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how to 'move' multiple polys along normal?


Derek Forreal
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please see attached image

 

i'm trying to 'move' the selected polys along their normals as a group, up to line as shown so that it makes the width of the footpath narrower.

 

i've tried a few ways and got closest with the bevel or extrude but it creates duplicate polys and requires cleanup. isn't there a direct way to do this?

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ok here another suggestion..

 

using the selection you have there in face mode...

 

1. ctrl + click the edge subselection button (will select all edges those faces touch)

2. ctrl + click the face subselection button (will select all faces those edges touch)

3. delete those faces

4. select the border of the open polys which should be back at the line you wanted.

5. ctrl + click the edge mode (converts that border selection to and edge selection)

6. alt + click deselect any 'upstand' edges which travel vertically between the two flat areas.

7. hit 'bridge' to bridge between those two edges.

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that's what i ended up doing, but i was hoping for a better way.

 

that set of edges in the image that i want to push back to was created to show what i wanted to do. i got the edges simply by using the connect feature. however, this isn't very accurate as these new edges aren't all the exact same distance from the edge of the footpath. in this example it is close enough but sometimes i need a more accurate and quicker solution.

 

another workaround which takes a similar amount of time but is more accurate is to bevel the polys (creating the mess as shown), delete the top and bottom polys and 'bridge them back' similar to how you describe. accurate but takes a lot longer.

 

i'm really surprised there's not a tool specifically for this - it would save me a fair bit of time. am i thinking about how to do this correctly? what would you do if you create the footpath and then have to chop 100mm off its width?

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> what would you do if you create the footpath and then

> have to chop 100mm off its width?

 

I tried moving faces local Z and similar things. if that works I'll need it explained to me. I failed... artisticly.

 

Here's something I could make go but it relies on something which may not be true - there still has to be a base spline behind all this.

 

Clone (copy) the spline. Delete all the bits I don't care about. Select remaining spline subobject, outline just the right amount. Delete more bits I don't care about.

 

Back to the source spline, attach newly offset (yeah yeah, I use AutoCAD, so sue me) spline. Delete the bits you don't care about. Snap corner vertices back to new spline (hm... check for a need to trim/extend the new edge or however else you may need to clean that up proper.) And weld.

 

If there's poly editing above the extrude then you're probably in for trouble.

------------------------------------------------------

 

Inset let me go a precise amount. Then vertex Target Weld one - vertex - at - a - time Cleaned it up. Gets fussy at the ends but can be done. But you're trying to do it w/o tedium.

 

If you're going to do tedium then moving (view) with edge constraint on lets you do top and bottom and a few locations at once. Can't think of anything better (other than keeping your source solid in AutoCAD and just offsetting a PLINE and booleaning out a chunk). Sorry.

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thanks for your suggestions guys.

 

Dave, local axis doesn't do it for me either - theoretically, it sounded like a goer, but when i tried it (tried various combinations of RCS and constraints) it was completely off.

 

Matt and Peter - perfectly valid methods but like i said, was hoping for a handy tool that does the job directly. i had a go in modo but couldn't find a direct way there either, but at least modo has a cool edge slide feature that makes the creation of the extra edges quick and accurate. shame it crashes so much...

Edited by derekforreal
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