrounding terrain. The roadways are modeled as quads and their elevation is driven by their respective 3D centerline. The terrain is tied into the roadway and sloped accordingly where needed. The road is the "King" and the terrian becomes the servant. This is how real world roads are also built. 90% of the modeling can be done within AutoCAD using EasySite and then exported as a 3ds file to finish up in Max. I routinely handle complex roadways made up of intersections, bridges and interchanges. My tools and techniques easily and accurately handle sites of 10 acres, 1000 acres, or more. This is how this "pro" does it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooner04 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Thanks for the info claudio. I've been meaning to pm you to ask what the name of that plug in was. Nice work on the render too, I know exactly where that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blowback Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Claudio, Nice work Man! I think pro is an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Thanks guys... Hey SpoonMan! PM if you need anything at all. That little future piece of infrastructure is right down the street from both of us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Fortunate for you, you are talking to one. Gee, and he's modest in his time off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Claudio - I dabbled with easysite several years ago (around 2000... the year, not that many years ago. hehe) with hopes of doing exactly what you have descibed and illustrated. I never really got it to work all that well. Has it been developed further or are you using the same old stuff done way back then? Good work either way. Definetly expert stuff imo. A course demontrating that would be valuable for me personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Claudio - I dabbled with easysite several years ago (around 2000... the year, not that many years ago. hehe) with hopes of doing exactly what you have descibed and illustrated. I never really got it to work all that well. Has it been developed further or are you using the same old stuff done way back then? Good work either way. Definetly expert stuff imo. A course demontrating that would be valuable for me personally. Brian, thank you for such complimentary remarks. Perhaps a little background info will help... I learned how to use EasySite while working as a 3D Environment Artist for a large engineering firm (HNTB). I had no problem learning it because I have over 10 years experience using AutoCAD. If you are not familiar with AutoCAD, I definately understand how using EasySite might take awhile. HNTB does extremely large transportation projects with lots of highways, bridges and interchanges. I personally modeled nearly every square mile of terrain within the City of Frisco (north of Dallas, Texas) for an economic development animation used by the Frisco city council. I now work for Freese & Nichols, which is another engineering firm, but my projects include transportation (roads & bridges), water resources (dams), water & wastewater (Storage Tanks & Treatment Plants), architecture (sites & facilities). I have used EasySite on every project I have ever done. Is it the best tool? I don't know, but it is for me. Accurate terrain modeling is a challenging task and CGA members continue to post about how to best tackle it. My goal as a forum member has been to learn, be inspired and contribute. I have considered posting some materials that would help out people who want to learn how to use the plug-in themselves, but I have been uncertain on how I would structure it. I may not be able to get around to doing it at all on CGA, but I am more than willing to answer questions through e-mail/phone from those that want to start trying to use Easy Site or perhaps contract me to help them out on a difficult project. I am after all a pro(fessional)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 We do almost all of our terrain modeling in Form-Z. May be a different end use for you, but we do it for the sake of architectural modeling. One of the main reasons we use form-z, is their terrain generation tool. Draw and loft the contours (or import GIS data, etc) then select your bounding box and you instantly have your terrain. OK, there are a few more steps, but that's the basic. Almost all of our work is for mountainous resort areas, so we have had to deal with the twisty mountain roads a lot. Here's my basic run down on adding aroad to a generated terrain: 1) Start in a overhead view. Rotate the model just slightly then so you are in a custom view. 2) Using the polyline tool, snap the road centerline to the surface of the mesh. 3) Draw a rectangle that is the same width as your road. 4) Sweep the rectangle along the centerline path you just created, making sure that the "perpendicular to surface" box is checked. 5) You can either set the road just above the mesh (easier way). The other way is to duplicate the road, subratct is from the mesh, and then set the new road just slightly below the mesh surface. I am not versed in Max, but I assume that you can't do exactly the same steps. This might give you some insights on how to do it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 We do almost all of our terrain modeling in Form-Z. May be a different end use for you, but we do it for the sake of architectural modeling. This does not surprise me at all, because the ease with which Form-Z produces such amazing organic geometry. It is definately a powerful modeling app and a great alternative to the "AutoDesk" approach. Can you post up any of your work created with it? It would be nice to see a wireframe of how the roadwork and terrain is integrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomass Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Hi, Is it possible to export from Form-Z to studio max with reliability? You spoke of your method there, do you have the original road plan under the mesh when drafting the centre line with your poly over the extruded terrain? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Hi, Is it possible to export from Form-Z to studio max with reliability? You spoke of your method there, do you have the original road plan under the mesh when drafting the centre line with your poly over the extruded terrain? Cheers. Form-Z has a good .3ds export. I would assume Max would import that fine. Problem is, it will triangulate everything so you won't have the clean looking geometry like you started with in Form-Z. Yes, I have the 2-d site plan on the contruction plane. Here is a pic from a recent model. Some roads were done with the same method. One of the issues if you have a steep site, is you might still have to do a lot of point editing to get the road cut and fills to look right . (I'll have to look for an example to better explain that). That is somewhat dependant on how well/exact the grading is drawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 One of the issues if you have a steep site, is you might still have to do a lot of point editing to get the road cut and fills to look right. Point Editing = pushing/pulling vertices? This seems odd to me if the road geometry (to be created) is referencing a hard 3d centerline for it's elevation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooner04 Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 We've exported from form z to max with mixed results. I think part of our problem is that we don't do it often enough so we haven't quite got the settings figured out yet. Sometimes we get some pretty bad faceting in curved areas. We've also come across some bugs in the newest release and typically have to use a machine that has an older version on it. When we need to put a road in a terrain we usually use a boolean modifier and use the cut/refine option. After the geometry is cut the way we want we go back in and select the faces that should be the road and modify them accordingly. Of course, I work strictly on architecture, not any thing like claudio does with highway systems and interchanges, therefore we're not overly worried about precision. It works pretty well if you don't have an abundance of 2d data or civil drawings to work from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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