Cesar R Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Can someone tell me what is the difference between solids and surfces ? I loaded some tool bars in ACAD and both have the same objects (spheres, cones, cubes...) Y would i want to use a solid ?? can someone pls explain the concept? What does MAX use as primitives then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 solids are editable primatives, ie, you can change properties on how they look, where surfaces are what you see, they can only be changed by physically changing their shape. F1 should clarify this. i dont use solids as i prefer the brutal honesty and accuracy of surfaces. what you see is what you get. [ November 08, 2002, 03:13 AM: Message edited by: STRAT ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Alder Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Hi I use AutoCAD extensively and train in 3ds max. I have found that if you are modelling in autocad in order to texture and light in max them try and stay with surfaces as max is primarily a surface modeller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar R Posted November 8, 2002 Author Share Posted November 8, 2002 thank you guys ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebree Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 In the above reply, it was mentioned to stay with surfaces as much as possible. What happens when you have an opening in a wall, you can't use boolean operations on surfaces ? Do you suggest that one should model the opening in the wall. ie: Two surfaces for the left and right had sides of the opening, two surfaces for the top and bottom of the surfaces. A total of four surfaces to create the opening rather than using a region an subtract the opening from the region ? I would use the model in VIZ and Lightscape, if this matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar R Posted January 2, 2003 Author Share Posted January 2, 2003 can faces be slip the same way they are done in max?? what is the procedure. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojciech Klepacki Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 Hi Cesar, Tell me please, why do u stubbomly want to model with faces? Solids gives u more flexibility & accuracy. Especially if u use viz/max, u don't have to worry about face normals (according to your previous problem). If u want do decrease file size u can always make optimization in viz/max or set import parameters properly. Actually viz 4 with GI technique handles solids far more better than faces. BTW if u have some problems with understanding the way how to model with solids I can send u more examples. rgs, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar R Posted January 2, 2003 Author Share Posted January 2, 2003 yeah, plz send me more examples if you will, btw thank you for your help with the layer issue. I am using solids quite a bit... my question was to slice a face on a solid to extrude it for example. I wasnt very clear before. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 I tend to disagree that solids are better. There are many cases where face modelling is both more efficient and quicker than solids. Walls/windows would be first on that list. My dislike for solids stems from nearly 7 years of Lightscape use, but I have used solids and in most cases I still model everything with faces. I think what I like about face modelling the most is the clean lookign meshes. I REALLY hate sloppy meshes, which is what you get whenever you model with solids and export. If you do all of your modeling in MAX then I'd say solids all the way, but for architecural modelling in ACAD, use faces. (excpetion being complex organics) This is just my 2 cent however. Tell me please, why do u stubbomly want to model with faces? Solids gives u more flexibility & accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kainoa Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Hello, I generally model in ACAD and link to VIZ and I almost always use solids. In my earlier stages I found it difficult to work with surfaces and found it was easier to create & edit solids. Thus, i figured solids were a more efficient way to model and just stayed away from faces as i usually dont have a problem with the meshing (at least i think i dont :???: ). However after reading this thread and discovering that some of you swear by modeling w/ surfaces over solids, makes me want to re-think my methods. What is your typical procedure to model say, a wall, with openings for windows and doors? Is it as it was stated above? Two surfaces for the left and right had sides of the opening, two surfaces for the top and bottom of the surfaces. A total of four surfaces to create the opening rather than using a region an subtract the opening from the region ?What if the door and window positions change? Re-model? Also, do you have problems with the normals in Max/VIZ? Anyways, forgive me newb-ish questions. But I'm always looking to find the most effecient way to achieve the best result. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar R Posted January 3, 2003 Author Share Posted January 3, 2003 pretty much.., that is why I like ADT, because in those cases I have nothing to worry about. can someone help me.....? this is driving me crazy.. I will like to know if there is a way to make the "snap tool" work the same way the 2.5D snap works in MAX. basically I want to trace a 3D object from the top view to create a flat layout, but when I use the snap to make an accurate trace the line I started at 0,0,0 goes up and down instead of just tracing?? do I make sence? I Also have this problem when I want a ligh a window or column on an above floor of a model to lets say the corner of a wall beneath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spongebob Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Cesar R, Simply draw using polylines. A standard polyline is only capable of drawing in a flat plane. It will stay on the same Z plane as the first point you click. If you have trouble selecting the first point at the desired Z location use a ".xy" filter and it will ask you for the Z dimension. Later explode the polyline if you need separate line entities. As for solids, I prefer to use them. Every time I stray away from them I loose the ability to use solview and soldraw - most invaluable tools when working in both 2D and 3D. Hope it helps, Spongebob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salf Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Originally posted by Spongebob: Cesar R, Simply draw using polylines. A standard polyline is only capable of drawing in a flat plane. It will stay on the same Z plane as the first point you click. Hope it helps, Spongebob WOW!....all this time using Acad, and i didnt noticed this!!, lol, im so dumb i even got angry wityh ACAD for not wanting to make a polyline between to points on 2 different Z levels, and i still didnt notice this, hehehehe......thats a nice tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Wojciech and sebree - depends how competant you are with surfaces. i fully agree with jeff. I use both, but prodominantly surfaces. faces ARE infintesintly more accurate than solids, because solids are more regulaly constructed, not as easy to fiddle about with them for small irregular details. i INSIST on 100% accurate clean meshes, with full vertex control at every point. faces does this, solids doesn't, due to their proxy nature. if i want to punch a hole into a wall to add a window i would never ever use boolean. boolean is too inacurate, creating it's own vertexes where it feels possible. not good enough for me. i'd physicvally model the hole. may sound time consuming, but as i said, depends how fast you are. personally it's second nature to me. also, because of the full mesh control you have (ie, full visible and controlable vertexis at all times) you can make sure you minimise light leakage by making sure all vertexis meet and dont overlap - vital for radiosity in most cases. Again, these are my opinions in using autocad with 3d renderers proffesionally for 14 years or so. Solids are much more flexable and faster to use, but personally i wouldn't recommend them. [ January 21, 2004, 07:13 AM: Message edited by: STRAT ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksampath Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Hai I too prefer surfaces... as strat said it is easy to edit after importing to 3dsmax... because most of the surfaces will be in rectangular shape so deleting and moving vertex will be easy and accurate... but if we import solid to 3dsmax it will be triangular surfaces.. which will be difficult to move and edit... And also to import curves to max... it is good to do it in surface and import to max.. (setting the Surftab and rulesurf) Sorry, my english will be poor sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 how do you edit a surface model in autocad? Say, you have a rectangle object at 600long,300wide and 100high and you wanted to fillet the corners, how would i do this with surfaces?? Ive seen some incredible 3d objects created in autocad with solid modelling and LISP that i doubt could be created using surfaces. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingeldar Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 hey buddies to use surface modelling u should have a look at cadsoft build an acad apllcation that draws directly in 3d usin exclusively surfaces (sayin that to peops who don"t master fully acad 3d) it'ds pretty easy very accurate and fast (much better than autocad) of course it's mostly (i mean almost stictly) for architecture.... cxan get the acad plugin called APDesign around 1500$ (forget the render module called Concept created in 95 and necer rebuild since...lol but 3d is really esay fast and accurate... even if it's not as powerfull as ADT) casoft.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now